Strong and Vital No 4

Mem ories

What Has Marked Your Life ? This is the the new column in Strong & Vital magazine. These pages are not intended to be a showcase for extolling vanity or celebrating nostalgia. The aim is to recount our own life experiences that have led to an effective and successful break through and to share these with our readers. However, it is important that the respective authors are still role models today, i.e. they are still in top form at 60, 70, 80, 90, 100plus thanks to a long, responsible life Here are a few examples: You have recently founded a new company after 60, started a spor ting career, climbed a high mountain, opened a gym or health centre or a restaurant, comple ted a degree, started a new vocational training course, volunteered in the social sector or you

have distinguished yourself through special merits. The fact is: More and more people of retirement age are starting out again with enthusiasm and vigour in a variety of areas. In this regard, we would like to learn not only about your current achievement, but also about your previous history, which may not be directly related to this success. A good example of this is Rolf Wett stein, who was made redundant at 60 and opened a new gym «Fit54» in Mellin gen, Switzerland, at 61. Or the story of the Japanese woman TAKISHIMA MIKA (born in 1931), who became a personal trainer in her 70s, or Charles Eugster, (1919-2017), who became world cham pion in the 100m or 200m sprint at the age of 97 (see SaV No. 1). Who knows? « Will you be the first to reach the age of 120 in top physical condition?» You too can show that you are a role model! To break the ice, I’ll start by telling my per sonal story Incidentally, on the subject of life expectancy, SANITAS health Insurance has published a 400-page book in German in 2021. «The health of the future, HOW WE WILL LIVE HEALTHY FOR 120 YEARS.» If life expectancy is extended by so many years, it is quite conceivable to remain pro fessionally active to a certain extent into old age. The question then arises:

«How HEALTHY and FIT do people have to be at 110, 100, 90, 80, 70 and 60plus to reach this age? In various countries, there are already women and men in top form who are 90 or even 100 years old. Are you a role model for younger gene rations? Do you have something unique to report from your recent past?

Then write an e-mail to: info@strongandvital.com or

call Switzerland: +41794003322 .

JPS

To break the ice, I’ll start by telling you my personal story Most people are unaware of my sporting past. In fact, at some point I gave up the passion of my youth and for the last 44 years I have been active in the fitness and health world. But at a young age, as a 20-year-old, I spent six months under difficult conditions in Malaysia, learnt vari ous additional martial arts styles and then founded the «Goshin-Ryu» karate club in Switzerland at my KUNG FU and KARATE ACADEMY in Schlieren. I started Shotokan Karate at the age of 14 in the Glo ckenhof gym in Zurich. The teacher «Fredi» «only» had a blue belt, which was the highest belt level in Zurich back in 1968. Exactly in 1980, on 21 November, I was awarded the 5th Dan Master Black Belt in Kick Boxing in Milan by the most famous Karate and Kick Boxing trainers in Europe at the time. With this honour I was for a long time the youngest 5th Dan black belt holder in Europe in all kinds of martial arts. The WAKO founding members of 26 February 1977 in Berlin were Mike Anderson (USA), Georg Brückner (Germany 1939-1992), Marc Bigoureau (France), René Bösch (Switzerland), Karl Bernd Bock stahler (Germany), Jean-François Calmette and Harry Geerts (Belgium), Geert J. Lemmens (Germany), Zarko Modric (Yugoslavia), Jean-Pierre Schupp (Switzerland), Fons Van de Wiele (Belgium), Wolfgang Wedde (Nor way) and Bernd Zimmermann (Austria).

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STRONG and VITAL No. 4 - 2024