Better on the body, long term: BJJ or Wrestling

[Southland]

Are people more likely (physically able) to train wrestling or BJJ as they age? Let's say even with a career in MMA.

I hear of wrestlers with bad knees/backs, which in my estimation takes away much of the power of wrestling and makes it almost impossible to truly train late in life. This may be a bad example and not characteristic of wrestling but rather a life of MMA in general and even true of BJJ players. My state is one of the few (only) that does not have wrestling and thus my understanding is very limited. It just appears that BJJ, with its positives and negatives for MMA, would allow the practitioner to practice longer and at a higher level in it's respective sport post-MMA.

I know this is a general question that would depend upon many factors but I'd appreciate hearing discussion. Yes, there is cross training now and no I don't intend this to be a style vs. style thread, just generalizations.

 

[jack36767]

If you are in Mississippi it would be much more beneficial to do bjj and get quality instruction than whatever shitty wrestling instruction you would get

 

[These Two Hands]

Everything you do takes a toll on your body. I think it is really more of a question of how you're training in whichever establishment you wind up with, and what kind of active management, injury prevention, mobility/flexibility/joint fluidity stuff you are doing in your own time as well rather than which style will take more of a toll on your body.

I only know a limited amount of wrestlers, but those I do know all started young and have incredible spinal flexibility and mobility. So anecdotally at least it would suggest that wrestling is not necessarily going to inherently cause back problems, in fact in some cases it may go a long ways to preventing them. Then again, other wrestlers whom you know of may have encountered back problems - we come around full circle to the point I brought up initially, then, I believe.

The last thing I would like to say to you, TS, is to keep in mind that - as I said above - everything you do in life takes it's toll upon your body. The question you need to ask yourself is, is the joy that activity brings to your life, the sense of fulfillment you derive from it, worth that toll to you personally or not? A lot of times it will be. Do what makes you happy, undertaken in as mindful and careful a fashion as you can manage, and enjoy the time you have in this world.

Please do let us know how you get on, what you end up deciding, and how you're finding it down the track. Happy training, brother.

 

[Southland]

A little clarification: I am a BJJ guy and plan on doing it the rest of my life. I have neither the desire nor option to take up wrestling. My question is more in reference to if one is more "easy on the body" in general.

I have been studying the superiority, in my estimation, of the wrestling takedowns, for example, and can't help but note the unparalleled cardio, strength, and just general toughness of wrestlers in MMA. It caused me to simply be curious as to how rough it is on the body and if what it took to get the glory in MMA would come back to haunt them as opposed to a BJJ guy who may give up certain obvious strengths of wrestling that you cannot simply acquire by cross training (wrestlers do it for years and have muscles in their spit). This, would be an advantage to a life long pursuit of BJJ, in my estimation.

I agree, however, everything has risks and you have to make wise decisions. Great thought.

Thanks for both of your responses, btw.

 

[Forceof1]

I'd avoid judo then.

 

[HtomSirveaux]

Falling a lot, even on mats, takes its toll, and there's probably a higher chance of freak injuries fighting for and defending takedowns live, but you should be doing that in bjj too unless you're in a shit academy. For bjj, guard players can run into a lot of back and hip problems later in life.

 

[Dirty Holt]

There is a huge distinction between wrestling and BJJ: Wrestling is way more competition oriented, and there are far more competition outlets for wrestling than BJJ.

For example, I was a decent wrestler. I was not world or Olympic champion. I guarantee you I have had more wrestling matches than Roger Gracie and Galvao have had combined in BJJ. There are wrestlers out there who had more matches than the legend status BJJ guys before they even hit highschool. I promise you, that is not hyperbole. I had teammates in college who EASILY had over a thousand matches before hitting 10th grade in wrestling.

I had a girl last weekend wrestle 10 matches in an 18 hour window. Thats more matches than Buchecha has had this year. BJJ athletes are far more selective in what they do and how they peak. Not because they are smarter or weaker, but because they athlete pool of upper echelon guys competing wont allow huge brackets. Add in single elimination and you have less chances to step on the mat at full clip with something on the line. That drastically reduces injuries in matches and because training intensity is way lower when you arent competing so much.

You put any of these BJJ guys in 100 matches a year for 10+ years where you cant hide behind belt levels, and you will see it is just as hard on your body as wrestling, if not harder.

 

[Leglockaaa]

BJJ no doubt! Wrestling is way more grueling on every level.

 

[joe447]

I would say BJJ. Im kinda particle to it though. but Ive never met someone that trains BJJ that hasn't been injured somehow even if it was minor.