The Ten Commandments of BJJ Over 40

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VIDEO DESCRIPTION

Rick Ellis discusses his Ten Commandments for older athletes that train Jiu Jitsu.

[robbierolla]

00:28 | 1 TRAIN WITH INTENTION
02:55 | 2 MANAGE EXPECTATIONS
05:06 | 3 STAY WITHIN YOUR LIMITS
07:27 | 4 FOCUS ON MOBILITY
09:47 | 5 HYDRATE PROPERLY
12:50 | 6 WARM UP THOROUGHLY
14:57 | 7 LEARN TO BREATHE
18:16 | 8 BE SELECTIVE WHEN ROLLING
19:50 | 9 TAP EARLY
21:37 | 10 PRIORITIZE RECOVERY

[TrishCanyon]

71 and I so appreciate your channel. Just 3 months into my white belt. Love jiu-jitsu ❤️.

[leesanders]

I’m got my fourth strip on my white belt a few months ago. At 55 an a former Fortune 500 executive, I’ve never been more proud of those stripes in a career of big vacations and huge bonuses. After two years training four to five days a week I will have my blue belt and I know I would have earned it. There were two young men who started within a month of me. We have pushed and supported each other. We have seen many white belts come and go the last two years and we will be promoted in January together. Jiu Jitsu is life.

[TimMcIntire]

54 year old brown belt here going through a training rough patch. I needed this video - definitely going to help me recalibrate.

[FincaWalaWala]

I'm a 49 year old black belt. I've been training since 1997. I fully agree with everything in the video, but I believe this advice applies to people of any age. If I would have understood these things earlier, my jiu jitsu career would have been easier and more successful.

[Psichlo]

I am a 47 year old blue belt and I have been training about five years, and I have gotten to where I love your content Rick. I think that age is a major hurdle in your training, and many people don't understand that. Trying to match the younger peoples intensity and explosiveness is dangerous. It's also not conducive, as an older practitioner, to compare you performance level to equal rank but younger training partners. For the last couple years, I have been discouraged with my training because I see these younger blue belts and purple belts in the gym, and I feel like if I am not performing like they are, I am failing, or stagnating. Each persons journey is different, and you need to realize that you're not your training partners, and your journey is going to differ from other people in the gym. Keep up the great content.

[matthickman]

I'm 37, been training since 29. I think this video is totally applicable to practicioners of all ages/ranks!

[estoyballecer]

I am 67 yrs old started training Jiu-Jitsu last week of December 2022; been training for almost 7 months and just got my first stripe last week; injury is unavailable but I think am beginning to love it even at my old age;

[rick]

Thank you so much for this. I am a 51 year old male who started BJJ 6 months ago at a wonderful school. My fellow athletes are respectful, supportive and nobody takes advantage of me, the old guy.*s* Learning BJJ has been a very humbling experience. When I started, I was around 45 lbs overweight, depressed and lacking a lot of confidence. BJJ has helped improve all of these things. I still find some aspects difficult. I have never been a natural athlete so I feel like my improvement has been very slow. All the holds are very confusing Also, I seem to get hurt every week. Nothing too serious but enough to be in some discomfort for a few days. All in all, I am happy I started this journey and look forward to see where it will take me

[walkki]

Model 1979 purple belt here. Great videos! 💪Let me share my thinking: One of the best decisions for me was when I participated a class which is designed for people +40. The number one rule there was avoiding injuries. During the years I have got bones crushed, black eyes and joint problems, mostly by not obeying the ninth commandment or/and having sparred with younger and heavier ones, who try to go as hard as possible.

[CyberwaveOrchestra]

I'm 34 but let's learn early :)

[Bembelkillah]

I started Jiu-Jitsu after stop smoking at 34. Now Iam 46, blackbelt an still love it. ❤🥋 oss

[cowboy_bob]

Love this topic! I'm a 45 year old blue belt, and BJJ is definitely something that I want to continue practicing for a long time to come. These commandments are all great, and will serve well anyone who implements them. Learning to control the breath has been a big one for me (that I'm still working on). I have struggled with a few injuries in the few years I've been training, including what I believe is a recently torn shoulder labrum, and would love to hear more about how you dealt with your injuries, when you decided to keep training, when you would take time off and how you would return from a break, etc. Thanks for the content, as always!

[danielgolder]

Outstanding advice, I’ve been on my BJJ journey for 5 months, I’m 53 years old, and the advice here is on point

[davetuscani]

I’m a 52 year old seasoned blue belt and I learned the hard way. Use to get hurt all the time. Because I’m in decent shape I thought I could hang with the super athletic younger guys. The next day I’d be in the hurt locker and they’re training just as hard, the very next day. It wasn’t until I started being smart that my Jiu Jitsu started to grow. And now I can get in a couple hard rolls with the same guys and be fine the next day. So long as I do my epson salt bath and taking my magnesium. Thanks for the extra tips. 👊🏼😎 24:52

[mikev]

I really think number 1 should be sleep. It’s the most difficult to focus on at any age. Also difficult to do

Naps too

[karatematt]

Such good advice!

Used to train in my 20s and 30s. Now in my early 40s and just had a hip replacement – 2024 is the year I come back!

[mr.dephiant]

This channel is gold! I started last year at 44 & now at 45, I earned my blue belt a couple of months ago. Your content has helped me to pace myself, check my ego, & learn with intention. I will replay these commandments as they're a good reminder to stay healthy, safe & positive about the journey. OSS!

[Firas-R]

45 year old blue belt, been training for 2 years. Thank you for this great video with such important reminders for us older athletes. All the points you mentioned are critical to any athlete but more so for those us that are older than our training partners. Here's my experience with each of these:

Most challenging ones that I'm working on with my coach, to keep me safe and continuously progressing as I'm one of the few older guys in the gym:
Manage Expectations (train and roll at my pace, not the younger, faster, heavier, stronger guys').
Stay Within Your Limits (learn to listen to my body and not go 100% with all of my rolls, learn to sit out some rolls).

What I need to work on improving:
Training with intention: go within with a specific goal/area of improvement for that day of training. While I do this some days, I don't do all the time.
Recovery: I'm good in terms of active recovery (yoga every morning, moving throughout the day) but not so good in terms of training volume. I was training 4 times a week, 2 classes + sparring on every training day for almost 2 years straight. A recent groin & hip injury due to overtaining forced me to reconsider my training volume. I'm coming back slowly now 3 times a week, 1 class only. Once I'm back in shape, I'll go back to sparring once a week.
Being selective with training partners: I'm only 115 lbs, most people in class are around 150 - 180 lbs which I'm fine with. There are some much heavier guys 220+ lbs which I can survive rolling with but at a much higher cost to my recovery. I've started excusing myself from those rolls as the risk of injury to me is too high.

Game changers for me that I've already being doing:
Mobility: most of my exercise outside of the Jiu-jitsu Academy is focused on this to avoid issues with my pre-existing back condition and shoulder issues.
Hydration (also use LMNT): this was a game changer when I started drinking this during training sessions a few months after I started training. My energy levels increased and I don't feel as drained after training since I started drinking electrolyte drinks.
Warmup (helps with my back, hips, shoulders) which I do before the class warmup begins and I also go through a cool down routine after the class which I find just as important if not more so than warming up.
Breathing: learned this one early as a smaller white belt to be able to survive getting crushed by heavier guys.
Tapping early: some people get annoyed when I do this (because they want to earn the tap) but I explain to them that my joints and range of motion is much more limited than theirs and I do this only when they've locked down the submission but before reaching the painful end range for me.

[eddiewright]

Time stamp 7:26 commandment number four when you said, "the quality of your jiu-jitsu is directly proportional to the quality of your movement" really got me thinking and hit home for me Rick. Thank you for sharing! 53 year old male three stripe white belt.