About Silver Lions

Silver Lions Introduction

Our “Silver Lions” program is one of five different programs of Lions Martial Arts Federation. This program encompasses elements of Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Tang Soo Do, utilizing alternative training methods which are more suitable for adults ages 35+, or for anyone who is more prone to joint injuries and/or pulling muscles. Adults of all ages are welcome.

Many elements of this program come from Grandmaster Mark Shuey's "Silver Dragons" curriculum.  GM Shuey also graciously offered to let us also use the "Silver Dragons" name if we wish, but we are Lions, not Dragons. 

Our Mission:

We believe that one of the greatest losses of this generation is people dying before their time.  The mission of this program is therefore to add years to your life, and life to your years. 

What's different about Silver Lions? (compared to Lions):

Predictable Workout

The classical martial arts class will often use various psychological techniques to "trick" the student into pushing harder. For example, they might conceal what's coming next, and encourage you to blow your steam, just before doing an even harder exercise. Or, they might use competition to get students to push extra hard. All of this can be great for kids and some younger adults, but for many adults, it all too often leads to injury.

We work up to it slower, and we stretch differently

Kids easily get bored if you work up the intensity too slowly, but many adults get injured if they don't work up to it slowly enough. In Silver Lions, the pace is more suitable for the targeted demographic. Also, our warm up routine has specific stretches that are more closely aligned with the needs of older people.

Deemphasize certain techniques

Don't worry, these techniques are not often used successfully in real fights anyway. To reduce the chance of injury, jumping and spinning kicks are deemphasized, as well as certain kicks that can put more strain on joints, such as hook kick.

Martial Arts Grandmasters are succumbing to knee replacement surgery and hip replacement surgery at a rate that exceeds the "non-obese" general population.  It is true that controlled and limited joint shock brought about by proper exercise can strengthen the joints, but it is also true that pushing too far does the opposite.

Other changes in emphasis

More emphasis on weapons, especially the cane, with techniques borrowed from Hapkido. We chose the cane, because a cane can be carried anywhere (including airplanes), and can be quite deadly in the hands of a skilled practitioner. Other weapons, such as nun chucks, spears, swords and Sai’s can look flashy, but we don't think older people are as interested in "flashy" as they are in getting the job done.

More emphasis on Hapkido grappling and joint lock techniques, which are generally performed from a standing position.

This program emphasizes "ball of the foot" front (snap) kick over "top of the foot" front kick because it is usually a more effective kick, and we believe adults can more readily learn the ball of the foot technique, while kids tend to have difficulty.

Deemphasize Bone Conditioning

Impact conditioning is very common in most martial arts. They work by deliberately developing micro bone fractures that then heal to be stronger, or by traumatizing the hands causing them to scar up to become tougher. We don't think that is what seniors generally should be expected to do, so we don't do that in this program. Thus, there are no wooden dummies, makiwara boards, sand buckets, or striking boards in this program. Also no practice with an opponent of repeated bone striking techniques for the purpose of bone conditioning. Also no knuckle push-ups.

Reduced Need for Memorization

Karate means Kara (empty) + Te (hand). The way is do. Thus, karatedo is the way of the empty hand.  Taekwondo is the way of the hand and foot.  The word judo consists of two Japanese characters, ju, which means "gentle," and do, which means "the way." Judo, therefore, literally means the way of gentleness.  These martial arts all have a "do" component, which is the life philosophy or spiritual way associated with the art.

 
Older people generally have greater difficulty memorizing complex patterns than younger people, making it difficult to “teach an old dog new tricks”. They are also already pretty set in their life philosophy (their "do"). Attempting to change their already ingrained "do" is probably not going to work, and if their existing “do” is not compatible with your organization, you have deeper problems to solve.

This program therefore eschews teaching the typical martial arts "do", and avoids long memorization of tenets and philosophies, and loaded memorization rank requirements.

Kata (Poomsae)

"Kata" was never meant to be used as a standalone solo exercise, nor as a medium of expression for competition. Those are modern inventions. Originally, kata was created as a memory tool – so you could practice various self-defense techniques used against a violent attacker on your own. This particular philosophy of Kata is known in Japanese as "Bunkai". When used in the context of Karate, Bunkai symbolizes the process of breaking down the movements of a kata to understand how the techniques can be applied in self-defense. If you are not visualizing an attacker during your kata practice, you are not doing "Bunkai". You are doing something else.

If you don’t know the purpose of the technique, what’s the point of doing it correctly? Kata without "Bunkai" is just a dance. This program is not a dance class, nor is it an exhibition class. It focuses more on practical application of the kata, and avoids long memorizations of complex patterns.

Thus, this program de-emphasizes (but does not discard) kata. When kata is taught, foundational pieces that are in harmony with our other programs are taught, so that these different programs reinforce each other. This program also includes a Bunkai analysis of any kata taught.