Starting BJJ/Jiu Jitsu Over 40? Here's How To Do It...

Getting started in anything when you're older can be an intimadting prospect, let alone getting into a combat sport. Here are a few important things to consider if you're over 40 and looking to start your own BJJ/Jiu Jitsu journey!

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Leave your comments below, I’d love to hear from you on this subject.

Enjoy the journey 🤙🏽

[davidsimmons]

Im 42, a disabled military veteran with bad knees and I just started 2 months ago. Thanks for this video

[rstlr]

I finally took the leap at 40 after being a fan for 20 plus years. I wrestled up to College level before I decided it was not my future. So there is some muscle memory locked in there From 15+ years of that training. I have enjoyed my first two months immensely. Only thing that’s giving me second thoughts about this is the fact that all the blue and Brown belts I am rolling with have a laundry list of bad joints(knees, Shoulders, elbows) makes me really reluctant to fight any submission when I feel it being locked up I tap.

[jasonwong]

I started jiu jitsu at 52 but each class I would sustain a micro injury e.g. hyper extension. I stopped going but have started to do yoga to stretch up and have switched to private lessons instead. Much better.

[vaudevillian]

Really helpful video, I’m not quite over 40 yet but not far off and have old sports injuries and arthritis so had thought it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to try BJJ/jiu jitsu now

[Dodgerzden]

Great advice. I'm 64 and spent most of my teens, twenties, and some of my thirties in the martial arts. Mostly Judo and Isshinryu Karate and dabbled in some other styles and kickboxing. I was also a distance runner in my teens and twenties. I got out of it because...work. Of course, I've racked up a lot of injuries that never really went away and I have carpal tunnel, Dupuytren's Contractures, axial nerve damage in my left shoulder, etc. Even then, I still would consider taking up BJJ now that I'm retired if, as you mentioned, there is a school that caters to older people. But I would not sign up immediately until I spent a few months on my own focusing on regaining flexibility and maybe a little strength training to get past the soreness before enrolling and maybe a little cardio, I think just doing BJJ alone would be enough to establish your cardio. I know from my Judo experience that nothing gets you tired as fast as rolling around on the ground with someone else's body weight attached to yours.

[davidcooper]

I started at 41 and have been training for going on 5 years. So much of what you say rings true with me. However, I think this advice applies to anyone unfamiliar with athletics and not just those over 40. Because I've been active my whole life, I'm pretty sure I've had an easier time than most of the 20-somethings at my gym. In fact I believe the focus on age was detrimental for me early on, I believed my age was a fundamental limitation. I have been amazed at how my body is able to adapt to training. One piece of advice though, you absolutely need to have a maintenance routine (stretching, strengthening etc.) with some focus on counteracting some of the repetitive movements you'll find yourself doing during training.

[logistics]

65 new blue here..love my gym. Old man on the block. 86 % VA disability. Have not felt better in years

[ShaneHarveyMusic]

65… three stripes in 6 months.. loving it… getting smashed daily. GB Vancouver is the best!!!

[MNaeem]

Great point, I struggle with the age gap and I'm a over 50 new Black Belt. Guys at my gym are primarily mid 20s to mid 30s and mainly do nogi so after 3 rounds unless its a white or blue its really tough to keep up energetically!

[seanheisey]

37 after a 2 year break. I only trained for approx 8 months prior. 1 stripe white belt. Barely comfortable with the very basic fundamental positions.
Open mat today, god I loved it. missed it. Signing up at a great school, full of these 20 year old killers but even this ADCC badass had a great roll, super moderate pace, he was so nice, gave off the back take multiple times just to feel things out. It was great. I have no offense so I prefer that higher experienced individuals just attack and get creative with their offense while I try to develop some semblance of a defense. Its great to take it easy and slow but eventually everything needs pressure testing, and thats where these killers come in handy =)

[staffnsnake]

I am 50. I started BJJ a bit over 4 years ago and sustained a posterior labral shoulder tear from another white belt, accidentally, as he threw his weight onto me as he applied an Americana, before applying a controlling position. I then went back for about six months and graded a couple of stripes, then the shoulder got too much for me. Now the same gym has adopted a slower pace that isn’t so sports and medals focused. There are others with injuries, so we partner up and announce our injuries before rolling, slower-paced. I also do aikido on Mondays and Fridays. I started aikido because I can do that into my 80s, but at a chronological age of 50, but fitness age of around 42, aikido is not active enough for me, even though there is heaps I am learning, some of which translates across to BJJ in subtle ways. So the combination of aikido and a slower-paced BJJ really seems to fit the bill, such that the aikido gives my body a rest between BJJ sessions, allowing my body more time to heal and adapt and also develop my ukemi.

[daniel]

Thanks for the Video. I´m 46, I did Kickboxing point fighting when I was 14, light contact when I was 17, full contact when I was 20. I quit because I wanted to do something different. After 4 years of Capoeira I decided to go back to a full contact sport and started Muay Thai, switched between some gyms to get new impulses. After another break of 5 years I started MMA and injured myself twice in 2 years. I realized that in my age propably MMA is not the proper sport to do. You compete almost every time with guys under 25 where the testosterone flows out of their skin *lol*.
I am thinking now to start BJJ.... And here I struggle, should I or shouldn´t I. My worst enemy is the fear of getting seriously injured and this would affect then my climbing and skiing. Thanks for the video once more :-) Greeting from Germany

[JOEY__SR]

3 years in white belt will be 45 soon. I really love the idea of a curriculum but wouldn't it be different for different types and ages goals and skill levels? Thanks

[samo]

If Im 45 and live paycheck to paycheck, can I do BJJ 6 am class without worrying about getting injuries where Im out for months ??? I can train for free and save maybe 150 mth towards injuries if needed....I have 4 kids, alot of debt and bills and work 7 days a week.

[ucfxrup]

Thanks any suggestions on what to eat drink before class. Usually try to drink 2bottles during the day and stop eating at least 2-3 hours before class.

[vjimmers]

First thing is get in shape! Lose that extra 40 lbs or at least 20 lbs of it. Start walking a lot and start running some as well! Do a lot of squats! Sit ups!

[TheDentist]

I’m 42 and train at the gym with the most young killers. Mostly just defence until they give me an opening and then surprise.

[arpanmitra]

i am at my mid 30s. I used to practice kick boxing. I got an hamstring injury (tear)... can I get into BJJ ?

[stuartclubb]

Good perspectives, but I feel you kind of held back telling the truth about just how much pain, suffering and frustration will be involved for those who are older and in poor physical shape.

I would even contend that there is a floor of physical strength and resilience below which, nobody should start BJJ. We can argue what it is, but it's definitely higher than most people want to admit - If you actually want to stick with it and not get injured within a few months.

[moyolenovo]

It's deep. But even realising all this knowledge before my first class when I was 38 it would not help me at all. Back than and even right now we don't have such options to train in such ideal schools like you described. There are no such schools in Kyiv this days even though there are tens of black belts has raised. Ten years ago there were only purple in a whole country.
At my first class I was thrown right in a lions cage. Nobody taught me basic staff ever. An instructor would not correct anybody ever because he was a competitor and rolled himself all the time and didn't watch students. He only explained techniques at the beginning of a class. And it was the best instructor in a country who first brought and started bjj in Ukraine.
Somehow I'd survived for a couple of years and rolled even with European champions almost every day. Now I'm 47 and would like to start the journey again after years of breaking period and different injuries. But from what I can see nothing has changed. It looks like bjj in Ukraine is only for youngsters who must to become competitors in any case. The attitude is like go hard 100% all the time. Otherwise you would have the feeling of not belonging. And I'm afraid because I don't like to be damaged completely.