Martial arts isn't perceived as a sport that older persons take up for staying in shape, but for those seniors already involved in it, it's quite simply a link to their youth and one of the things that distinguishes them from others who are just sitting around and letting Father Time do a slow number on their bodies.

One Las Vegas resident who has been involved in various martial arts over the past 37 years is Frank Pacheco, a 65-year-old Spring Valley resident who has a second-degree black belt, and who has trained for 11 years under the tutelage of Jack Soderberg, founder of the Create Develop & Flow Academy of Martial Arts, 101 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 10.