Started January 2022 at the ripe age of 39. Thanks to similar podcasts like those you mentioned, I figured if I didn't start before 40 I never would. Been going 5-6 days a week for most of the time since then, did two comps, and still a white belt. But it's ok. I give blues a real hard time and similarly aged purples gotta bring their A game and not be sloppy or give me too much space. I wish I'd found this sport earlier in life but I like to tell people it found me when I was ready for it. My wife loves doin it, our two daughters go three days a week... it's really been a blessing 🤙 I also had a rib injury about two months ago. Defending an armbar, I tried swinging my legs around to sit up and stack the person. As I did the side crunch there was a POP. Worst pain I've ever felt in my life and now I've got a lump where the cartilage regrew hah. Couldn't sleep on my side for about two weeks, that was a hard adjustment as a side sleeper. After three weeks I could kind of drill a few times a week, but now I'm back at it 5-6 days. Bit of a double edged sword obsession, eh?
42y old black belt here (18y of bjj experience) - The amount of injuries in this comment section is worrying. The only two things I got was a little knee injury and some minor problems with my neck, due to tapping too late when I was younger. I still compete in adult divisions of Grappling Industries and local ADCC shows. Longest brake was about 1,5 months. The key to longetivity in my experience is: -Find training partners you can absolutely trust. Take care of them, they will take care of you -Focus on flow rolling and only do a couple of hard rounds -never overdo it. I never trained more than max 4 times a week bjj -do supporting sports. I swim one time a week and do some weighttraining on the side for example. This will help you hold your body together -in all your activities, try to avoid constantly pushing your limits if you are getting older. I personally stop when I feel I still got one more round, one more lap, one more rep left in me. This way, you stay safe and look forward to the next day. Furthermore, you get home in one piece and still enjoy the rest of your day, without feeling completely destroyed. -EDIT: I forgot one important factor: luck Take care and be excellent to each other :)
When I stopped weight training and only did BJJ the injuries started piling up. I trained for a couple of years but I stopped because I couldn’t afford to get hurt. Training partners definitely make a difference like you said. It’s always newbies that have injured me in the past.
@praywithoutceasing4939 that's true. :( I don't train in regular gyms anymore, but mainly roll with friends on private mat space. In my experience you can start to train on your own as a good bluebelt. However I know that's often easier said than done. If that's off the table I would recommend open communication with your sparring partners. If you are known to be the "flow roll guy", you will start to attract similar minded people. But yeah, I know it's not so easy in real life. Wish you all the best!
I concur- as a 55 year old brown belt I’ve all but stopped doing “ hard rolls” , stick to mostly flow rolls of varying intensity and ESPECIALLY choose my training partners wisely. Since applying that formula, no significant injuries.
I lost my wife of 14 years 5 months ago. She passed away. I'm a 39yr old one stripe white belt..I currently cant extend both arms fully, my left knee is blue and swollen. My right calf is swollen. Name an exercise and I've done it. I'm only not rolling tomorrow so I can roll the next. Life has been very good to me, but right now, BJJ is saving my life. Update: 10 months in... it became clear to me I was using BJJ as a much needed escape.. I wanted nothing more than to fight tooth and nail to avoid the tap. I'm still training, more than ever. Due to my injuries I've had to change the way I train. I also started lifting weights focusing on those injuries, that's helped immensely. I'm a lucky man to have the support and resources needed to survive this experience. Thank you all for the love. Maybe I'll update again when i get that blue belt. Sincerely, thank you all..
Uhhh, I'm glad it's helping you but please change your training up if you're getting that injured. It might even require switching gyms, but you should not be hobbled all the time.
Great story 👏 I am a 45 yo brown belt. Started rolling at 26. Never competed, never trained more than 3 times a week, never had an injury. Don't mind being tapped by purple belts. Just having fun. Greetings from Poland 😎
@@duarte8546 I think it will for sure. I am the same way been training for a year and I can say I will never compete. I'm 40 but compared to boxers or any other I'm sure I can take on 60% of the untrained opponents.
Honestly want to go about it the same way. I want to do jiu jitsu, and for all the videos I've seen, and posts and articles I've read most people I've seen that don't get injured too seriously, and there's a lot of them don't compete, train smart, lift weights and or yoga, and don't go 100% all of the time. If he's so scared of a big injury, light rolls and drills. Ive also seen some recommending knees over toes. I will definitely be doing weights and yoga though, seems like it'll really help prevent injuries.
My goal with BJJ is longevity, I don't compete, avoid rolling with spazzes, I tap quick and I tap often. My goal is to be an old man rolling around with my old buddies, if I can achieve that I will consider myself a champ.
@@nealcassady-yn3bh I know its a risk, but its a risk I am willing to take. I strive to minimize that risk as much as possible. I mean we face major risks driving cars everyday, yet we all still do it because the benefits outweigh the possible down sides. I just look at all the black belts in my gym with 10 years plus of training, only a small percentage have serious injuries, most are just fine
This is why many advocate for weight training. Been doing Jiu Jitsu for little over a year now. Before I used to train weights 4x a week for over 10 years. Now I only lift 2x a week with less intensity. I think this helps prevent injuries much.
I agree. I’m starting my jits journey and I used to powerlifting pretty hard in my late teens/early 20’s. My routine has changed to mobility and like you said, light weights. Keeping everything oiled up and ready to work.
Swimming pool, walking and running, bit of Shikiokushin and intro to wrestling and very rare intro to BJJ if I feel very strong. Almost 50 and want to have a year without waiting for emergency department triangle check 😅
Same. I train Jiu Jitsu and Muay thai all week long and my body rarely hurts, I don't get tired at all and I lift weights. Dan Jon's program easy strength was a game changer for me. I might sound like a bot promoting scam but it really was the game changer xd
Brother. As a 34 year old brown belt who's gone through pretty much the exact same thing ( I started training at 19 so we're pretty similar in years) PLEASE START DOING SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING. I've had two knee surgeries and realized that a lot of injuries come from not having enough flexibility and strength in awkward positions. I started doing the Knees Over Toes routine and it's been a game changer. These days I do 10 min of medium to hard backwards sledding before and after every jiu jitsu class, plus one day of heavier lifting and stretching. It's made such a difference. I also only do 2-3 rolls per class, and tape them to study them. Less rolling, more learning. My goal is not to crush white and blue belts all day long, it's to get better. I still roll hard 2 or so days out of the month, to really test everything else out. But other than those days I am rolling specifically to work on techniques or concepts I'm looking to add to my game or sharpen. Even if that means not doing as well, or god forbid tapping. All the guys I know who are strong and rolling well into their 40s and 50s lift and do supplemental workouts to keep strong and to heal injuries (it's a foreign concept to us but the right kind of exercise can actually help heal injuries). Anyways, hope you keep at it!
Jiu jistu is inherently physically unhealthy. it may not be quite as unhealthy as some drugs, but it can and most likely will damage you forever for the sake of training for a scenario that is entirely impractical and that you will never face outside of sport competition.
@@michaellopez2070Building cardio/endurance, some strength, losing weight and the numerous mental health benefits is not “inherently unhealthy” lol. There are risks and downsides to it. The majority of people that do BJJ are doing a few fundamental classes a week and rolling hard a few times a week. Most people don’t have huge injuries. Most people don’t compete or live their lives all about it.
@@michaellopez2070it’s not inherently unhealthy lol the mental component alone is probably the most valuable part of it every guy I talk to at the gym says the same thing it’s our therapy for life it allows a group of like minded men (and some women) to get stress and aggression out and force you to live in the present. Like these other guys have said the secret to longevity is supplemental training and taking care of your nutrition which should be done regardless.
I sympathize with a lot of your story. I didn't start BJJ until I was 37, after I had already had 2 kids. Been training pretty consistently, about 2-4 times per week, for 6 years and and now a 3 stripe blue belt. I tried competing once but it wasn't for me. But the soreness, the injuries, the getting passed up by younger and more athletic training partners...that will never go away. And I'm ok with that. I have no hopes of becoming a world champion or anything. My slightly overweight, mediocre, dad-jitsu isn't anything amazing. But it is so important to me for friendships, exercise, mental health, and stress relief that I hope to never stop. I'm on the 20 years to black belt plan! As long as I'm showing up and gettting a little better every day, that's still progress.
Bjj black belt here. I trained for over 15 years, but suddenly lost my passion for it. In my forties now, and it’s like I matured past that stage of caring about childish fantasies of being a badass. I still lift weights and try to stay in shape, but BJJ trained for too long ends up becoming the opposite of self defense. One only needs the skill of a good blue belt along with strength and conditioning to be competent to defend oneself.
Thanks bro, 41 now, got my blue belt after 2.5 years, my body feels a bit destroyed tbh, knee, back and shoulders occasionally! Need to renegotiate my relationship to it!
29 year old blue belt here. I’ve been training for almost 4 years, and you just described everything that goes through my head daily. I’m always just waiting for the day where my next big injury occurs and I’m forever in worse shape because of it. I wish you the best of luck brotha. Thank you for sharing your story.
Bro you’re 29 imagine how it feels at 40 lol but like the other guy said roll with who you trust definitely don’t roll with white belts or young competitors and it should be good.
First of all, thank you for your transparency, brother!! I am 38 yrs old. I, too, trained boxing for a few years prior to taking up grappling in 2017. I trained about four times a week for the first 2-3 years. I competed at blue belt at a high level, which was fun. I received my blue belt in 9 months of training and had purple by my 3rd year. I tore my meniscus at blue belt, and around the time that I received my purple belt, I had my AC joint separated with slip tears in my labrum. I took nine months off to rehabilitate my shoulder. I am a personal trainer and currently in the physical therapist assistant program, so I instantly examined my movement competency to pinpoint root causes of these injuries. I quickly found a few dysfunctional patterns that I had to clean up. I also began to emphasize the need to vary my supplemental training. I have always been very active, but I never prioritized things like locomotion (animal movements), consistency in yoga, soft tissue mobilization on a deeper level (more than just foam rolling), and strengthening all planes of movements. GAME CHANGER. Not only did I completely avoid surgery, but I’ve been back since October of last year with very minimal injuries (finger swole up for a couple of months haha). I have a bunch of grapplers that I train and I over emphasize the need to cycle intensity, train in such a way that you seek to learn, and explore rather than dominate unnecessarily. You do not always have to finish submissions, and I don’t care what no one says you can refuse to roll 😂😂. I have clients from our Academy that stay broken. I refuse. Here are a few of my tips for people wanting to make the most out of their training: 1) Strength train in a more functional way. Do not just worry about bench pressing and heavy Squats. Work every plane of movement. Work asymmetrical (single leg/arm, split stance, etc), core stability and reflexive control, flexibility/mobility, plyometrics, etc. Be a complete athlete no matter your age. 2) Cycle the intensity. More intensity calls for longer rest between sessions. Choose one day a week to increase your intensity, but spend the other sessions just “flow rolling” and learning skill acquisition. Pace yourself, and do not be afraid to turn down rolls. 3) Rest. Rest. Rest. If you need to take time off, then prioritize it! You will be just fine when you come back. It is like riding a bike. You will remember the fundamental movements! You will just need to refine your details. Easy. 4) Eat nutritionally. This is the single most important aspect of training. Eat a diet that is anti-inflammatory and aids in proper recovery and growth. I attribute my physical capabilities to how well I eat much more than how well I condition my body. 5) Remind yourself that longevity is more important than instant gratification. In my opinion, ruining your body for the moment does not outweigh the benefits of living a functionally capable life later on. Learn to balance everything and enjoy the moment. I am just a Relson Gracie purple belt. I am not an ADCC world champion. But my passion and career is built upon maximizing the human movement system. I am simply writing this to encourage.
Thank you! Massive infos! As a 25 yrs old mma guy with 4 years of training (already 3 major injuries under my belt lol) this is something extremely helpful
Been coaching/training jiu-jitsu for about 18 years. I'm 46 in a couple months. Had several injuries in my time. In a month in going to compete at ADCC in Vancouver. Adult division, not masters. My longevity in jiu-jitsu has gone beyond most of the people I started training with amd its down to a few key things: - When I'm injured, I stay away until it's not causing pain. Sometimes that means coaching and not rolling. - I come back while healing, cause motion is better to recover faster. But I warn partners to not go for my injury and I tap right away if they do. - I don't fight as hard out of stuff anymore. If I don't start slipping a sub at least a little bit after a couple attempts, I don't need to keep fighting it and just tap. - If your fingers are bugging you, try to stick to nogi for a bit. Nogi is not as hard on fingers, and the lack of gi allows slipping out of lots of subs. I actually find it much better on my body overall than gi. - Finally just meter your expectations. You aren't 20 anymore. Don't roll like you are if you can't maintain that pace without hurting. Be more deliberate and planned in your movements and you'll be less likely to strain yourself in a bad way. Hope you keep involved in something you enjoy, Dorian!
Oh, and almost forgot. Make sure you do Phsyio and Massage Therapy, that stuff has fixed more than I can say during my time. Doctors are sort of useless in that arena unless you need surgery for something.
Really solid advice, thank you sir you are a gentleman and a scholar. Also I would reccomend you guys you buy like a massage gun cause it makes things a lot easier and quicker, and you don't risk doing something useless if you don't know how to massage properly.
Just wanted to ask you real quick tho, like what about if my toes are hurting because of n reasons like the joint in the feet hurts, but it's not debilatating should I like train light or just not train. Cause at the moment I'm kinda just listening to my body, but I'm not exactly sure. It's been like 3 weeks or more that I started feeling this pain, and I'm fairly new. I took like 1 week no training bjj completely and like 2 weeks just doing technique basically without sparring or sparring light and the pain subsided, these last two sessions tho I got excited and went pretty hard on the mat, and the pain came back a little not as sharp tho, what should I do in your experience?
I'm also a purple belt. I tore my ACL as a blue belt and it was an awful 18 month recovery. The biggest advice I can give you, is to train less often but never quit. Even if you can only train 2 days a week, that's better than nothing. I'd also advise to start weight training. Weight training will help durability and keeping everything as strong as possible with the wear and tear of bjj. Good video!!
Hi! I tored my ACL (never did the surgery, it happened like 13 years ago). I started boxing a couple months ago and now I became obsessed with BJJ and I want to learn going to classes.. I've been wondering if I can actually do BJJ with that injury or is it like a terrible idea so I wanted to know from you as you are more experienced. Did you tore your ACL in like a tournament or was during practice?
@@Flint9250Because the purpose of jujitsu is to tap people out by bending joints in directions they aren’t supposed to go, and it doesn’t take much force for someone to make a mistake that leaves you permanently damaged. I only know one guy, a cop, who is in BJJ and he’s already had one shoulder surgery and is well on his way to his next one.
@@kevinc8955 For sure, but that’s exactly why you train with people you trust and not randoms that walk through the door looking for a fight. There’s absolutely inherent risk that one has to accept to train, but training intelligently mitigates quite a bit.
I'm 39 year old purple belt and have been training for 8 years. Never had a major injury (knock on wood) and I attribute that to a few things. First of all, weight training. Weight training to me is the number one factor to keeping yourself injury free imo. Having strong muscles makes your body resilient. Second, protect yourself. If you're in a bad position don't try to muscle out of it. Tap early and tap often. If my knee is in a bad position I make sure to protect it by adjusting my position to keep my knee safe. Third, you don't have to win every round. Nobody wins every round, some times you have take it easy. Don't always go 100% on every roll. I'd say 80% of the time I'm going about 80% effort. These are just a few of the things that I attribute to my "luck" when it comes to staying injury free. Obviously there are other things like getting enough rest and eating right. Good luck man, I hope you stay injury free and get to keep training. 👊
Advice from a 60 year old when I joined at 65 - let the youngsters go for it, use your weight if need be, make them work, and as you say - tap and tap often. After 60 there are enough injuries left over from life that new ones are not welcome. I mean I'm on blood thinners, had both knees meniscus fixed (from walking dogs and vigorous ex), so I add Latin dance - similar level of intimate connection. Thanks for taking the time to write.
I'm a 3rd degree black belt 45 years old who is pretty much retired. I was completely obsessed, competing all the time, ran my own gym, taught full time. It was awesome, but yeah there is a point where the risk to reward ratio doesn't make sense anymore. One of the worst injuries was a freak knee to the face with a guy standing in my sit up guard which broke my nose and basically screwed up my breathing until I got surgery. BJJ is great for helping you find yourself and teaching you about life. But at its heart it is a contact sport. You can train lighter and smarter, but there is something about full on scrapping that kind of gets to the soul of it. Luckily, I like other physical activities and transitioned into working on other aspects of my fitness, so I don't really miss it. Now I'm just a regular old boring developer with cauliflower ear 🤣!
I feel like I'm not too far away from that semi-retired place. I still love to teach and am barely getting into that so it's something new. If I'm still full speed rolling when I'm 50, I'll be very happy but only if I can do it without the constant pains and arthritis that so many people have. I do look forward to a time when I have more ability to do bouldering but that time isn't right now.
I'm a 54 yo blue belt (hobbyist). I've had a few minor injuries luckily. I'm 160 lbs... usually one of the smaller students on the mat. My advice to avoid a major injury is to be careful who you roll with and just tap. Keep it fun and don't take it too seriously.
Pois é meu irmão, eu estou com 56 anos e sou faixa roxa, atualmente estou parado devido a lesão no joelho mas com muita vontade de voltar a treinar com fé em Deus logo estarei de volta, pois luta pra mim é algo viciante também treino kickboxing mais devido a idade temos que treinar com mais inteligência.
i'm a white belt in bjj and this is what I read everywhere.. i'm 6'2 close to 200 lbs lean and will tap to a 160 lbs white belt guy right away if at any point i feel uncomfortable.. i enjoy the technique aspect of the sport but i doubt i will ever give my 100% in a roll..
Really appreciate you sharing your journey. I’m 47 almost 48 year old purple belt. Been training 6 years. I’ve had some injuries but nothing major. My body hurts all the time but I’m used to it. One thing I will say is the beauty of Jiu jitsu is there are a lot of ways to play. I’ve really taken old guy Jiu jitsu to heart. My game is to tie you down and slowly advance more and more until I am in position to get a sub. It’s not flashy. It’s probably not fun to roll with me, but it allows me to train at nearly 50 in a safe and effective manner.
Maybe there should be a new version of Jiu Jitsu for older people? Like a more gentle yoga or tai chi esque version that greatly reduces risk of injury.
I trained for about 6 months. I started to accumulate injuries quickly. I talked to a few purple belts about it and half would tell me about their injuries and the other half would say it was an issue with how I trained. I knew the latter were hiding their injuries. I decided it wasn't worth it. I loved it, I loved rolling but I did not want the lifelong injuries.
It depends on the gym, you need to find the right group of people. Over a year and only 1 injury from the lone asshole at the gym. If you’re getting injured a lot either you or your training partner are doing something wrong. We should all be learning self control, true control over our movements
As someone who was (and sometimes still is) “lost” and who has trained in a variety of very intense traditional sports (rock climbing, gymnastics, long distance running, mountain biking, etc.) as well as combat sports (including wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, etc), and who incurred significant injuries doing pretty much all of them I can say with absolute certainty that the benefits you mentioned (ie learning determination/persistence in the face of adversity and periods of seemingly stagnant skill progression/growth) can be derived from significantly lower risk activities. I just turned 40 this year, now have three kids, and bottom line there is a lot more riding on me staying healthy than there was when I was young, single, or newly married. There comes a point, especially if you’ve already proven to yourself that you can stand in the ring or on the mat with just about anyone and maybe not win but certainly not back down, that you have to ask yourself why you are still doing it. If you aren’t willing to be honest in that moment, and face the fact that you’re actually avoiding the real shit (early childhood traumas, past regrets/shame for mistakes made in the past, etc) that lives deep down inside you you’re just continuing to perpetuate those problems by covering them up with the distraction and addiction to intensity. Recently, I started to practice chi gung/nei gong, flow arts (rope flow, poi, bo staff) and these “soft” practices give me all the benefits of learning something new, challenging myself, etc without destroying myself in the process. In fact, my connecting with my body in a much gentler way, I’ve learned much more about self love and in turn have found much more capacity to extend real love and vulnerability to others such as my kids, wife, friends, and co workers. As a side benefit, I’ve also found that my body is naturally starting to “unwind” and release the layers of muscle knots, spasms, and tensions that I have been carrying for so long. Each “release” sheds a little weight, opens up more movement, relaxes away some old pain, and makes me realize how locked up I was and how much feeling I was just suppressing. This “gentle” path actually requires more courage and strength in my opinion vs the “hard” path as it defies societal messages about masculinity that tell us we need to be hard, tough, and vicious in order to be “men”. I can honestly say that I feel better in my body now than at any point in my life and I hope my message reaches you as I related very much to your story and know that a whole new path is possible for you.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I have just started training bjj and I was thinking about what my goal was. I don't see myself doing it forever but I think you beautifully articulated that once we learn the lessons of being able able to know we can hold our own on the mat, we need to consider whether it still serves us
Hey brother! I’m 55, a Gracie Blue belt. Retired Marine and avid cyclist. I have 3 herniated disks, and a myriad of other neck/back injuries. Knees over toes guy has helped me in a huge way, daily stretching coupled with the exercises i’ve learned from the knees guy have left me virtually pain free now. OSS on your journey. Pain is manageable 😊😉✊🏿
My injuries: 1-My neck makes a small noise when I turn my head. 2-my knee hurts when Im doing some movements. 3- I broke 1 ribs (the very small ones) 4- I crake one teeth 5- My finger broke, it turn the wrong way atound. I stopped after 2 years of purple belt. I won some competitons. But makes no sense for my health. I returned to taekwondo my mother art, Its more healthy, I can train alone, more self defense and not that bullshit that every fights go to the ground wich they dont, I had several street fights. But Im very proud for learning it and having the humbleness to put my black belt aside and learn that art. Unfortunately nowadays its only sport and no self defense and like I said I dont believe in most of the techniques nowadays and I prefer more traditional art with competiton or sparring but with self defense. Good luck to everyone!
Similar experience here. Got my blue belt at 44, but with that I seriously tweaked my back and hip. I don't regret it though. The confidence that comes with being able to defend yourself is priceless.
Thank you for sharing your story, it's been a reminder for me of injuries. "I don't roll soft", "i didn't have an mri", "i like to compete", "i visited a gym in a foreign country after 2 years of not training" "a brown belt who had more than 100 pounds over me threw me...". Correct me if i'm wrong, but you seem to like to take risks in bjj and that's how you like it, nothing wrong with it. But it comes with a price. Even without taking risks, that shit hurts, with risks it gets worse. I roll soft, i try not to roll with aggressive people and watch unknown people roll with others before rolling with them, i talk to them before rolling to remind them that it's just a roll, i don't go to the gym when it hurts, i go to doctor when it hurts and i don't like to compete. And i still get injured but nothing serious so far. I believe this reduces the adrenalin and the joy of it but improves longetivity, especially if you're a guy in the 40's , that's a trade.
I agree with everything you’re saying. Of course there are always going to be random injuries you couldn’t avoid even with people you trust, but you can certainly reduce the risk of it happening.
I started Gracie Jitsu when I was 47. I am now 64 and have had my purple belt for about 3 years. When i was a white belt i tore a meniscus in my knee and had surgery. Now after 10 years it's starting to bother me a little again, but i use good technique in open guard and prevent putting strain on it. Another time as a new purple belt someone did a technique that made me do the splits, I ended up with a hernia in the groin. That was the worse pain Ive ever felt from surgery. I was off the mats for 9 months. Ive been back on the mats for about 2 1/2 years now. I have been doing private lessons with my instructor to clean up my technique and roll safer. It has helped working with my 4th degree blackbelt instructor in the privates. I can roll with him and not have to worry about getting punished as I learn to prefect the techniques as they are intended to be applied. I try to roll with other purple and brown belts in class and avoid the ambitious white belts and blue belt. Hope you continue to train and grow in this art that has become so much of our life.
bro ... after 10 year is not that meniscus who is bothering you ... is arhrithis ... there is not cure or coming back from that . quit BJJ if you value walking to the shop to buy water.
I personally have valued tremendously from this video. Thank you for making it and being so open and transparent. If everyone trained safely, the amount of BJJ injuries would be reduced significantly, but too many people are egomaniac animals
Loved BJJ, trained twice-a-day's for about 3 years. Became close friends with some people that were really serious about it, and they seemed cool. One of them was pretty insecure and had an incredibly fragile ego. He injured more people in the gym than the rest of the gym did cumulatively. He ended up sprawling all of his weight onto my neck in an awkward position because he got angry when we were practicing wrestling takedowns. He's tall and lanky, skipped any sort of strength training and conditioning during class. Fucked up some discs in my neck/back and any time someone puts pressure against my neck the same injury resurfaces and I can't do anything for over a month. My advice: Tap early, don't roll with shitheads that have little boy egos, always put your own safety over anything else. There's tons of great people in the BJJ scene, but there's also plenty of insecure guys that think tapping out belts lower than them, aggressively, makes them some sort of man. They don't belong in martial arts, but they enjoy hurting others. Always go as hard against those people as they're willing to go against you. Once you apply the same or more amount of force and aggression, they settle down because they don't have another level to go to. That, or don't roll with those types.
I prefer striking sports because they tend to not survive that long in those sports. Then again I like my brain so I avoid heavy sparring and full contact which you can generally do in BJJ from the early days without serious repurcussions.
Thanks for sharing. This needs to be taught to everyone starting out. As for me, I did a hybrid fighting system back in the days (I think that's what most of it called it before MMA became a thing). I always tapped early. Yeah, it sounds pussy, but my reasoning is the time to fight it was before the opponent got a good lock and tension. And I wanna preserve my joints. We had this 250 lbs former linebacker in our group and the instructor told us "Jason doesn't tap". Some sort of stupid encouragement of a tough guy ego. After few go's with him, we'd tie up, but we were never able to submit each other. But I realized the bullshit he was allowed to do: wear loose hightop basketball shoes (makes it harder to ankle lock). Instructor for some reason didn't have a rule about shoes. And he'd wear these really noisy slippery nylon pants (we all wore shorts or gis. My brother rolled with him, and tore the guy's ankle...he healed up and got back in, and my brother hyper-extended the guy's knee. That's because, unlike the rest of us, my brother is only 5'7, but he's an asshole. He'd twist the locks in unexpected directions to get a tap (not the way we were taught), and he wouldn't stop until you tapped (the guy screamed both times, but didn't tap). To this day, I think my brother was effed up, but Jason should'a friggin tapped.
This week I did my first submission to a tough guy with week ego, the next day he messaged me that he would break my leg for that. I shared this message with trainer and there is no any actions for such behavior, because they are friends. I will not go back to that gym. Sick people
@@ivermektin6874 I stick to muay thai/striking training nowadays and only spar to help the younger/less experienced guys out. I'm just thankful I get to do that much still.
Loved your story. As a 53-year-old - Trust me, "Health is Wealth" - treat your body like a Ferrari. I played football and had concussions which made me stop and I am so grateful. They prevented me from 'grinding my body down' even more, at a young age. Those early knee, back and joint injuries don't go away as you get older - they only get magnified. I would say learn self-defense techniques that don't destroy your body from folks like Tim Larkin and save your Temple. Good Luck!👍
I've been doing BJJ on and off for 6 years and am in my early 40's, with a wife and kids. I get frustrated when people only mention the positives of BJJ and never talk about any negatives. It's ok to talk about the real things that happen in the sport. It will damage your body and alot of that damage will hurt, never go away and may even affect your quality of life. Let's have more honest discussions about BJJ like this! Thank you for sharing, bro! Oss!!!
So if I'm 45, 1.72m and 61kgs and never ever tried any martial arts or even weight lifting, then would you say I'd rather forget about starting BJJ? Wanted to try BJJ but all my life I've been skiing, road biking and other rather endurance stuff. Is there some martial art less prone to injuries? Being able to ski when I'm 70 would mean a lot to me ;)
Martial arts saved my life. And your journey is reminiscent of many martial arts practitioners. A long period of initiation that goes for several years, with lots of consistency (particularly in our youth), followed by a stagnation due to several factors including work, family, and/or injury, and a renaissance born out of growth and/or greater freedom from other responsibilities or pain. However, the motivation for training in the renaissance period is usually different than that during the initiation (understandably so as we get both older, wiser, and more settled). It’s an old school warriors path, where we step away to tend to the garden but never loose that warrior spirit. I’ve been training in martial arts for almost 20 years now. BJJ was by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done! Very humbling. I’m convinced that one day I’ll find/make the time to train up to blue (maybe purple). But for right now I’m content knowing what I know…training in what I like…and finding peace in that.
Great video! Thanks for the nice storytelling and editing, really nicely done. I feel that a lot of the injuries could have been avoided. That does not help you now but hopefully others reading this. BJJ is a hard sport on your body and if you only train BJJ it will mess you up. BJJ and Yoga is the ideal combination in my opinion and what makes BJJ sustainable. Thank you Dorian for sharing your story and creating this video. I would like to leave this comment only because I see that it gains a lot of traffic and comments and perhaps it is helpful for people training or thinking of starting BJJ so that they know this does not have to be this ways and there is a lot you can do to make it sustainable. I want to avoid people starting with fear and shining bad light on the entire BJJ sport. But it is a combat and contact sport and injuries happen. However a lot of injuries in BJJ are due to over training, not listening to the body to rest and not doing enough holistic movement outside of BJJ to keep the body in harmony and resilient. Many continue like this for many years and 'all of a sudden' have injuries. One more straw broke the camels back, as some say. I've been training BJJ for almost 10 years, been brown belt for 4 years and practicing and teaching yoga for almost 10 years. When you talked about training every day, or twice a day, it was clear that injuries will happen because you over train and likely do not cross train enough. This intensity of a training schedule works maybe if you are in your early 20s (done that) but as we get older we need to do more around such intense activities to make it sustainable. I assume most of us here do not want to become a pro or world champion and are in it for the fun and the challenge, hence we want to enjoy BJJ for the rest of our life and we need to build a lifestyle around these intense training sessions and rolls to make it sustainable. We need to get out of our head to progress and get to the next belt and instead enjoy the journey. Be present. It is important to show up, and even if you are tired and exhausted and lower belts give you a hard time and tap you that is ok. You need to be ok with it. Check in with your reason to train and your ego and be grateful that you are healthy enough to show up that day to roll. Everyone I know that has been pushing so hard in BJJ is now in their 30s pretty messed up and cannot do daily activities without pains. It is only now that they realize they did too much for too long of a time and pay for it now. It is not too late to change and so I think also for you there is hope and help through modern holistic yoga practice and bodywork, specifically structural integration. As always, it is a combination of many things and very individualized to you. Some things apply to a lot of the general BJJ practitioner which I want to share now. Much has been said already on this but I really want to point out my personal recommendations: - Daily yoga practice ideally in the morning (sometimes strong, sometimes gentle, listen to your body) - Stretch the entire body after every BJJ training (don't hold long stretches before training) - Always warm up well but don't overdo it - Every day BJJ is not sustainable, listen to your body, for most people 3-4x a week is sustainable - Prioritize good quality and quantity sleep - Diet has obviously a effect on performance and low inflammatory diets work well for such intense training - Consider not rolling with complete beginners, as they often do weird, jerky and forceful movement that could injure you - Stop training with people weighing more than 20 lbs more than you, it simply is not worth the risk - Get regular massages and do other things to improve recovery - Consider seeing a structural integration therapist for individualized work with you body and specific needs and patterns Bummer you left Las Vegas already otherwise we could connect for more individualized tips for your body! Let me know when you come through again Dorian. I never comment but since a big part of my offerings is to make BJJ more sustainable for people I felt the need to add my opinion to the mix also. If you find this helpful that's great, if not, thanks for reading and your time - much love ✌❤
thanks for taking responsibility and your elaborated comment. I think it is important not to produce anxiety in the society and show both sides of the coin
I always had fascination of joining BJJ gym but unfortunately in my country people are not into this so no bjj gym um planing to go abroad to take training but before I go I was looking and gathering information about how to train bjj without breaking bone and ligaments and luckily came across this comment. Thanks for the effort for spreading awareness and information
Amazing comment! You have reworked my thinking of the sport and today marks the second week of me coming back to BJJ after an 8 year “break” and after two days back to back I was feeling it bad bad bad in my knees I will take your advice 100 percent and seek out yoga to help. Going to start stretching now! I cannot thank you enough! Not sure I can offer equal value but I have a podcast by the name of steady hands by Nicholas Burgmon (myself) with that podcast I try to bring value to people and hope it does for you! If I may ask You and the rest of the comment section what would be a high value question/questions you would like to have answered from a black belt in jujitsu? My next guest is such and I would like any and all questions you may want answered or another perspective on. I thank you again for your time and comment it has helped more than you know!
I did Jiu Jitsu for six months and it was an easy decision for me. I heard all the guys in the locker room talking about their injuries or upcoming surgeries. I value my health and pain free life more than colored belts. I'm 65 now and move like a cat because I always protected my body. Whereas a lot of guys my age can't even get out of bed.
So you decided to discontinue BJJ? I'm 61 and took it a few years ago just for couple months but tweak myself a few times when I had to take a break. Hener Gracie talks about how not to avoid injuries in his youtube channel. I plan on taking Gracie combatives and in this course you don't roll until about 8 months later when you know better on what to expect and on how to protect yourself. I'm also in good shape cause of my occupation and work out a bit on top of that.
You made the right choice. I just turned 58, and other than some minor aches and pains, I can squat, bench, run/walk 3 miles, cycle 16 miles, etc. Can I take out a room full of bad guys? Nope, and I will use my brain to get me out of that situation or not be in that situation to begin with. I do believe some form of martial art training is important, but given the statistics presented in the comments, I think I 'll explore other options. A hand injury would interfere with my career (consultant, keyboard warrior) and a knee or ankle injury would interfere with my daily walking and cycling which in turn would interfere with my mental health. One of the best classes I ever took in graduate school was a gerontology class (aging). The one sentence takeaway: full mobility or as close as possible to full mobility until end of life saves billions of dollars, and saves lives through better well-being/mental health. The longer explanation is take a look at the cost of joint replacements + rehabilitation. Next look at the cost of nursing homes or assisted living. Next examine the mental health toll of not being able to stand up or walk more than a few feet or pick up a grandchild.
@@johnt3706 Combat sports is for men between 20 to 40. Between 40 to 60 is fitness years, look to get into good shape. Between 60 and up look to protect and maintain your fitness. Dabbling in combat sports at any age above 40 is risky at best and could lead to lifelong misery.
Thank you very much for telling us your story with Jiu-Jitsu. Many people end up semi-crippled because of BJJ, Wrestling, Judo, and other grappling styles but most of them hide that sad fact about this kind of martial arts. Congratulations for your honesty, sincerity, and courage.
@@riggsreacts After the nightmare I experienced with a herrinated disc that lead to a sciatica that I was in a constant pain and couldn’t walk and then the latest stage of it that it was the worst pain I was in my life, (I train boxing and striking arts but the injury is unrelated to it) I would take the risk of developing slight cte over experienced anything similar to that again for the rest of my life ANYDAY. If I had to pick between the 2 that is. So yeah I’ll stick to boxing. Still watch out and don’t spar hard much and only if you have fights and make sure your sparring partner is a friend you can trust that doesn’t go hard for no reason.
This was so awesome! I hadn't seen any of your videos, but this popped up as recommended on my homepage. Thank you for making such an honest, humble assessment of Jiu-Jitsu and your experience with it. I'm a blue belt but I stopped training for a while because I needed an emotional break from it. Some of the gyms I went to were pretty inappropriate towards me so I decided to come back to it when I was in a better headspace. After being away from it for a while though, I've felt hesitant to return. Everyone I know who continues training in Jiu Jitsu gets injured. Since I haven't trained in over a year, my body feels so much better, like it's healing. At this point, I'm unsure as to whether I'll ever train again. Some of the lessons I learned in BJJ though will continue to influence me I know for the rest of my life, as you shared. Thank you, again. :)
There is value in this video. Just turned 40 no more than a week ago. I too am a purple belt. Many injuries especially bulging disk in my neck. I’ve learned to pick and chose my partners. I have also learned to give way to the young guns that feel they need to win, longevity can still be achieved. Just have to change the focus of how you train.
I am a 39yo blue belt and have been training for past 3 years or so and I haven’t had any serious injuries so far. I think it’s because I train not more than 3 times a week; try to train with people I trust; and try to exercise every muscle through its full range of motion in shoulder complex, knee complex and core using light weights before every class. I may not be world class but at least I get to train pain free 😊
I’m similar! Most of peoples pain and injury problems come from training more than their diet/lifestyle/body can handle. It’s alright training fewer days per week even though you might progress more slowly. Hell, with the injuries you can get from overtraining, you might end up with similar amounts of mat time when it’s all said and done. That being said, I know there are a lot of nuances and “what ifs” to this discussion, but I’ll leave it at this by saying I believe this game is a marathon, and not a sprint.
I plan to do the same as you. I want to learn BJJ for self enrichment rather than competition. So I have no issue staying as a white belt for whatever number of years. I also lift weights and do muay thai. There's no rush for me to become really good. I just like staying fit, finding the joy in learning, and posting some vids on social media to share with friends.
Totally hear you. We have a lot in common as I’m also a developer! I started training when I was 17, I am 31 now. Competed probably close to 70 times. I love the sport, I love jiu Jitsu. But I decided to quit last year. It’s not just the Injuries, or pain, but it’s a dirty sport. Got a staph infection back in 2013, and now got another last year which made me quit. Was resistant to antibiotics, had to be on them for almost 4 months. This completely screwed my gut up by essentially nuking my body with strong antibiotics for so many days. And even many months after recovering I still deal with symptoms from this battle with staph. Unfortunately, no matter how clean I am, it’s impossible to completely avoid and I had to make the decision to quit.
I thought I was the only one who doesn't roll for lack of cleanliness.i got ringworms before. I made the mistake of rolling without a shirt on just a gi on. What pisses me off people know they're carrying contagious bacteria and still come to class😮
@@Wushutigercranekungfudragon Two sweating men rolling on the floor touching each other. What did you expect? You have no idea where you partner was or did last night.
Son teorías vuestras, si fuera así, vuestros compañeros también habrían caído enfermos de la misma manera que vosotros. Por lo que, resumiendo, vuestros problemas no derivaban del tatami, gi o compañeros. Un abrazo.
@@maliksamarijones9304 Yeah it does for sure, I feel for him cause I wouldn't doubt it is more severe than what I experienced. Being on antibiotics long term is a double edged sword. You need them to save your life, but you're damaging your body in the process. It was tough for me to quit, so I can't imagine Gordon Ryan who his life revolves around the sport. The treatment for me ended last year in November, it is nearly August and I am still not 100%. Pretty close to 100% though thankfully.
53 year-old 3-stripe white belt. Just came back from shoulder injury that rolling aggravated. Im under no illusion that I'll be an MMA champ, but I love it and will continue at my own pace until I can't.
I am a new BJJ practitioner at the age of 51. I been training for 7 months. It is tough training with the younger fellas. I have martial arts experience in a striking art for nearly 29 years, but it is so different. I do feel addicted to it, and I train so hard, but admit I am so achy after a class it is tough. I also know I would not give it up unless forced to. It provides me a sense of purpose, community, grit, and need to stay youthful (as best as possible).
Man, i have so much respect for you! I have a training buddy who turned 50 recently and it's insane how he keeps up with us younger ones. It takes a different type of courage to starts something like bjj later in life!
I’m 23 years old and started Jiu-Jitsu when I was 21 and this video was super helpful because one of the biggest things I’ve worried about with my love for the sport is the long term effects on my body - by 22 my knees are already cracking when I stand up. Loved this video
Just stopped after a worrying neck injury that's been persistent. I haven't exactly done the work to rememedy while waiting for my chiro to wrap his vacation up so while it's on the mend this is just pointless to be honest with myself. So I quit. Fuck that.
@@xyzmediaandentertainment8313I'm 23 too and have so many issues with my knee and ankles from years of aggressively playing women's competitive soccer. A lot of my pain has gone away since I went on a no sugar/wheat diet, but it's still there occasionally. I workout and focus on strengthening my weak areas through exercise now, and I've always wanted to do a combat sport, but I'm afraid I'll damage myself way more than I already am. Glad to know I'm not alone in that thought...
@@collettsystemsllc7011chiros are frauds, please don’t let them touch your back/neck if you have a neck injury or in any case. You’ll end up in a wheelchair.
So nice to hear a balanced view in the middle of the BJJ boom. People rarely share the down sides of it online and as with any martial arts the risks of training have to weighed up and seriously considered. 🙏
I enjoyed watching @DorianDevelops point of view of BJJ about the frequent injuries he had accumulated. And you're right about the balanced view of BJJ. Overall, BJJ is a great martial arts and competitive sport and disciple. And I believe it truly outweighs the overall injuries which will happen. I believe the injuries happen much more than less because it's an extremely competitive discipline. I don't believe though anyone intends to seriously hurt anyone when training. Things just happen because students and experts continue to strive to improve themselves.
KAABER ALMIGHTY GOD 🙏😊 ALMIGHTY GOD KABIR is the father of all souls that JESUS, MOHAMMAD, GURU NANAK, VEDH was telling in BIBLE, QURAN, GURU GRANTHA SAHEB Who is complete God? Iyov 36:5 - Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB) See, El is Kabir, and despiseth, not any; He is Kabir in ko’ach lev (strength of understanding). Translation: Supreme God is Kabir, but despises no one. He is Kabir, and firm in his purpose. In all Bible translations, the word Kabir has been translated as "Mighty" or "Great" whereas Kabir is the original name of Supreme God. Conclusion: This verse of the Bible proves that Kabir is Complete God. The one who worships God Kabir by taking initiation from the complete saint sent by him gets complete salvation. After attaining salvation that souls rest in peace in the eternal abode Satlok forever. The throne of God is in Satlok( ETERNAL PLACE) 😊😊 God Kabir met Jesus and took his soul to Satlok. On their way, God Kabir made him see his ancestors David, Moses, Abraham, etc. in the Pitra Lokas. Then God took him to Satlok😊
Hey, man! Thanks for sharing your journey in such a candid way. Awesome story. I am also a jiu-jitsu enthusiast. I'm 44 now and practiced a lot in my 20's up til being a decently skilled blue belt. I had an injury back then rolling with a colleague (that I had rolled many times before) that left me with a broken fibula. I had to put a metal plate in, but got full recovery. After that I never got back to training at the same pace up until recently. Now I'm back and loving it. I have never competed and do not plan to do so now as well. I think jiu-jitsu is simply an awesome practice. It's just delightful to put your brain and your body to submit someone that is trying to do the same in a way that shouldn't get anyone hurt. The problem is that sometimes it does. So I take your point. But now for me the journey is just to go there, learn, grow, smile, talk to my friends and just practice. No championships, no medals, none of the competitive aspects of jiu-jitsu appeal to me at this time. Hope you find your way through. Cheers from São Paulo!
I took a slightly different path, mainly because I approached martial arts 100% for self defense, not really as exercise or sport. I started long time ago in 2006 after getting into MMA as a fan. I took a year of BJJ, then picked up Muay Thai for a year while doing BJJ. I then switched it up, and did judo for about 6 months. So only about 2.5 years of martial arts. But all the classes I took, I did notice a lot of older guys (mid to late 30s and older) complaining about all the injuries they suffered over years of training. I simply didn't want to risk having all those nagging issues by the time I hit 40, or suffering a serious injury. So I quit martial arts and just switched to weight lifting and cardio to keep in shape for all these years. In terms of self defense, I figured I picked up enough that when combined with the fact that I'm 6'2" 220, I feel confident I can defend myself in some street fight situation against an untrained drunk bro or whatever.
@praywithoutceasing4939 Also learn how to use that knife and more importantly, defend against it. Knifes are worse than guns, especially in the EU. I did not want to carry a knife so I did 4 years of krav maga training at a legit school (KMG organisation). That training can not be used against me, but I can use their own knifeholding hand against them, if needed, and make it look like they stabbed themselves. Even from a legal standpoint it is still self defence, if they chose to keep holding their own knife, which threatens my life. But i'm rambling, MMA/BJJ etc is not really comparable that way with krav maga. You don't have 1v3 or 1v4 and there are rules. I'm still bad at many aspects of fighting but I learned just enough to not die from a bigger untrained attacker in the street. My 360 defence is solid. There are many legal aspects to streetfighting/self defence which we learned in class. Open hands on CCTV camera's look great in court, but you can also use them to strike (Bas Rutten style) and often looks like you were pushing. My worse injuries in those 4 years were 2 dislocated fingers, and a HARD liver shot, which I found to be a good life experience to have a complete shut down. We had all kinds of different practitioners with previous training in other martial arts like wing chun, boxing, kyokushin karate, dutch kick boxing, judo, bjj, aikido, mma, which was very usefull to get their insight and find out where our curriculum got its modified parts from. My instructor also trained police and military, which gave us glimps of the difference between military and civilian krav maga. Mainly to prevent us from killing our attacker within the technique and going to jail unnecesary, especially when it comes to the neck (break/choke). We also did some "arrest" classes once in a while, which was fun. You might want to look into it. I'm 40+ and I train light most of the time, but still learn a ton and hope never to have to use this outside the gym. Situational awareness, no ego and body language is the number one key in prevention.
32 year old Black Belt been training since I was 16 or 17. There's days where my whole body hurts, both my elbows click, my lower back feels like a used diaper and theres days where i despise jiujitsu and days i cant live without it. The journey is one of peaks and valleys. The big takeaways are listening to the body, and enjoying the process. Keep on rolling brother 🥋
If you stopped training for a entire year, and did things like easy swimming and yoga instead, do you think someor a lot of your injuries would correct themselves?
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 45 year old blue belt here, been training about 3.5 years and came into BJJ with a history of injuries. I'm a little, unathletic guy so realistically speaking, I don't know that I will ever the the killer that most people are, but the journey is really what you want to make of it. I've had to learn a lot about humility and recognizing that, if I want to push forward into the later decades, I HAVE to be smart. I HAVE to know when to say no and dial things down. I don't think you need to quit per say, but you do have to adjust your mentality to match your stage in life. I think ANYONE who chooses to train should hold their head high, regardless of rank. This is hard work, and to endure it consistently is an incredible testament of who each of us are. I hope your journey continues to bear fruit for you, whatever form that may take.
Love your story man. I got injured as well many times training Bjj. It was my all time love. Got to purple belt before I called it quits in 2022. Broke my heart. After a herniated disk in my neck and lower back I couldn’t take it anymore. So many days in pain and not being able to roll to my full potential destroyed my confidence in it. I was a hard respectful roller but always loved emptying the tank and giving it my all. Got to a point where I couldn’t do closed guard because I was scared of stacking and was afraid of people grabbing my collar due to neck injury. 😢 I miss it like hell but my body feels so much better. 6’2 225lbs and athletic, I was built well for it. Good luck to all still in it.
Thanks for sharing, Dorian. I'm 53 years old and started jiu jitsu at Gustavo Machado BJJ 12 months ago. I'm a 3 stripe white belt and loving it. I can relate to your story. My fingers are feeling the pain, and it took me about 3 months before my body got used to the grind. I'm addicted at this point and maybe it helps having a great school with amazing camaraderie. We'll see how long my body lasts, but I seem to be getting stronger and love the physical problem solving aspect. Cheers!
34 year old, Ralph Gracie purple belt here. Former lifelong Wrestler, who knew 1 "speed" all I can say is this: After a torn meniscus and LCL at white belt and a blown L5S1 Disc in my back that left me unable to move or walk without crippling sciatic pain for 8 months at Blue belt in 2020. My advice is as follows; choose your training partners wisely. Don't give up position to lower belts to "let them work." Nobody rides for free. Keeping yourself in positions that will keep you injury free is something you must always be cognizant of. Tap early if you don't know what is going on. Also, you don't ALWAYS have to go Defcon level 10 speed. You're learning a martial art. not in there to fight everyday. Happy training and good luck to all the mat warriors.
I've been a natural bodybuilder for over 25yrs now. I started training bjj in 2010 while continuing to train as a bodybuilder full time. My body fell apart. I decided to stop training bjj. I can't take time off work for random injuries, big or small. Never been significantly injured training with weights. I have control over the weights. Still have some issues with my elbows and shoulders, thankfully my knees, neck, and hips are still in good shape. Solid info in this vid.
How did your body "fall apart"? Were you rolling with people far more advanced than you were, were you aways aggressively rolling to the max all the time?
@@1anre Has your body experienced legit bodybuilding training or just Bjj training? Connective tissue needs rest along with the muscles themselves. Train back, traps, and perform heavy deadlifts...or train chest, tris, and delts, then go fight off arm bars, triangles, kimuras, knee bars, guillotines etc. My whole body was sore all the time, joints, muscles. I didn't roll full speed all the time, and I regularly rolled against more advanced belts but not at full speed, my training partners were awesome. Bodybuilding training and MMA can't coexist long term. I've been able to maintain my training in striking and still train in bodybuilding with next to no issues compared to rolling on the mat in bjj. I'm sure there are individuals who's body can handle it, on gear or natural, but my body fell apart.
@mostmuscular619 I haven't but I get your explanation. Good thing you respect the warnings your body has given you, to know when to lean off but I sure you'd really miss it whenever you see BJJ being done around uou
I can relate with you 110%. After 4 knee surgeries, I will likely not return to the mats. I may do slow rolls and drills on my home mat with friends and fam, but I’m over the hill and don’t need anymore injuries.
Dude, thanks for this story, I am 37 years old, purple belt, got my first major knee injury about a month ago (probably also a torn MCL, knee feels like it wants to dislocate all the time). Got this injury all because of some guys ego. I also don't have money for an MRI, but still seeing a specialist next week. I was contemplating going back to Jiujitsu when all is well again, then I saw a compilation of bad Jiujitsu injuries where one guys neck got snapped and now he is a quadriplegic. I thank God I hurt my knee and not my neck, I am not going back to Jits, 37 years old with a busted knee, fingers that hurt every day and a back that hurts every day. In my opinion Jiujitsu is awesome and will always be but I am not doing it anymore.
Been training for more than a year now and recently i fucked up my knee also because of another guys ego, he unexpectedly jumped on me, which made my knee bend the wrong way. I can walk normally, but i hear clicking every step. Ill go to the doctor soon. Still going to bjj classes regularly but this situation makes me question it. Im 23 though, kind of messed up to be this young and already have weird body problems. I wished people stopped saying shit like "dude you should try jiu jitsu, its totaly safe". Nope, its really fucking dangerous
BJJ is off the table but you should consider physical therapy. Kneesovertoesguy has a channel good for treating chronic pain and all sorts of injuries including knee injuries
No matter how far you’ve come in your journey, BJJ always has one last lesson to teach. That is how to adjust your training and game to allow for longevity. Without it, you will find your last big injury that will sideline you for good.
Started at 19. Now i'm at about to turn 38. Got every type of injury you could imagine. Knees...shoulders...got my left hand done...neck...ribs...but i thank god for the day i went to a gym and saw the guys rolling and decided to join. Was the best thing i did in my whole life. Now i'm a black belt under Demian Maia, teaching bjj paid my college and i have no regrets. Now i practice once in a week...just for fun...to be with my guys and have a good time...thats priceless! Hope you don't stop and don't give up...bjj saved your life, saved mine and will continue to save it as long as we put the Gi on. Oss
Thanks for that. I did about a year of BJJ when I was 21, and like you I would say it genuinely changed me and changed the direction of my life in a very positive way. I’d like to get back into it, I enjoyed it so much. But… I’m not such a young man anymore. Not eager to get injured, not eager to invite or hasten arthritis. I appreciate your honestly and perspective.
Thanks for sharing your story. You never really hear too much about the risks of BJJ training and the toll it takes on your body. They say it's never too late to start but having just turned 46 I really don't want to compromise my joints and mobility. I also fear training with overzealous white and blue belts who roll too hard and don't stop immediately when you tap! I should've started in my late teens - not too long after Royce dominated the early days of the UFC... I admire guys like yourself who get past the "forever a blue belt" period and go on to purple and maybe even brown and black. It really is a hard grind to earn a legit black belt. As a purple belt you're already better equipped to deal with an assailant than 99.99 percent of the general population. I imagine BJJ teaches you inner strength and resilience too, so it definitely wasn't a waste of time.
Dude, i totally understand where you're coming from, but even if you can't be guaranteed to have an injury free bjj journey (tbf at this applies to any sport), you can still train smart and make your well being a priority. Bjj can be hard on the body, but the damage can be mitigated, I'd say especially if you train no-gi. If you want to start, go for a trial class. You might be missing out on something great. Best regards
@@Muslim-3110 well, I've had only one serious injury in 6,5 years, which is less than most of my friends this age who play other sports. I also lift and try to stretch frequently.
it sounds like this guy trained very intensively for a long time. He was talking about twice a day. There's such a thing as overdoing it and it's like that in any sport or physical activity really. Very common for ex pros in most sports to have joint issues...running, weightlifting, soccer etc. Maybe you could do it once or twice a week and get more upsides than downsides.
Thank you for this video showing sometimes the unspoken side of " the gentle art" I've just got my blackbelt at 55 and can relate to this so much. I smashed my knee to pieces and had to take 6 months off training and recently detached my hamstring from the pelvis which wasn't fun so I had 3 months out with that. I now very wisely choose my training partners these days don't get me wrong every now and again I like to go hard but I know I want this to be a life long thing!!!! Good luck to you brother
Quitting takes courage, and sticking with it sometimes takes grit. I'm looking forward to a follow up on what you decide. I'm sure you'll decide what's best for you
I can relate brother! I’m a brown with 3 stripes and 40 years old. Jui Jitsu saved me threw my 20s and 30s. To your point though I have multiple injuries from it. Hip, elbows, fingers, and back. I’ve been out for a while because of a major hip injury and am going through the same thing….. this was a a very valuable video to me.
3-4 months. 2-stripe white belt. 52 years old. Loving it, but it does make me sore all the time. Learning survival quickly. Tapping often and fast. Thankful to have taken this step. Hoping to remain healthy and not get injured. Getting leaner and stronger.
NO BJJ experience here, but GREAT, candid video. The injuries listed here worry me. I’m 52 and will just stick to my Olympic Weightlifting 🏋🏼, jump rope HIIT, and my Concept2 Rower! Thanks 🙏🏻.
most of jiu jitsu doesnt work without a soft mat below you. Chokes are a different story. Rather than wear your body out in some germ ridden MMA gym, just pay someone for private lessons on real specific, useable moves. Pick two or three to master. Dont waste your time and body with the rest.
Thanks for sharing your story! You didn't talk much about your recovery in the video, but it can make a big difference. Doing stretching, physiotherapy, and weightlifting has been crucial for my BJJ journey too. I used to feel like my body was falling apart when I did 6 BJJ classes a week, but now I balance it with 3 BJJ sessions and 3 light gym sessions to keep my body in good shape, along with daily stretching. That was the key to feeling great! (I switched to this routine after dealing with a lower back hernia, and it's much better now).
Im a 61 year old blue belt.... i trained pretty hard lotsa injuries.. lotsa friends... but my jujitsu ended with a chronic back injury years ago... and now im 100 percent after lotsa time off... and lotsa relearning how to train at my age. my jujitsu lessons learned in fighting helped me shape my mindset to never give up and Im training for a going for a world championship sports event in 2025
Nice! What an inspiration! I just started a few months ago at 55. Was intimidating to walk in there as a female but it's been an awesome experience so far, adrenaline rush each session
I feel for you man. I did jiujitsu for 11 years..started when I was 40 and now my shoulders ache all the time as well as other body parts. But I don't regret it, we make choices in life and I live with zero regrets.
@karlwithak. it's pain, not the end of the world. Knowing I can walk through a karate guy or street punks is worth the pain..I'll take that instead of paying for a belt that I don't have the ability to back up.
@karlwithak. cool story. There is a reason why ufc fighters have to learn jujitsu, or they will get submitted in a new York minute. Also, go find the video the Gracie family uploaded showing the time they challenged all the styles of fighting. The end result was clear that jiu-jitsu was far superior, and these opponents were masters..not your average practitioners. You make it sound like every single kick that a karate practitioner lands is devastating, and this simply is not the case. Once we take you to the ground, even after eating a kick or a punch, you are now in the ocean, and we are sharks. At this point, if you have no jiu-jitsu experience, you have zero chance of surviving. This is a fact.
@@karlwithak. Why not? You think karate-style kicking can keep someone from ever grappling with you, so go try it out with a trained MMA fighter. Have fun with that. You also cite this example of an open tournament by this unnamed Jiu-Jitsu school (which no one can verify, since you gave us absolutely ambiguous information) and didn’t explain the rules of this competition whatsoever. Are you saying that the karate/TKD students 100% knocked the grapplers out, or that they landed a strike 100% of the time? You’re being vague. There are some frustrating rules in the UFC, like the 12-to-6 elbow ban and prohibiting kicking a downed opponent, but the Gracies have had zero influence on the UFC for a long, long time. Actually, when they did influence the UFC ruleset in its tournament days, it had considerably *less* constraints than it does now. Headbutting, head kicks and knees to a downed opponent, strikes to the back of the head, and 12-to-6 elbows were completely legal. Eye gouges, biting, and groin shots were only enforceable by fine, not disqualification. Guess what? Royce won. And that’s not to say the BJJ is the best martial art, but it was important to learn at least how to negate a good grappler in order to have success in MMA. You can’t just strike your way out of grappling exchanges. Sooner or later, someone is going to feint, close distance, and put you on your back. Now, I love BJJ, but I’m not deluded enough to think it’s complete in its own right. You have to cross train in multiple arts to be an effective fighter. However, you seem to take this approach that striking, specifically kicking, in a karate context is the end-all-be-all, which is just as foolish as someone thinking BJJ is the ultimate art. It’s also ignorant to the fact that karate itself has styles that incorporate grappling to varying degrees. I don’t think you’re wrong in all contexts, but I do think your comments are shortsighted and ignorant to the history of the UFC and MMA.
Great video man. I loved to hear about your story. 38 year black belt here. This totally resonates with me. I've had my fair share of injuries and dealing with regular pain as well. If you're still going at it, just holding out for one more serious injury before you quit, it's not too late. You have to change your training methodology. You can't roll like a 20 yr old any more, and you no longer should. You have to start training like a 90 year old Helio Gracie. You can't train with someone you don't know whose ego just causes them to headhunt no matter how hard they have to roll with you. Switch to trusted training partners only, and do like Ryron Gracie talks about in his Keep It Playful video more often than keeping it real. Going 100% every roll is less and less realistic the older we get. Anyways, I hope you find ways to keep yourself safe and on the mats doing this thing we love. Thanks again for the video. 🤙🏼
I'm a 43 year old blue belt. I've got two kids. In my jujitsu practice I almost exclusively flow/soft roll because I'm unwilling to take unnecessary risks for the sport. I also participate in ultra distance running, yoga, and rock climbing. I also teach fencing. At my age, I'm careful about the risks of each sport because I don't want to overdo it and injure myself out of everything.
How do you do all of those extra activities with two kids? Do you have a job? I’m just wondering how you find that many hours in a day if you work 8 hours a day.
@crankpump8444 I work full time. My kids come with me for my activities. I run up the steepest hills I can find while my kids walk/hike. I run until they're out of sight, and then I run back down until their out off sight again. I literally run circles around them until the summit. My wife and kids also practice Jujitsu, so it's a family activity. My oldest son also practices fencing. When I have my fencing classes, they hang out on the sidelines and draw, read books, or play their Nintendo switch. Several days per week they do yoga with me.
this is one of the most honest videos about Jiu-Jitsu's journey I've ever watched in my life, I'm a brown belt in Judo, in my partner's history I find many injuries and I know how that's part of the way, but not everyone wants it that. Really, Jiu-Jitsu saves lives, but it also damages bodies. Congrats for your experience!
@@NoskPur I honestly think jiu is more harmful than judo, but high-level judo is extremely aggressive to the body. I've injured myself countless times in judo, shoulder, ankle, wrist, but my worst injury was my knee in jiu jitsu
I'm 40 but have started to train like one of the 50+ year old purple belts at my gym. He taps quickly, never goes balls to the wall and considers jiu jitsu a marathon, not a sprint. I want to be training like that in my later years, so starting old man jiujitsu in my 40's will hopefully help.
I train like that and I'm 23 lol. I don't compete, and I prefer to flow roll over going super ham. I'm a musician, and I don't want to be any more uncomfortable in my body than I already am. I played varsity football in hs, and I have a couple of things bugging me already
You mean early 40s. "40s" as in 40-49 isn't an age group. Nor is 20-29, 30-39. I am so sick of morons grouping age by decades. As someone who's barely 30, it makes no sense for me to be grouped with 39 year olds. They are almost a decade older than me! It makes more sense to group me with 29 year olds as they are only a year younger than me.
Im 34. Started jits at 32. I skated and snowboarded alot growing up, and got into barefoot running at like 29-30. Im actually 4 years sober (still smoke weed) after using fron 14-30. I have been trying to see whats even possible for my body. I feel starting with barefoot running my body began to transform, then with jiu jitsu it continued to. With barefoot running i started out running 1 mile at a time and was slow. Eventually, after like 3-6 months i got to running 5ks and 10ks but was still slow, like 10:30 per mile. After 3 years i got my mile time down to 7:30 per/mile on 5ks. Then i started jiu-jitsu and stopped running. I was hitting a wall with running and not realising i needed to optimize multiple other aspects of my health, all of which jiu-jitsu did force me to adress. Hydration, including LMNT packets - 1000mg of salt per packet. Makes night and day difference for me. Sleep, getting minimum 6 hours but preferably 8 + a nap. Eating enough and the correct foods for you. Recovery - massages, sauna, ice bath Stretching and other supplimental training. - i am still admittedly bad at this. I need to add yoga to my routine and start doing calisthenics/kettle bell style HIIT type workouts. Rowing, assault bike etc. Realistically speaking all humanbeings should be doing those aforementioned things, when you train hard asf 4-5+ hours a week it becomes mandatory. Just be careful who you roll with. tell people you dont want to start standing and work a positions like passing, gaurd retention, or back escapes. Its always up to you how much energy you want to put out. You can gas out in 5-10 minutes if you're pushing yourself at 110%
Correcting and optimizing your body for physical exercise are the most difficult things to do in my opinion - simply because it's soooo boring and hard to predict before you hurt yourself. Just the other week I did moderately heavy cable rows and strained my brachialis, and then later stupidly snapped it a bit as I was trying to stretch it a bit (I know, super stupid). I'm your age, and this is the fourth or fifth injury over a two year period. Tiresome. I have the willpower and muscles but my body just seems to want to give up on me.
@@TheDavveponken I wonder what it is about people that are more injury prone versus ones who seem to be less injury prone... Are some people actually just more durable than others, or are some people having a different relationship to movement?maybe both. I'd like to think all problems can be solved. Watch the way people tumble in the Olympics from the 80s. The floor routines. It inspires me watching the way they negate force in every move based on the way they tumble. I think it's super relevant for jujitsu but maybe less relevant for HIIT type workouts. Even still thinking about the type of movements you were doing when you injured yourself. Is there a way you could have been doing them smoother that would have perhaps prevented yourself from getting injured? Like were you snapping or jerking in places where you should have been controlled? Perhaps that means using too much weight? I'm just speculating here. I've been pretty lucky throughout my life with injuries so far. I agree with what you said about optimizing yourself for athletics being a boring endeavor but I think perhaps if some people are more durable than others. It is probably both the effort they put into these endeavors as well as their genetics and the way their body responds to what they're doing. Some people might get lucky and find the exact right things to optimize their health right off the bat and other people might search their whole life for the correct things to optimize their health and only ever end up hurting themselves.
@@SKRATCH1988 I don't know. Admittedly I had had a rather long hiatus from working out before really starting again a year ago or so. I think it is a combination of genetics and personal tendencies. I'd like to think I'm really strong (ofc) and have a great mind muscle connection, but in relation to my tendons muscles are always stronger. I can push way too hard - or at least I do, compared to others it seems. So, yeah, like you said - I could probably have taken it slower, warmed up more and not rushed the workout that day, taking it slower. But then again, it might just have to do with other issues (as I alluded to before) of suboptimal mechanics elsewhere. For instance, I have had shoulder problems for the last 15 years, and that may have caused my back to not be properly engaged causing my bicep to have to work so much harder. So, I should have properly rehabed my shoulder before going hard. Workout is my therapy. It's where I take out my anger, so naturally I like to go a bit harder. And I usually don't feel pain, until it's too late. Growing up I was naturally explosive and a great 100m runner. I think this is part of it. I think explosive muscles are more likely to cause injury. And perhaps overall inflammation due to stress or diet may put you more at risk? Just speculating. It's interesting. Have gotten into anatomy since my injury. It's fascinating. Lots of stuff on youtube. Have a good one. And good luck with your training! Don't forget to rest! I think I did too much. Slow and steady. A tendon under high load may use a week of rest apparently (according to some armwrestler).
@@SKRATCH1988it's mostly genetics which is a dice roll. The human body wasn't created to do sports the way we believe. Show me a pro athlete, and I'll show you in their retirement with knee issues, shoulder issues, back issues, and prescription pain meds forever. Every single step on concrete, every flight of stairs, every jog, every minor ankle sprain, it all adds up once you get old. You can be very lean, good weight, be on the best diet, all you do is brisk walk for a few miles each week, never suffer an injury, but the fact that you walked on concrete paved trails for miles weekly, you will still feel it in your old age.
Stumbled upon this video randomly in my feed and I couldn't be happier with it and I now subscribe to your channel. I'm about to be 43 and have been practicing Jiu-Jitsu on and off for about 10 years. I find that our gradual physical decline as we age is extremely tough to manage. I also battle with the struggle of hurting myself in jujitsu and how that translates to my real life (kids and work). Essentially, is it all worth it? One of my main issues is I have not been able to find anything remotely close that can take the place of how Jiu-Jitsu makes me feel overall....that's one of my issues.
I agree. Im 36 and have been training since 2010 and am still a blue belt. I have injuries in my neck and shoulders and run a business that requires heavy physical labour (6 days a week). I have 1 girl and a wife. I also weight train 3-4 times a week. It got to the point where it was affecting my work so I called it quits. I still intend on returning but my injuries are getting worse as I get older 🥹.
Hi man, thanks for making this video, it really touched me since many aspects are virtually to my life. I also started bjj when I was 28 (15 years ago, wow) and suffered a torn meniscus, had a break through covid.. but now back at it, with two kids and limited time 😅 I would say too, jiujutsu saved my life, amen to that brother! Best of luck! Teemu from Finland
I’m 45 years old in good shape and loved BJJ, but after 3 broken ribs and a frozen shoulder in 2 years I just can’t do it anymore. I really miss it, but it really fucked my body up.
Don't leave brother, just be quicker to tap and care even less about winning. I'm a 43 yr old black belt that went through your same thoughts when I went through an injury spate when I was 31 (started bjj at 24). Roll with people you trust, forget about winning and focus on technique
I loved listening to this story. I also have pectus excavatum like you and found that really interesting when you mentioned the injury. Several year younger than you so listening to you is showing me what it can be like committing to Jiu Jitsu, especially as someone who has already experienced a good amount of chronic pain in the past
45 year old Brown Belt, I have been training on and off for 17yrs so I know what you are going through. At this point, I just go to keep in "somewhat" shape, destress, comradery and I roll with very specific teammates that I know will not hurt me. I stuck to No Gi as I have had less injuries vs. Gi and I feel pretty good. I also get massages and visit a chiropractor every few weeks and it helps. Keep up the good work, listen to your body and thanks for sharing.
I'm 50 years old and I've been training jiu-jitsu for four years. I'm a blue belt. I'm Brazilian and I live in Brazil. I've had some jiu-jitsu injuries like torn ligaments in my shoulder and knees as well as some broken ribs and back problems. I'm going to participate in my first championship in two months. I love this sport despite the injuries
Wait a few more years and you’ll probably be thinking differently. Not everyone goes through this, but it is quite common. As you get older, your body changes and your ability to recover slows down. You definitely can avoid many of the problems by following the advice of more experienced people and tap early and often. Avoid certain people who have no control. Avoid certain techniques that put you and/or your partner at risk for injuries. Life is a marathon and not a race. You want to grow old with as many joints functioning.
Brazilian here too, jiu-jitsu is just so therapeutic, it's hard to stay away from it. I'm also an skateboarder, which is another activity that wrecks your body, but i'm still going until my body is broke.
Training for 5 years. 9 month recovery from a nerve injury from a neck crank. still recovering. Almost there but scary stuff. I've been debating quitting once I get my purple belt. This video made me realize that is prob a good idea.
I started training at 26 and got my black belt at 38. Through the yrs, I have had problems and varying degrees of injuries with both my shoulders (dislocated both) knees (ACL, LCL, Meniscus tears), elbows and and all the fingers as well. I used to roll hard and also compete till I was purple belt. As the injuries and suffering mounted on and I was living daily with chronic pain at about 3stripe purple belt, I had the exact same thought as you. Feeling like I am just wearing out my body and unsure how much more I have left before I hit a devastating injury. So I decided to take some time away from jiujitsu and ventured into other activities like mountain biking and calisthenics for a while for about 4months, with no clear plan or intention of returning to train again. The time away gave the rest my body needed to recover and both mountain biking and calisthenics helped me to strength my core, endurance and cardio that still help me daily and more importantly, made me realize how much of positive impact jujitsu has had in my life, rekindling my passion for the art with a refreshed body. The time off from the mat also gave me the space to think about different approaches to training as well. I used to go hard but since I when back to train, I am rolling more consciously and a notch down with intensity for longevity. I am so glad that I stuck with it and the day I got my black belt, I realized it was a. Milestone achieved but the journey and learning continue. Hope u try some intentional time off, enjoy other activities and hopefully carry on with the journey.
I am 54 and been doing BJJ only a few months. Yes injuries r part of it but all minor at this point. My wife thinks I'm putting myself at risk since most everyone else is much much younger. But I absolutely absolutely love it
I started at 43 and will be 50 in next month, got my brown belt last week. 7 years, 5 days a week and still in a better shape then when I started. I think a lot has to do with the way you train. Also make sure u eat well, sleep enough and when I had back pains at bluebell swimming and sauna after class fixed everything. Still going at it 4-6 days a week 💪
🫡🫡🫡🫡 that’s one of the things that I think has been overlooked here. Everybody wants to train and be a champion, but they don’t want to recover and eat and sleep and hydrate like a champion. If you run anything into the ground without proper fuel, of course you’re gonna experience higher level difficulties earlier on for a longer time. Not saying that everyone is safe from injury if you do those things, but if you care about your recovery, just as much, you definitely can achieve longevity in jujitsu.
I'm turning 40 next month and have been training BJJ off and on since 23 and I'm still only a 2 stripe blue belt. This is a very common story and very relatable. No one is gonna make it out of this alive so I prefer to use my body up until it's my time to go. I'm gonna keep training because it's a marathon not a sprint, but as you age you've gotta understand your limitations.
Training is important, but if you have injuries what the point of learning bjj when your body is so injured you may not even be able to properly defend yourself. I'll just stick to boxing.
@@adim00lahI’ve never seen this level of obsession in any other sport. Almost like a cult, they keep destroying their bodies in hopes of being able, on some special day, to use their skills against someone in the streets
@@intrepidsouls I don't get it myself tbh. Bjj is a great skill, I'm not knocking it, but what are the chances you will end up in a self defense situation with someone who does jits? A solid year or 2 of boxing training, and you will beat most people. It's going to be really hard to defend yourself whe you have torn ligaments / tendons. Hell even if you don't want to fight, and you want to run, running will be difficult with damaged joints. As I said, I'm sticking to boxing, my knife, and my gun. If all that ain't enough, then I wasn't meant to survive the situation, and imma go down swinging, stabbing, and shooting.
@@adim00lahThey're injuries to every sport. I've been practicing in striking martial arts since my 20's. I'm now 39 and recently picked up Bjj. There are benefits to Bjj for people who can take advantage of judo takedowns as a lot of fights end up on the ground. While boxing is great, bjj is essential in my line of work since takedowns and joint locks play an important role in subduing someone. All that said, training smart is what prevents injuries, especially the impact from blows one can sustain in boxing over a period of time. Injuries occur in all sports.
Very helpful; thank you! I've been debating getting into jiu jitsu for a year or two as a 37 year old and have concluded it's just not worth the damage to my body; there's pretty much no way to do the sport without taking damage and as a late 30s guy, I don't think it's worth it
Glad to see someone made this video and put it out there. Often times we think about the champions who seem ageless and train into their sixtys. We never think about the normal dude who is just trying to get through life. I hope you get to enjoy every minute of the admittedly little time we have to train. I know I am. 7 years purple belt, age 33.
hey Dorian, you got a subscriber out of me with this video. As someone who is 35 and had to hang up training at an MMA gym due to the countless injuries, the one that did it for me was a concussion that led to post concussion syndrome. I am 3 years removed from the sport but the part of your video that said it will always be a part of me and will always have a place in my heart really struck a chord with me as I feel the same way. A big part of doing this sport as well for me was the fact that I didn't have a very good family so the people that I trained with was my family. Not only that but what you mentioned was all the little lessons you learned doing the sport about what it really takes to achieve something I feel the same about as well. I wish you nothing but the best sir and I wish you great success both on and off the mat.
Interesting saying the guys on the mats replaced your family it's the same for me. Problem is you meet bad ppl on the mats too. At 35 I'd do bjj only instead of mma, you still get nearly the same 'hit' from it, without the same hits/damage if you know what I mean.
I'm glad there are videos like this out there for people to be informed from. I'm 43 now, but stopped training when I was right around the 39-40 mark. I did BJJ (more no-gi than gi) for about 12 years and am a brown belt. Before that I also wrestled for 9 years in high school and college. I would definitely say that once you hit the 39-40 year mark, things start getting tougher injury-wise. I spent more of my last year of training "in recovery" from injuries than actual training. Not major injuries, but the nagging ones that keep recurring & will make life miserable if you don't give them the proper time to heal.That time REALLY added up! Years before, back when my buddy and I were around 26 or so, we met a 50+ year old at a seminar who was a black belt in both judo and BJJ. We got into a very friendly conversation and he kind of broke down for us how the aging process effects your training, in 5 year increments. It was very enlightening and I always had it in mind from that point on. What he mentioned...proved just about right-on. I could have kept training, but I kind of made the mental decision that it was more important for me to be able to enjoy my life "mostly" pain-free & be able to enjoy my next "great hobbies" in life. Admittedly...I still haven't found that (kind of hard when you loved 'combat sports' for 21 years), but I am very confident that I made the right decision. Obviously everyone is different, but I hope this might be insightful to some in the way that the gentleman at that seminar was for my buddy and I many years back. :)
@@xGarrettThiefx Hi! I didn't initially put them down, since I don't quite remember "verbatim" what he said...as it has been many years. That being said, he mentioned (as I recall) that into your early thirties you're still basically 100% in all areas. Once you hit 35 you haven't lost much in terms of speed or strength, but you start to acquire injuries a bit more easily & they take a bit longer to recover from -- not major ones, but those nagging ones. Once you hit 40, your recovery [in general] starts to take a hit, and injuries start to increase as well. Strength may start to decrease as well. At 45 all of those things, along with speed, are in full swing decline. He only went up to 50, since I think that was around his age, but he said it just is a continuing increase of frequency and loss. Overall the guy seemed in good physical condition & not suffering from bad injuries, but he just kind of conveyed that you need to lower the expectations on your body -- and performance -- significantly if you still want to be able to train. As for myself, I didn't feel any significant loss of speed as I approached 40...but those nagging injuries would make me more hesitant to engage in certain ways VS before. I did feel like I was losing strength. The main thing, though, was the injuries & my worry of how they would affect me in continuing years (hence why I stepped away from training). Hope that gives you the info you were hoping for! :)
@@MandatoryMyocarditis8 Yeah, it was really a thankful "chance encounter" that we got in a conversation with him. It really helped me set my expectations for the future accordingly, and when those things started happening, I wasn't as frustrated as I otherwise likely would have been. It also prompted me to appreciate the time I did have even more. :)
@@MandatoryMyocarditis8 Yeah, it was a really great "chance encounter" that we got in that conversation with him. When those things started occurring with age, I was able to take them in stride more than I likely would have otherwise...and understand why. It also prompted me to appreciate the time I did have even more. Wherever that gentleman is these days, I salute him! :)
I'm a 74 yo white belt with about 1.5 years of training. I've had some injuries, but I've finally learned to slow roll. I enjoy the challenge of learning a little bit each class.
I feel ya. I use to train and work out a lot and because of that I ended up getting so many injuries, some that required surgery. Stuff that I could just walk off when I was in my late twenties/early thirties, would put me out for days as I got older. I am not sure how many of you have had a pain that just never goes away. Its there the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep. I had that for a couple years and its cool to say the reason I got it was from training, but I hated it so much. My doc would offer me pain killers to help but I would turn them down because I didn't want to take the chance of getting addicted to those. I also hated having to tell my kid I couldn't play catch with him, go bike riding, or just run around with him because my elbow was hurting too much or my knee was in a lot of pain. All that forced me to make the decision to pull back on training a lot, also the surgery I had kind of forced me to stop for a while altogether. I do miss training but I dont miss the constant pain I had. I knew it will only get worse the older I got and unless I can be guaranteed that all of my sparring partners will "take it easy", there is 100% chance I will be re-injured. The I would be back to where I was before, except older now and in a lot more pain probably.
I've been doing bjj since I was 16, I'm 42 now. I've had multiple injuries from BJJ and working in LE for almost 17 years. I still practice twice a week but what really helped me get through the pain and aches is combining BJJ with Yoga.
I'm 40 started BJJ last year, but I have been doing Yoga sincee I was in my late 20's. I feel Yoga has really benefited me. I dont have any aches I hear ppl of my age go on about
I feel like yoga is so underutilized by combat athletes in general. There are a few people at my gym who do yoga and you would be able to pick them out just by watching warmups - they're (well, we're, because I'm one of them) so much more limber and looser, and seem to get injured less frequently.
51 year old new black belt. One difference between guys like me who started later in life vs. guys like you who started younger and transitioned to older age, is that you may have kept your young man's game even as you aged. For me, I started at 40 so I've never been able to go that hard. Surprisingly, this is what made me better. I roll hard maybe a few times a year. Otherwise, I roll light and only go to the gym 1-2x per week. My body aches like yours bc I'm old, but also I try to be smart about how much I train. I try to warm up by myself at least 30 minutes before class and clearly have an old man's game. I trained 4-5x a week as a white belt, 3x as a blue, 2-3x as a purple, and 1-2x as a brown, and now that I'm a black belt my guess is I'll train even less but the years add up. Great video I enjoyed watching your journey!
I’m just a diesel and automotive master mechanic for over 30 years and my body is beat to crap . 30+ years on hard concrete,streets etc in all types of weather and conditions under semi truck, dump trucks, heavy duty equipment, buses, RVs automobiles. Repairing transmission engines etc . I can only imagine how training for Jiu jitsu will break your body down
I feel your pain. Training martial arts was a huge benefit to my life a few years back, but I am getting older and fill the time with cycling. I just can't bring myself to take the risk to totally mess up my old man body lol.
Fighting is a young man's sport.... it sucks for us old guys, but you have to come to terms with your age at some point. Great video, appreciate the story! You come across as a down to earth kind of guy.
You are never too old to start training fighting, everyone should, it has nothing but advantages, the only thing is that you might want to avoid certainly shitty toxic gyms.
@@newagain9964 If you are talking about competing at a world class level, sure than fighting is a young man's sport. But as a sport in itself, it really is for all ages.
It really hit home for me when you said you weren't sure if you could continue training due to potential further injuries. I absolutely love training Jiu Jitsu but I've been plagued by injuries, mostly due to my knee which I've have two surgeries on. I'm also only 28. I don't plan on quitting as I want to train well into my 40's but I totally understand how potential future injuries causes anxiety. Best of luck to you. -Training 4.5 years, Blue Belt
Thanks for sharing. I’ve trained in Judo since I was a kid and earned my green belt. My father was a 4th Dan black belt. Life and work took me in a different direction, my father passed and he took a lot of knowledge with him. I ended up taking a 14 yr break from it while maintaining my fitness with Ashtanga yoga. I am now in my early 50’s. I’ve just returned to the dojo but this time to jujitsu (in bjj, my green belt doesn’t transfer, which makes no difference to me) and as much as I LOVE it, because in a sense I’m connecting to my father, my muscle memory wants to do stuff that I don’t think my knees can handle any more. I dislocated my right knee on the slopes 8 yrs ago. The other day we were told to ‘roll’ starting from standing and I asked my partner (a white belt) if she had been taught how to take a fall. So shortly into it, I did uchi mata on the left and took my partner by surprise but dang it if I wasn’t icing my knee for 3 straight days after that. That throw came out from a subconscious level. I had drilled uchi mata for sure 10,000x in my lifetime. These skills just never go away! But a voice inside my head is telling me I must practice restraint. Your video gave me a lot of validation.
I'll be 47 next month. Been in martial arts almost my entire life. Little bit of everything: karate, jkd and Filipino MA, aikijujutsu, lots of Japanese jujutsu, little bit of Chinese arts mixed in. Similar experience in BJJ. Did a couple seminars back in the mid to late 00's. Started training regularly and got my blue in 2013. Gym stopped offering BJJ at the end of 2015 . Life changed a bit and I took a hiatus. Some guys from the old gym started their own gym and I decided to start up again in 2016. They were moving locations and while they were getting the new place ready to open we started cross-training at a judo school for a bit--which I loved. Then hit BJJ pretty solid for a while. A few minor injuries. Some hiatuses here and there. Got back in just in time for covid to hit. Then went back in 2021. Trained hard. Was gearing up for purple belt and then during a class had a nearly full adductor Longus tear while working guard passes(Didn't know it at the time, found that out after months of rehab did not good and finally had an MRI). Was going to pull the trigger on surgery to repair and then work got crazy. Haven't been back since. Probably won't unless I decide to do the surgery again or it tears the rest of the way and then heals as well as it can. Been doing kali for a while now as it's much less abusive to the body.
Same experience mine was a abductor longus partial tear after bjj drills … at 52 decided to stick with training weekly in RG jiujitsu self defense and Vale Tudo drills and roll occasionally when my body is optimum. I am in for longevity and protecting my body, too many injuries that will make you vulnerable in the street.
@@drfrancovalento7545 💯 agree. BJJ was always a means to an end for me. Rounding out my self defense skillet. Thanks for the reply! I'm still kind of hoping to rips on it's own and then heals into the surrounding muscles as the sports med surgeon suggested it may.
I feel for you! I can totally relate!!! I’m 48 soon to be 49… I’ve been training on and off jiujitzu,boxing and Muay Thai for many years. My body has taken a beating. My doctor said I’ll probably need double knee replacements in my 50’s . I stopped training jiujitzu but continue to occasionally do boxing and Muay Thai and I lift a little but nothing at all like I use too. I have always struggled with depression and anxiety and training helped. Now I find myself wondering who I even am anymore. I identified so much with being a martial artist that I’m feeling kinda empty and lost now. When I do train I feel old and slow nothing compared to who I use to be. My body hurts all the time. Thanks for the video, makes me feel less alone 😢
Associating your true pristine self with worldly things (ideas, habits, objects) ,making them your whole identity and basing an entire personailty on them is just not wise. It is hell on earth. That void can olny be filled by God because it is a God shaped emptiness.
Great to hear your honest testimony Dorian! I got into BJJ in my twenties and have now moved onto boxing and k1, I can say that I've met heaps of people who are ex BJJ practitioners due to knee injuries
How long have you been training BJJ and what belt are you now?
18 years. Black Belt.
How did you manage working full time, doing bjj and also learning programming???
only 2 years, but I started older. I am fine with my body. But I understand my body very well
Almost 4 years, purple belt
Started January 2022 at the ripe age of 39. Thanks to similar podcasts like those you mentioned, I figured if I didn't start before 40 I never would. Been going 5-6 days a week for most of the time since then, did two comps, and still a white belt. But it's ok. I give blues a real hard time and similarly aged purples gotta bring their A game and not be sloppy or give me too much space. I wish I'd found this sport earlier in life but I like to tell people it found me when I was ready for it. My wife loves doin it, our two daughters go three days a week... it's really been a blessing 🤙
I also had a rib injury about two months ago. Defending an armbar, I tried swinging my legs around to sit up and stack the person. As I did the side crunch there was a POP. Worst pain I've ever felt in my life and now I've got a lump where the cartilage regrew hah. Couldn't sleep on my side for about two weeks, that was a hard adjustment as a side sleeper. After three weeks I could kind of drill a few times a week, but now I'm back at it 5-6 days. Bit of a double edged sword obsession, eh?
42y old black belt here (18y of bjj experience) - The amount of injuries in this comment section is worrying. The only two things I got was a little knee injury and some minor problems with my neck, due to tapping too late when I was younger. I still compete in adult divisions of Grappling Industries and local ADCC shows. Longest brake was about 1,5 months. The key to longetivity in my experience is:
-Find training partners you can absolutely trust. Take care of them, they will take care of you
-Focus on flow rolling and only do a couple of hard rounds
-never overdo it. I never trained more than max 4 times a week bjj
-do supporting sports. I swim one time a week and do some weighttraining on the side for example. This will help you hold your body together
-in all your activities, try to avoid constantly pushing your limits if you are getting older. I personally stop when I feel I still got one more round, one more lap, one more rep left in me. This way, you stay safe and look forward to the next day. Furthermore, you get home in one piece and still enjoy the rest of your day, without feeling completely destroyed.
-EDIT: I forgot one important factor: luck
Take care and be excellent to each other :)
When I stopped weight training and only did BJJ the injuries started piling up. I trained for a couple of years but I stopped because I couldn’t afford to get hurt. Training partners definitely make a difference like you said. It’s always newbies that have injured me in the past.
@praywithoutceasing4939 that's true. :( I don't train in regular gyms anymore, but mainly roll with friends on private mat space. In my experience you can start to train on your own as a good bluebelt. However I know that's often easier said than done.
If that's off the table I would recommend open communication with your sparring partners. If you are known to be the "flow roll guy", you will start to attract similar minded people. But yeah, I know it's not so easy in real life. Wish you all the best!
I concur- as a 55 year old brown belt I’ve all but stopped doing “ hard rolls” , stick to mostly flow rolls of varying intensity and ESPECIALLY choose my training partners wisely. Since applying that formula, no significant injuries.
This is great training advice. Not just for bjj
Great advice!
I lost my wife of 14 years 5 months ago. She passed away. I'm a 39yr old one stripe white belt..I currently cant extend both arms fully, my left knee is blue and swollen. My right calf is swollen. Name an exercise and I've done it. I'm only not rolling tomorrow so I can roll the next. Life has been very good to me, but right now, BJJ is saving my life.
Update: 10 months in... it became clear to me I was using BJJ as a much needed escape.. I wanted nothing more than to fight tooth and nail to avoid the tap. I'm still training, more than ever. Due to my injuries I've had to change the way I train. I also started lifting weights focusing on those injuries, that's helped immensely. I'm a lucky man to have the support and resources needed to survive this experience. Thank you all for the love. Maybe I'll update again when i get that blue belt. Sincerely, thank you all..
Uhhh, I'm glad it's helping you but please change your training up if you're getting that injured. It might even require switching gyms, but you should not be hobbled all the time.
May God bless you 🙏🏾
Sorry John.
She is with Jesus now.
I’m confused what your wife has to do with anything. But good for you trainingg
@@Dubyea
.... why do you think Jiu Jitsu is saving his life?
To help cope with a dead wife...
Great story 👏 I am a 45 yo brown belt. Started rolling at 26. Never competed, never trained more than 3 times a week, never had an injury. Don't mind being tapped by purple belts. Just having fun. Greetings from Poland 😎
Would it produce an effect on a street fight ?
I would say almost 20 years of training the obvious answer is yes.
@@duarte8546 I think it will for sure. I am the same way been training for a year and I can say I will never compete. I'm 40 but compared to boxers or any other I'm sure I can take on 60% of the untrained opponents.
I'm the same mentality.
Honestly want to go about it the same way. I want to do jiu jitsu, and for all the videos I've seen, and posts and articles I've read most people I've seen that don't get injured too seriously, and there's a lot of them don't compete, train smart, lift weights and or yoga, and don't go 100% all of the time. If he's so scared of a big injury, light rolls and drills. Ive also seen some recommending knees over toes. I will definitely be doing weights and yoga though, seems like it'll really help prevent injuries.
My goal with BJJ is longevity, I don't compete, avoid rolling with spazzes, I tap quick and I tap often. My goal is to be an old man rolling around with my old buddies, if I can achieve that I will consider myself a champ.
@@nealcassady-yn3bh I know its a risk, but its a risk I am willing to take. I strive to minimize that risk as much as possible. I mean we face major risks driving cars everyday, yet we all still do it because the benefits outweigh the possible down sides. I just look at all the black belts in my gym with 10 years plus of training, only a small percentage have serious injuries, most are just fine
That sounds so gay lol
@@wis1024 that's sad. Learn how to enjoy life dude
@@lightfeather9953 If that means acting gay
... screw that lol
@wis1024 he can do whatever he wants bro no need to act mad rude
This is why many advocate for weight training. Been doing Jiu Jitsu for little over a year now. Before I used to train weights 4x a week for over 10 years. Now I only lift 2x a week with less intensity. I think this helps prevent injuries much.
Thank u 4 this I need to get more meat on my bones
I agree. I’m starting my jits journey and I used to powerlifting pretty hard in my late teens/early 20’s. My routine has changed to mobility and like you said, light weights. Keeping everything oiled up and ready to work.
Swimming pool, walking and running, bit of Shikiokushin and intro to wrestling and very rare intro to BJJ if I feel very strong. Almost 50 and want to have a year without waiting for emergency department triangle check 😅
It does. Weights and stretching
Same. I train Jiu Jitsu and Muay thai all week long and my body rarely hurts, I don't get tired at all and I lift weights. Dan Jon's program easy strength was a game changer for me.
I might sound like a bot promoting scam but it really was the game changer xd
Brother. As a 34 year old brown belt who's gone through pretty much the exact same thing ( I started training at 19 so we're pretty similar in years) PLEASE START DOING SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING. I've had two knee surgeries and realized that a lot of injuries come from not having enough flexibility and strength in awkward positions. I started doing the Knees Over Toes routine and it's been a game changer. These days I do 10 min of medium to hard backwards sledding before and after every jiu jitsu class, plus one day of heavier lifting and stretching. It's made such a difference. I also only do 2-3 rolls per class, and tape them to study them. Less rolling, more learning. My goal is not to crush white and blue belts all day long, it's to get better. I still roll hard 2 or so days out of the month, to really test everything else out. But other than those days I am rolling specifically to work on techniques or concepts I'm looking to add to my game or sharpen. Even if that means not doing as well, or god forbid tapping. All the guys I know who are strong and rolling well into their 40s and 50s lift and do supplemental workouts to keep strong and to heal injuries (it's a foreign concept to us but the right kind of exercise can actually help heal injuries). Anyways, hope you keep at it!
You are right, conditioning is very important in any martial arts and sport.
Jiu jistu is inherently physically unhealthy. it may not be quite as unhealthy as some drugs, but it can and most likely will damage you forever for the sake of training for a scenario that is entirely impractical and that you will never face outside of sport competition.
I've been slacking on my sledding. Fortunate to have healthy knees so far. Will be doing sledding before and after class now!
@@michaellopez2070Building cardio/endurance, some strength, losing weight and the numerous mental health benefits is not “inherently unhealthy” lol. There are risks and downsides to it. The majority of people that do BJJ are doing a few fundamental classes a week and rolling hard a few times a week. Most people don’t have huge injuries. Most people don’t compete or live their lives all about it.
@@michaellopez2070it’s not inherently unhealthy lol the mental component alone is probably the most valuable part of it every guy I talk to at the gym says the same thing it’s our therapy for life it allows a group of like minded men (and some women) to get stress and aggression out and force you to live in the present. Like these other guys have said the secret to longevity is supplemental training and taking care of your nutrition which should be done regardless.
I sympathize with a lot of your story. I didn't start BJJ until I was 37, after I had already had 2 kids. Been training pretty consistently, about 2-4 times per week, for 6 years and and now a 3 stripe blue belt. I tried competing once but it wasn't for me. But the soreness, the injuries, the getting passed up by younger and more athletic training partners...that will never go away. And I'm ok with that. I have no hopes of becoming a world champion or anything. My slightly overweight, mediocre, dad-jitsu isn't anything amazing. But it is so important to me for friendships, exercise, mental health, and stress relief that I hope to never stop. I'm on the 20 years to black belt plan! As long as I'm showing up and gettting a little better every day, that's still progress.
Awesome brother
Love your attitude and mindset!
Thanks for sharing, in the same boat. Love the dad jitsu term. Tough sessions I have found take 3-4 days to recover from nowadays!
hey I'm on that 20 yr plan too, lol. Is what it is
I think too many people get caught up in the chase of achieving something with BJJ.
Bjj black belt here. I trained for over 15 years, but suddenly lost my passion for it. In my forties now, and it’s like I matured past that stage of caring about childish fantasies of being a badass. I still lift weights and try to stay in shape, but BJJ trained for too long ends up becoming the opposite of self defense. One only needs the skill of a good blue belt along with strength and conditioning to be competent to defend oneself.
true words lmao . u dont need more skills than a blue belt to beat 99.99% of world population
Thanks bro, 41 now, got my blue belt after 2.5 years, my body feels a bit destroyed tbh, knee, back and shoulders occasionally! Need to renegotiate my relationship to it!
Wise, I'm a 45 year old woman getting fit and loved the look of jui jitsu, I may still go
@@carriecastanosYou should!
@@sirbalanced5486 😊
29 year old blue belt here. I’ve been training for almost 4 years, and you just described everything that goes through my head daily. I’m always just waiting for the day where my next big injury occurs and I’m forever in worse shape because of it. I wish you the best of luck brotha. Thank you for sharing your story.
Oss.. 29 year old blue belt here.❤
You cant get hurt if you train with people you trust and tap early and often
Bro you’re 29 imagine how it feels at 40 lol but like the other guy said roll with who you trust definitely don’t roll with white belts or young competitors and it should be good.
You can be in worse positions at 29 than this guy is in at 40. Age is one factor.@@danielbalcazar2006
First of all, thank you for your transparency, brother!!
I am 38 yrs old. I, too, trained boxing for a few years prior to taking up grappling in 2017. I trained about four times a week for the first 2-3 years. I competed at blue belt at a high level, which was fun. I received my blue belt in 9 months of training and had purple by my 3rd year.
I tore my meniscus at blue belt, and around the time that I received my purple belt, I had my AC joint separated with slip tears in my labrum. I took nine months off to rehabilitate my shoulder. I am a personal trainer and currently in the physical therapist assistant program, so I instantly examined my movement competency to pinpoint root causes of these injuries. I quickly found a few dysfunctional patterns that I had to clean up. I also began to emphasize the need to vary my supplemental training. I have always been very active, but I never prioritized things like locomotion (animal movements), consistency in yoga, soft tissue mobilization on a deeper level (more than just foam rolling), and strengthening all planes of movements. GAME CHANGER. Not only did I completely avoid surgery, but I’ve been back since October of last year with very minimal injuries (finger swole up for a couple of months haha). I have a bunch of grapplers that I train and I over emphasize the need to cycle intensity, train in such a way that you seek to learn, and explore rather than dominate unnecessarily. You do not always have to finish submissions, and I don’t care what no one says you can refuse to roll 😂😂. I have clients from our Academy that stay broken. I refuse. Here are a few of my tips for people wanting to make the most out of their training:
1) Strength train in a more functional way. Do not just worry about bench pressing and heavy Squats. Work every plane of movement. Work asymmetrical (single leg/arm, split stance, etc), core stability and reflexive control, flexibility/mobility, plyometrics, etc. Be a complete athlete no matter your age.
2) Cycle the intensity. More intensity calls for longer rest between sessions. Choose one day a week to increase your intensity, but spend the other sessions just “flow rolling” and learning skill acquisition. Pace yourself, and do not be afraid to turn down rolls.
3) Rest. Rest. Rest. If you need to take time off, then prioritize it! You will be just fine when you come back. It is like riding a bike. You will remember the fundamental movements! You will just need to refine your details. Easy.
4) Eat nutritionally. This is the single most important aspect of training. Eat a diet that is anti-inflammatory and aids in proper recovery and growth. I attribute my physical capabilities to how well I eat much more than how well I condition my body.
5) Remind yourself that longevity is more important than instant gratification. In my opinion, ruining your body for the moment does not outweigh the benefits of living a functionally capable life later on. Learn to balance everything and enjoy the moment.
I am just a Relson Gracie purple belt. I am not an ADCC world champion. But my passion and career is built upon maximizing the human movement system. I am simply writing this to encourage.
Thank you! Massive infos! As a 25 yrs old mma guy with 4 years of training (already 3 major injuries under my belt lol) this is something extremely helpful
Very humble and helpful comment friend!
Also, avoid pharmaceuticals like the plague, especially the mRNA / modRNA injections
Excellent and very informative!
Gracias por tus letras hermano, me serán de gran utilidad. OSSS!!!
Been coaching/training jiu-jitsu for about 18 years. I'm 46 in a couple months. Had several injuries in my time. In a month in going to compete at ADCC in Vancouver. Adult division, not masters.
My longevity in jiu-jitsu has gone beyond most of the people I started training with amd its down to a few key things:
- When I'm injured, I stay away until it's not causing pain. Sometimes that means coaching and not rolling.
- I come back while healing, cause motion is better to recover faster. But I warn partners to not go for my injury and I tap right away if they do.
- I don't fight as hard out of stuff anymore. If I don't start slipping a sub at least a little bit after a couple attempts, I don't need to keep fighting it and just tap.
- If your fingers are bugging you, try to stick to nogi for a bit. Nogi is not as hard on fingers, and the lack of gi allows slipping out of lots of subs. I actually find it much better on my body overall than gi.
- Finally just meter your expectations. You aren't 20 anymore. Don't roll like you are if you can't maintain that pace without hurting. Be more deliberate and planned in your movements and you'll be less likely to strain yourself in a bad way.
Hope you keep involved in something you enjoy, Dorian!
Oh, and almost forgot. Make sure you do Phsyio and Massage Therapy, that stuff has fixed more than I can say during my time. Doctors are sort of useless in that arena unless you need surgery for something.
Really solid advice, thank you sir you are a gentleman and a scholar. Also I would reccomend you guys you buy like a massage gun cause it makes things a lot easier and quicker, and you don't risk doing something useless if you don't know how to massage properly.
Just wanted to ask you real quick tho, like what about if my toes are hurting because of n reasons like the joint in the feet hurts, but it's not debilatating should I like train light or just not train. Cause at the moment I'm kinda just listening to my body, but I'm not exactly sure.
It's been like 3 weeks or more that I started feeling this pain, and I'm fairly new. I took like 1 week no training bjj completely and like 2 weeks just doing technique basically without sparring or sparring light and the pain subsided, these last two sessions tho I got excited and went pretty hard on the mat, and the pain came back a little not as sharp tho, what should I do in your experience?
Great advice.
thanks for this!
I'm also a purple belt. I tore my ACL as a blue belt and it was an awful 18 month recovery. The biggest advice I can give you, is to train less often but never quit. Even if you can only train 2 days a week, that's better than nothing. I'd also advise to start weight training. Weight training will help durability and keeping everything as strong as possible with the wear and tear of bjj. Good video!!
Did someone tear your acl while rolling?
Hi! I tored my ACL (never did the surgery, it happened like 13 years ago). I started boxing a couple months ago and now I became obsessed with BJJ and I want to learn going to classes.. I've been wondering if I can actually do BJJ with that injury or is it like a terrible idea so I wanted to know from you as you are more experienced. Did you tore your ACL in like a tournament or was during practice?
@@karlwithak.What’s obvious?
@@Flint9250Because the purpose of jujitsu is to tap people out by bending joints in directions they aren’t supposed to go, and it doesn’t take much force for someone to make a mistake that leaves you permanently damaged.
I only know one guy, a cop, who is in BJJ and he’s already had one shoulder surgery and is well on his way to his next one.
@@kevinc8955 For sure, but that’s exactly why you train with people you trust and not randoms that walk through the door looking for a fight. There’s absolutely inherent risk that one has to accept to train, but training intelligently mitigates quite a bit.
I'm 39 year old purple belt and have been training for 8 years. Never had a major injury (knock on wood) and I attribute that to a few things. First of all, weight training. Weight training to me is the number one factor to keeping yourself injury free imo. Having strong muscles makes your body resilient. Second, protect yourself. If you're in a bad position don't try to muscle out of it. Tap early and tap often. If my knee is in a bad position I make sure to protect it by adjusting my position to keep my knee safe. Third, you don't have to win every round. Nobody wins every round, some times you have take it easy. Don't always go 100% on every roll. I'd say 80% of the time I'm going about 80% effort. These are just a few of the things that I attribute to my "luck" when it comes to staying injury free. Obviously there are other things like getting enough rest and eating right. Good luck man, I hope you stay injury free and get to keep training. 👊
id say the tapping early is the main thing .... let the pride go , if they got you they got you. took me a while but my elbows feel way better now
Advice from a 60 year old when I joined at 65 - let the youngsters go for it, use your weight if need be, make them work, and as you say - tap and tap often. After 60 there are enough injuries left over from life that new ones are not welcome. I mean I'm on blood thinners, had both knees meniscus fixed (from walking dogs and vigorous ex), so I add Latin dance - similar level of intimate connection. Thanks for taking the time to write.
That’s exactly it, common sense applied to Jiu Jitsu. This guy was reckless about his body and its own limits. You gotta know how to train.
Going 80% at my max probably saved me from any potential major injuries.
Yes, weight training is crucial 💪.
I'm a 3rd degree black belt 45 years old who is pretty much retired. I was completely obsessed, competing all the time, ran my own gym, taught full time. It was awesome, but yeah there is a point where the risk to reward ratio doesn't make sense anymore. One of the worst injuries was a freak knee to the face with a guy standing in my sit up guard which broke my nose and basically screwed up my breathing until I got surgery. BJJ is great for helping you find yourself and teaching you about life. But at its heart it is a contact sport. You can train lighter and smarter, but there is something about full on scrapping that kind of gets to the soul of it. Luckily, I like other physical activities and transitioned into working on other aspects of my fitness, so I don't really miss it.
Now I'm just a regular old boring developer with cauliflower ear 🤣!
I feel like I'm not too far away from that semi-retired place. I still love to teach and am barely getting into that so it's something new. If I'm still full speed rolling when I'm 50, I'll be very happy but only if I can do it without the constant pains and arthritis that so many people have.
I do look forward to a time when I have more ability to do bouldering but that time isn't right now.
Is this Lee Sinkowski? I came down from York, PA a few times to train at your school (and to get my ass royally kicked).
@@mouthbreather69 Ha yeah, good stuff brother!
Did you ever want to fight professionally?
Still a Monster
I'm a 54 yo blue belt (hobbyist). I've had a few minor injuries luckily. I'm 160 lbs... usually one of the smaller students on the mat. My advice to avoid a major injury is to be careful who you roll with and just tap. Keep it fun and don't take it too seriously.
As an old man who tried to do it that way, I wish you all the best.
Pois é meu irmão, eu estou com 56 anos e sou faixa roxa, atualmente estou parado devido a lesão no joelho mas com muita vontade de voltar a treinar com fé em Deus logo estarei de volta, pois luta pra mim é algo viciante também treino kickboxing mais devido a idade temos que treinar com mais inteligência.
i'm a white belt in bjj and this is what I read everywhere.. i'm 6'2 close to 200 lbs lean and will tap to a 160 lbs white belt guy right away if at any point i feel uncomfortable.. i enjoy the technique aspect of the sport but i doubt i will ever give my 100% in a roll..
@@j.p.3891 Remember that you are only 1/2 of the equation. Choose your training and training partners wisely.
Is training for competition a part of why people get injured?
Really appreciate you sharing your journey. I’m 47 almost 48 year old purple belt. Been training 6 years. I’ve had some injuries but nothing major. My body hurts all the time but I’m used to it. One thing I will say is the beauty of Jiu jitsu is there are a lot of ways to play. I’ve really taken old guy Jiu jitsu to heart. My game is to tie you down and slowly advance more and more until I am in position to get a sub. It’s not flashy. It’s probably not fun to roll with me, but it allows me to train at nearly 50 in a safe and effective manner.
Maybe there should be a new version of Jiu Jitsu for older people? Like a more gentle yoga or tai chi esque version that greatly reduces risk of injury.
@@jzen1455 nah not necessary. People just need to take responsibility for themselves and be wise in picking their training partners
I’m here for that. I’d use rolling with you as a way to learn to be more patient. Work on timing etc. Love rolling with slow game players.
I trained for about 6 months. I started to accumulate injuries quickly. I talked to a few purple belts about it and half would tell me about their injuries and the other half would say it was an issue with how I trained. I knew the latter were hiding their injuries. I decided it wasn't worth it. I loved it, I loved rolling but I did not want the lifelong injuries.
It depends on the gym, you need to find the right group of people. Over a year and only 1 injury from the lone asshole at the gym. If you’re getting injured a lot either you or your training partner are doing something wrong. We should all be learning self control, true control over our movements
It's ok. Jiujitsu is for everyone but is not for everybody
They were also definitely not the right gym.
My coach teaches almost three times a day, and most of the time he barely expends energy.
Yes live with a lot of injury without get any money of this life IS pretty stupid i think
You knew half of them were hiding injuries? No that's just your own bias 😂😂
As someone who was (and sometimes still is) “lost” and who has trained in a variety of very intense traditional sports (rock climbing, gymnastics, long distance running, mountain biking, etc.) as well as combat sports (including wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, etc), and who incurred significant injuries doing pretty much all of them I can say with absolute certainty that the benefits you mentioned (ie learning determination/persistence in the face of adversity and periods of seemingly stagnant skill progression/growth) can be derived from significantly lower risk activities. I just turned 40 this year, now have three kids, and bottom line there is a lot more riding on me staying healthy than there was when I was young, single, or newly married. There comes a point, especially if you’ve already proven to yourself that you can stand in the ring or on the mat with just about anyone and maybe not win but certainly not back down, that you have to ask yourself why you are still doing it. If you aren’t willing to be honest in that moment, and face the fact that you’re actually avoiding the real shit (early childhood traumas, past regrets/shame for mistakes made in the past, etc) that lives deep down inside you you’re just continuing to perpetuate those problems by covering them up with the distraction and addiction to intensity. Recently, I started to practice chi gung/nei gong, flow arts (rope flow, poi, bo staff) and these “soft” practices give me all the benefits of learning something new, challenging myself, etc without destroying myself in the process. In fact, my connecting with my body in a much gentler way, I’ve learned much more about self love and in turn have found much more capacity to extend real love and vulnerability to others such as my kids, wife, friends, and co workers. As a side benefit, I’ve also found that my body is naturally starting to “unwind” and release the layers of muscle knots, spasms, and tensions that I have been carrying for so long. Each “release” sheds a little weight, opens up more movement, relaxes away some old pain, and makes me realize how locked up I was and how much feeling I was just suppressing. This “gentle” path actually requires more courage and strength in my opinion vs the “hard” path as it defies societal messages about masculinity that tell us we need to be hard, tough, and vicious in order to be “men”. I can honestly say that I feel better in my body now than at any point in my life and I hope my message reaches you as I related very much to your story and know that a whole new path is possible for you.
thank you for writing this. I never saw it expressed this way
I love it brother, thank you for sharing your mind with everyone!!
Tony means “priceless one”, and you are.
Emmanuel means “God with us” and Jesus means “salvation”.
Only the blood of Jesus saves.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I have just started training bjj and I was thinking about what my goal was. I don't see myself doing it forever but I think you beautifully articulated that once we learn the lessons of being able able to know we can hold our own on the mat, we need to consider whether it still serves us
thank you so much for this wisdom
Hey brother! I’m 55, a Gracie Blue belt. Retired Marine and avid cyclist. I have 3 herniated disks, and a myriad of other neck/back injuries. Knees over toes guy has helped me in a huge way, daily stretching coupled with the exercises i’ve learned from the knees guy have left me virtually pain free now. OSS on your journey. Pain is manageable 😊😉✊🏿
Has the stretching helped you with your neck?
Did you get those injuries from BJJ or something else?
I guess I'm the only one who did an entire Knees over Toes program and gained zero benefit.
@@DOOR.DASH.TYRONE Marine Corps mostly
KOT is good for knees . doe she have soemthing for the back and neck ?
My injuries:
1-My neck makes a small noise when I turn my head.
2-my knee hurts when Im doing some movements.
3- I broke 1 ribs (the very small ones)
4- I crake one teeth
5- My finger broke, it turn the wrong way atound.
I stopped after 2 years of purple belt. I won some competitons. But makes no sense for my health.
I returned to taekwondo my mother art, Its more healthy, I can train alone, more self defense and not that bullshit that every fights go to the ground wich they dont, I had several street fights.
But Im very proud for learning it and having the humbleness to put my black belt aside and learn that art.
Unfortunately nowadays its only sport and no self defense and like I said I dont believe in most of the techniques nowadays and I prefer more traditional art with competiton or sparring but with self defense.
Good luck to everyone!
Similar experience here. Got my blue belt at 44, but with that I seriously tweaked my back and hip. I don't regret it though. The confidence that comes with being able to defend yourself is priceless.
Thank you for sharing your story, it's been a reminder for me of injuries.
"I don't roll soft", "i didn't have an mri", "i like to compete", "i visited a gym in a foreign country after 2 years of not training" "a brown belt who had more than 100 pounds over me threw me...".
Correct me if i'm wrong, but you seem to like to take risks in bjj and that's how you like it, nothing wrong with it.
But it comes with a price.
Even without taking risks, that shit hurts, with risks it gets worse.
I roll soft, i try not to roll with aggressive people and watch unknown people roll with others before rolling with them, i talk to them before rolling to remind them that it's just a roll, i don't go to the gym when it hurts, i go to doctor when it hurts and i don't like to compete.
And i still get injured but nothing serious so far.
I believe this reduces the adrenalin and the joy of it but improves longetivity, especially if you're a guy in the 40's , that's a trade.
I agree with everything you’re saying. Of course there are always going to be random injuries you couldn’t avoid even with people you trust, but you can certainly reduce the risk of it happening.
good comment. thanks man
Also TRT and weight lifting helps
I started Gracie Jitsu when I was 47. I am now 64 and have had my purple belt for about 3 years. When i was a white belt i tore a meniscus in my knee and had surgery. Now after 10 years it's starting to bother me a little again, but i use good technique in open guard and prevent putting strain on it. Another time as a new purple belt someone did a technique that made me do the splits, I ended up with a hernia in the groin. That was the worse pain Ive ever felt from surgery. I was off the mats for 9 months. Ive been back on the mats for about 2 1/2 years now. I have been doing private lessons with my instructor to clean up my technique and roll safer. It has helped working with my 4th degree blackbelt instructor in the privates. I can roll with him and not have to worry about getting punished as I learn to prefect the techniques as they are intended to be applied. I try to roll with other purple and brown belts in class and avoid the ambitious white belts and blue belt. Hope you continue to train and grow in this art that has become so much of our life.
Good stuff
bro ... after 10 year is not that meniscus who is bothering you ... is arhrithis ... there is not cure or coming back from that . quit BJJ if you value walking to the shop to buy water.
ended up with a hernia in the groin. Same here and pain was like no other !!!!
I personally have valued tremendously from this video. Thank you for making it and being so open and transparent. If everyone trained safely, the amount of BJJ injuries would be reduced significantly, but too many people are egomaniac animals
Loved BJJ, trained twice-a-day's for about 3 years. Became close friends with some people that were really serious about it, and they seemed cool. One of them was pretty insecure and had an incredibly fragile ego. He injured more people in the gym than the rest of the gym did cumulatively. He ended up sprawling all of his weight onto my neck in an awkward position because he got angry when we were practicing wrestling takedowns. He's tall and lanky, skipped any sort of strength training and conditioning during class. Fucked up some discs in my neck/back and any time someone puts pressure against my neck the same injury resurfaces and I can't do anything for over a month. My advice: Tap early, don't roll with shitheads that have little boy egos, always put your own safety over anything else. There's tons of great people in the BJJ scene, but there's also plenty of insecure guys that think tapping out belts lower than them, aggressively, makes them some sort of man. They don't belong in martial arts, but they enjoy hurting others. Always go as hard against those people as they're willing to go against you. Once you apply the same or more amount of force and aggression, they settle down because they don't have another level to go to. That, or don't roll with those types.
I prefer striking sports because they tend to not survive that long in those sports. Then again I like my brain so I avoid heavy sparring and full contact which you can generally do in BJJ from the early days without serious repurcussions.
Thanks for sharing. This needs to be taught to everyone starting out. As for me, I did a hybrid fighting system back in the days (I think that's what most of it called it before MMA became a thing). I always tapped early. Yeah, it sounds pussy, but my reasoning is the time to fight it was before the opponent got a good lock and tension. And I wanna preserve my joints. We had this 250 lbs former linebacker in our group and the instructor told us "Jason doesn't tap". Some sort of stupid encouragement of a tough guy ego. After few go's with him, we'd tie up, but we were never able to submit each other. But I realized the bullshit he was allowed to do: wear loose hightop basketball shoes (makes it harder to ankle lock). Instructor for some reason didn't have a rule about shoes. And he'd wear these really noisy slippery nylon pants (we all wore shorts or gis. My brother rolled with him, and tore the guy's ankle...he healed up and got back in, and my brother hyper-extended the guy's knee. That's because, unlike the rest of us, my brother is only 5'7, but he's an asshole. He'd twist the locks in unexpected directions to get a tap (not the way we were taught), and he wouldn't stop until you tapped (the guy screamed both times, but didn't tap). To this day, I think my brother was effed up, but Jason should'a friggin tapped.
We had a guy like that and the instructor gave him a lesson that he remembers to this day.
This week I did my first submission to a tough guy with week ego, the next day he messaged me that he would break my leg for that. I shared this message with trainer and there is no any actions for such behavior, because they are friends. I will not go back to that gym. Sick people
@@ivermektin6874 I stick to muay thai/striking training nowadays and only spar to help the younger/less experienced guys out. I'm just thankful I get to do that much still.
Loved your story. As a 53-year-old - Trust me, "Health is Wealth" - treat your body like a Ferrari. I played football and had concussions which made me stop and I am so grateful. They prevented me from 'grinding my body down' even more, at a young age. Those early knee, back and joint injuries don't go away as you get older - they only get magnified. I would say learn self-defense techniques that don't destroy your body from folks like Tim Larkin and save your Temple. Good Luck!👍
I love it! "treat your body like a Ferrari"! thank you!
Totally agreed. Screw Jiujitsu
I've been doing BJJ on and off for 6 years and am in my early 40's, with a wife and kids. I get frustrated when people only mention the positives of BJJ and never talk about any negatives. It's ok to talk about the real things that happen in the sport. It will damage your body and alot of that damage will hurt, never go away and may even affect your quality of life. Let's have more honest discussions about BJJ like this! Thank you for sharing, bro! Oss!!!
I agree people always talk about CTE from Striking but never Spinal and Knee injuries from Grappling
@@riggsreactsdo bjj has any mild concusions injuries too ?
So if I'm 45, 1.72m and 61kgs and never ever tried any martial arts or even weight lifting, then would you say I'd rather forget about starting BJJ? Wanted to try BJJ but all my life I've been skiing, road biking and other rather endurance stuff. Is there some martial art less prone to injuries? Being able to ski when I'm 70 would mean a lot to me ;)
kudos! this is the only way to practice any sport, for 99.99% of people.
@@thefutureh The odds of concussion are lower than many other sports, but you're bound to get minor ones periodically.
Martial arts saved my life. And your journey is reminiscent of many martial arts practitioners. A long period of initiation that goes for several years, with lots of consistency (particularly in our youth), followed by a stagnation due to several factors including work, family, and/or injury, and a renaissance born out of growth and/or greater freedom from other responsibilities or pain. However, the motivation for training in the renaissance period is usually different than that during the initiation (understandably so as we get both older, wiser, and more settled). It’s an old school warriors path, where we step away to tend to the garden but never loose that warrior spirit. I’ve been training in martial arts for almost 20 years now. BJJ was by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done! Very humbling. I’m convinced that one day I’ll find/make the time to train up to blue (maybe purple). But for right now I’m content knowing what I know…training in what I like…and finding peace in that.
Great video! Thanks for the nice storytelling and editing, really nicely done. I feel that a lot of the injuries could have been avoided. That does not help you now but hopefully others reading this.
BJJ is a hard sport on your body and if you only train BJJ it will mess you up.
BJJ and Yoga is the ideal combination in my opinion and what makes BJJ sustainable.
Thank you Dorian for sharing your story and creating this video. I would like to leave this comment only because I see that it gains a lot of traffic and comments and perhaps it is helpful for people training or thinking of starting BJJ so that they know this does not have to be this ways and there is a lot you can do to make it sustainable. I want to avoid people starting with fear and shining bad light on the entire BJJ sport. But it is a combat and contact sport and injuries happen. However a lot of injuries in BJJ are due to over training, not listening to the body to rest and not doing enough holistic movement outside of BJJ to keep the body in harmony and resilient. Many continue like this for many years and 'all of a sudden' have injuries. One more straw broke the camels back, as some say. I've been training BJJ for almost 10 years, been brown belt for 4 years and practicing and teaching yoga for almost 10 years.
When you talked about training every day, or twice a day, it was clear that injuries will happen because you over train and likely do not cross train enough. This intensity of a training schedule works maybe if you are in your early 20s (done that) but as we get older we need to do more around such intense activities to make it sustainable.
I assume most of us here do not want to become a pro or world champion and are in it for the fun and the challenge, hence we want to enjoy BJJ for the rest of our life and we need to build a lifestyle around these intense training sessions and rolls to make it sustainable. We need to get out of our head to progress and get to the next belt and instead enjoy the journey. Be present. It is important to show up, and even if you are tired and exhausted and lower belts give you a hard time and tap you that is ok. You need to be ok with it. Check in with your reason to train and your ego and be grateful that you are healthy enough to show up that day to roll. Everyone I know that has been pushing so hard in BJJ is now in their 30s pretty messed up and cannot do daily activities without pains. It is only now that they realize they did too much for too long of a time and pay for it now. It is not too late to change and so I think also for you there is hope and help through modern holistic yoga practice and bodywork, specifically structural integration. As always, it is a combination of many things and very individualized to you. Some things apply to a lot of the general BJJ practitioner which I want to share now.
Much has been said already on this but I really want to point out my personal recommendations:
- Daily yoga practice ideally in the morning (sometimes strong, sometimes gentle, listen to your body)
- Stretch the entire body after every BJJ training (don't hold long stretches before training)
- Always warm up well but don't overdo it
- Every day BJJ is not sustainable, listen to your body, for most people 3-4x a week is sustainable
- Prioritize good quality and quantity sleep
- Diet has obviously a effect on performance and low inflammatory diets work well for such intense training
- Consider not rolling with complete beginners, as they often do weird, jerky and forceful movement that could injure you
- Stop training with people weighing more than 20 lbs more than you, it simply is not worth the risk
- Get regular massages and do other things to improve recovery
- Consider seeing a structural integration therapist for individualized work with you body and specific needs and patterns
Bummer you left Las Vegas already otherwise we could connect for more individualized tips for your body! Let me know when you come through again Dorian.
I never comment but since a big part of my offerings is to make BJJ more sustainable for people I felt the need to add my opinion to the mix also. If you find this helpful that's great, if not, thanks for reading and your time - much love ✌❤
thanks for taking responsibility and your elaborated comment. I think it is important not to produce anxiety in the society and show both sides of the coin
I always had fascination of joining BJJ gym but unfortunately in my country people are not into this so no bjj gym
um planing to go abroad to take training but before I go I was looking and gathering information about how to train bjj without breaking bone and ligaments and luckily came across this comment.
Thanks for the effort for spreading awareness and information
Wow. This is by far the best comment I’ve ever read in UA-cam. Thank you for the insight. This really helps!!!
did you get any mild concusion ?
Amazing comment! You have reworked my thinking of the sport and today marks the second week of me coming back to BJJ after an 8 year “break” and after two days back to back I was feeling it bad bad bad in my knees I will take your advice 100 percent and seek out yoga to help. Going to start stretching now! I cannot thank you enough! Not sure I can offer equal value but I have a podcast by the name of steady hands by Nicholas Burgmon (myself) with that podcast I try to bring value to people and hope it does for you! If I may ask
You and the rest of the comment section what would be a high value question/questions you would like to have answered from a black belt in jujitsu? My next guest is such and I would like any and all questions you may want answered or another perspective on. I thank you again for your time and comment it has helped more than you know!
I did Jiu Jitsu for six months and it was an easy decision for me. I heard all the guys in the locker room talking about their injuries or upcoming surgeries. I value my health and pain free life more than colored belts. I'm 65 now and move like a cat because I always protected my body. Whereas a lot of guys my age can't even get out of bed.
So you decided to discontinue BJJ? I'm 61 and took it a few years ago just for couple months but tweak myself a few times when I had to take a break. Hener Gracie talks about how not to avoid injuries in his youtube channel. I plan on taking Gracie combatives and in this course you don't roll until about 8 months later when you know better on what to expect and on how to protect yourself. I'm also in good shape cause of my occupation and work out a bit on top of that.
@@deaneng8540 Good Luck with that.
You made the right choice. I just turned 58, and other than some minor aches and pains, I can squat, bench, run/walk 3 miles, cycle 16 miles, etc. Can I take out a room full of bad guys? Nope, and I will use my brain to get me out of that situation or not be in that situation to begin with. I do believe some form of martial art training is important, but given the statistics presented in the comments, I think I 'll explore other options. A hand injury would interfere with my career (consultant, keyboard warrior) and a knee or ankle injury would interfere with my daily walking and cycling which in turn would interfere with my mental health.
One of the best classes I ever took in graduate school was a gerontology class (aging). The one sentence takeaway: full mobility or as close as possible to full mobility until end of life saves billions of dollars, and saves lives through better well-being/mental health.
The longer explanation is take a look at the cost of joint replacements + rehabilitation. Next look at the cost of nursing homes or assisted living. Next examine the mental health toll of not being able to stand up or walk more than a few feet or pick up a grandchild.
@@johnt3706 Combat sports is for men between 20 to 40. Between 40 to 60 is fitness years, look to get into good shape. Between 60 and up look to protect and maintain your fitness. Dabbling in combat sports at any age above 40 is risky at best and could lead to lifelong misery.
@@Veteran007indeed, you might want to try some Tai chi and you'll definitely stay nimble as a cat
Thank you very much for telling us your story with Jiu-Jitsu. Many people end up semi-crippled because of BJJ, Wrestling, Judo, and other grappling styles but most of them hide that sad fact about this kind of martial arts. Congratulations for your honesty, sincerity, and courage.
Yeah everyone always talks about CTE but never life altering grappling injuries especially Spinal related ones
They get crippled from training with injuries most of the time making a moderate or low end injury something chronic or crippling . Ego kills.
What happens to people who train judo? Just curious
@@DirectorHMAN Most Judo practitioners end up with injured knees, like me and many of my friends.
@@riggsreacts
After the nightmare I experienced with a herrinated disc that lead to a sciatica that I was in a constant pain and couldn’t walk and then the latest stage of it that it was the worst pain I was in my life, (I train boxing and striking arts but the injury is unrelated to it) I would take the risk of developing slight cte over experienced anything similar to that again for the rest of my life ANYDAY.
If I had to pick between the 2 that is. So yeah I’ll stick to boxing.
Still watch out and don’t spar hard much and only if you have fights and make sure your sparring partner is a friend you can trust that doesn’t go hard for no reason.
This was so awesome! I hadn't seen any of your videos, but this popped up as recommended on my homepage. Thank you for making such an honest, humble assessment of Jiu-Jitsu and your experience with it.
I'm a blue belt but I stopped training for a while because I needed an emotional break from it. Some of the gyms I went to were pretty inappropriate towards me so I decided to come back to it when I was in a better headspace.
After being away from it for a while though, I've felt hesitant to return. Everyone I know who continues training in Jiu Jitsu gets injured. Since I haven't trained in over a year, my body feels so much better, like it's healing.
At this point, I'm unsure as to whether I'll ever train again. Some of the lessons I learned in BJJ though will continue to influence me I know for the rest of my life, as you shared. Thank you, again. :)
There is value in this video. Just turned 40 no more than a week ago. I too am a purple belt. Many injuries especially bulging disk in my neck. I’ve learned to pick and chose my partners. I have also learned to give way to the young guns that feel they need to win, longevity can still be achieved. Just have to change the focus of how you train.
Wisdom comes with age and it sounds like you have it and are using it good for you.
I am a 39yo blue belt and have been training for past 3 years or so and I haven’t had any serious injuries so far. I think it’s because I train not more than 3 times a week; try to train with people I trust; and try to exercise every muscle through its full range of motion in shoulder complex, knee complex and core using light weights before every class. I may not be world class but at least I get to train pain free 😊
I’m similar! Most of peoples pain and injury problems come from training more than their diet/lifestyle/body can handle. It’s alright training fewer days per week even though you might progress more slowly. Hell, with the injuries you can get from overtraining, you might end up with similar amounts of mat time when it’s all said and done. That being said, I know there are a lot of nuances and “what ifs” to this discussion, but I’ll leave it at this by saying I believe this game is a marathon, and not a sprint.
I plan to do the same as you. I want to learn BJJ for self enrichment rather than competition. So I have no issue staying as a white belt for whatever number of years. I also lift weights and do muay thai. There's no rush for me to become really good. I just like staying fit, finding the joy in learning, and posting some vids on social media to share with friends.
@@Verinius that’s beautiful. All the best for you martial arts journey
@@iamawuss Absolutely. I think what you described is a very logical approach if you are pursuing this as a hobby especially after a certain age.
Totally hear you. We have a lot in common as I’m also a developer! I started training when I was 17, I am 31 now. Competed probably close to 70 times. I love the sport, I love jiu Jitsu. But I decided to quit last year. It’s not just the Injuries, or pain, but it’s a dirty sport. Got a staph infection back in 2013, and now got another last year which made me quit. Was resistant to antibiotics, had to be on them for almost 4 months. This completely screwed my gut up by essentially nuking my body with strong antibiotics for so many days. And even many months after recovering I still deal with symptoms from this battle with staph. Unfortunately, no matter how clean I am, it’s impossible to completely avoid and I had to make the decision to quit.
I thought I was the only one who doesn't roll for lack of cleanliness.i got ringworms before. I made the mistake of rolling without a shirt on just a gi on. What pisses me off people know they're carrying contagious bacteria and still come to class😮
@@Wushutigercranekungfudragon Two sweating men rolling on the floor touching each other. What did you expect? You have no idea where you partner was or did last night.
Your stomach problems sound exactly like the ones gordon ryan has, and he's the best in the sport
Son teorías vuestras, si fuera así, vuestros compañeros también habrían caído enfermos de la misma manera que vosotros. Por lo que, resumiendo, vuestros problemas no derivaban del tatami, gi o compañeros.
Un abrazo.
@@maliksamarijones9304 Yeah it does for sure, I feel for him cause I wouldn't doubt it is more severe than what I experienced. Being on antibiotics long term is a double edged sword. You need them to save your life, but you're damaging your body in the process. It was tough for me to quit, so I can't imagine Gordon Ryan who his life revolves around the sport. The treatment for me ended last year in November, it is nearly August and I am still not 100%. Pretty close to 100% though thankfully.
53 year-old 3-stripe white belt. Just came back from shoulder injury that rolling aggravated. Im under no illusion that I'll be an MMA champ, but I love it and will continue at my own pace until I can't.
I am a new BJJ practitioner at the age of 51. I been training for 7 months. It is tough training with the younger fellas. I have martial arts experience in a striking art for nearly 29 years, but it is so different. I do feel addicted to it, and I train so hard, but admit I am so achy after a class it is tough. I also know I would not give it up unless forced to. It provides me a sense of purpose, community, grit, and need to stay youthful (as best as possible).
Man, i have so much respect for you! I have a training buddy who turned 50 recently and it's insane how he keeps up with us younger ones. It takes a different type of courage to starts something like bjj later in life!
@vyo8775 thank you very much for such kind words.
I’m 23 years old and started Jiu-Jitsu when I was 21 and this video was super helpful because one of the biggest things I’ve worried about with my love for the sport is the long term effects on my body - by 22 my knees are already cracking when I stand up. Loved this video
Long term.......it's bad.
Just stopped after a worrying neck injury that's been persistent. I haven't exactly done the work to rememedy while waiting for my chiro to wrap his vacation up so while it's on the mend this is just pointless to be honest with myself. So I quit. Fuck that.
@@xyzmediaandentertainment8313I'm 23 too and have so many issues with my knee and ankles from years of aggressively playing women's competitive soccer. A lot of my pain has gone away since I went on a no sugar/wheat diet, but it's still there occasionally. I workout and focus on strengthening my weak areas through exercise now, and I've always wanted to do a combat sport, but I'm afraid I'll damage myself way more than I already am. Glad to know I'm not alone in that thought...
@@xyzmediaandentertainment8313 why does it do this to you is it the hits?
@@collettsystemsllc7011chiros are frauds, please don’t let them touch your back/neck if you have a neck injury or in any case. You’ll end up in a wheelchair.
So nice to hear a balanced view in the middle of the BJJ boom. People rarely share the down sides of it online and as with any martial arts the risks of training have to weighed up and seriously considered. 🙏
gotta do some physio before its too late! Especially neck/ back exercises
I enjoyed watching @DorianDevelops point of view of BJJ about the frequent injuries he had accumulated. And you're right about the balanced view of BJJ. Overall, BJJ is a great martial arts and competitive sport and disciple. And I believe it truly outweighs the overall injuries which will happen. I believe the injuries happen much more than less because it's an extremely competitive discipline. I don't believe though anyone intends to seriously hurt anyone when training. Things just happen because students and experts continue to strive to improve themselves.
The algorithm really makes you feel whatever you start taking interest in, is booming. Which is absolutely not true lol!@@jasondabs
@@ninobach7456 yes get your soft tissue therapy in too 👍
KAABER ALMIGHTY GOD 🙏😊
ALMIGHTY GOD KABIR is the father of all souls that JESUS, MOHAMMAD, GURU NANAK, VEDH was telling in BIBLE, QURAN, GURU GRANTHA SAHEB
Who is complete God?
Iyov 36:5 - Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)
See, El is Kabir, and despiseth, not any; He is Kabir in ko’ach lev (strength of understanding).
Translation: Supreme God is Kabir, but despises no one. He is Kabir, and firm in his purpose.
In all Bible translations, the word Kabir has been translated as "Mighty" or "Great" whereas Kabir is the original name of Supreme God.
Conclusion: This verse of the Bible proves that Kabir is Complete God. The one who worships God Kabir by taking initiation from the complete saint sent by him gets complete salvation. After attaining salvation that souls rest in peace in the eternal abode Satlok forever. The throne of God is in Satlok( ETERNAL PLACE) 😊😊
God Kabir met Jesus and took his soul to Satlok. On their way, God Kabir made him see his ancestors David, Moses, Abraham, etc. in the Pitra Lokas. Then God took him to Satlok😊
Hey, man! Thanks for sharing your journey in such a candid way. Awesome story.
I am also a jiu-jitsu enthusiast. I'm 44 now and practiced a lot in my 20's up til being a decently skilled blue belt. I had an injury back then rolling with a colleague (that I had rolled many times before) that left me with a broken fibula. I had to put a metal plate in, but got full recovery. After that I never got back to training at the same pace up until recently.
Now I'm back and loving it. I have never competed and do not plan to do so now as well.
I think jiu-jitsu is simply an awesome practice. It's just delightful to put your brain and your body to submit someone that is trying to do the same in a way that shouldn't get anyone hurt. The problem is that sometimes it does. So I take your point.
But now for me the journey is just to go there, learn, grow, smile, talk to my friends and just practice. No championships, no medals, none of the competitive aspects of jiu-jitsu appeal to me at this time.
Hope you find your way through.
Cheers from São Paulo!
I took a slightly different path, mainly because I approached martial arts 100% for self defense, not really as exercise or sport. I started long time ago in 2006 after getting into MMA as a fan. I took a year of BJJ, then picked up Muay Thai for a year while doing BJJ. I then switched it up, and did judo for about 6 months. So only about 2.5 years of martial arts. But all the classes I took, I did notice a lot of older guys (mid to late 30s and older) complaining about all the injuries they suffered over years of training. I simply didn't want to risk having all those nagging issues by the time I hit 40, or suffering a serious injury.
So I quit martial arts and just switched to weight lifting and cardio to keep in shape for all these years. In terms of self defense, I figured I picked up enough that when combined with the fact that I'm 6'2" 220, I feel confident I can defend myself in some street fight situation against an untrained drunk bro or whatever.
This is the way
@praywithoutceasing4939 Also learn how to use that knife and more importantly, defend against it. Knifes are worse than guns, especially in the EU. I did not want to carry a knife so I did 4 years of krav maga training at a legit school (KMG organisation). That training can not be used against me, but I can use their own knifeholding hand against them, if needed, and make it look like they stabbed themselves. Even from a legal standpoint it is still self defence, if they chose to keep holding their own knife, which threatens my life. But i'm rambling, MMA/BJJ etc is not really comparable that way with krav maga. You don't have 1v3 or 1v4 and there are rules. I'm still bad at many aspects of fighting but I learned just enough to not die from a bigger untrained attacker in the street. My 360 defence is solid. There are many legal aspects to streetfighting/self defence which we learned in class. Open hands on CCTV camera's look great in court, but you can also use them to strike (Bas Rutten style) and often looks like you were pushing. My worse injuries in those 4 years were 2 dislocated fingers, and a HARD liver shot, which I found to be a good life experience to have a complete shut down. We had all kinds of different practitioners with previous training in other martial arts like wing chun, boxing, kyokushin karate, dutch kick boxing, judo, bjj, aikido, mma, which was very usefull to get their insight and find out where our curriculum got its modified parts from. My instructor also trained police and military, which gave us glimps of the difference between military and civilian krav maga. Mainly to prevent us from killing our attacker within the technique and going to jail unnecesary, especially when it comes to the neck (break/choke). We also did some "arrest" classes once in a while, which was fun. You might want to look into it. I'm 40+ and I train light most of the time, but still learn a ton and hope never to have to use this outside the gym. Situational awareness, no ego and body language is the number one key in prevention.
try useless kung fu
Have you had any injuries( even small ones) during 2.5 years of experience
32 year old Black Belt been training since I was 16 or 17. There's days where my whole body hurts, both my elbows click, my lower back feels like a used diaper and theres days where i despise jiujitsu and days i cant live without it. The journey is one of peaks and valleys. The big takeaways are listening to the body, and enjoying the process. Keep on rolling brother 🥋
Used diapers 😂😂
If you stopped training for a entire year, and did things like easy swimming and yoga instead, do you think someor a lot of your injuries would correct themselves?
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. 45 year old blue belt here, been training about 3.5 years and came into BJJ with a history of injuries. I'm a little, unathletic guy so realistically speaking, I don't know that I will ever the the killer that most people are, but the journey is really what you want to make of it. I've had to learn a lot about humility and recognizing that, if I want to push forward into the later decades, I HAVE to be smart. I HAVE to know when to say no and dial things down. I don't think you need to quit per say, but you do have to adjust your mentality to match your stage in life. I think ANYONE who chooses to train should hold their head high, regardless of rank. This is hard work, and to endure it consistently is an incredible testament of who each of us are. I hope your journey continues to bear fruit for you, whatever form that may take.
Love your story man. I got injured as well many times training Bjj. It was my all time love. Got to purple belt before I called it quits in 2022. Broke my heart. After a herniated disk in my neck and lower back I couldn’t take it anymore. So many days in pain and not being able to roll to my full potential destroyed my confidence in it. I was a hard respectful roller but always loved emptying the tank and giving it my all. Got to a point where I couldn’t do closed guard because I was scared of stacking and was afraid of people grabbing my collar due to neck injury. 😢
I miss it like hell but my body feels so much better. 6’2 225lbs and athletic, I was built well for it.
Good luck to all still in it.
Thanks for sharing, Dorian. I'm 53 years old and started jiu jitsu at Gustavo Machado BJJ 12 months ago. I'm a 3 stripe white belt and loving it. I can relate to your story. My fingers are feeling the pain, and it took me about 3 months before my body got used to the grind. I'm addicted at this point and maybe it helps having a great school with amazing camaraderie. We'll see how long my body lasts, but I seem to be getting stronger and love the physical problem solving aspect. Cheers!
34 year old, Ralph Gracie purple belt here. Former lifelong Wrestler, who knew 1 "speed" all I can say is this: After a torn meniscus and LCL at white belt and a blown L5S1 Disc in my back that left me unable to move or walk without crippling sciatic pain for 8 months at Blue belt in 2020. My advice is as follows; choose your training partners wisely. Don't give up position to lower belts to "let them work." Nobody rides for free. Keeping yourself in positions that will keep you injury free is something you must always be cognizant of. Tap early if you don't know what is going on. Also, you don't ALWAYS have to go Defcon level 10 speed. You're learning a martial art. not in there to fight everyday. Happy training and good luck to all the mat warriors.
Did you stop training?
@@NoskPur Nope. Jiu Jitsu is for life.
I've been a natural bodybuilder for over 25yrs now. I started training bjj in 2010 while continuing to train as a bodybuilder full time. My body fell apart. I decided to stop training bjj. I can't take time off work for random injuries, big or small. Never been significantly injured training with weights. I have control over the weights. Still have some issues with my elbows and shoulders, thankfully my knees, neck, and hips are still in good shape. Solid info in this vid.
How did your body "fall apart"?
Were you rolling with people far more advanced than you were, were you aways aggressively rolling to the max all the time?
@@1anre Has your body experienced legit bodybuilding training or just Bjj training? Connective tissue needs rest along with the muscles themselves. Train back, traps, and perform heavy deadlifts...or train chest, tris, and delts, then go fight off arm bars, triangles, kimuras, knee bars, guillotines etc. My whole body was sore all the time, joints, muscles. I didn't roll full speed all the time, and I regularly rolled against more advanced belts but not at full speed, my training partners were awesome. Bodybuilding training and MMA can't coexist long term. I've been able to maintain my training in striking and still train in bodybuilding with next to no issues compared to rolling on the mat in bjj. I'm sure there are individuals who's body can handle it, on gear or natural, but my body fell apart.
@mostmuscular619 I haven't but I get your explanation.
Good thing you respect the warnings your body has given you, to know when to lean off but I sure you'd really miss it whenever you see BJJ being done around uou
@1anre as a white belt who doesn't know what I'm doing, injuries usually come from white belts who don't know what they are doing, lol
I can relate with you 110%. After 4 knee surgeries, I will likely not return to the mats. I may do slow rolls and drills on my home mat with friends and fam, but I’m over the hill and don’t need anymore injuries.
44 yr old here, just came back to BJJ after 8yrs off. Agree with you that injuries happen much more often now and everything always hurts!
Dude, thanks for this story, I am 37 years old, purple belt, got my first major knee injury about a month ago (probably also a torn MCL, knee feels like it wants to dislocate all the time). Got this injury all because of some guys ego. I also don't have money for an MRI, but still seeing a specialist next week. I was contemplating going back to Jiujitsu when all is well again, then I saw a compilation of bad Jiujitsu injuries where one guys neck got snapped and now he is a quadriplegic. I thank God I hurt my knee and not my neck, I am not going back to Jits, 37 years old with a busted knee, fingers that hurt every day and a back that hurts every day. In my opinion Jiujitsu is awesome and will always be but I am not doing it anymore.
If you love Martial Arts try (FMA) Filipino Martial Arts. You can practice FMA into your 70’s.
Good luck on your journey!
Good thing you understand your body and when to pull away
Been training for more than a year now and recently i fucked up my knee also because of another guys ego, he unexpectedly jumped on me, which made my knee bend the wrong way. I can walk normally, but i hear clicking every step. Ill go to the doctor soon. Still going to bjj classes regularly but this situation makes me question it. Im 23 though, kind of messed up to be this young and already have weird body problems. I wished people stopped saying shit like "dude you should try jiu jitsu, its totaly safe". Nope, its really fucking dangerous
BJJ is off the table but you should consider physical therapy. Kneesovertoesguy has a channel good for treating chronic pain and all sorts of injuries including knee injuries
Sure, whats the point of training to be a better fighter if you end up weaker and more vulnerable from the training?
No matter how far you’ve come in your journey, BJJ always has one last lesson to teach. That is how to adjust your training and game to allow for longevity. Without it, you will find your last big injury that will sideline you for good.
Started at 19. Now i'm at about to turn 38. Got every type of injury you could imagine. Knees...shoulders...got my left hand done...neck...ribs...but i thank god for the day i went to a gym and saw the guys rolling and decided to join. Was the best thing i did in my whole life. Now i'm a black belt under Demian Maia, teaching bjj paid my college and i have no regrets. Now i practice once in a week...just for fun...to be with my guys and have a good time...thats priceless! Hope you don't stop and don't give up...bjj saved your life, saved mine and will continue to save it as long as we put the Gi on. Oss
Thanks for that. I did about a year of BJJ when I was 21, and like you I would say it genuinely changed me and changed the direction of my life in a very positive way. I’d like to get back into it, I enjoyed it so much. But… I’m not such a young man anymore. Not eager to get injured, not eager to invite or hasten arthritis. I appreciate your honestly and perspective.
Thanks for sharing your story. You never really hear too much about the risks of BJJ training and the toll it takes on your body. They say it's never too late to start but having just turned 46 I really don't want to compromise my joints and mobility. I also fear training with overzealous white and blue belts who roll too hard and don't stop immediately when you tap!
I should've started in my late teens - not too long after Royce dominated the early days of the UFC...
I admire guys like yourself who get past the "forever a blue belt" period and go on to purple and maybe even brown and black. It really is a hard grind to earn a legit black belt.
As a purple belt you're already better equipped to deal with an assailant than 99.99 percent of the general population.
I imagine BJJ teaches you inner strength and resilience too, so it definitely wasn't a waste of time.
don't be a wussy! grow a pair and train like a man
Dude, i totally understand where you're coming from, but even if you can't be guaranteed to have an injury free bjj journey (tbf at this applies to any sport), you can still train smart and make your well being a priority. Bjj can be hard on the body, but the damage can be mitigated, I'd say especially if you train no-gi. If you want to start, go for a trial class. You might be missing out on something great. Best regards
@@Muslim-3110 well, I've had only one serious injury in 6,5 years, which is less than most of my friends this age who play other sports. I also lift and try to stretch frequently.
it sounds like this guy trained very intensively for a long time. He was talking about twice a day. There's such a thing as overdoing it and it's like that in any sport or physical activity really. Very common for ex pros in most sports to have joint issues...running, weightlifting, soccer etc. Maybe you could do it once or twice a week and get more upsides than downsides.
@@pymebones - Is no-gi more safe?
Thank you for this video showing sometimes the unspoken side of " the gentle art" I've just got my blackbelt at 55 and can relate to this so much. I smashed my knee to pieces and had to take 6 months off training and recently detached my hamstring from the pelvis which wasn't fun so I had 3 months out with that. I now very wisely choose my training partners these days don't get me wrong every now and again I like to go hard but I know I want this to be a life long thing!!!! Good luck to you brother
I think that’s just sports in general. They all end wearing you down at the end but the people you meat and the experiences you have are priceless.
Quitting takes courage, and sticking with it sometimes takes grit. I'm looking forward to a follow up on what you decide. I'm sure you'll decide what's best for you
I can relate brother! I’m a brown with 3 stripes and 40 years old. Jui Jitsu saved me threw my 20s and 30s. To your point though I have multiple injuries from it. Hip, elbows, fingers, and back. I’ve been out for a while because of a major hip injury and am going through the same thing….. this was a a very valuable video to me.
I appreciate the vulnerability on this channel.
Y r u geh?
3-4 months. 2-stripe white belt. 52 years old. Loving it, but it does make me sore all the time. Learning survival quickly. Tapping often and fast. Thankful to have taken this step. Hoping to remain healthy and not get injured. Getting leaner and stronger.
NO BJJ experience here, but GREAT, candid video. The injuries listed here worry me. I’m 52 and will just stick to my Olympic Weightlifting 🏋🏼, jump rope HIIT, and my Concept2 Rower! Thanks 🙏🏻.
most of jiu jitsu doesnt work without a soft mat below you. Chokes are a different story. Rather than wear your body out in some germ ridden MMA gym, just pay someone for private lessons on real specific, useable moves. Pick two or three to master. Dont waste your time and body with the rest.
Thanks for sharing your story! You didn't talk much about your recovery in the video, but it can make a big difference. Doing stretching, physiotherapy, and weightlifting has been crucial for my BJJ journey too. I used to feel like my body was falling apart when I did 6 BJJ classes a week, but now I balance it with 3 BJJ sessions and 3 light gym sessions to keep my body in good shape, along with daily stretching. That was the key to feeling great! (I switched to this routine after dealing with a lower back hernia, and it's much better now).
Im a 61 year old blue belt.... i trained pretty hard lotsa injuries.. lotsa friends... but my jujitsu ended with a chronic back injury years ago... and now im 100 percent after lotsa time off... and lotsa relearning how to train at my age. my jujitsu lessons learned in fighting helped me shape my mindset to never give up and Im training for a going for a world championship sports event in 2025
Nice! What an inspiration! I just started a few months ago at 55. Was intimidating to walk in there as a female but it's been an awesome experience so far, adrenaline rush each session
@@michigan1085 it can be a life altering friend making sport best of luck in your training
@@axlealleyauto Thank you :)
I feel for you man. I did jiujitsu for 11 years..started when I was 40 and now my shoulders ache all the time as well as other body parts. But I don't regret it, we make choices in life and I live with zero regrets.
@karlwithak. it's pain, not the end of the world. Knowing I can walk through a karate guy or street punks is worth the pain..I'll take that instead of paying for a belt that I don't have the ability to back up.
@karlwithak. cool story. There is a reason why ufc fighters have to learn jujitsu, or they will get submitted in a new York minute. Also, go find the video the Gracie family uploaded showing the time they challenged all the styles of fighting. The end result was clear that jiu-jitsu was far superior, and these opponents were masters..not your average practitioners. You make it sound like every single kick that a karate practitioner lands is devastating, and this simply is not the case. Once we take you to the ground, even after eating a kick or a punch, you are now in the ocean, and we are sharks. At this point, if you have no jiu-jitsu experience, you have zero chance of surviving. This is a fact.
@@karlwithak.So join the UFC. You’ll be a champ.
@@karlwithak. Why not? You think karate-style kicking can keep someone from ever grappling with you, so go try it out with a trained MMA fighter. Have fun with that.
You also cite this example of an open tournament by this unnamed Jiu-Jitsu school (which no one can verify, since you gave us absolutely ambiguous information) and didn’t explain the rules of this competition whatsoever. Are you saying that the karate/TKD students 100% knocked the grapplers out, or that they landed a strike 100% of the time? You’re being vague.
There are some frustrating rules in the UFC, like the 12-to-6 elbow ban and prohibiting kicking a downed opponent, but the Gracies have had zero influence on the UFC for a long, long time. Actually, when they did influence the UFC ruleset in its tournament days, it had considerably *less* constraints than it does now. Headbutting, head kicks and knees to a downed opponent, strikes to the back of the head, and 12-to-6 elbows were completely legal. Eye gouges, biting, and groin shots were only enforceable by fine, not disqualification. Guess what? Royce won. And that’s not to say the BJJ is the best martial art, but it was important to learn at least how to negate a good grappler in order to have success in MMA. You can’t just strike your way out of grappling exchanges. Sooner or later, someone is going to feint, close distance, and put you on your back.
Now, I love BJJ, but I’m not deluded enough to think it’s complete in its own right. You have to cross train in multiple arts to be an effective fighter. However, you seem to take this approach that striking, specifically kicking, in a karate context is the end-all-be-all, which is just as foolish as someone thinking BJJ is the ultimate art. It’s also ignorant to the fact that karate itself has styles that incorporate grappling to varying degrees. I don’t think you’re wrong in all contexts, but I do think your comments are shortsighted and ignorant to the history of the UFC and MMA.
Great video man. I loved to hear about your story. 38 year black belt here. This totally resonates with me. I've had my fair share of injuries and dealing with regular pain as well. If you're still going at it, just holding out for one more serious injury before you quit, it's not too late. You have to change your training methodology. You can't roll like a 20 yr old any more, and you no longer should. You have to start training like a 90 year old Helio Gracie. You can't train with someone you don't know whose ego just causes them to headhunt no matter how hard they have to roll with you. Switch to trusted training partners only, and do like Ryron Gracie talks about in his Keep It Playful video more often than keeping it real. Going 100% every roll is less and less realistic the older we get. Anyways, I hope you find ways to keep yourself safe and on the mats doing this thing we love. Thanks again for the video.
🤙🏼
I'm a 43 year old blue belt. I've got two kids. In my jujitsu practice I almost exclusively flow/soft roll because I'm unwilling to take unnecessary risks for the sport. I also participate in ultra distance running, yoga, and rock climbing. I also teach fencing. At my age, I'm careful about the risks of each sport because I don't want to overdo it and injure myself out of everything.
How do you do all of those extra activities with two kids? Do you have a job? I’m just wondering how you find that many hours in a day if you work 8 hours a day.
@crankpump8444 I work full time. My kids come with me for my activities. I run up the steepest hills I can find while my kids walk/hike. I run until they're out of sight, and then I run back down until their out off sight again. I literally run circles around them until the summit. My wife and kids also practice Jujitsu, so it's a family activity. My oldest son also practices fencing. When I have my fencing classes, they hang out on the sidelines and draw, read books, or play their Nintendo switch. Several days per week they do yoga with me.
this is one of the most honest videos about Jiu-Jitsu's journey I've ever watched in my life, I'm a brown belt in Judo, in my partner's history I find many injuries and I know how that's part of the way, but not everyone wants it that. Really, Jiu-Jitsu saves lives, but it also damages bodies. Congrats for your experience!
Have you ever gotten injured in Judo? Do you find Judo as prone to injuries as Jiu Jitsu?
@@NoskPur I honestly think jiu is more harmful than judo, but high-level judo is extremely aggressive to the body. I've injured myself countless times in judo, shoulder, ankle, wrist, but my worst injury was my knee in jiu jitsu
I’m 37 and Just started… signed up 2 of my kids and it has been a great experience for all of us. Great video
I'm 40 but have started to train like one of the 50+ year old purple belts at my gym. He taps quickly, never goes balls to the wall and considers jiu jitsu a marathon, not a sprint. I want to be training like that in my later years, so starting old man jiujitsu in my 40's will hopefully help.
I train like that and I'm 23 lol. I don't compete, and I prefer to flow roll over going super ham. I'm a musician, and I don't want to be any more uncomfortable in my body than I already am. I played varsity football in hs, and I have a couple of things bugging me already
You mean early 40s. "40s" as in 40-49 isn't an age group. Nor is 20-29, 30-39. I am so sick of morons grouping age by decades. As someone who's barely 30, it makes no sense for me to be grouped with 39 year olds. They are almost a decade older than me! It makes more sense to group me with 29 year olds as they are only a year younger than me.
@@obvioushieidude7668 so it makes more sense to be grouped with 25-35 y/o? Because a different set of ten is somehow more magical?
@@obvioushieidude7668cry more
Im 34. Started jits at 32. I skated and snowboarded alot growing up, and got into barefoot running at like 29-30. Im actually 4 years sober (still smoke weed) after using fron 14-30.
I have been trying to see whats even possible for my body. I feel starting with barefoot running my body began to transform, then with jiu jitsu it continued to. With barefoot running i started out running 1 mile at a time and was slow. Eventually, after like 3-6 months i got to running 5ks and 10ks but was still slow, like 10:30 per mile. After 3 years i got my mile time down to 7:30 per/mile on 5ks. Then i started jiu-jitsu and stopped running. I was hitting a wall with running and not realising i needed to optimize multiple other aspects of my health, all of which jiu-jitsu did force me to adress.
Hydration, including LMNT packets - 1000mg of salt per packet. Makes night and day difference for me.
Sleep, getting minimum 6 hours but preferably 8 + a nap.
Eating enough and the correct foods for you.
Recovery - massages, sauna, ice bath
Stretching and other supplimental training. - i am still admittedly bad at this. I need to add yoga to my routine and start doing calisthenics/kettle bell style HIIT type workouts. Rowing, assault bike etc.
Realistically speaking all humanbeings should be doing those aforementioned things, when you train hard asf 4-5+ hours a week it becomes mandatory.
Just be careful who you roll with. tell people you dont want to start standing and work a positions like passing, gaurd retention, or back escapes. Its always up to you how much energy you want to put out. You can gas out in 5-10 minutes if you're pushing yourself at 110%
Correcting and optimizing your body for physical exercise are the most difficult things to do in my opinion - simply because it's soooo boring and hard to predict before you hurt yourself. Just the other week I did moderately heavy cable rows and strained my brachialis, and then later stupidly snapped it a bit as I was trying to stretch it a bit (I know, super stupid). I'm your age, and this is the fourth or fifth injury over a two year period. Tiresome. I have the willpower and muscles but my body just seems to want to give up on me.
@@TheDavveponken I wonder what it is about people that are more injury prone versus ones who seem to be less injury prone... Are some people actually just more durable than others, or are some people having a different relationship to movement?maybe both. I'd like to think all problems can be solved. Watch the way people tumble in the Olympics from the 80s. The floor routines. It inspires me watching the way they negate force in every move based on the way they tumble. I think it's super relevant for jujitsu but maybe less relevant for HIIT type workouts. Even still thinking about the type of movements you were doing when you injured yourself. Is there a way you could have been doing them smoother that would have perhaps prevented yourself from getting injured? Like were you snapping or jerking in places where you should have been controlled? Perhaps that means using too much weight? I'm just speculating here. I've been pretty lucky throughout my life with injuries so far. I agree with what you said about optimizing yourself for athletics being a boring endeavor but I think perhaps if some people are more durable than others. It is probably both the effort they put into these endeavors as well as their genetics and the way their body responds to what they're doing. Some people might get lucky and find the exact right things to optimize their health right off the bat and other people might search their whole life for the correct things to optimize their health and only ever end up hurting themselves.
@@SKRATCH1988 I don't know. Admittedly I had had a rather long hiatus from working out before really starting again a year ago or so. I think it is a combination of genetics and personal tendencies. I'd like to think I'm really strong (ofc) and have a great mind muscle connection, but in relation to my tendons muscles are always stronger. I can push way too hard - or at least I do, compared to others it seems. So, yeah, like you said - I could probably have taken it slower, warmed up more and not rushed the workout that day, taking it slower. But then again, it might just have to do with other issues (as I alluded to before) of suboptimal mechanics elsewhere. For instance, I have had shoulder problems for the last 15 years, and that may have caused my back to not be properly engaged causing my bicep to have to work so much harder. So, I should have properly rehabed my shoulder before going hard.
Workout is my therapy. It's where I take out my anger, so naturally I like to go a bit harder. And I usually don't feel pain, until it's too late. Growing up I was naturally explosive and a great 100m runner. I think this is part of it. I think explosive muscles are more likely to cause injury. And perhaps overall inflammation due to stress or diet may put you more at risk? Just speculating. It's interesting. Have gotten into anatomy since my injury. It's fascinating. Lots of stuff on youtube.
Have a good one. And good luck with your training! Don't forget to rest! I think I did too much. Slow and steady. A tendon under high load may use a week of rest apparently (according to some armwrestler).
@@SKRATCH1988it's mostly genetics which is a dice roll. The human body wasn't created to do sports the way we believe. Show me a pro athlete, and I'll show you in their retirement with knee issues, shoulder issues, back issues, and prescription pain meds forever.
Every single step on concrete, every flight of stairs, every jog, every minor ankle sprain, it all adds up once you get old. You can be very lean, good weight, be on the best diet, all you do is brisk walk for a few miles each week, never suffer an injury, but the fact that you walked on concrete paved trails for miles weekly, you will still feel it in your old age.
Nah starting standing is gay if you can’t take someone down bjj is almost useless
Stumbled upon this video randomly in my feed and I couldn't be happier with it and I now subscribe to your channel. I'm about to be 43 and have been practicing Jiu-Jitsu on and off for about 10 years. I find that our gradual physical decline as we age is extremely tough to manage. I also battle with the struggle of hurting myself in jujitsu and how that translates to my real life (kids and work). Essentially, is it all worth it? One of my main issues is I have not been able to find anything remotely close that can take the place of how Jiu-Jitsu makes me feel overall....that's one of my issues.
I agree. Im 36 and have been training since 2010 and am still a blue belt. I have injuries in my neck and shoulders and run a business that requires heavy physical labour (6 days a week). I have 1 girl and a wife. I also weight train 3-4 times a week. It got to the point where it was affecting my work so I called it quits. I still intend on returning but my injuries are getting worse as I get older 🥹.
Hi man, thanks for making this video, it really touched me since many aspects are virtually to my life. I also started bjj when I was 28 (15 years ago, wow) and suffered a torn meniscus, had a break through covid.. but now back at it, with two kids and limited time 😅 I would say too, jiujutsu saved my life, amen to that brother! Best of luck! Teemu from Finland
I’m 45 years old in good shape and loved BJJ, but after 3 broken ribs and a frozen shoulder in 2 years I just can’t do it anymore. I really miss it, but it really fucked my body up.
Damn bro. Learn to tap
LMAO@@mattk8810
Rotary cuff exercises and stabilizers
Don't leave brother, just be quicker to tap and care even less about winning. I'm a 43 yr old black belt that went through your same thoughts when I went through an injury spate when I was 31 (started bjj at 24). Roll with people you trust, forget about winning and focus on technique
Agree 100%. Often times hurt egos makes for hurt bodies.
And that’s on both yourself and your training partners..🙄
so is it possible to dothat without injuries
I loved listening to this story. I also have pectus excavatum like you and found that really interesting when you mentioned the injury. Several year younger than you so listening to you is showing me what it can be like committing to Jiu Jitsu, especially as someone who has already experienced a good amount of chronic pain in the past
45 year old Brown Belt, I have been training on and off for 17yrs so I know what you are going through. At this point, I just go to keep in "somewhat" shape, destress, comradery and I roll with very specific teammates that I know will not hurt me. I stuck to No Gi as I have had less injuries vs. Gi and I feel pretty good. I also get massages and visit a chiropractor every few weeks and it helps. Keep up the good work, listen to your body and thanks for sharing.
I'm 50 years old and I've been training jiu-jitsu for four years. I'm a blue belt. I'm Brazilian and I live in Brazil. I've had some jiu-jitsu injuries like torn ligaments in my shoulder and knees as well as some broken ribs and back problems. I'm going to participate in my first championship in two months. I love this sport despite the injuries
Wait a few more years and you’ll probably be thinking differently. Not everyone goes through this, but it is quite common. As you get older, your body changes and your ability to recover slows down. You definitely can avoid many of the problems by following the advice of more experienced people and tap early and often. Avoid certain people who have no control. Avoid certain techniques that put you and/or your partner at risk for injuries. Life is a marathon and not a race. You want to grow old with as many joints functioning.
Jesus loves you
Brazilian here too, jiu-jitsu is just so therapeutic, it's hard to stay away from it. I'm also an skateboarder, which is another activity that wrecks your body, but i'm still going until my body is broke.
Take care of your body for the later years. Trophies ain't gonna mean much when you're half crippled. Wise men have said that more then once.
@@billbbobby2889 …and the young will unfortunately continue to ignore it.
Training for 5 years. 9 month recovery from a nerve injury from a neck crank. still recovering. Almost there but scary stuff. I've been debating quitting once I get my purple belt. This video made me realize that is prob a good idea.
I started training at 26 and got my black belt at 38. Through the yrs, I have had problems and varying degrees of injuries with both my shoulders (dislocated both) knees (ACL, LCL, Meniscus tears), elbows and and all the fingers as well. I used to roll hard and also compete till I was purple belt. As the injuries and suffering mounted on and I was living daily with chronic pain at about 3stripe purple belt, I had the exact same thought as you.
Feeling like I am just wearing out my body and unsure how much more I have left before I hit a devastating injury.
So I decided to take some time away from jiujitsu and ventured into other activities like mountain biking and calisthenics for a while for about 4months, with no clear plan or intention of returning to train again. The time away gave the rest my body needed to recover and both mountain biking and calisthenics helped me to strength my core, endurance and cardio that still help me daily and more importantly, made me realize how much of positive impact jujitsu has had in my life, rekindling my passion for the art with a refreshed body.
The time off from the mat also gave me the space to think about different approaches to training as well. I used to go hard but since I when back to train, I am rolling more consciously and a notch down with intensity for longevity. I am so glad that I stuck with it and the day I got my black belt, I realized it was a. Milestone achieved but the journey and learning continue.
Hope u try some intentional time off, enjoy other activities and hopefully carry on with the journey.
I am 54 and been doing BJJ only a few months. Yes injuries r part of it but all minor at this point. My wife thinks I'm putting myself at risk since most everyone else is much much younger. But I absolutely absolutely love it
I started at 43 and will be 50 in next month, got my brown belt last week. 7 years, 5 days a week and still in a better shape then when I started. I think a lot has to do with the way you train. Also make sure u eat well, sleep enough and when I had back pains at bluebell swimming and sauna after class fixed everything. Still going at it 4-6 days a week 💪
🫡🫡🫡🫡 that’s one of the things that I think has been overlooked here. Everybody wants to train and be a champion, but they don’t want to recover and eat and sleep and hydrate like a champion. If you run anything into the ground without proper fuel, of course you’re gonna experience higher level difficulties earlier on for a longer time. Not saying that everyone is safe from injury if you do those things, but if you care about your recovery, just as much, you definitely can achieve longevity in jujitsu.
Keep training, these pains will always be there. Keep improving and keep getting better. The Lion in me will never let me quit. 🦁
Lol
Thanks Doc 😂🤦♂️
The lion? No offence man, but that’s fairly cringy
@@Murf1211🦁 lol
I'm turning 40 next month and have been training BJJ off and on since 23 and I'm still only a 2 stripe blue belt. This is a very common story and very relatable. No one is gonna make it out of this alive so I prefer to use my body up until it's my time to go. I'm gonna keep training because it's a marathon not a sprint, but as you age you've gotta understand your limitations.
Training is important, but if you have injuries what the point of learning bjj when your body is so injured you may not even be able to properly defend yourself. I'll just stick to boxing.
@@adim00lahI’ve never seen this level of obsession in any other sport. Almost like a cult, they keep destroying their bodies in hopes of being able, on some special day, to use their skills against someone in the streets
@@intrepidsouls I don't get it myself tbh. Bjj is a great skill, I'm not knocking it, but what are the chances you will end up in a self defense situation with someone who does jits? A solid year or 2 of boxing training, and you will beat most people.
It's going to be really hard to defend yourself whe you have torn ligaments / tendons. Hell even if you don't want to fight, and you want to run, running will be difficult with damaged joints.
As I said, I'm sticking to boxing, my knife, and my gun. If all that ain't enough, then I wasn't meant to survive the situation, and imma go down swinging, stabbing, and shooting.
@@adim00lahThey're injuries to every sport. I've been practicing in striking martial arts since my 20's. I'm now 39 and recently picked up Bjj. There are benefits to Bjj for people who can take advantage of judo takedowns as a lot of fights end up on the ground. While boxing is great, bjj is essential in my line of work since takedowns and joint locks play an important role in subduing someone. All that said, training smart is what prevents injuries, especially the impact from blows one can sustain in boxing over a period of time. Injuries occur in all sports.
@@nycgalant Yeah but injuries to ligament / tendons are common in people who don't compete in sport jits too.
Very helpful; thank you! I've been debating getting into jiu jitsu for a year or two as a 37 year old and have concluded it's just not worth the damage to my body; there's pretty much no way to do the sport without taking damage and as a late 30s guy, I don't think it's worth it
Glad to see someone made this video and put it out there. Often times we think about the champions who seem ageless and train into their sixtys. We never think about the normal dude who is just trying to get through life. I hope you get to enjoy every minute of the admittedly little time we have to train. I know I am. 7 years purple belt, age 33.
hey Dorian, you got a subscriber out of me with this video. As someone who is 35 and had to hang up training at an MMA gym due to the countless injuries, the one that did it for me was a concussion that led to post concussion syndrome. I am 3 years removed from the sport but the part of your video that said it will always be a part of me and will always have a place in my heart really struck a chord with me as I feel the same way. A big part of doing this sport as well for me was the fact that I didn't have a very good family so the people that I trained with was my family. Not only that but what you mentioned was all the little lessons you learned doing the sport about what it really takes to achieve something I feel the same about as well. I wish you nothing but the best sir and I wish you great success both on and off the mat.
Interesting saying the guys on the mats replaced your family it's the same for me. Problem is you meet bad ppl on the mats too. At 35 I'd do bjj only instead of mma, you still get nearly the same 'hit' from it, without the same hits/damage if you know what I mean.
@@perceptortron 100% agreed. I actually stopped at 32 due to a bad injury
I'm glad there are videos like this out there for people to be informed from.
I'm 43 now, but stopped training when I was right around the 39-40 mark. I did BJJ (more no-gi than gi) for about 12 years and am a brown belt. Before that I also wrestled for 9 years in high school and college.
I would definitely say that once you hit the 39-40 year mark, things start getting tougher injury-wise. I spent more of my last year of training "in recovery" from injuries than actual training. Not major injuries, but the nagging ones that keep recurring & will make life miserable if you don't give them the proper time to heal.That time REALLY added up!
Years before, back when my buddy and I were around 26 or so, we met a 50+ year old at a seminar who was a black belt in both judo and BJJ. We got into a very friendly conversation and he kind of broke down for us how the aging process effects your training, in 5 year increments. It was very enlightening and I always had it in mind from that point on. What he mentioned...proved just about right-on.
I could have kept training, but I kind of made the mental decision that it was more important for me to be able to enjoy my life "mostly" pain-free & be able to enjoy my next "great hobbies" in life. Admittedly...I still haven't found that (kind of hard when you loved 'combat sports' for 21 years), but I am very confident that I made the right decision. Obviously everyone is different, but I hope this might be insightful to some in the way that the gentleman at that seminar was for my buddy and I many years back. :)
Great post and you were lucky to meet that older black belt. You're wise.
What were some of the 5yr increments that he discussed?
@@xGarrettThiefx Hi! I didn't initially put them down, since I don't quite remember "verbatim" what he said...as it has been many years.
That being said, he mentioned (as I recall) that into your early thirties you're still basically 100% in all areas.
Once you hit 35 you haven't lost much in terms of speed or strength, but you start to acquire injuries a bit more easily & they take a bit longer to recover from -- not major ones, but those nagging ones.
Once you hit 40, your recovery [in general] starts to take a hit, and injuries start to increase as well. Strength may start to decrease as well.
At 45 all of those things, along with speed, are in full swing decline.
He only went up to 50, since I think that was around his age, but he said it just is a continuing increase of frequency and loss.
Overall the guy seemed in good physical condition & not suffering from bad injuries, but he just kind of conveyed that you need to lower the expectations on your body -- and performance -- significantly if you still want to be able to train.
As for myself, I didn't feel any significant loss of speed as I approached 40...but those nagging injuries would make me more hesitant to engage in certain ways VS before. I did feel like I was losing strength. The main thing, though, was the injuries & my worry of how they would affect me in continuing years (hence why I stepped away from training).
Hope that gives you the info you were hoping for! :)
@@MandatoryMyocarditis8 Yeah, it was really a thankful "chance encounter" that we got in a conversation with him. It really helped me set my expectations for the future accordingly, and when those things started happening, I wasn't as frustrated as I otherwise likely would have been. It also prompted me to appreciate the time I did have even more. :)
@@MandatoryMyocarditis8 Yeah, it was a really great "chance encounter" that we got in that conversation with him. When those things started occurring with age, I was able to take them in stride more than I likely would have otherwise...and understand why. It also prompted me to appreciate the time I did have even more. Wherever that gentleman is these days, I salute him! :)
I'm a 74 yo white belt with about 1.5 years of training. I've had some injuries, but I've finally learned to slow roll. I enjoy the challenge of learning a little bit each class.
I feel ya. I use to train and work out a lot and because of that I ended up getting so many injuries, some that required surgery. Stuff that I could just walk off when I was in my late twenties/early thirties, would put me out for days as I got older. I am not sure how many of you have had a pain that just never goes away. Its there the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep. I had that for a couple years and its cool to say the reason I got it was from training, but I hated it so much. My doc would offer me pain killers to help but I would turn them down because I didn't want to take the chance of getting addicted to those. I also hated having to tell my kid I couldn't play catch with him, go bike riding, or just run around with him because my elbow was hurting too much or my knee was in a lot of pain. All that forced me to make the decision to pull back on training a lot, also the surgery I had kind of forced me to stop for a while altogether. I do miss training but I dont miss the constant pain I had. I knew it will only get worse the older I got and unless I can be guaranteed that all of my sparring partners will "take it easy", there is 100% chance I will be re-injured. The I would be back to where I was before, except older now and in a lot more pain probably.
I've been doing bjj since I was 16, I'm 42 now. I've had multiple injuries from BJJ and working in LE for almost 17 years. I still practice twice a week but what really helped me get through the pain and aches is combining BJJ with Yoga.
I'm 40 started BJJ last year, but I have been doing Yoga sincee I was in my late 20's. I feel Yoga has really benefited me. I dont have any aches I hear ppl of my age go on about
I feel like yoga is so underutilized by combat athletes in general. There are a few people at my gym who do yoga and you would be able to pick them out just by watching warmups - they're (well, we're, because I'm one of them) so much more limber and looser, and seem to get injured less frequently.
51 year old new black belt. One difference between guys like me who started later in life vs. guys like you who started younger and transitioned to older age, is that you may have kept your young man's game even as you aged. For me, I started at 40 so I've never been able to go that hard. Surprisingly, this is what made me better. I roll hard maybe a few times a year. Otherwise, I roll light and only go to the gym 1-2x per week. My body aches like yours bc I'm old, but also I try to be smart about how much I train. I try to warm up by myself at least 30 minutes before class and clearly have an old man's game. I trained 4-5x a week as a white belt, 3x as a blue, 2-3x as a purple, and 1-2x as a brown, and now that I'm a black belt my guess is I'll train even less but the years add up. Great video I enjoyed watching your journey!
I’m just a diesel and automotive master mechanic for over 30 years and my body is beat to crap . 30+ years on hard concrete,streets etc in all types of weather and conditions under semi truck, dump trucks, heavy duty equipment, buses, RVs automobiles. Repairing transmission engines etc . I can only imagine how training for Jiu jitsu will break your body down
I feel your pain. Training martial arts was a huge benefit to my life a few years back, but I am getting older and fill the time with cycling. I just can't bring myself to take the risk to totally mess up my old man body lol.
Fighting is a young man's sport.... it sucks for us old guys, but you have to come to terms with your age at some point. Great video, appreciate the story! You come across as a down to earth kind of guy.
NO, it's not.
You are never too old to start training fighting, everyone should, it has nothing but advantages, the only thing is that you might want to avoid certainly shitty toxic gyms.
@@ryanimpink13Bruh. There’s a reason u don’t see dan Severn compete anymore. Or even competitive sparring.
@@newagain9964 If you are talking about competing at a world class level, sure than fighting is a young man's sport. But as a sport in itself, it really is for all ages.
@@ryanimpink13 again. Show me film of ppl 50 yrs and older competing. Hard enough finding ppl in 40s.
It really hit home for me when you said you weren't sure if you could continue training due to potential further injuries. I absolutely love training Jiu Jitsu but I've been plagued by injuries, mostly due to my knee which I've have two surgeries on. I'm also only 28. I don't plan on quitting as I want to train well into my 40's but I totally understand how potential future injuries causes anxiety. Best of luck to you.
-Training 4.5 years, Blue Belt
Thanks for sharing. I’ve trained in Judo since I was a kid and earned my green belt. My father was a 4th Dan black belt. Life and work took me in a different direction, my father passed and he took a lot of knowledge with him. I ended up taking a 14 yr break from it while maintaining my fitness with Ashtanga yoga. I am now in my early 50’s. I’ve just returned to the dojo but this time to jujitsu (in bjj, my green belt doesn’t transfer, which makes no difference to me) and as much as I LOVE it, because in a sense I’m connecting to my father, my muscle memory wants to do stuff that I don’t think my knees can handle any more. I dislocated my right knee on the slopes 8 yrs ago. The other day we were told to ‘roll’ starting from standing and I asked my partner (a white belt) if she had been taught how to take a fall. So shortly into it, I did uchi mata on the left and took my partner by surprise but dang it if I wasn’t icing my knee for 3 straight days after that.
That throw came out from a subconscious level. I had drilled uchi mata for sure 10,000x in my lifetime. These skills just never go away!
But a voice inside my head is telling me I must practice restraint.
Your video gave me a lot of validation.
I'll be 47 next month. Been in martial arts almost my entire life. Little bit of everything: karate, jkd and Filipino MA, aikijujutsu, lots of Japanese jujutsu, little bit of Chinese arts mixed in.
Similar experience in BJJ. Did a couple seminars back in the mid to late 00's. Started training regularly and got my blue in 2013. Gym stopped offering BJJ at the end of 2015 . Life changed a bit and I took a hiatus. Some guys from the old gym started their own gym and I decided to start up again in 2016. They were moving locations and while they were getting the new place ready to open we started cross-training at a judo school for a bit--which I loved. Then hit BJJ pretty solid for a while. A few minor injuries. Some hiatuses here and there. Got back in just in time for covid to hit. Then went back in 2021. Trained hard. Was gearing up for purple belt and then during a class had a nearly full adductor Longus tear while working guard passes(Didn't know it at the time, found that out after months of rehab did not good and finally had an MRI). Was going to pull the trigger on surgery to repair and then work got crazy. Haven't been back since. Probably won't unless I decide to do the surgery again or it tears the rest of the way and then heals as well as it can. Been doing kali for a while now as it's much less abusive to the body.
Same experience mine was a abductor longus partial tear after bjj drills … at 52 decided to stick with training weekly in RG jiujitsu self defense and Vale Tudo drills and roll occasionally when my body is optimum. I am in for longevity and protecting my body, too many injuries that will make you vulnerable in the street.
@@drfrancovalento7545 💯 agree. BJJ was always a means to an end for me. Rounding out my self defense skillet. Thanks for the reply! I'm still kind of hoping to rips on it's own and then heals into the surrounding muscles as the sports med surgeon suggested it may.
I feel for you! I can totally relate!!! I’m 48 soon to be 49… I’ve been training on and off jiujitzu,boxing and Muay Thai for many years. My body has taken a beating. My doctor said I’ll probably need double knee replacements in my 50’s . I stopped training jiujitzu but continue to occasionally do boxing and Muay Thai and I lift a little but nothing at all like I use too. I have always struggled with depression and anxiety and training helped. Now I find myself wondering who I even am anymore. I identified so much with being a martial artist that I’m feeling kinda empty and lost now. When I do train I feel old and slow nothing compared to who I use to be. My body hurts all the time. Thanks for the video, makes me feel less alone 😢
Associating your true pristine self with worldly things (ideas, habits, objects) ,making them your whole identity and basing an entire personailty on them is just not wise. It is hell on earth. That void can olny be filled by God because it is a God shaped emptiness.
Great to hear your honest testimony Dorian! I got into BJJ in my twenties and have now moved onto boxing and k1, I can say that I've met heaps of people who are ex BJJ practitioners due to knee injuries