Combat Arts After the Age of 40

[Chance]

I've been looking at BJJ for the conditioning and defense skills but after reading some of the threads here and elsewhere, have heard injuries can be fairly common.

Well, saying you want to learn a combat sport in the absence of potential for injury is like saying you want to be a SCUBA diver but don't want to get wet. You're going to get banged up at some point, it's just the name of the game.

That being said, in my experience, most of the gnarly injuries I've seen in BJJ arose because someone got a hard head and didn't submit when they probably should have. Even if someone doesn't have the submission quite right, trying to grit through an "almost there" joint lock is dumb. And every time I see someone spin out of leg lock, I visibly wince.

So check your ego at the door, and if something feels like it might get dicey, tap out. If you're at a good gym, people will get it. If people don't get it, find another gym.

[Cecil Burch]

Well, saying you want to learn a combat sport in the absence of potential for injury is like saying you want to be a SCUBA diver but don't want to get wet. You're going to get banged up at some point, it's just the name of the game.

That being said, in my experience, most of the gnarly injuries I've seen in BJJ arose because someone got a hard head and didn't submit when they probably should have. Even if someone doesn't have the submission quite right, trying to grit through an "almost there" joint lock is dumb. And every time I see someone spin out of leg lock, I visibly wince.

So check your ego at the door, and if something feels like it might get dicey, tap out. If you're at a good gym, people will get it. If people don't get it, find another gym.

Pretty much this.

It's also not just not tapping to submissions that is the issue. What I have found to be more prevalent and more insidious is the insistence on "winning" and "not looking bad". You are drilling/rolling with that guy just a bit better than you, but you think he is small/weak/not tough/etc and you decide that you can't lose to him, so as he is passing your guard, you are tensing and fighting so much that you pull a groin muscle. Or he goes to sweep you and rather than accepting it you flail away and as you come down towards the mat your arm hits at a funny angle and you hyper extend your elbow. Those are the things I see, and those are the things that gets blamed on the other guy - i.e. "he was going too hard" - No, you were, and you paid the price.

It is a contact art. That is a major reason why it works. So injuries will happen, but they are far less frequent if you leave your ego in the locker room, and step on the mat to learn and get better, not to prove what a bad ass you are.

And even with the injuries you do get, I have found them in general to be far less traumatic to the body with less long term issues than you get from the striking arts.

[BJJ]

I’ll try paging @Paul Sharp again.

[FPS]

Well, saying you want to learn a combat sport in the absence of potential for injury is like saying you want to be a SCUBA diver but don't want to get wet. You're going to get banged up at some point, it's just the name of the game.

Yeah but the older I get the more I need to think through risk/reward before comitting to something. Its a different dynamic when a wife and three kids are relying on you. I was down quite a bit late last year with the rib injuries occurring on two different occassions. My wife puts up with a lot and very supportive but there are limits as to how far I should push it with extra-curricular activities.

[Totem Polar]

Yeah but the older I get the more I need to think through risk/reward before comitting to something. Its a different dynamic when a wife and three kids are relying on you. I was down quite a bit late last year with the rib injuries occurring on two different occassions. My wife puts up with a lot and very supportive but there are limits as to how far I should push it with extra-curricular activities.

This... is wisdom, right up there with the idea of spending money on a year’s gym membership instread of another redundant 6920 and a carbine class if you’re 60lbs overweight and smoke. We do these things to improve our lifestyle, health, and preserve and defend our bodies and the life we’ve worked for. If the trade-off meter starts to lean the wrong way, time to dial it back a bit.

[Jeep]

Just a word to the wise. All those injuries you get between 15-50 will come back to haunt you later, and I know more than a few guys who are basically permanently crippled at age 65 from old injuries.

Moderation in physical training is a virtue--or at least will seem to be one when you are older and wondering why you can no longer run, throw a baseball, bend your back or (sometimes) climb a set of stairs--and hip/knee/elbow/shoulder surgery/replacements can only sometimes fix those problems.

[Paul Sharp]

I started BJJ in December. IÂ’m over 40. About 5 years ago, I had trained BJJ at a different gym. I knew it was going to be a little rough starting back and it has been, but not too bad. Grappling is hard on your body if you are not conditioned to it. Once you are conditioned to it, you have a huge advantage over other people.

There are a few things about where IÂ’m training now that have made it easier to start back. You have to spend the first few months in what they call a foundations class. You are only allowed to drill and do situational sparring. Rolling is not allowed until you finish the foundations program. This is supposed to take 4 to 6 months. At first I found this pretty frustrating but I am starting to see the logic. Many of the injuries in BJJ gyms come from strong white belts. For example, a 200 lb 20 year old who starts trying to do can openers on people because he is allowed to roll his first ever day training BJJ.

My point is, finding a gym that has some sort of on ramp program might help. Another thing to look for is how varied is the demographic of people training there? Are there middle aged people, kids, male and female Training there? Or is all tattooed dudes under 30?

If you have a lot of experience with boxing, you could delve into BJJ while maintaining your boxing and wind up really well rounded.

Paging @Cecil Burch and @Paul Sharp

This. People come into my gym and are frustrated that they can't "roll" right away. I get it but they have to go through Foundations first. Even guys that have trained in other places and hold rank. I have a purple belt that just started training with us, and he mentioned how it's nice to start in Foundations, working technique, as well as learning things he was never taught. He was resistant at first, now he gets it. There is a method to the madness based on data gathered from training thousands of students all over the world, and then comparing notes on what is working and what is not. We are constantly looking at ways to tune our Foundations curriculum to make it a bit more efficient, to better serve our students.

Think about a sport like basketball. If you want a to put together a team that can actually play, you spend a considerable amount of time on skills before you allow them to scrimmage. You don't take some kid, hand them the ball, say this is how you dribble. Now dribble for 5 minutes. Okay cool, you're a forward, stand here. Ready guys? Let's go!

How about boxing? Here kid, these are hand wraps, now put on these gloves. This is a jab. Lets work it a few times in the air. Cool. Now a few times on the pads and bags. Okay, ready? Get in the ring. You only have a semblance of a jab, no defense, and that guy your facing has been doing this for 3 years, or worse he's been doing it a few months longer than you so he has no control and might be a spaz but hey... what's the worse that could happen? Broken orbital? Broken jaw or nose? Hang tough kid, it's a contact sport. If you quit it's because you're not cut out for this...

Why do we think BJJ or any other combat sport should be approached differently? Folks will point to contact sports that start scrimmaging within a few weeks of the first day of training. This is true but they miss the difference, and it's a significant difference. Football, wrestling, and other contact sports have a deadline, ie; opening day/season opener looming. This might accelerate the process but they're not really concerned about the athlete that is pushed out by the higher performing athlete. They need to field a winning squad, who cares about the guy that isn't ready, has been sedentary for years, or maybe never even played a contact sport. Many BJJ gyms operate with the same mentality. They don't really care if someone can't hang. That's a shame. Jiujitsu is one of the more transformative things you can do, in my not so bias opinion, it IS the most transformative thing you can do. People get their act together, and turn their life around because they find a better environment and community in the gym than they might have been involved in prior to the gym. However, if they get run off within a few weeks or months of starting then we have ask ourselves if the way we've always done it is the right way to keep doing it.

I would highly recommend finding a gym that has an intro program focused on drilling, fundamentals, and understanding the core concepts of Jiujitsu. Not a gym that has you rolling right away. I can 100% vouch for any Straight Blast Gym in that regard. If it's an SBG they will have a Foundations program in place, as well as a coaching methodology based on gradual yet progressive loading. You'll learn without fear of injury, and when it's time to roll you'll do so with a much higher level of technical proficiency because you spent months drilling the fundamentals with progressive overload and a conceptual understanding of why you're doing what you're doing.

[Sal Picante]

This. People come into my gym and are frustrated that they can't "roll" right away. I get it but they have to go through Foundations first. Even guys that have trained in other places and hold rank. I have a purple belt that just started training with us, and he mentioned how it's nice to start in Foundations, working technique, as well as learning things he was never taught. He was resistant at first, now he gets it. There is a method to the madness based on data gathered from training thousands of students all over the world, and then comparing notes on what is working and what is not. We are constantly looking at ways to tune our Foundations curriculum to make it a bit more efficient, to better serve our students.

I, for one, appreciate this approach. I know precious little about fighting arts and have a day job I need to get to and perform at. I need the super slow/simple crawl-walk-run progression here... Being a parent and 40, I have to accept the fact that this isn't and can't be my primary focus; it will take more time and I will progress slower. But that is ok.

Lastly, Paul, I appreciate that most of the other students at the gym aren't trying to "Straight Blast" me or something just to prove a point. There is a lot of trust and it lets us all progress faster because we're able to ask questions/help each other out.

Advice to the OP: Move to Elgin and join Paul's gym. Easy-peazy.

[Totem Polar]

Advice to the OP: Move to Elgin and join Paul's gym. Easy-peazy.

LoL, isn’t that the truth. If only choosing a BJJ gym was like chosing a holster: site supporter/regular P-F’er; done.

I’d love to work with Cecil or Paul with some regularity, having seen them both at PeP3.

I could stand to pay Craig—and his lifting coach—for a few lessons too. Hell, I could put together a P-F coaching dream team for a lot of things, and never even touch firearms, ironically.

But I digress, per usual.

[CoffeeParamedic]

BJJ is in my opinion the best option as you get older.

Have a look at this link - may be helpful...