September 14th, 2023
"Beware Of The Old Guy In The Corner"
As you spend more time doing BJJ, and the years pass, the one thing that will become crystal clear to you is that you are getting………OLDER! I know this is a thought that most of us try to ignore, and pretend it is not happening. Then one day you wrap your black belt around your waist, and proceed to get mauled by an athletic 30 year old purple belt during training, and you feel as though you should give your belt back. It has happened to most of us older black belts.
It has taken me a few years to grasp the fact that age does matter. With that said there are things we can do as older experienced grapplers to help slow down the BJJ aging process.
Trust your technique. You have spent years learning and perfecting these techniques, so trust they work and be confident. Slow the pace of the round with control and be patient. You are wearing a huge target on your back (it comes with your black belt), and younger lower belts will come hard trying to find their place in the pecking order of the school. They will throw their best stuff at you early. Weather this storm and then get to work.
Supplement your training. This means doing some work away from the mats. I personally have found kettlebells, swing (Bulgarian) bags and mobility to work to be very beneficial. Remember, we are not trying to be world champs at “working out”. Our goal is to prepare our bodies to stay injury free. Adding flexibility, strength and some conditioning will not only benefit you when rolling with the “young guns”, but also help you in your everyday life.
Take time to Recover. This can mean many things. Sometimes it is as simple as listening to your body, realizing you are a little beat up and worn down, and making the decision to rest. I know for me 4 days of hard/good sparring a week is my sweet spot. When I was younger my volume of training rounds was much higher. Sometimes as much as 7 days a week, but as I get older, I find the recovery is more beneficial than the extra rounds. If you want to be on the mat everyday try drilling, teaching, or working on new techniques. Recovering also means doing therapeutic modalities to help speed up the recovery process. Ice baths, foam rollers, electric muscle stimulation and Graston Technique are just a few things you can do to help.
Life vs. BJJ Balance. We hear “work/life balance” all the time. But for us involved in BJJ it becomes more of a life/BJJ balance. Keeping your life in order off the mats will help you mentally and emotionally. Having a strong relationship with your significant other, your children, your non BJJ friends and your job will have positive effects for you on the mats. I have told many people over my 20 plus years of training BJJ that my BJJ goes as my life goes. If my personal life is off, so is my BJJ game. Getting to a point where your relationships are solid, and you are not bringing negative thoughts and energy with you to the mats, will allow you to focus only on BJJ for your time on the mats and allow you to have fun. We will always have negatives in our life but work to fix them and watch your BJJ improve as those relationships do as well.
Be the Alpha (but not a Jerk). When you train do not allow the young bucks to get ahead. You are better than they are technically and sometimes you need to show them that. I had a very high level black belt come teach a seminar at the school I used to own. He trained with everyone, and one by one destroyed each of us. After training we were chatting and I asked him about his mindset. He told me he always goes first. He wants to press his dominance on you right from the start. White belt or black belt it didn’t matter. This is not to say he did not allow you to “work”, but from the get-go he let it be known he was better than you. Remember this next time you sit on your butt to start a round, and end up in an aggressive 25-year-old blue belts side control. You did it to yourself. Be first and set the tone. This does not mean smashing everyone just for fun, because nobody improves that way. It does mean to keep a good position and show them what proper pressure and timing feels and looks like.
Getting older in BJJ is something that we all must come to grips with at some point. With that said, there are things we can do to slow down the process. Train hard, train smart and enjoy your time on the mats! There is a reason you earned that grey beard and black belt. You have age, wisdom, and crooked fingers to show for it. Thanks for reading!