An actual gym owner and bjj instructor who states that it’s ok to train less often, but focus when training-is a refreshing thing to hear after 13 years of doing this and really hearing nothing except “train everyday if you want to get better, twice a day is better than once a day, more mat time=better.” I don’t disagree that more time usually makes you better, but it’s nice to hear a more intelligent and realistic perspective from a bjj instructor. when I was in my 20s, I had nothing better to do but hang out all night training. Almost 15 years later with two kids a career, and having already done this for over a decade, the prospect of spending every single night with 20-year-olds until 10 PM training hard is just not realistic and not fun anymore. Spending that much time with people half your age with different goals in life and in bjj, gets boring after a while.
Our noon class is mainly 30 year olds and older, so I fit right in, the night classes are mainly college kids. I train 4-5 days a week at 39, because I want to fast track my knowledge of jiujitsu, and make up for lost time.
As a 53 yo purple belt with a family and few surgeries behind me this is advice to live by. Training with a focus is more valuable to me now than training to win (which is still cool, don't get me wrong). It keeps the ego in check, the body healthy, and helps me to learn on a deeper level. Thanks again for a great lesson.
28 years in for me and I 100% agree with everything you just said. I am 47 and can still hang with 20 year olds because I am smarter about my training.
I was lucky to have had a professor that told me that lesson early. As a 51 yr old, I do 3 days of Jit and 2 days of weights/cardio. Having a mission with each roll is great.
What does your weekly schedule look like? I will be 50 this year and I am looking for some ideas on how I can improve. Currently I go to class twice a week and I am attempting to find time to lift 2-3 times per week.
@@jasonskeel6474 my typical schedule is Mon, Wed and Sat on the mats and Tu and Th at the gym. By Fr I can be kinda beaten up with 4 days in a row so it’s a rest day. Sun is kinda the same but also is how I make sure I spend time with family or getting stuff done around the house.
50 year old blue belt here, and I see this all the time. "you need to train more" if you're an older person and trying to balance family, work, and off time and my body can't handle the 4-5 times a week training schedule. I also agree that you have to train with a purpose when you are there, make the best of the time you have available. I have been spending the last few months working guard retention instead of just trying to get on top and stay on top. Thanks for the motivation Chewy.
Similar age and rank here too. I’ve seen a couple of my younger blue belt training partners going to other gyms with the ‘all day every day’ killer mindset and they are constantly injured and miserable. Sure those places can make people into absolute monsters, but there’s a cost to that and at my age (46) it’s not one I want to pay if I want to enjoy BJJ and have longevity in the sport.
I'm a 54-year-old black belt and I ALWAYS come in with something I'm working on or looking for. I constantly tell our students to do the same thing, always have something to work on. Thanks for the good content, Chewy.
I've seen a bunch of people come in guns blazing, and I can understand. Training is fun. They would train 4+ days a week. Unfortunately, they burn out by the time they become purple, or even blue. Slow and steady wins the race.
Great Stuff! I’m 58, started 2 years ago & have found that consistent weight training & rolls with training partners that challenge me but don’t kill me keeps me in the game. And I always have to remind myself I’m not going to progress as fast as others, not at my age. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have something to offer and improve.
As an enthusiastic hobbyist, training 3 days a week helps me stay focused on those days I’m training. Then I do my strength and conditioning 3 days I’m not doing BJJ. I’m trying to get the most out of both for as long as possible
This is every bit as valuable for someone who's young and/or inexperienced. So many people spend years, even decades chasing aimless, self-damaging patterns perpetuated by people who themselves don't know what they're actually doing on a deeper level. Being aware of knowledge like this can save someone a lifetime of inadvertent self-sabotage. There's one thing my instructor would often say. "Practice doesn't make perfect - *perfect* practice makes perfect." You can repeat the motions as much as you like, but if you're not doing so with a clear intent and a gravitation toward mastering the particular elements of what you're doing - you're just forming flawed patterns that will be very difficult to unlearn and correct later.
Thanks Chewie. I just gave this same advice to one of my students. I’m a 52 year old purple belt who teaches at a BJJ club at a university. Nearly all my students are new and we talked about “lasting 30 seconds longer,” and setting goals. This was so validating.
Started at 52. I trained real hard the 1st 6 months and my body broke down in a big way, so I started doing more private lessons and online training as well as camps like yours. The problem was my old coach acted like I should be in there every day training or watching. Well, I'd rather watch some videos and use my grappling dummy on an area I'm weak in than learn the move of the day. I prefer to build a system. It must be working because even you asked if i was a blue belt at your camp in June(common question. I'm a 1 stripe WB). I have definitely noticed people who come a lot also tend to get promoted faster regardless of their skill level. This is especially true of assistant coaches. I'm self employed and I have my own "gym" at work with mats and grappling dummies. I train new ideas all the time, and then I use class as a vetting process and ask my new coach for pointers on how to improve it. I've now been training for 16 months, and I'm very proud of my progress, even if it is rather unorthodox.
As you get older your goals change and things like "I don't want to get hurt" become more important. At 55 I just enjoy rolling and not getting hurt, while helping those newer and younger to get better. Just wait until your kid(s) start their own sports, talk about you loosing time to what you do.
Thanks for this video. It's arrived just in time for me. I'm getting on 9 years training now and about to enter my 40s. Injuries have become a big problem. If I train more than 2-3 days at most, I will almost certainly be too beat up and sore to do anything else. I'm glad to hear that you are doing more lifting and less hard rolling. When I was 30 I could easily handle 5 days of training. Now it's just not possible without sustaining injuries that force me to take MONTHS off training!
After a training, I do a mental review: what did I learn, what went well, want went wrong. Before the next session when I'm on the bus heading to the gym, I'll specifically have in my mind what I'm going to focus on largely based on what went wrong last time. I find this helps me from unthinkingly making the same mistakes repeatedly.
50 year old black belt here. I've been training 2 or 3 times a week for a good 10 years now. But also, I work on my endurance/cardio by running, or biking. And as far as weight lifting, I mostly do body weight exercises, a stronger and healthier body is necessary for jiujitsu, especially as you get older
53 year old blue belt- been training almost 6 years. If I get 2-3 days on the mats I’m happy. Seems to be 1-2 is the normal. My body simply does not recover to go more and I’m in pretty good shape. I focus on defense and enjoy it. Thanks for the great video as always. 🎉
I’m a 46 year old blue belt and I found your previous videos on this to be really important - especially with goals and weight training. When I go to open mat, I’m one of the people who brings really specific things to work on. I’ve recently started playing around with eco games as a way to get other people in the gym to get involved and get some practical benefit from open mat besides hanging out and chilling, we’ve managed to get a small hardcore group of us together and it’s definitely having an impact.
Blue belt here. I turn 40 at the end of the month. I don't train every day because I need to for my Jiu Jitsu, I do it because I need it for my mental health. I don't always pick a path to work on. But I enjoy learning whatever we are drilling that day. But when it comes to open rounds, I'm also an ultra heavyweight so I can't always work on what I want to work on. We simply don't have the bodies I need to get that training. So I try to work on "interesting" things that are easier for smaller opponents to handle. I work on open guard retention. I work on escaping bad positions. That's also why I compete 14+ times a year, because that's often the only time I can get that hard training in. I really like what you are saying here. I never push my teammates to "keep up" with how I like to train and I encourage them to be a little safer, especially the ones who have already received an injury or two.
You can do something hard every single day. But it has to not put you in danger of injurie or be too much for your recovery. Train hard your balance. Train hard when you have time to recover. Train hard on technical stuff your bad at. Train hard your legs when tomorow is grip work. Train your cardio hard when you train strenght tomorow. Find a hard but healthy balance.
Great video - as an older Purple belt who only rolls twice a week, I am very 'injury-aware.' I am in good shape and all, but the years take their toll on a body. I have started recently coming in with a focus, and it really helps me maximize the classes. I also avoid rolling with 'monsters' unless I know them and trust them. Excellent advice in this video!
I'm not even that old, in my early 30s, but for me it's about 50% technical training, 30% positional sparring/games and 20% sparring (and I try to keep the sparring as light and efficient as I can, at least on my end lol). I feel as though I'm progressing well. My goal isn't to be a world champion and do seminars around the world, I just always aim to keep up with the general idea of what each rank should be able to accomplish. I'm also not "performance" oriented, but I try to look at each situation as a technical battle. If I get dominated, it's not because I couldn't "perform", it's because I didn't have the answer to the questions presented to me. I totally get the culture you're talking about, some people still have that mentality. I guess for me, it's not about being the best BJJ athlete, but being one of the nerdiest BJJ guys in the dojo, a good student and teacher (if it comes to that) and living the values of the "good" martial artist. I don't care about competing (in or out of the dojo), for me it's a personal journey of improvement. Not saying I won't get injured (so far just a little hyper-extension in the 2.5 years I've been training), but I can say in the same time frame others have gotten injured a lot more frequently.
I tell my students that one thing they can ALWAYS focus on is trying to be the least tired person at the end of training, by using jiujitsu to be efficient. This is a non-competitive goal that anyone can focus on improving.
I agree but I also agree with on the flip side there’s a lot of value in going in with a “flow state” and using your “muscle memory” aka main game once you’re mid level purple belt or higher as well
56 year old blackbelt here, i roll twice a week but i train every day drilling new and old techniques. When my body feels good i roll with the toughest heaviest guys( im 175). Short of is i drill specifically more than i roll. Seems to keep me sharp. Great discussion!
My best advice which carries on from this, although this actually is aimed at the crowd who are perhaps very physically fit Upper Beginner\Lower Intermediate, who get frustrated when they get beaten by someone who is less physically gifted, but joined at the same time or after: Ask someone for a round with no submissions/no points scored, but don't use the classic Faux Pas of "Lets Flow Roll." Now, may think you're rolling 'light' but often, to a more skilled practitioner; you're still going crazy. Instead of thinking going 'hard' or 'light,' instead ask your partner if you can go 'slow' or 'slowly'. If your partner starts to resist too much, kindly ask with a 'please' if they can slow down a bit more, because "you aren't quite adept enough at some sweeps you want to try in normal sparring. You must put your ego to rest, & so must your partner. The best training partners are the ones who don't care about submitting their team mates, they only care about helping their team mates & themselves to get better at technique in order to win at competitions, as well as to win at self improvement. The day you realise that jiujitsu is simply about learning new techniques to deal with the techniques that your various teammates throw at you, is the day you will really understand what jiujitsu is all about. This is what makes the sport enjoyable. You will never feel anxious before a round again, when you know that every time you make a mistake, you will backtrack as to where the first mistake came from. You can also ask your partner to rewind back as to how they passed your guard (as one example) so that you can find the name of the pass, & research the specific retention techniques for it, & then the next time you ask for a 'slow' round, you can ask your partner to try that specific pass on you, whilst you attempt your new learnt retention techniques, thus creating an education cycle. Remember: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
I used to roll hard at pretty much every class. But recently I've had to cut it back to Saturdays since I don't have to get up early for work the next day. Seems to be working out so far. In the winter when I get more time off from work, I'll probably roll more frequently since I can get more rest.
19 years in BJJ, I am aways focused on something, depending on what position I'm in. I am working on improving several aspects of my game including not only technics but also strategy, speed, breathing..... I also weight train 2 times a week and HIIT before the weight training. 54 years old
As a seven month white belt. I always have new goals every week. I'm always working on the holes in my jiujitsu game. If somebody beats me a particular way, I make sure that I watch video or learn from somebody how to counter the technique. Using that strategy, I began to submit blue belts after 1.5 months, and since then I have submitted a brown belt and four purple belts, with goals of gaining an inch here and there.
I got badly injured the other day by a young new Purple who double grape-vined (don't do, dangerous) my legs in his bottom guard, at full speed,power, extension (It's like a double reap - Destroys your knees)...and he then proceeded to SNAP on subs at full speed like it was an ADCC Final....NOT COOL!....I'm still injured, will nvr roll with him again
I've had someone do that to me, and I haven't come across it before. I survived it by just staying calm and focussing on keeping my knees in-line with my ankles, but it was a weird situation. Sorry to hear about that! Wish you a speedy recovery.
Honestly, thanks for informing this. I'm a bit younger, but do my best to take care of my partner. Especially if they are older and a bit more injured. I dunno if i ever really done the double grape vine from guard, but hopefully that doesn't happen in mount... 😅 Lol
Parent, older jits guy here. This landed really well with me. Please could you share your strength & Conditioning routine now that you're a parent too?
I had a stroke last year. Then I fell down and broke my neck, just like Mom always said. Then I got pulmonary embolisms. This year I started Jiu-jitsu. Daily tasks and life is exhausting and I've done ultra-endurance events in the past. But Jiu-jitsu is sooo much fun. I'd roll every day if I could but I'm really doing good if I can make it twice a week. I'm there to provide comic relief during warm-ups.
I feel lucky to be able to do 2-3 classes a week. About to be 45, work, fam, other hobbies, and fragile ribs. Once I got my blue belt I totally get that this can become a major factor in my life without having to feel like I’m in a rush to get somewhere.
One of the biggest things I learned as an older grappler is protein protein protein. Not necessarily 1 gram per lb of bodyweight, that's overkill. But if you are eating less than 115 grams of protein and you are 155 lbs or heavier then you are doing your body a huge disservice. A lot of my aches and pains and lack of recovery and soreness went away once I had consistently been hitting 115 grams of protein per day for a month. I didn't just have less pain but my body actually started adapting and getting stronger FROM grappling. Prior to that I never felt like my body was actually adapting. Chronically underfeeding your body the protein it needs when doing highly intense exercise is going to completely stall your progress in anything athletically and may actually contribute to injury, frustration, anxiety about training etc. Of course sleep is #2 as well. But I think a lot of people just eat whatever (including a lot of garbage and alcohol) and get maybe 70 grams of protein max and then sleep like shit as well and wonder why at 38 they can't train like they did at 25. You need to be smarter, and that involves changing your training strategies in all the brilliant ways chewy suggests as well. The key take away is definitely "don't overdo it". Train smart not hard.
Almost 44 years old, got into Karate a few years ago and more recently into BJJ, my biggest thing is taking time to recover. It sucks when you hurt more from a hard training session day 2 after the session than day 1 after but that's part of getting old. Without the recovery time I'd never be able to keep up. As far as the plan goes, my plans are mostly not getting into bad positions, recognizing when I'm in a bad position, and trying to slow things down. Oh, and remembering to breathe. Maybe I should have a better plan but I'm also a total hobbyist with one tournament under my belt.
as a purple belt , i only allow myself to train 2 times /week absolute max! I force myself to do other sports as well although, all my sports overlap in some complimentary way , Your BJJ learning journey is not linear so when you feel like you not getting anywhere in it, its great to throw more focus into another sport (for me- diving, surfing ,running, wing foiling etc) and come back to jitz cause i miss it instead of try beat myself up cause im feel like im not getting anywhere. Also when you get injured if that is the only sport you do you gonna feel so let down cause thats all your world ,when you can just shift and keep your mind on something else for a while
My strength, in a weird way has been somewhat of an issue with starting my jiu jitsu journey. I’m 35 now, been lifting most of my adult life, very strong. But because of that, I do what most white belts do which is get in the roll, lack the skill, transition to attempted overpowering. Problem is it works a lot of time because of my strength level, so I’ve had to actively focus on technique and form, and it hasn’t been easy
Same issue, I'm 33 and have been lifting and training athletically since 16/17 and if I'm being honest it's made me have very little respect for Jujitsu, I ended up taking to catch wrestling more and feel the guys are much more matched to my strength and aggression than your average Jujitsu guy. Strength and some catch wrestling compliment each other.
I just handicap myself by taking hands out of the equation. Focus on just using my legs to reestablish guard and getting the sweeps. A lot of fun and then the wrist lockers can’t wrist lock me😅
@@darrenphillips2188 so for the higher end belts, like one of the purple and one of the brown belts I rolled with last week, that strength didn’t mean for nothin…their technique far outweighed my strength, which really makes me enjoy rolling with them cause A.) I learn from them and B.) it forces me to abandon pure overpowering and start utilizing technique
@@brandonwaddell2583 yeah I've found similar to he true to a point, then comes the issue of nobody wants to stand and just pull guard Instead, 5/6 years of time invested to become a purple belt to barely be able to deal with someone who just walks in considerably stronger than me isn't something I'm willing to commit to haha, still loved it though and enjoy it casually
"Some 40 year old coming in to lose a little weight and all the sudden he's getting shark tanked in the middle of the mats." Bro! This is literally me! I just got my blue belt too at the beginning of this year (baby blue) and had to stop for a while because I'm working 2 jobs now. That was one of the biggest reasons I quit though. I am not that intense dude and I love the technical part of it but I've always been a couch potato my whole life. I really struggle with the physical component of it and can not afford injury. I have to earn my livelihood and don't have a support system if I can't work. I've been thinking about going back and just trying to find time to make it work. My focus would be polishing up those escapes! You learn them day 1 as a white belt but you don't really have the fundamentals to understand what's going on. I want to be the guy they can't hold down! Thanks for making this video Chewy! OSS!
1:42 this is exactly how old-school boxing gyms think. I think Firas called it "meat grinder" method. Reason why they do it is because coaches wants to find their champion as quick as possible and train him
THIS IS GREAT! I can only go 3 times a week so this is VERY encouraging. I also don't have any small goals per roll, i'd even speculate you can have different goals with different opponents based on size/skill of opponent? Any way you could share your lifting workout as im sure its more tailored for Jitz than many others? Thanks Chewy!
I get a lot of benefit from low impact calisthenic and acrobatic work to maintain and expand my strength and range of motion. Role pretty light also which forces me to rely on technique. A lot of losing and learning up front but been paying off on the backend.
65 here. Four or five days a week but I have learned to pace myself. Some days hard like today. Otherw much less so..I also play ice hockey most days of the week as well bothas a skater and goaltenders
I struggle. I do BJJ about three times a week, and need a day in between for my muscles to recover. I've lifted most of my life, but at 51 it takes forever for my muscles to recover. Trying to work through a solution
The simple answer? Replace one of those 3 with full body strength training and make sure to do as much mobility, skill practice and EZ cardio on other days.
I started doing this a purple and do it more now as brown. I almost feel guilty not having a gamelan at this level. When I stick to it things are quite fun I will admit.
I sign up for a 10-trip concession pass for BJJ and do it at least once a week. I now have done 6 sessions (after 5 free trials) and have 4 sessions left
This is not just a good message for older people. Young people need to look ahead to make the most of their training. Equally importantly there are lots of people who think they are younger than they are actually are 😉
As a 69 yr old 3rd deg brown belt, Lift weights for bone density and flush the fancy kabuki theater moves .. Focus on simple but effective techniques for each position, bottom, top, etc .. Drill those moves until they become ingrained .. A few very good techniques are far better than a bunch of lousy ones .. One other important thing is be extremely selective w/ who you train / roll with .. Avoid the ego driven submission hunters like a plague !!
It's really weird to me that people act like dedicating 2-3 evenings a week to an activity is a low level of commitment. I like to train hard, but I also have a life to live and I need to be able to do things after work other than jiu jitsu
Need to start doing this. I only get a couple days on the mats a week and i feel like it's so hard for me to just focus on one thing because of those 2 days I feel like i have to cram everything into those days. My biggest struggle.
Judo player here...In all my years of training, there have always been a theme to the practice session. The teacher would show it, and we would repeat in several rounds, and with different partners. This would continue until the randori time. Are you referring at this particular time ? If yes, then I can understand, although the randori time should/could be dedicated in the active application of the new technique.
62 now and down to training only twice a week. I Avoid rolling with the big low grades now, as my body is pretty damaged from 40 years of martial arts.
Just 2 days ago I went to new gym in other country... I am purple belt, 10+ years behind me and there was this new blue belt, who is 30 years younger than me... and he just goes haaard... and pulls all than time with maximum force... and I am there like on my knee, kind of hoping we could do something smart, but it is just a pulling contest... In the end he chokes me in guillotine, just by pulling me into his guard and guillotine... and I am like... "Is this your game?"..,. Keep in mind that this is my first day in Asia, in a hot heat and I am over 50... I was hoping for a fun roll in new gym... I am not coming here to compete who is stronger in pulling contest in my first day. Zero techniques involved... I could do that for one round, sure, but then I would be totally beat and sitting and sweating like crazy, skipping rounds. It takes always 2 weeks to get used to hot country... But I do understand there are people who train like 6 days a week and have this crazy stamina to go hard every single round. But when old foreigner comes to your gym, at least try to show him some cool technique you know, or even learn from him. Not just pull 100% for 5 minutes. That is boring. I rather just tap, than explode and use all my strength to avoid the tap. It's not worth it. My ego is not that big after 10+ years of training. I can even tap to white belts, if I can just avoid using all my strength in first round. Last round it is ok go max, but not in first rounds. In this day and age, I rather do all the rounds. Go hard maximum all than time, is not a best way. It is better to get more rounds and sessions. Ask almost anyone who has done more than 10y.
I'm a 44 year old blue belt and usually train 3 times a week - 2 basic classes and open mat on fridays (and my son trains and I help out in the kids classes.) So when I don't train BJJ I lift some weights and do pushups and pullups etc (plus my son always wants to destroy me so I get a lot of extra training anyway.) 😅
While I agree with everything you said.. my question is .. why are the Brazilians still the best jiujitsu guys if there’s all these new innovations/sports science/modernization?
Maybe it’s just the culture of training and respect for the sport there . Same way how Japan dominates Judo still , or how post soviet countries still dominate sambo, and how Thailand dominates Muay Thai
Good vid though I wished all gyms had yoga. Say jiujitsu 3x week, Yoga 2x, lift 1x would be fine. I'm wrecked martial arts 86 BJJ/Catch/MMa since 97. Just rolling and pushups kept me strong a long time
Hey Chewie 😎 I recently went back to Bjj class, aside from my cardio not being as well as i thought, I noticed that was being less aggressive with the two white belts that had wrestling training.. My question is what do you think I can do mentally to help be more aggressive? I gave up my back like i saw when watching some white belt tournament and not sure why after grabbed from behind. Live and learn! Normally i just destroy higher belts. 😁😊 Seriously, your thoughts please 🙏
Finally someone who lifts weights… a ton of the BJJ cult is “strength and lifting don’t matter”… and it’s hilarious to me. The strong guys of the same skill levels almost always dominate the guys who don’t lift.
Thing is, I’m 44 and my body still feels young. I can roll 4 to 5 days a week and maintain a good feel. I guess I’m lucky. But the key, ya gotta roll at the right pace. Stay away from geezers who spend their time ripping your legs away to pass with no method at all and then drop all their weight on you and go for nothing but Americana’s.
Where do you have a lifting program that works for you? Has a purple belt that came from a powerlifting background before BJJ, a lifting program that I can do alongside my classes is my biggest thing missing in my development.
hey bro, I haven't grappled in like 10 years and I recently got the itch and plan on getting back into bjj or mma ( not really sure still). when I did bjj back in the day I remember I was super spazzy because I was kind of athletic so rolls got kind of dangerous for both me and my partner . when I say I'm competitive , it's an understatement but the objective was never to hurt my teammates so I want to make that clear. what can I do to prevent spazzing out besides getting mat time ? when should I give up a scramble and accept bottom play as a top player , btw most the people I rolled with were way bigger than me so it's like I have to be explosive and all because if I don't I get : A) lay and preyed with a 200+ lbs body laying on me or B) stacked with a 200+ lbs body on top on me . btw rolling with that much of a weight disadvantage always had me in panic mode because I was maybe 145 - 150 lbs 5'6" with zero grappling experience at the time. I developed a nasty spider guard tho at the cost of a few bruised ribs and a AC separation..
It sounds easy to just add in some weight training. But a lot of people in the 40+ crowd have work and family obligations and are already doing good to show up for class 3-4 days per week. So adding in weight training a couple days per week would require giving up BJJ those days, putting them down to 1-2 days per week of BJJ training -- hardly a recipe for improvement. Time is always the biggest scarcity.
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An actual gym owner and bjj instructor who states that it’s ok to train less often, but focus when training-is a refreshing thing to hear after 13 years of doing this and really hearing nothing except “train everyday if you want to get better, twice a day is better than once a day, more mat time=better.” I don’t disagree that more time usually makes you better, but it’s nice to hear a more intelligent and realistic perspective from a bjj instructor. when I was in my 20s, I had nothing better to do but hang out all night training. Almost 15 years later with two kids a career, and having already done this for over a decade, the prospect of spending every single night with 20-year-olds until 10 PM training hard is just not realistic and not fun anymore. Spending that much time with people half your age with different goals in life and in bjj, gets boring after a while.
Our noon class is mainly 30 year olds and older, so I fit right in, the night classes are mainly college kids. I train 4-5 days a week at 39, because I want to fast track my knowledge of jiujitsu, and make up for lost time.
As a 53 yo purple belt with a family and few surgeries behind me this is advice to live by. Training with a focus is more valuable to me now than training to win (which is still cool, don't get me wrong). It keeps the ego in check, the body healthy, and helps me to learn on a deeper level. Thanks again for a great lesson.
28 years in for me and I 100% agree with everything you just said. I am 47 and can still hang with 20 year olds because I am smarter about my training.
I was lucky to have had a professor that told me that lesson early. As a 51 yr old, I do 3 days of Jit and 2 days of weights/cardio. Having a mission with each roll is great.
He isn’t a professor.
66 and doing the same
What does your weekly schedule look like? I will be 50 this year and I am looking for some ideas on how I can improve. Currently I go to class twice a week and I am attempting to find time to lift 2-3 times per week.
@GuitarJiuJitsuSkateboarding ☝️🤓
@@jasonskeel6474 my typical schedule is Mon, Wed and Sat on the mats and Tu and Th at the gym. By Fr I can be kinda beaten up with 4 days in a row so it’s a rest day. Sun is kinda the same but also is how I make sure I spend time with family or getting stuff done around the house.
50 year old blue belt here, and I see this all the time. "you need to train more" if you're an older person and trying to balance family, work, and off time and my body can't handle the 4-5 times a week training schedule. I also agree that you have to train with a purpose when you are there, make the best of the time you have available. I have been spending the last few months working guard retention instead of just trying to get on top and stay on top. Thanks for the motivation Chewy.
Holy crap; you are me! Age, guard retention, rank, everything!!
Similar age and rank here too. I’ve seen a couple of my younger blue belt training partners going to other gyms with the ‘all day every day’ killer mindset and they are constantly injured and miserable. Sure those places can make people into absolute monsters, but there’s a cost to that and at my age (46) it’s not one I want to pay if I want to enjoy BJJ and have longevity in the sport.
❤
I'm a 54-year-old black belt and I ALWAYS come in with something I'm working on or looking for. I constantly tell our students to do the same thing, always have something to work on. Thanks for the good content, Chewy.
I've seen a bunch of people come in guns blazing, and I can understand. Training is fun. They would train 4+ days a week. Unfortunately, they burn out by the time they become purple, or even blue. Slow and steady wins the race.
It's a marathon not a sprint.
Great Stuff! I’m 58, started 2 years ago & have found that consistent weight training & rolls with training partners that challenge me but don’t kill me keeps me in the game. And I always have to remind myself I’m not going to progress as fast as others, not at my age. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have something to offer and improve.
As an enthusiastic hobbyist, training 3 days a week helps me stay focused on those days I’m training. Then I do my strength and conditioning 3 days I’m not doing BJJ. I’m trying to get the most out of both for as long as possible
This is every bit as valuable for someone who's young and/or inexperienced. So many people spend years, even decades chasing aimless, self-damaging patterns perpetuated by people who themselves don't know what they're actually doing on a deeper level. Being aware of knowledge like this can save someone a lifetime of inadvertent self-sabotage. There's one thing my instructor would often say. "Practice doesn't make perfect - *perfect* practice makes perfect." You can repeat the motions as much as you like, but if you're not doing so with a clear intent and a gravitation toward mastering the particular elements of what you're doing - you're just forming flawed patterns that will be very difficult to unlearn and correct later.
Thanks Chewie. I just gave this same advice to one of my students. I’m a 52 year old purple belt who teaches at a BJJ club at a university. Nearly all my students are new and we talked about “lasting 30 seconds longer,” and setting goals. This was so validating.
Thanks, I needed to hear this.
Started at 52. I trained real hard the 1st 6 months and my body broke down in a big way, so I started doing more private lessons and online training as well as camps like yours. The problem was my old coach acted like I should be in there every day training or watching. Well, I'd rather watch some videos and use my grappling dummy on an area I'm weak in than learn the move of the day. I prefer to build a system. It must be working because even you asked if i was a blue belt at your camp in June(common question. I'm a 1 stripe WB). I have definitely noticed people who come a lot also tend to get promoted faster regardless of their skill level. This is especially true of assistant coaches. I'm self employed and I have my own "gym" at work with mats and grappling dummies. I train new ideas all the time, and then I use class as a vetting process and ask my new coach for pointers on how to improve it. I've now been training for 16 months, and I'm very proud of my progress, even if it is rather unorthodox.
As you get older your goals change and things like "I don't want to get hurt" become more important. At 55 I just enjoy rolling and not getting hurt, while helping those newer and younger to get better.
Just wait until your kid(s) start their own sports, talk about you loosing time to what you do.
Your pronunciation of "porrada" is perfect, congratulations!
@@dmtBOKE I am Brazilian, and it sounded perfect to me.
Thanks for this video. It's arrived just in time for me. I'm getting on 9 years training now and about to enter my 40s. Injuries have become a big problem. If I train more than 2-3 days at most, I will almost certainly be too beat up and sore to do anything else. I'm glad to hear that you are doing more lifting and less hard rolling. When I was 30 I could easily handle 5 days of training. Now it's just not possible without sustaining injuries that force me to take MONTHS off training!
My coach said this to me when I first started too. I’m so much fitter and healthier because of it. As an older guy, this is a good message.
I didn't know you married and didn't know that you had a kid recently. CONGRATS!!! That is what life is all about!!!
After a training, I do a mental review: what did I learn, what went well, want went wrong. Before the next session when I'm on the bus heading to the gym, I'll specifically have in my mind what I'm going to focus on largely based on what went wrong last time.
I find this helps me from unthinkingly making the same mistakes repeatedly.
50 year old black belt here. I've been training 2 or 3 times a week for a good 10 years now. But also, I work on my endurance/cardio by running, or biking. And as far as weight lifting, I mostly do body weight exercises, a stronger and healthier body is necessary for jiujitsu, especially as you get older
53 year old blue belt- been training almost 6 years. If I get 2-3 days on the mats I’m happy. Seems to be 1-2 is the normal. My body simply does not recover to go more and I’m in pretty good shape. I focus on defense and enjoy it. Thanks for the great video as always. 🎉
Purpose driven play... good piece, Chewie.
I’m a 46 year old blue belt and I found your previous videos on this to be really important - especially with goals and weight training. When I go to open mat, I’m one of the people who brings really specific things to work on. I’ve recently started playing around with eco games as a way to get other people in the gym to get involved and get some practical benefit from open mat besides hanging out and chilling, we’ve managed to get a small hardcore group of us together and it’s definitely having an impact.
Thanks Chewy for the advice. I really appreciate these videos, super helpful info!
Blue belt here. I turn 40 at the end of the month. I don't train every day because I need to for my Jiu Jitsu, I do it because I need it for my mental health. I don't always pick a path to work on. But I enjoy learning whatever we are drilling that day. But when it comes to open rounds, I'm also an ultra heavyweight so I can't always work on what I want to work on. We simply don't have the bodies I need to get that training. So I try to work on "interesting" things that are easier for smaller opponents to handle. I work on open guard retention. I work on escaping bad positions.
That's also why I compete 14+ times a year, because that's often the only time I can get that hard training in.
I really like what you are saying here. I never push my teammates to "keep up" with how I like to train and I encourage them to be a little safer, especially the ones who have already received an injury or two.
This is great information, thank you! I’m a 52 year old white belt who started at 51.
You can do something hard every single day. But it has to not put you in danger of injurie or be too much for your recovery.
Train hard your balance. Train hard when you have time to recover. Train hard on technical stuff your bad at. Train hard your legs when tomorow is grip work. Train your cardio hard when you train strenght tomorow.
Find a hard but healthy balance.
Exactly what I need right now. Thanks 🙏
Great video - as an older Purple belt who only rolls twice a week, I am very 'injury-aware.' I am in good shape and all, but the years take their toll on a body. I have started recently coming in with a focus, and it really helps me maximize the classes. I also avoid rolling with 'monsters' unless I know them and trust them. Excellent advice in this video!
Thank you I needed this 🙏🏽
I'm a 55yr old purple belt. Great advice. I rest when I am sore or in pain. It takes longer to heal. I need to hit the weights more often and stretch.
As a 47 year old white belt who is coming from different styles, this is very helpful. Good food for thought.
Preach it brother
I'm not even that old, in my early 30s, but for me it's about 50% technical training, 30% positional sparring/games and 20% sparring (and I try to keep the sparring as light and efficient as I can, at least on my end lol). I feel as though I'm progressing well. My goal isn't to be a world champion and do seminars around the world, I just always aim to keep up with the general idea of what each rank should be able to accomplish. I'm also not "performance" oriented, but I try to look at each situation as a technical battle. If I get dominated, it's not because I couldn't "perform", it's because I didn't have the answer to the questions presented to me. I totally get the culture you're talking about, some people still have that mentality. I guess for me, it's not about being the best BJJ athlete, but being one of the nerdiest BJJ guys in the dojo, a good student and teacher (if it comes to that) and living the values of the "good" martial artist. I don't care about competing (in or out of the dojo), for me it's a personal journey of improvement.
Not saying I won't get injured (so far just a little hyper-extension in the 2.5 years I've been training), but I can say in the same time frame others have gotten injured a lot more frequently.
Great mindset.
I tell my students that one thing they can ALWAYS focus on is trying to be the least tired person at the end of training, by using jiujitsu to be efficient. This is a non-competitive goal that anyone can focus on improving.
I agree but I also agree with on the flip side there’s a lot of value in going in with a “flow state” and using your “muscle memory” aka main game once you’re mid level purple belt or higher as well
56 year old blackbelt here, i roll twice a week but i train every day drilling new and old techniques. When my body feels good i roll with the toughest heaviest guys( im 175).
Short of is i drill specifically more than i roll.
Seems to keep me sharp.
Great discussion!
My best advice which carries on from this, although this actually is aimed at the crowd who are perhaps very physically fit Upper Beginner\Lower Intermediate, who get frustrated when they get beaten by someone who is less physically gifted, but joined at the same time or after:
Ask someone for a round with no submissions/no points scored, but don't use the classic Faux Pas of "Lets Flow Roll." Now, may think you're rolling 'light' but often, to a more skilled practitioner; you're still going crazy. Instead of thinking going 'hard' or 'light,' instead ask your partner if you can go 'slow' or 'slowly'. If your partner starts to resist too much, kindly ask with a 'please' if they can slow down a bit more, because "you aren't quite adept enough at some sweeps you want to try in normal sparring.
You must put your ego to rest, & so must your partner. The best training partners are the ones who don't care about submitting their team mates, they only care about helping their team mates & themselves to get better at technique in order to win at competitions, as well as to win at self improvement.
The day you realise that jiujitsu is simply about learning new techniques to deal with the techniques that your various teammates throw at you, is the day you will really understand what jiujitsu is all about. This is what makes the sport enjoyable.
You will never feel anxious before a round again, when you know that every time you make a mistake, you will backtrack as to where the first mistake came from. You can also ask your partner to rewind back as to how they passed your guard (as one example) so that you can find the name of the pass, & research the specific retention techniques for it, & then the next time you ask for a 'slow' round, you can ask your partner to try that specific pass on you, whilst you attempt your new learnt retention techniques, thus creating an education cycle.
Remember: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
I used to roll hard at pretty much every class. But recently I've had to cut it back to Saturdays since I don't have to get up early for work the next day. Seems to be working out so far. In the winter when I get more time off from work, I'll probably roll more frequently since I can get more rest.
19 years in BJJ, I am aways focused on something, depending on what position I'm in. I am working on improving several aspects of my game including not only technics but also strategy, speed, breathing..... I also weight train 2 times a week and HIIT before the weight training. 54 years old
As a seven month white belt. I always have new goals every week. I'm always working on the holes in my jiujitsu game. If somebody beats me a particular way, I make sure that I watch video or learn from somebody how to counter the technique. Using that strategy, I began to submit blue belts after 1.5 months, and since then I have submitted a brown belt and four purple belts, with goals of gaining an inch here and there.
I got badly injured the other day by a young new Purple who double grape-vined (don't do, dangerous) my legs in his bottom guard, at full speed,power, extension (It's like a double reap - Destroys your knees)...and he then proceeded to SNAP on subs at full speed like it was an ADCC Final....NOT COOL!....I'm still injured, will nvr roll with him again
I've had someone do that to me, and I haven't come across it before. I survived it by just staying calm and focussing on keeping my knees in-line with my ankles, but it was a weird situation. Sorry to hear about that! Wish you a speedy recovery.
Honestly, thanks for informing this. I'm a bit younger, but do my best to take care of my partner. Especially if they are older and a bit more injured. I dunno if i ever really done the double grape vine from guard, but hopefully that doesn't happen in mount... 😅 Lol
Chewy, we all knew you were a dad the second you said "blow smoke up your glutes." Congratulations all your jokes will now be 43% dorkier.
Thank you for this from a 39 year old recreational bjj brown belt.
Good point. I am a 56 brown belt. I train 3 times a week. I do weight training 2 times a week
38 , multiple injuries. I felt this!
Parent, older jits guy here. This landed really well with me. Please could you share your strength & Conditioning routine now that you're a parent too?
I had a stroke last year. Then I fell down and broke my neck, just like Mom always said. Then I got pulmonary embolisms. This year I started Jiu-jitsu. Daily tasks and life is exhausting and I've done ultra-endurance events in the past. But Jiu-jitsu is sooo much fun. I'd roll every day if I could but I'm really doing good if I can make it twice a week. I'm there to provide comic relief during warm-ups.
I feel lucky to be able to do 2-3 classes a week. About to be 45, work, fam, other hobbies, and fragile ribs. Once I got my blue belt I totally get that this can become a major factor in my life without having to feel like I’m in a rush to get somewhere.
Good Video
Thank you
One of the biggest things I learned as an older grappler is protein protein protein. Not necessarily 1 gram per lb of bodyweight, that's overkill. But if you are eating less than 115 grams of protein and you are 155 lbs or heavier then you are doing your body a huge disservice. A lot of my aches and pains and lack of recovery and soreness went away once I had consistently been hitting 115 grams of protein per day for a month. I didn't just have less pain but my body actually started adapting and getting stronger FROM grappling. Prior to that I never felt like my body was actually adapting. Chronically underfeeding your body the protein it needs when doing highly intense exercise is going to completely stall your progress in anything athletically and may actually contribute to injury, frustration, anxiety about training etc.
Of course sleep is #2 as well.
But I think a lot of people just eat whatever (including a lot of garbage and alcohol) and get maybe 70 grams of protein max and then sleep like shit as well and wonder why at 38 they can't train like they did at 25. You need to be smarter, and that involves changing your training strategies in all the brilliant ways chewy suggests as well.
The key take away is definitely "don't overdo it". Train smart not hard.
To be honest some of the 40 year olds in our gym have this mindset of go hard every roll lol
Until they get hurt and then you never see them again.
They came up during a tougher era.
i made the best gains after extended rest periods. it's quite surprising to return to the mats and be significantly better than you were months before
Almost 44 years old, got into Karate a few years ago and more recently into BJJ, my biggest thing is taking time to recover. It sucks when you hurt more from a hard training session day 2 after the session than day 1 after but that's part of getting old. Without the recovery time I'd never be able to keep up. As far as the plan goes, my plans are mostly not getting into bad positions, recognizing when I'm in a bad position, and trying to slow things down. Oh, and remembering to breathe. Maybe I should have a better plan but I'm also a total hobbyist with one tournament under my belt.
Yup, after 40 I decided i wanted to Improve my software without damaging my hardware.
as a purple belt , i only allow myself to train 2 times /week absolute max! I force myself to do other sports as well although, all my sports overlap in some complimentary way , Your BJJ learning journey is not linear so when you feel like you not getting anywhere in it, its great to throw more focus into another sport (for me- diving, surfing ,running, wing foiling etc) and come back to jitz cause i miss it instead of try beat myself up cause im feel like im not getting anywhere. Also when you get injured if that is the only sport you do you gonna feel so let down cause thats all your world ,when you can just shift and keep your mind on something else for a while
Congrats on becoming a Dad Chewy!
It is very funny the way you said "porrada" ;) In my gym is sort of that... A hard battle (porrada) every day!
Side control submission and chokes and reversals from every bottom position
My strength, in a weird way has been somewhat of an issue with starting my jiu jitsu journey. I’m 35 now, been lifting most of my adult life, very strong. But because of that, I do what most white belts do which is get in the roll, lack the skill, transition to attempted overpowering. Problem is it works a lot of time because of my strength level, so I’ve had to actively focus on technique and form, and it hasn’t been easy
Same issue, I'm 33 and have been lifting and training athletically since 16/17 and if I'm being honest it's made me have very little respect for Jujitsu, I ended up taking to catch wrestling more and feel the guys are much more matched to my strength and aggression than your average Jujitsu guy. Strength and some catch wrestling compliment each other.
I just handicap myself by taking hands out of the equation. Focus on just using my legs to reestablish guard and getting the sweeps. A lot of fun and then the wrist lockers can’t wrist lock me😅
@@darrenphillips2188 so for the higher end belts, like one of the purple and one of the brown belts I rolled with last week, that strength didn’t mean for nothin…their technique far outweighed my strength, which really makes me enjoy rolling with them cause A.) I learn from them and B.) it forces me to abandon pure overpowering and start utilizing technique
@@brandonwaddell2583 yeah I've found similar to he true to a point, then comes the issue of nobody wants to stand and just pull guard Instead, 5/6 years of time invested to become a purple belt to barely be able to deal with someone who just walks in considerably stronger than me isn't something I'm willing to commit to haha, still loved it though and enjoy it casually
You should do catch wrestling jiu-jitsu is pretty goofy in general
"Some 40 year old coming in to lose a little weight and all the sudden he's getting shark tanked in the middle of the mats."
Bro! This is literally me! I just got my blue belt too at the beginning of this year (baby blue) and had to stop for a while because I'm working 2 jobs now. That was one of the biggest reasons I quit though. I am not that intense dude and I love the technical part of it but I've always been a couch potato my whole life. I really struggle with the physical component of it and can not afford injury. I have to earn my livelihood and don't have a support system if I can't work. I've been thinking about going back and just trying to find time to make it work. My focus would be polishing up those escapes! You learn them day 1 as a white belt but you don't really have the fundamentals to understand what's going on. I want to be the guy they can't hold down!
Thanks for making this video Chewy! OSS!
1:42 this is exactly how old-school boxing gyms think. I think Firas called it "meat grinder" method. Reason why they do it is because coaches wants to find their champion as quick as possible and train him
THIS IS GREAT! I can only go 3 times a week so this is VERY encouraging. I also don't have any small goals per roll, i'd even speculate you can have different goals with different opponents based on size/skill of opponent? Any way you could share your lifting workout as im sure its more tailored for Jitz than many others? Thanks Chewy!
I joined the “get caught up in your projects” cult. Always working on something.
I get a lot of benefit from low impact calisthenic and acrobatic work to maintain and expand my strength and range of motion. Role pretty light also which forces me to rely on technique. A lot of losing and learning up front but been paying off on the backend.
consistency
I'm 60 and just received my purple belt I have 2 replaced joints I focus on training in a way that I can keep on training
Good video
65 here. Four or five days a week but I have learned to pace myself. Some days hard like today. Otherw much less so..I also play ice hockey most days of the week as well bothas a skater and goaltenders
I struggle. I do BJJ about three times a week, and need a day in between for my muscles to recover. I've lifted most of my life, but at 51 it takes forever for my muscles to recover. Trying to work through a solution
The simple answer? Replace one of those 3 with full body strength training and make sure to do as much mobility, skill practice and EZ cardio on other days.
peptides!
So true.
I started doing this a purple and do it more now as brown. I almost feel guilty not having a gamelan at this level. When I stick to it things are quite fun I will admit.
“Smoke up your glutes” is hilarious
I sign up for a 10-trip concession pass for BJJ and do it at least once a week. I now have done 6 sessions (after 5 free trials) and have 4 sessions left
Congratulations on becoming parents!!
This is not just a good message for older people. Young people need to look ahead to make the most of their training.
Equally importantly there are lots of people who think they are younger than they are actually are 😉
As a 69 yr old 3rd deg brown belt, Lift weights for bone density and flush the fancy kabuki theater moves .. Focus on simple but effective techniques for each position, bottom, top, etc .. Drill those moves until they become ingrained .. A few very good techniques are far better than a bunch of lousy ones .. One other important thing is be extremely selective w/ who you train / roll with .. Avoid the ego driven submission hunters like a plague !!
It's really weird to me that people act like dedicating 2-3 evenings a week to an activity is a low level of commitment. I like to train hard, but I also have a life to live and I need to be able to do things after work other than jiu jitsu
Need to start doing this. I only get a couple days on the mats a week and i feel like it's so hard for me to just focus on one thing because of those 2 days I feel like i have to cram everything into those days. My biggest struggle.
Judo player here...In all my years of training, there have always been a theme to the practice session. The teacher would show it, and we would repeat in several rounds, and with different partners. This would continue until the randori time.
Are you referring at this particular time ? If yes, then I can understand, although the randori time should/could be dedicated in the active application of the new technique.
62 now and down to training only twice a week.
I Avoid rolling with the big low grades now, as my body is pretty damaged from 40
years of martial arts.
Just 2 days ago I went to new gym in other country... I am purple belt, 10+ years behind me and there was this new blue belt, who is 30 years younger than me... and he just goes haaard... and pulls all than time with maximum force... and I am there like on my knee, kind of hoping we could do something smart, but it is just a pulling contest... In the end he chokes me in guillotine, just by pulling me into his guard and guillotine... and I am like... "Is this your game?"..,. Keep in mind that this is my first day in Asia, in a hot heat and I am over 50... I was hoping for a fun roll in new gym... I am not coming here to compete who is stronger in pulling contest in my first day. Zero techniques involved... I could do that for one round, sure, but then I would be totally beat and sitting and sweating like crazy, skipping rounds. It takes always 2 weeks to get used to hot country... But I do understand there are people who train like 6 days a week and have this crazy stamina to go hard every single round. But when old foreigner comes to your gym, at least try to show him some cool technique you know, or even learn from him. Not just pull 100% for 5 minutes. That is boring. I rather just tap, than explode and use all my strength to avoid the tap. It's not worth it. My ego is not that big after 10+ years of training. I can even tap to white belts, if I can just avoid using all my strength in first round. Last round it is ok go max, but not in first rounds. In this day and age, I rather do all the rounds. Go hard maximum all than time, is not a best way. It is better to get more rounds and sessions. Ask almost anyone who has done more than 10y.
I'm a 44 year old blue belt and usually train 3 times a week - 2 basic classes and open mat on fridays (and my son trains and I help out in the kids classes.)
So when I don't train BJJ I lift some weights and do pushups and pullups etc (plus my son always wants to destroy me so I get a lot of extra training anyway.) 😅
While I agree with everything you said.. my question is .. why are the Brazilians still the best jiujitsu guys if there’s all these new innovations/sports science/modernization?
Maybe it’s just the culture of training and respect for the sport there . Same way how Japan dominates Judo still , or how post soviet countries still dominate sambo, and how Thailand dominates Muay Thai
Good vid though I wished all gyms had yoga. Say jiujitsu 3x week, Yoga 2x, lift 1x would be fine. I'm wrecked martial arts 86 BJJ/Catch/MMa since 97. Just rolling and pushups kept me strong a long time
a boxing coach told me the same exact thing a decade ago.
Every health and wellness podcast/influencer/expert "Nothing matters if you're not getting enough sleep"
New parents: 😭
My gi, turned light blue there was two black shirts and jeans.....? If you lift and run your injury prevention...
Sensei Chewjitsu--it’s not just Jujitsu. 😅
Hey Chewie 😎 I recently went back to Bjj class, aside from my cardio not being as well as i thought, I noticed that was being less aggressive with the two white belts that had wrestling training.. My question is what do you think I can do mentally to help be more aggressive? I gave up my back like i saw when watching some white belt tournament and not sure why after grabbed from behind. Live and learn! Normally i just destroy higher belts. 😁😊 Seriously, your thoughts please 🙏
Finally someone who lifts weights… a ton of the BJJ cult is “strength and lifting don’t matter”… and it’s hilarious to me. The strong guys of the same skill levels almost always dominate the guys who don’t lift.
How do we properly get a weight training workout specific for us training Jiujitsus at 46
Thing is, I’m 44 and my body still feels young. I can roll 4 to 5 days a week and maintain a good feel. I guess I’m lucky. But the key, ya gotta roll at the right pace. Stay away from geezers who spend their time ripping your legs away to pass with no method at all and then drop all their weight on you and go for nothing but Americana’s.
Where do you have a lifting program that works for you?
Has a purple belt that came from a powerlifting background before BJJ, a lifting program that I can do alongside my classes is my biggest thing missing in my development.
You mentioned you lift weights, do you do free weights or machines?
hey bro, I haven't grappled in like 10 years and I recently got the itch and plan on getting back into bjj or mma ( not really sure still). when I did bjj back in the day I remember I was super spazzy because I was kind of athletic so rolls got kind of dangerous for both me and my partner . when I say I'm competitive , it's an understatement but the objective was never to hurt my teammates so I want to make that clear. what can I do to prevent spazzing out besides getting mat time ? when should I give up a scramble and accept bottom play as a top player , btw most the people I rolled with were way bigger than me so it's like I have to be explosive and all because if I don't I get : A) lay and preyed with a 200+ lbs body laying on me or B) stacked with a 200+ lbs body on top on me . btw rolling with that much of a weight disadvantage always had me in panic mode because I was maybe 145 - 150 lbs 5'6" with zero grappling experience at the time. I developed a nasty spider guard tho at the cost of a few bruised ribs and a AC separation..
Where are the examples of what to focus on?
I'm a white belt I focus on having fun
It sounds easy to just add in some weight training. But a lot of people in the 40+ crowd have work and family obligations and are already doing good to show up for class 3-4 days per week. So adding in weight training a couple days per week would require giving up BJJ those days, putting them down to 1-2 days per week of BJJ training -- hardly a recipe for improvement. Time is always the biggest scarcity.
I like some cults.. went from one to another I love it haha 😂