I'm a 24 year old fighting game player.
5 years ago I've been beaten a lot online and could only defeat scrubs and barely get by.
I've found since I have gotten older that I can pick up on things faster/easier. I can usually hold my own against the high ranks and the 7000+ matches veterans now.
For the most part I just have a lot of spare time practicing combos, playing matches online, and in the odd now and then I do play around with beating games on the highest difficulty.
I also make Tool assisted movies at TASVideos.org and have some more plans to try to break the mold to get more fighting game interest with their current audience.