Age in BJJ?

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DanMMAleague

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How much of a factor do you think age is in BJJ?

Say you have a 20 year old and a 30 year old who both start going to classes, identical physical ability, instruction and both are going to three one and a half hour classes a week.

Would you expect the 20 year old to reach blue belt faster?

Personally I think it only becomes a factor when you start training in a high volume the 30 year old is going to feel greater muscle soreness.

There are that many examples of guys improving in BJJ in their thirties in MMA that gains are undoubtedly possible.
 
I'd expect the 20 year old to realize he has no responsibilities and start going to more classes.
 
I started BJJ on my 30th birthday at around the same time as a woman in college who often matches up with me... the big difference is that I have experience in another sport and years of strength training and running behind me, so I'm in way better shape. She gasses out within a few minutes when we roll and it's no challenge.

Give it ten years, though, and I'll be over the hill and she'll be a world champion or something.
 
I think that 30 + guys that are serious about starting BJJ (going consistenly for over a year) aren't average Joes

At my club the ''older guys'' were accomplished athletes before starting BJJ.

I started at 34 but have been doing serious training for years before that. I was training everyday for the last 10 years running, kickboxing, bootcamp training...

The other older guys were training a lot like me before they started, most of them do other trainings while doing BJJ 3-4 times a week. Those other trainings help us to maintain our cardio and to avoid injuries.

In shape guys in their 30's take care of their bodies, they watch what they eat, they stretch...

I have a guy who do a 1 hour of cross fit just before the BJJ class, he's only 180 lbs and he's a challenge for everybody.

I don't say that super athletes in their 20s aren't better than 30 year olds guys, but in my experience the older bjj guys aren't average athletes.
 
Quebec Nick said:
I think that 30 + guys that are serious about starting BJJ (going consistenly for over a year) aren't average Joes

At my club the ''older guys'' were accomplished athletes before starting BJJ.

I started at 34 but have been doing serious training for years before that. I was training everyday for the last 10 years running, kickboxing, bootcamp training...

The other older guys were training a lot like me before they started, most of them do other trainings while doing BJJ 3-4 times a week. Those other trainings help us to maintain our cardio and to avoid injuries.

In shape guys in their 30's take care of their bodies, they watch what they eat, they stretch...

I have a guy who do a 1 hour of cross fit just before the BJJ class, he's only 180 lbs and he's a challenge for everybody.

I don't say that super athletes in their 20s aren't better than 30 year olds guys, but in my experience the older bjj guys aren't average athletes.
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Wow that's not me at all, started at 32, no sports experience at all, but I ran and lifted a lot beforehand so I was in shape. 36 now and honestly I outlasted most of the young whites, but there's a kid who started st with me and he kicks my ass now, both purples.
 
I eat 30 year olds for lunch. 20 year olds are just a little snack.

Just kidding... I think it makes a difference in competition. Just rolling at your home schoolit matters less. Our top white/blue belts are mostly in their 30’s.
 
I'm 45, train very regularly, and have been a blue belt for a few years now. Overall I feel pretty good about my skills and my progress. But nothing is more depressing than having to deal with younger guys. It makes a big difference when you're more or less at the same skill level.
 
bigkick said:
I'm 45, train very regularly, and have been a blue belt for a few years now. Overall I feel pretty good about my skills and my progress. But nothing is more depressing than having to deal with younger guys. It makes a big difference when you're more or less at the same skill level.
Click to expand...

What do the younger guys have over you if you are at the same skill level?

Cardio?
 
Toughest guys at my gym are the older guys.

I started at 34 and now 36. Have been consistently training 4-5 days a week if not 6 days a week.

Hard to say really. I personally feel better than I ever have been. Jiu Jitsu hardens your body and allows you to do things you never could before, assuming you stay with it.

I think people get too hung up on age sometimes. I like to joke that Sherdog is the only place that I know of where people over 30 are called ancient farts and euthanasia is implied.

Like I said, some of the people I dread rolling with (or seek out when I want a challenge) are the older guys.

Of course, there are the young college wrestlers.... but that's another beast
 
DanMMAleague said:
What do the younger guys have over you if you are at the same skill level?

Cardio?
Click to expand...

In my personal ,humble opinion, Cardio is the biggest difference between age groups.

I haven't personally noticed a huge difference in strengh between our 20 somethings and 40 somethings, IMO.
 
Evenflow80 said:
In my personal ,humble opinion, Cardio is the biggest difference between age groups.

I haven't personally noticed a huge difference in strengh between our 20 somethings and 40 somethings, IMO.
Click to expand...
Same here.

In my early 30's I've noticed that sometimes the guys in 30's and 40's sometimes feel stronger than the guys in their 20's on average. Especially if they're in the heavier weight classes they just feel a little more dense with the grown man strength to me. Guys in their early to mid 20s give me more trouble with cardio and speed. These are big generalizations though and aren't hard and fast rules. Just some trends I've noticed.
 
DanMMAleague said:
What do the younger guys have over you if you are at the same skill level?

Cardio?
Click to expand...
Speed for sure, both mental and physical; quicker recovery; perhaps less tentativeness (or fear of injury?). I can hold my own, but to do so seems to require more from me than someone 10 or 20 years younger. I don't find this particularly surprising, but it's def frustrating.
 
For average people it doesn't matter that much. An average 20 year old and an average 30 year old aren't going to be in that different of positions athletically. Where the difference comes in is athletic potential among advanced athletes. I'm 36, and I don't ever feel out-athleted by upper belts of average athleticism who are much younger than me. The age difference doesn't matter much. Where I do see it is when I'm really training hard getting ready for something alongside younger guys who are very good athletes. I simply don't gain speed, strength, or cardio as fast as those guys anymore, and I can't compete with them for very long. My ceiling isn't as high as theirs anymore.

I analogize it in terms of gears. An average 20 year old and an average 30 year old (and even maybe an athletic 40 year old) may all have the ability to run up to 4th gear, but that 20 year old could start working hard and develop a 5th, 6th, maybe 7th gear whereas the 30 year old is only going to have a 5th if they started doing a lot of hard training, and the 40 year old is probably topped out at 4.
 
yetanother said:
30 years old isn't old yet.
Click to expand...

the folks (kids) asking about the difference between 20 y/o and 30 y/o are closer to the 20 than 30 I would imagine. 30 isn't old.

Here are the fastest 5k run times for each age. You can see there's very very little drop off from age 20 to age 30 and very little slow down through the upper 30s.

20y089d 12:45.09 Daniel Komen (KEN) 17 May 1976 14 Aug 1996 Zurich SUI
21y353d 12:37.35 Kenenisa Bekele Beyeche (ETH) 13 Jun 1982 31 May 2004 Hengelo NED
22y120d 12:44.39 Haile Gebreselasie (ETH) 18 Apr 1973 16 Aug 1995 Zurich SUI
23y018d 12:40.18 Kenenisa Bekele Beyeche (ETH) 13 Jun 1982 01 Jul 2005 Saint Denis FRA
24y117d 12:41.86 Haile Gebreselasie (ETH) 18 Apr 1973 13 Aug 1997 Zurich SUI
25y056d 12:39.36 Haile Gebreselasie (ETH) 18 Apr 1973 13 Jun 1998 Helsinki FIN
26y115d 12:49.64 Haile Gebreselasie (ETH) 18 Apr 1973 11 Aug 1999 Zurich SUI
27y138d 12:51.34 Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN) 03 Mar 1986 19 Jul 2013 Fontvieille MON
28y057d 12:49.87 Paul Tergat (KEN) 17 Jun 1969 13 Aug 1997 Zurich SUI
29y320d 12:49.71 Mohamed Mourhit (BEL) 10 Oct 1970 25 Aug 2000 Brussels BEL
30y174d 12:49.04 Thomas Pkemoi Longosiwa (KEN) 14 Jan 1982 06 Jul 2012 Saint Denis FRA
31y013d 12:55.18 Paul Tergat (KEN) 17 Jun 1969 30 Jun 2000 Rome ITA
32y132d 12:49.28 Brahim Lahlafi (MAR) 15 Apr 1968 25 Aug 2000 Brussels BEL
33y019d 12:57.62 Mark Kiptoo Kosgei (KEN) 21 Jun 1976 10 Jul 2009 Rome ITA
34y046d 12:53.46 Mark Kiptoo Kosgei (KEN) 21 Jun 1976 06 Aug 2010 Stockholm SWE
35y174d 12:54.12 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 04 Jun 2010 Oslo NOR
36y222d 12:53.60 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 22 Jul 2011 Fontvieille MON
37y262d 12:59.92 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 30 Aug 2012 Zurich SUI
38y268d 12:58.99 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 06 Sep 2013 Brussels BEL
39y262d 13:06.68 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 31 Aug 2014 Berlin GER
40y168d 13:14.97 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 29 May 2015 Eugene OR USA
41y252d 13:06.78 Bernard Lagat (USA) 12 Dec 1974 20 Aug 2016 Rio de Janeiro B

The difference is the 30 year old didn't get up off the couch after 10 years of inactivity and run a sub 13 5k. He was performing at an elite level all his life. A 20 year old can get off the couch and put the cheetos away, and while he's waited too late to become a world class runner, he can improve faster than a sedentary 30 y/o would improve.

But sherdog has some weird ideas about who is old and who isn't.
 
Not the responses i expected to see in this thread. I'm 22 and everyone acts like I'm this beast mode guy who never gets tired and never swears. Its not true of course, but the 30 year old guys are lacking the cardio and are pretty easy to tire out.

Skill makes no difference, ive seen good and bad for both age groups. The only thing that makes a difference to me is the ferocity and tenacity of us younger guys. I tend to not get submit often, but I don't like tapping to discomfort (I.e. chokes on the jaw) and never unless it's fully on. A lot of the older guys i find will tap to an armbar as soon as you break their grip, meanwhile younger guys, me included, will only tap when necessary.
Probably a youthful stupidity thing.
 
Adjaar said:
Skill makes no difference, ive seen good and bad for both age groups. The only thing that makes a difference to me is the ferocity and tenacity of us younger guys. I tend to not get submit often, but I don't like tapping to discomfort (I.e. chokes on the jaw) and never unless it's fully on. A lot of the older guys i find will tap to an armbar as soon as you break their grip, meanwhile younger guys, me included, will only tap when necessary.
Probably a youthful stupidity thing.
Click to expand...

Definitely a stupidity thing. Keep that up and you may actually feel as old at age 30 as you currently imagine it is, assuming if you are even still practicing BJJ by then.
 
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