Rolling competitively in your 40s/50s/60s

[Nik123]

So as I steadily approach the big 4-0, I still feel somewhat competitive with the younger dudes in my gym (in terms of physical prowess according to my belt level).

For people older than me, do you guys in your mid/late 40s, 50s, even 60s feel like you can hang with the 20 year olds in your gym? Or do you think at some point you become too feeble/slow to be able to pull of most techniques against a young buck?

Interested to hear your collective thoughts.

 

[Cappy Goodtime]

I'm not old, but a majority of my training partners are in their 40s. Most of them are in better shape than the young guys because they have to be for injury maintenance and prevention.

 

[Bjoern]

I am 40 and I do BJJ for 23 years and I had the chance to roll with a lot of ollder masters like Roy Harris or Joe Moreira and all the real good guys don´t use simple strength. It is a high level of dexterity in combination with pressure by using their own bodyweight and good positioning with some isometric strength.....
And with this combination age doesn´t matter that much.

 

[Evenflow80]

Well there's that Old Man Strength which is very real.

I just turned 36 so approaching 40 quicker than ever. I do pretty damn well against everyone at my academy now, the only ones I truly struggle with even as white belts are the college age wrestlers, etc. They're tough to deal with and tend to just smash my guard

 

[Cash Bill 52]

51 and still smashing young fools...
Actually, I’m doing ok. The top guys crush me or take it easy on me. I don’t duck anybody. I train with a lot of great guys.

 

[berimBOWLoh]

Realistically most people won't be competitive in their 40s vs 20 Some things who compete all the time. That's why their are master's division

You can't train as much, as hard and it takes longer to recover on top of all the other physical disadvantages. Comparing yourself to them is a mistake to begin with

 

[Willyw]

In my gym there is two guys both 40+. Both of them ragdolls me in terms of strenght and technique.. They both emphasises the importance of additional strenght training to maintain musclemass.

Tips from the most senior purple belt (age):
1. Dont roll like a retard
2. Dont roll with retards
3. Always warm up
4. Always maintain mobility (he usually comes 10 min earlier to do more mobility)
5. Maintain strenght (he told me he lifts 2 times a week)

Seeing him roll is like seeing a 25 year athletic purple belt roll.. Age is just a number ! Im sure he will be the same in his 50`s and 60`s, if he does not get injured.

 

[kjg1672]

I'm 46 and have been training for 10 years. There's no way I can keep up with a 20-something who trains at least 4 times a week and competes. But there are probably only about 8 to 10 guys like that at my gym. Sometimes they take it easy on me, sometimes they don't. Against just about everyone else I feel like I can do fine.

In addition to BJJ I lift 3 times a week for about 30-35 minutes, do some kind of other cardio 2 to 3 times a week for about 30 minutes, and I try to stretch for 10 to 15 minutes every day. Also, I never roll hard unless I have a good sweat going. I just play defense and roll slow until I do. Sometimes this means I get subbed pretty quickly, but I don't care. I don't trust my body until I get a sweat going.

 

[Gandhi]

I am 47, came back after a layoff of over a decade (MMA focus before), I am pretty much 100% BJJ for the last year, and I am just now taking some time off due to bulging disks on my neck.

But for the last year I have been going toe to toe with the young guys. When the guys in their mid and late 30s cry about age, I just clear my throat and laugh.

Nothing makes me feel younger than tapping a 6’6" 22 year old monster who out weighs me by 50 LBS.

 

[jimglynn]

I'm 54, purple, train 6x a week and won no gi pans in 2017 (feather, masters 5). Training as much as possible with the young pros is key. In my org, RABJJ, we have some amazing small guys so I am really lucky to have high quality training partners. Age has nothing to do with quality of technique. I roll with everyone but I only go 100% with guys 160lbs and under or with my Professor. Bottom line is I never feel old, but I do feel small at 145lbs. Its imperative that you take responsibility for your own safety.

 

[Gandhi]

I'm 54, purple, train 6x a week and won no gi pans in 2017 (feather, masters 5). Training as much as possible with the young pros is key. In my org, RABJJ, we have some amazing small guys so I am really lucky to have high quality training partners. Age has nothing to do with quality of technique. I roll with everyone but I only go 100% with guys 160lbs and under or with my Professor. Bottom line is I never feel old, but I do feel small at 145lbs. Its imperative that you take responsibility for your own safety.

What the actual comp like at that age? I never know if I am going to blow through a bunch of dad bods or run into crazy ex wreslters getting over a mid life crises. I am four stripe blue (ie I think they want me to maybe get a comp in before getting the purple).

 

[jimglynn]

My experience with the IBJJF Masters comps is this- for the first two minutes an older guy is just as good as any younger guy. After that the intensity drops. IBJJF level there are no dad bods and chances are good you might get an ex-wrestler.

 

[Bigboot]

44yr old brown belt I don’t duck anyone at our gym but a know a few of the younger purples and browns that are my size start off going easy when we start but there intensity goes up quickly as soon as I pass one of the new lapel guards that that they are working on doesn’t work. There young so ego kicks in pretty quick. If I start to get tired I’ll work my defense to catch a break because where I train there really isn’t any easy rolls. Am I going to win worlds at Brown no do I care no I’m just enjoying the journey.

 

[KikoJones]

52 year old Purple that trains 3-4 times a week. I absolutely do not recover like I used to. Every year it seems harder and harder to hang with the Blues. I don't kid myself. I don't have the time to stay "competition" ready.
I enjoy teaching more than I enjoy competing.

 

[sb413197]

Well there's that Old Man Strength which is very real.

I just turned 36 so approaching 40 quicker than ever. I do pretty damn well against everyone at my academy now, the only ones I truly struggle with even as white belts are the college age wrestlers, etc. They're tough to deal with and tend to just smash my guard

Ugh, tell me about it. There's just a PROBLEM with dealing with young athletic wrestlers as an older grappler. It's weird because other young guys seem to so better with them - but dealing with that athleticism, infinite cardio, intensity and balance is a bit of a problem for me as an older grappler - it sadly just shuts down a lot of what I do.

The advice on this board for me was to go for "double attacks" - wrestlers seem amazing on shutting down a single obvious threat but when you attack two things they often will make a big error (unless they are an upper belt themselves, then you are just screwed haha)

I've really been working on my deep half guard lately and that seems to work pretty well against wrestlers. And sure enough threatening two or three things at the same time does indeed work.

 

[jimglynn]

We have a few guys who have 15 plus years wrestling so essentially they are "black belts" in wrestling. When you put that into perspective it changes the calculus of why they are such tough white or blue belts. They are excellent grapplers period. I have learned so much of the subtle nuances of foot placement, shoulder pressure, etc from asking these guys to break down all the moving parts of a full on scramble. I highly recommend it. Seasoned wrestlers are a wealth of knowledge.

 

[Nik123]

Great insight gents - keep it coming!

 

[Dogstarman]

44yr old brown belt I don’t duck anyone at our gym but a know a few of the younger purples and browns that are my size start off going easy when we start but there intensity goes up quickly as soon as I pass one of the new lapel guards that that they are working on doesn’t work. There young so ego kicks in pretty quick. If I start to get tired I’ll work my defense to catch a break because where I train there really isn’t any easy rolls. Am I going to win worlds at Brown no do I care no I’m just enjoying the journey.

I’m a 43 year old brown belt. Some young guys just have a crazy ego and want to beat the brown belt old man. Two years ago I was passing a guys guard with my hand on a guys thigh. He didn’t want me to pass so he exploded with all his might. My hand was caught in some gi material and broke my wrist.

I will add this guy has been kicked out of few gyms for being overly aggressive. He slammed and injured a female purple belt at another gym. The owner asked him to leave and never come back. Guy has no technique just brute strength.

 

[vcmmafan]

Well there's that Old Man Strength which is very real

Except biologically strength (even GRIP strength) absolutely declines with age in every metric...

 

[EGDM]

Except biologically strength (even GRIP strength) absolutely declines with age in every metric...

It's about the last thing to go, though. "Old man strength" is relative to everyone's expectation of your total decrepitude. You surprise the shit out of them by being only mostly decrepit.