The Older Grappler's Guide to Aging Gracefully

Do you have a newfound love of jiu jitsu that your body can't seem to keep up with? Or are you a Wiley veteran that is still giving the young bucks a run for their money? Or maybe you're somewhere in between but also have many priorities outside of BJJ. Let this episode be your blueprint to success in grappling as an aging lad.
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Chapters

• 0:00 The Older Grappler's Guide Introduction
• 1:27 Mobility: Essential Body Maintenance
• 5:45 Age Awareness: Managing Risk and Recovery
• 10:00 Selective Rolling: Choosing Training Partners Wisely
• 17:17 Less Jiu-Jitsu, More Gym Training
• 25:54 Building Your Recovery Pit Crew

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Essentially, at this point, the fight is over, so you pretty much flow with the goal. Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? I'm ready. The older grappler's guide to grappling success. Now, you know, you've been doing jujitsu a while, you know, and the body's feeling it, and you're over 30. And there's some things that you need to do which are going to ensure you stay in the game and you succeed, and some of them are not obvious and we're going to get into them right now. So this, I'm just thinking too, this could be relevant as well, even if you were new to it at an older age, right For sure. And I think the thing is we tend to notice it later in the game, in terms of being older and doing jujitsu, just because recovery gets harder for different reasons, you know, and so we're not going to harp on that. But for those of you out there who, uh, yeah, you love jujitsu, but you're, it's taking a toll on the body, we've got to do some stuff different and it will mean you feel better and you grapple better. So number one I'm going to say is mobility. Now, this seems kind of obvious, but I want to frame it in a way that's more relatable Mobility in terms of body maintenance. We've got to accept that jujitsu as much as we go.

Speaker 1: 1:45

Oh, jiu-jitsu lifestyle so good for your body, it comes at a cost. Jiu-jitsu breaks your body down. Yeah, it's fucked for your body. Yeah, and I've seen this in the comments of people like man listening to you guys, it sounds like you're trying to talk people out of doing jiu-jitsu. It's like no, no, no, no, not at all. But we're trying to keep it real. We're trying to be honest and say jujitsu breaks your body down. Therefore, you need something that's going to restore and simply spending not a lot of time I'm not saying a lot of time, I'm not saying you've got to take up yoga, no, pilates, it's just a bit of time and attention on problem areas will mean that you come back to jiu-jitsu less achy, more able and you can just enjoy life more.

Speaker 1: 2:33

This is the context I'm putting it in because, as somebody who has absolutely pushed my body as far as it can go and will work myself to absolute physical disability when you stop and I think we saw this a little bit when COVID set in the early COVID, people weren't able to train so much. People were like, oh my God, I feel really good. Yeah, body feels great, fucking sleeping great, sleeping good, elbows aren't sore. I feel like having sex again. Wow, yeah, it's kind of feeling a bit perky, just with myself. Yeah, and, and that's the thing, and I and I and I feel that, for the best part, covid was the best thing that could happen to your recovery. You, for that first month of you, were so recovered.

Speaker 1: 3:18

But that's the thing, and I'm not I'm not saying, don't train, but doing the maintenance is a key part of being that older grappler. Yeah, I also think that, um, as we get older I don't I don't even think of this as, like you are getting older, I just think of that you have like more runs on the board, right, yeah, more mileage, and so your body has been on this planet for longer and you've accumulated more, fucking more issues. Now, these issues are not necessarily drastically huge things, but let's say, like we can all acknowledge that we get a little bit tight through the hips from sitting down a lot. Sure, when you're 20 years old, you've only been sitting down for like 12 years. Yeah, when you're 40, you've been sitting down for like 32 years. It's a long time You've been fucking sitting, a long, you know, in chairs, you know, and, depending on what you're doing for work, you've been swinging a hammer or you've been at a computer for fucking 20 years, and so there's an accumulation of imbalance and chronic tightness that comes with all of that and so, and even if you're someone that's looked after themselves, you've been pushing weights, playing sports, doing the thing that creates its own level of tightness and exactly and so. So, yeah, having having the mobility practice is it becomes more important as you get older, um, and it's really the thing that just allows you to extract better enjoyment and performance from all physical pursuits.

Speaker 1: 4:40

Definitely, and I'm not, I'm not saying that you have to do something wild and crazy and new. I'm talking 15 minutes of focus things to get your crooked bits straight. You know, if you know it's your ankles, you got to put a little bit of time in around the ankles so you can squat better, or or or, or pass or do stand up better. Or if you know that you've got shoulder issues, you got a bit of spend a bit of time warming that bad boy up so that you can just enjoy jujitsu the way. You want. Shameless plug on that. If you don't know what to do, go to the app store, download our app and you get two weeks free and do the mobility foundation program and off you go. It does help. It definitely does help having because some people don't know what to do. So yeah, that that can help.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Well, we fucking built that shit. Yes, sir, yes, sir, have you have you got one? Um you? So there's a feeling in jujitsu where we're all like, when you're on the mats in your training, where it's all kind of ageless and this is the really nice thing about it, right, you got you know and ageless and like classless and all of that, all that stuff that's sort of prevalent in our day to day life. Um is sort of stripped away when you, when you're training, and so you know there's there's older people there and younger people and that one's a student and that one's a fucking you know whatever owns a fortune 500 company and you got everything in between, um, and it's amazing and it's such a beneficial thing.

Speaker 1: 6:02

However, you need to be acutely aware that you cannot put your body on the line like this 18 year old can Agreed, and once you've been grappling for a while. I think the reality of this hits you and you either heed the message and adapt or you get forced out. But I think where the danger is for this is the person who's the, the mature age human, who's new to grappling sure, and they're like oh, this is so much fun, I'm having such a great time and I've seen this. You know, yeah, with like, like like a parent, right, well, I remember we had this with a, with a mother advantage and she's like a mother of three kids and whatever, and she found jujitsu and she could only come to the like advanced class, yeah, and it's all like me and other men getting after it and she was totally looked after there. Sure, she was just like she should have been in a beginner's class, yeah, and it's like, and I'm, and I'm like, hey, and she's like, oh, my god, I've never done anything like this. And and you're like, okay, great, love it, you can't fucking keep going like this, you know. But so, yeah, like understanding that you are more likely to get injured than them. If you do get injured, it's going to cost you more than it costs them because you've got a job and a family and shit.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Really understanding that you're going to find yourself in a dangerous situation. Yeah, you're betting your joints against Wolverine. Yeah, someone with mutant healing factor. You don't want to be like in a heel hook shootout with somebody who you pop their knee and they just go, ah, it's fine, and then suddenly your knee blows up bigger than a basketball and you've got to have $40,000 worth of surgery. That's not a fair bet.

Speaker 1: 7:48

So that's not really talked about in jiu-jitsu, because we do love this idea of the ageless classless. You're a purple belt, I'm a purple belt as long as I got more skills or we got skills. It doesn't matter who you are, it's kind of a myth. It doesn't matter who you are, it's kind of a myth. The unspoken downside of that is that the cost is different for each person. Your risk tolerance is greater or lesser than based on your life. Now you might have really other good parts of your life that this kind of mat rat jiu-jitsu person doesn't have.

Speaker 1: 8:24

But you know what they got on their side Autism and youth and they are going to snap your ligaments. That's right. And if you fuck them up, they're just going to go home, smoke a bunch of bongs, yep, and they're going to come back the next day and the shit will have grown back. Yeah, pretty much. And you're out for months. Oh yeah, no, I'm fine. Yeah, I was really sorry. I'm good now. Yeah, it's so funny. It's like those memes where it's like somebody is like sleeping on a gutter with a cigarette out of their mouth. It's like me at 21, like passed out, and it's like me at 35 can't sleep on a mattress unless my pillow is perfect, like you know this kind of bullshit, yeah. And it's tolerance for the physical demand yeah, so we just got to factor that in. That's important.

Speaker 1: 9:11

I'm going to say this now and it's funny that I already had it in my mind, but it was reinforced by our discussion the other day about the master's category. Is this idea of more skills, practice and less just free rolling, because what you're doing is you're minimizing risk, you're not eliminating it by going to a familiar position to practice an escape or a defense or whatever it might be? That level of just limiting or imposing a control is it means the game is better understood. It's more clearly stated between the two of us that you have a clear objective and you're only going to do a certain amount of things. And I have a clear objective and I'm only going to do a certain amount of things. You're not just going to suddenly jump guard on me. Yeah, you know, and I think working on skills can be very satisfying.

Speaker 1: 10:01

I'm not just talking like just drilling a movement. I'm saying specific training to work on your success or at doing the skill or defending of a skill, develops your jujitsu with a reduced risk compared to just open sparring. What's your thoughts on that, joe? Yeah, I think that's huge and I mean I've I mentioned to you that this is something I've reflected on as being more beneficial for myself and it narrows like it not only sort of narrows down the scope for potential injury, but it actually narrows your focus technically, which makes it easier for you to learn something. And I really like, even for me as a black belt, I can go and do three or four rounds in a class and just think like what the fuck did I get out of that? I just, I just rolled, I just did a fucking bunch of shits, you know, and I was reactive, and whereas if you do five minutes of positional work with a partner, you you're automatically going into that with a very clear intention, makes you more mindful and like the times where I've done more of it, my jujitsu improves like the needle is pushed, like dramatically, you know, in a short space of time. Yeah, so, yeah, I absolutely agree with that.

Speaker 1: 11:17

Yeah, so, just that idea of skills, practice, specific training, constraints based games, if you will. However you want to frame it, being able to just reduce the scope of the jiu-jitsu enables you to get more from it, and that actually means less injury, more skill. And this is going to lead me to another different point. But also on that being selective with who you roll, that's the kind of little, that's what I was going to drop, sorry. Another different point. But also on that being selective with who you roll, that's the kind of little, but I was going to drop, sorry. So let's go there. Yeah, well, yeah, the it sort of ties in with all of it.

Speaker 1: 11:56

But this time this ageless, timeless thing as well, of like I just roll with anyone in the session. Yeah, there are people like there's a kid in there who goes to uni, who just rips it up from like wednesday to night at the pub and goes to uni and has never even thought about what life might be like when they've got like two full-time jobs and a family to feed. They don't care Right and they're never even considered. How might my niece feel when I'm 45 years old and so? And now, and they've just finished a round where they've been going hell for leather with one of their favorite trainers, and, and they've just finished a round where they've been going hell for leather with one of their favorite trainers, and now you're next up and you've made eyes with them and they're like let's go next on the chopping block Now.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Very well that you might want to facilitate that. The very least you can do is to say oh, hey, before we roll, just want to let you know I'm not looking to go hell for leather, I'm fucking. I've only been training X amount like some basic communication about hey, just so you know, man, I'm not you, you know, and I, and I don't even think that that's necessarily a great, I don't think it's going to save you, no, but I think it's going to help at the very. If you, if you're like, look labels on this show, at least talk to who you're training with to let them know. Brother, I get in here twice a week and it's my little chance to fucking break a sweat. You know, be merciful. I think the gold standard there is. Just don't be in that situation. Don't roll with that cunt.

Speaker 1: 13:19

I've got someone in mind and I won't name him a blonde headed, handsome young man, just a gun. He caught me when I was at venice. This is, uh, maybe, uh, two years ago, jonas. Oh fuck, you shouldn't have named him. Yeah, you know, you know. Okay, so I love jonas, because actually this catches everyone. This is not jonas, but jonas is a fucking gun.

Speaker 1: 13:40

But are you just thinking, like just this free-spirited young man, it's fucking literally just got off a wave, yeah, yeah, like literally just surfed, hopped off the wave, had some unprotected sex yeah, just fucking, you know, smoked a joint, snorted some Adderall Still in the mushes from yesterday, studied astrophysics and then just triangled. You, yeah, what the fuck is going on here? Like this guy that is a wild, young, free spirit who doesn't think about any repercussions other than fuck. I love life and that's a great energy to be around Like, that is the amazing thing. I want to be there.

Speaker 1: 14:15

But that guy could herniate every disc in your neck, and not with no bad intention, he is the the. I love that guy. I was like I wish I was more like that guy when I was 21. I fucking wasn't, but I kind of want to. I want to tap into that. Being around people like that is so great, but it's dangerous. That guy not because he has bad intentions, just because he's ripping everything in life, he's fucking ripping. And you're just like, look, I've just been to the chiropractor and I've got to do my fucking chin tucks. And you know, you have to do so much to get right as you get older to enjoy that sense of freedom, and this guy's just like all right, let's go.

Speaker 1: 14:56

The number one thing that's going to threaten your ability to continue training jujitsu is injury, and the single most important thing you can do to reduce your chances of injury is to follow a structured strength and mobility program designed for grapplers. This is exactly why we created the Bulletproof for BJJ app Simple programs to build strength and flexibility for grapplers like you. Go to the app store now, search Bulletproof for BJJ and start your two-week free trial, and once you're in there, if you don't love it, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee. We'll see you on the inside. You know, I'm going to add something to that too, which I think is an important thing to mention, and I think that this plays into, say, your scenario with someone like him yeah, whereby and this is really like say, you've got some grappling experience. Or just say you are a physically imposing adult, sure, right, you've been lifting weights, you've been doing other athletic shit. Yeah, you're a handful, right? Yeah, if you're, if you're.

Speaker 1: 15:59

And this, this, this definitely is the case for women too, and I think this is why it often ends up. Women end up in shitty situations where guys are putting too much heat on them on on the mats. Um, if someone who's half decent at jujitsu is having a hard time submitting you because you're a fucking strong cunt and you just keep pushing, then they're going to keep turning up the dial, dialing up, dialing up, dialing up Exactly. And if you've got someone like and not like Jonas Jonas is quite skillful, he is, and I think he's gentle when the training partner is Appropriately but you've got that person who is young and oblivious to their inherent athleticism and their speed and all of that and the fucking viciousness of some of the techniques they know and you're making it hard for them they're going to keep turning up the dial. And this is when you get caught in something that you didn't know you were caught in and they're going at fucking 12 out of 10 and you're like, oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, stop. You know, shoulder, whatever, and I mean that's a real tricky one, right, right. But I think it's important for cats to realize, because I'm not saying that you should just let people walk all over you, but there is something to realize when you're making it hard for someone who's half decent, they do dial it up. Yeah, what's your? How would your approach be Like? What would your advice be in that situation?

Speaker 1: 17:16

Speaking to your point there, joe, I feel like every person you roll has a cost. You know, like a price tag. You look at certain things. You're like, ooh, that's a that might be a little bit out of my budget today. The problem is, if you don't know the person, you know if you, if it's not clear, this is $250 and you're only willing to spend 25, you know, like you gotta, you gotta, walk in and jack out.

Speaker 1: 17:43

I'm going to play blackjack at this table. No, this is not where you play. The risk is too high, and I think that it's not always clear, because it's not necessarily because they're a lot better at jujitsu than you, it's just because they're willing to risk more. You know what I mean. Yeah, and I think your analogy of blackjack because we are gambling, we're like which I think was Eddie Murphy is like he's like he's talking about having sex with different people. He's like, oh, herpes are crapped out, my dick fell off. You know that kind of thing. You're betting your knees against somebody who maybe has really flexible knees. That's not, it's not a good bet. And you're also you might be, you might be willing to take the risk, but, like we said before, like it it's just going to cost you more.

Speaker 1: 18:25

So when I look at a person, I often do this little mental math of like, how much is this going to cost me in energy? How sore am I going to be tomorrow? Like, what is what am I really going to be paying for here? Yeah, and I have enough experience to know, and I think that the older grappler, you have to start to understand yourself better. When you're younger in the game, it doesn't matter, you don't need to know shit, you just got to get at it. But to ensure your long-term success as an older grappler, understand yourself, understand your training partners and know that if you're going to go hard against that young blue belt or purple belt, they're going to come back and it's going to cost you, you. Actually it's a really good point there, because, because you, it's not, it's not all about them, no, it's understanding, like you, exactly like you said, it's understanding yourself and knowing, like, say, with someone like that, where you're like, if they start pushing me, I'm going to start pushing back. Yeah, and that's when you get into the danger zone. Yeah, right, and so, knowing that, into the danger zone, rest in peace.

Speaker 1: 19:27

Val kilmer. True, fucking ice man died only a couple of weeks ago, fucking 63. Yeah, throat, it wasn't the throat. In the end they said no, really. Well, they said that he got. Did you see the documentary about him? He's got past that. Well, yeah, that was top gun too, right, yeah, they did, but they just wrapped his neck up. He didn't have anybody. Yeah, he had the fucking computer thing. Yeah, but no, they said it was pneumonia, which from is usually caused by something else breaking down, isn't it? But sure, yeah, it's super sad, um, but anyway, back to my original point.

Speaker 1: 19:57

There's people I know that if I roll with them, it's going to take me to that place where I'm going to end up hyper competitive and kind of like triggered almost, and so if I feel like I want to go there and I'm like this is good for me to do a bit of this, I will, but more often than not these days I'm like I don't want to go there. Yes, because that is where you tend to tap late, it is where you tend to take greater risks, it is where you tend to scramble that little bit harder, overreach With reckless abandon. Yeah, and that's where I'm fucking. Shit snaps, it can, it can. Look.

Speaker 1: 20:28

I have one major last point which is going to maybe seem a little counterintuitive, but stay with me now, folks. So I'm going to say less jujitsu, more gym. Why am I saying this? Let's step to the side of jujitsu for a second and look at the popularity of TRT.

Speaker 1: 20:50

Older men and women are reaching for assistance with their hormones. Right, and now I am not someone who endorses this, but whatever you do it and it works for you and you feel good happy days. We all know that as we age, through stress, through life, hormones can kind of go down poor diet, poor sleep, all of the stresses of life, and that people that I've spoken to, who take trt, they feel renewed energy, they feel a bit fucking. You can see it in God. You just put on five kilos of muscle from nowhere. How the fuck did that happen? And it's not that their testosterone is way over, it's just come back to a good level and they're feeling great. They're feeling younger.

Speaker 1: 21:34

You can create this by lifting weights. You can be healthier, be younger and do all these things through a consistent weight routine. Now, like I said at the start, jujitsu breaks your body down and I believe that if you want to train three days a week and you're older, you actually need to spend more time in the gym. You've got to spend more time building your body up and really weight training is the thing that's going to encourage that protein synthesis, help your hormones, strengthen your ligaments, strengthen your tendons and also just give you more youth and energy for life, not just jiu-jitsu. So I'm going to say right now that it would be better for your quality of life and jiu-jitsu to do a bit less jiu-jitsu and a bit more weights.

Speaker 1: 22:21

And even though I know a lot of jujitsu instructors be fucking hating me for it, if you don't have a regular weights routine, you're in, you know, you're plus of 35, 40, you get in the 50s wherever you're at for life, even if you didn't do jujitsu, it will serve you to be lifting weights two or three times a week. You're still paying a weekly membership. So two or three times a week, you're still paying a weekly membership. So, coaches, at the end of the day they'll be fine, yeah, but I'm saying that often coaches really don't like it. If you say, hey, you should do less jiu-jitsu, oh, I'm not coming in tomorrow because I've got to go do some lifting, because the Bulletproof Boy said it's actually better for my longevity. Fuck those motherfuckers, fuck those guys. What do they think they're? Yeah, I'd agree.

Speaker 1: 22:59

And I think, as a sort of tack on to my original point about the ageist timeless thing, it's very easy to get caught up in thinking, oh, we're all training five days a week, like this is what jiu-jitsu is. You show up every day. Yeah, maybe for a very small percentage of adults you can maintain a schedule like that, but most won't be able to, and so the juice is not worth the squeeze. It's better that you finish your third session of the week being like fuck, I can't wait to get back in there in a couple days' time so that you have some time to go lift weights than it is. You just burn out on jiu-jitsu, because the people that do tend to not last very long. No, and that's the hardest thing, because you don't see it immediately, until you're like, oh, where's Gary? I don't know. He's had some time off.

Speaker 1: 23:49

What happened to that guy? He doesn't come back. It's not that he just got his blue belt, it's that, yeah, he actually ruptured one of his ligaments and he's bulged a disc. And now dude can't put his shoes on and he's bulged a disc. And and now dude can't put his shoes on and he's questioning his motivation to do this crazy thing. Yeah, it's the survivorship bias of those in the academy, that's it.

Speaker 1: 24:06

Well, we're all here. Well, they must just be quitters. They don't have the warrior spirit, they don't have a father's mindset, bro, I mean, fuck all of that. We're all human and you know, I I, as someone who does like to push something to an extreme, I regularly find it and it's painful, and it's kind of fucking stupid, because I already know that on the other side of me, getting 1% more out of this, I might go to zero. I might just fucking break my back, I might just pop my ankle and I'm like again. My brain's like we're doing this again. The fuck is wrong with you and I'm like it seemed like it was fun at the time, yeah, but you're fucking 42, idiot. What the fuck are you thinking? I don't know.

Speaker 1: 24:55

So you can call it ego, youthful naivety vibe, whatever you might say. We want naivety vibe, whatever you might say. We want for you to be happy and healthy and love your jujitsu. And so therefore, as a result, there's just a couple of things that people are not talking about that you do need to do, and that's what we're, that's what we're getting into here. And look, it doesn't take a lot of time. That's. That's the thing that I'm really happy about that me now having more responsibilities. I'm more efficient, I waste less time because I can't just stand around in the gym and talk shit with the boys. I just can't, and I'm not being any social, I just but but fist bump, yeah, boys woo, tear it up. See you fucking later. I gotta go home and sort my shit out like I can't. I just can't be there, but I actually find it's better. I don't. I don't think, oh fuck, where did the last five hours go? I don't do that now, and I believe this is the upside of being the older grappler If you have those priorities and you've sorted yourself out, you can be more efficient.

Speaker 1: 25:52

I believe that I'm going to add one in. I'm going to add one in, please. You need, absolutely need, like your health specialists on hand ready to go. Oh, you need to need your physio, you need a chiro, whatever those people are. You need to know where you can get a fucking an affordable mri. Yep, you need that shit because you are going to get injured and you need to be able to fucking go. Hey brother, I twist my knee busted myself. I've been. Can I come in? Yep, okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Great, yet get to the bottom of it. Get, get some treatment, get a rehab plan Like.

Speaker 1: 26:22

Delays in that stuff often lead to not fulfilling those steps and making it worse. Yeah, you go back to and then, before you know it, you've had this bad knee for two years now and it's going to. It's going to pull you out of the game or it's going to be a fucking handbrake forever. So having those people that can help you with that shit is paramount. Yeah, your pit crew. You know it's for me. I'm not into like any kind of car racing or anything like that. But when you see those teams, when the car comes in and like tenders and they go like I can't even, I can't even find a pair of socks that fast, these guys have just restocked, retired and sorted out like space level technology cars and really your body is like that and if you have the routines and you have the help, it can be a much.

Speaker 1: 27:12

Something that might seem something that could just write you off, could just be a minor setback. It doesn't have to be the end of your jujitsu If you have people who give you the right advice. The difficulty is, if you don't have the right advice and the right people, you can just waste so much time being in pain. That's what sucks being in pain, being on the couch, having FOMO, missing your mates at the gym and not getting better at jujitsu. And just by investing that little bit of time to track down a good physio or a good massage therapist or have a doctor you trust who's not going to fucking gouge you for an x-ray you don't need or whatever the fuck. This is going to mean that you get more jujitsu, less time on the couch, less time stuck not being able to use your body and a better life.

Speaker 1: 27:59

Final last point from me, from Steve Maxwell, who is the godfather of older grapplers. Oh yes, 70s, still training, still traveling the world. He has the head of a sage-like old man, but the body of a of a much younger man, a 30 or 40 year old, yeah, and he says tap early, tap often, yeah, and it fuck. I still haven't been able to enact that advice, but someday soon I'm going to take that on, steve. Shout out. Steve Maxwell, the true, the true OG. Oh, there it is, folks, the, the older grapplers guide to grappling success. If you have more questions around these longevity bits and pieces, reach out to us, put it in the comments, comments. Here's an Instagram. Let us know. We are here for you and we want to help, so let us know, fam.