My good friend runs a site called Ihateyoungpunks.com and he pretty much runs a site 100% dedicated to older grapplers 40+ and I was thinking that this would be a good time to talk about training in BJJ when you start getting a little older, maybe a little more run down (i’m 41 and very run down!)
I have a student named Paul Peck, and he’s always joking with me saying that he does old man jitsu Haha pretty funny. I’m not sure theres a such thing as an old man style but there is a game to play when you want to slow down the faster younger kids you train with.
One thing that will be in your favor or at least might be is that as you get older you start getting old man strength. This is a real thing BTW. That’s something you would want to use on the young wild guys. Use your strength to control the gripping or hand fighting situations and you’ll win at this BJJ thing a lot. Again, dealing with the speed and using a tighter and more controlling style will be to your benefit.
You know what works well for a lot of old guys? Half Guard. I have had great success teaching half guard and it seems to work very well for guys who might not have the speed and explosiveness that a 21 year old would have. Again, thinking in terms of slowing down the game. Half guard gets this accomplished!
To keep things simple just think that you would like to keep as much control as you can over your opponents and avoid a lot of scrambling. In this email I’ve included some videos for you to watch if you really want to see some great, tough old guys. My favorites to watch for BJJ are Fabio Gurgel, Lloyd Irvin and Leo Dalla. (I’ve been beaten up pretty good by all 3!!!)
Ok check out this videos below, watch the great old guys beat up these young kids, hahahha.
