Knowing when to tap.

We all know that if we want to continue on in BJJ one of the keys is to stay way from injury.  Some injuries will just happen but you can help yourselves out by tapping quickly.

For example today I went with a Purple Belt.  The guy is 20 years younger then me, 40 lbs heavier then me and strong as an ox.  He is a nightmare roll for most people.  I have sparred with him many times over the last couple of years and he has actually hurt me badly twice.  Today during the roll I got his back.  I was working good back game on him and he turtled up.  He then hooked my elbow to roll me.  I would usually roll underneath him and just come back in the same spot but this time when he rolled I went face first into the mat instead of ducking my head.


Of course if you can envision this that means this guy is going to roll right over me and crush my neck as I could not turn my head as my face was stuck in the mat. This is stuff that works in cartoons but not really very well in real life.  Luckily I could see it coming and yelled stop and luckily he stopped.  This was not a conventional move to tap someone with.  This was a neck crank on steroids but not done on purpose.  I think you need to know when your knee, elbow, neck etc are in potential danger and just tap before something snaps.  Part of this comes with experience and part of it comes with not being too concerned about the tap.

Of course it is easier to Tap in Sparring and harder to tap during a tournament but I think it is much better to tap then to risk injury that may side line your for who knows how long.

Injuries are part of the game.

Today we had a guy blow out his shoulder.  It is/was a reoccurring injury.  He had problems with it in the past.  It looked very painful.

We have also had people come in and mess up knees, backs, necks, elbows etc.  I guess my question is how do we avoid injury so we can keep training.

The other question I have is how hard is it to get back into BJJ if you have been out for an extended period of time due to injury or some other cause.  If you get jacked up does it make you nervous about coming back or do you still have the same enthusiasm and draw that you had before.  I thought this Pod Cast was very interesting.

http://iroll.tv/the-blue-belt-curse-why-do-people-quit-1-of-2/


I also saw a great video on youtube by the Gracies who came out with the Boyd Belt System.  It really makes sense.  As you get older your skills diminish.  Guys you used to beat now beat you.  I started when I was 51 so I was already on the diminishing side of the equation.  I have seen in just the short two years that the young athletic guys I used to handle easily have now surpassed me.  I can see how someone who started at a younger age would have more difficulty with this because at one time when they had progressed to be a higher belt and were in top physical condition then pretty much they were unstoppable.  Then as Father Time catches up with them they start getting beat by the ones they used to work.  Just like every Child will eventually be able to beat his father in a foot race every BJJer will eventually be surpassed by his student is they are younger and on the left side of the curve still working up to their peak as the instructor is slowly working his way down the other side.

Of course with me this does not hold true as I am older then my instructors because I started late so I will never be in better physical condition then them and they will also always hold the edge on my in flexibility and knowledge.

Here is the video I am referencing.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGk_urw1_hA

I love BJJ

It is truly an addiction for me.  Sorry if I sometimes comes across as negative or complaining.  That is not my purpose.  I think part of it is being older and always being sore.  My wife and others wonder why I put myself through this but it is for the love or the sport and the camaraderie of the participants.

Yesterday I was able to work out with a very experienced Brown Belt.  He is a guy who is a Hobbyist (His words not mine) but really loves BJJ and has a game that is very unusual compared to most.  He is very methodical and opportunistic and will catch you in all kinds of things.  Wrist Locks, Knee Bars, Crucifix, and all kinds of chokes.  He usually very little strength and pressure with me.  (I have seen him spar with the other higher belts and they give him a run for his money but he always seems to be able to catch then in some tricky move that they are not aware of.

He was very good to let me work all the chokes when we drilled and corrected me multiple times so I could get it right.  He really wanted to see me succeed not just going through the motions until it was time for him to try the move.  I really appreciate his patience and effort.

This is one thing that I love about BJJ.  So many people from different walks of life that are willing to help out those who know less them then so they can become more proficient.   I think they were treated this way when they started and so they treat other people this way as they have progressed.

I hope BJJ always stays this way.

When BJJ Class turns into Cross Fit Class

So last night we had a substitute instructor.  A guy I really  like a black belt that is over 40 and seems to understand a little better how old guys move.  It was a great night for training.  We started drilling at 6 and then at 7 started the regular class.  The class was mostly white belts and a couple of blue belts.  Pretty much the perfect class to go over new moves and learn some basic techniques.

Then one of the Blue Belts,  A young guy super fit who is looking for a position with the Fire Department says he will run the warm up.  I'm thinking we have already drilled for an hour so we are pretty much warmed up, but he showed up at 7 and wanted to run warm up so I'm okay.  We start doing the basic warm up and all is going well until we get to sit ups.  He says we go around the circle picking different ones and we each do 10 of them 100 times.  I'm thinking that is 1000 set ups.  I am sitting next to a Sheriff's deputy in the Circle who is over 40 and we look at each other and think this is not happening.  I ask the young Blue Belt if he is any good at math and if he realizes that is 1000 sit ups and we have people competing this weekend that may not be able to move for a couple of days if we do this.  He tries to play the hard guy (but he is really a good guy that is why I could get away with giving him some crap) and then finally changes his mind when I ask if I made a mistake on my way to BJJ class and I ended up in a Cross Fit class.

Anyway it was all in good fun.  I'm pretty sure if the main instructors would have been there first of all the Blue Belt would not have had us do 1000 sit ups (or really he is just bad at Math and did not realize what he requested would equal 1000) or they would have lead warm ups and I would probably would not have spoken up if there were there.  We had a good time and joked about it later in class.

Have you ever went someplace where they do more conditioning then they do BJJ?

I appreciate the guys who have the confidence to give me a chance.

I am a 53 year old middle weight.  I dropped almost 40 lbs to get to middle weight so my Jiu Jitsu game is more like an old man heavy weight.  Slow and methodical, not a lot of explosion and lots of resting between moves.

I usually attend the 11-12:30 class.  For some reason this class is full of higher belts and heavier practitioners.  Most of the guys are Purple Belts and above and most are over 200 lbs.  I spar with all of them.  I have noticed that some seem to be more confident in letting me try my stuff.  They let me work on things and I feel when I spar with them my game improves.  Others just want to smash me and impose their will on me.  Some in a more aggressive way  then others.  With them I learn how to defend and spend a lot of time thinking if I should just tap because I have this bigger, younger, more experienced sparring partner just smashing me and I am having troubles breathing or I feel like my internal organs are getting moved in to areas of my body that were meant to be moved to.

It is almost impossible for me to recover guard when one of these big guys gets me in a tight side control shoulder against my head twisting my neck in an uncomfortable way.

Here is what I think is going on.

The guys who let me work my moves and don't worry too much about giving up an advantageous position have a lot of confidence in their abilities and don't really have that big of an ego.  I have tapped out black belts, and brown belts (never a purple belt for some reason) when I am able to work a move and get it in really tight.

The guys who don't let me work any moves and just smash me or are very aggressive with me I think don't have the same confidence to escape a bad position or have ego's that won't allow them to tap if I get something on them that just happens to be so tight they cannot get out of.  They think they are doing me a favor by smashing me because I would not appreciate or grow at the same rate if I they gave me position instead of earning it.

Let me tell you.  I know you guys are better then me.  If I tap you I know it is because you gave up a position to me.  I in no way think I am your equal in skill if happen to get a sweep or mount on you.  Lastly I really do appreciate you taking your time to spar with an older guy and giving me a few breaks a long with some pointers on mistakes I make.  That is how I feel I learn best not getting smashed.  What do you guys think?

Open mat is something everyone should take advantage of.

Open mat is great.  Show up work in some stuff that you were shown by the instructors during the week but need to drill some to fine tune.  Bring someone to roll with to get your Saturday off to a good start.  Hang out and talk about BJJ. Work on something you have difficulties with as you get ready to compete.  

There are so many upsides to Open Mat I'm surprised more people don't take advantage of it.  

Here is Paul, Ezra and I at Open Mat last Saturday.  

Going against the new guy.

Today I had a chance to spar with the new guy.  He is a higher belt then me and 15 years younger.  Because I am 53 when I go against the new guy (unless they are some young buck white belt who has no hespect for their Elders) they usually try not to go to hard because they don't want to break me.
The funny thing is other old guys don't take it easy but the guys in their 30's usually pull back a little.  This was a mistake on his part.  I took him down and put him in a tight side control.  I then couldn't get the bread cutter but was able to get arm triangle.  As soon as I could get across and go to mount I stepped over and really applied the pressure.  He did not tap.  Maybe because I was older and maybe because he was a higher belt or maybe it just wasn't that tight but I felt him go limp so I let up and he was able to move to half guard.

This guy was really good with the leg lock down from half guard.  I could feel a lot of pressure on my knee etc because of the way he had wrapped my leg with his leg.  I applied pressure on him and was going to work on a knee slice to clear my leg when all of the sudden he did something with my leg in his legs that was either some sort of calf slicer or ankle lock.  It felt like when you have someones back and you make the mistake of crossing your legs and they put their legs over yours and arch their backs.  I tapped.  It did not hurt bad enough to tap but I was not sure where the pressure was coming from and had no idea what he was doing so I figured best to tap.  It kind of reminded me of a kidney  stone I had over 20 years ago.  I could feel the pain and had no idea what it was.  My wife took me to the emergency room where they used some machine to break it up so it would pass.  The pain was crazy but the scary part was not knowing what was causing the pain.  Since then I have had a few kidney stones and I have just gritted it out and passed them.  I kind of felt that way with this position he had me in.  It really was not enough pain to tap when I did but I was not sure if that was all he had or if that was just the start of a move that was going to cause some serious damage if he continued on.

Now I need to know what the move was so that I can learn to defend it and also learn how effective it is.  It worked well on me.  Someone told me it might be illegal.  I am not even sure what he did as I could not see because I was on top facing forward and this was behind me.  If anyone knows that this move could possibly  be let me know.

Old Man Jiu Jitsu

Last night our instructor was an older black belt.  The young black belts (under 35) who usually teach us must of had commitments so they arranged for an older guy to teach us.

It was a great class.  Finally someone that understands that older guys don't bend as well or move as fast as younger guys and don't expect them to.  Finally someone that showed us moves using limited movement, and concentrating on control instead of athleticism and quickness to beat the guy to the spot.  I know the young guys who teach the class will swear that the moves are based on technique and not strength, flexibility and quickness but I can tell you that working the moves they require all the above.   I have noticed that many times during my sparring sessions I know what I need to do and my brain is telling me things that my body just can't quite get to in time.  It becomes very frustrating to me to know that if I beat the guy to a grip or position I would have the advantage but not being able to achieve that because of slowed reflexes due to age.

One of the reasons I now prefer Gi to Nogi is that the Gi really does Slow things down.  When you get older and you slow down a  little (something that just happens) you appreciate having a little more reaction time.  The key here is everyone slows down some when they get older.  The younger guys need to understand it and especially the guys that are teaching the classes need to understand that there are some moves we are not going to be able to do.  It is not us being difficult, negative, insubordinate, argumentative or thinking because we are old we know more then the instructor it is just a fact of life.   When I am being reprimanded for trying to think of a better way to do the move that fits in with my abilities I always think to myself "talk to me when you are over 50 and see if you have the same opinion as you do now."

I have a good friend who is about the same age as me. He is a Tae Kwon Do Champion.  He competed all over the USA in high level tournaments in his age group and won most of them easily.  He is in great shape and has maintained this over many years.  He decided he needed a little more competition and he dropped down to fight the guys in the 30-40 year old bracket.  So most of these guys were 15-20 years younger then him.  What he found out was that even though his mind could identify what he needed to do his body did not respond quick enough whether making a strike or defending it and he got smacked around.

I guess all I'm saying is I get frustrated sometimes when the instructors expect me to do the same moves that a much younger guy does and I cannot replicate them to my satisfaction.

On an ending note it is not just instructors.  It is sometimes the other athletes.  Last night I got frustrated with a guy who told me to pick up the pace during warm up.  He wanted me to do more sit ups and more push ups, run faster etc.  He was really getting on me a nd I was not in the mood to take it.  I basically told him that if he kept barking at me I would just not leave.  I don't come to practice to get barked at by a 21 year old Blue Belt who thinks, because he is in perfect shape that everyone in class should be able to keep up with him.  Give the guy 30 years and if I'm still alive then he can tell me how his body responds to what his mind wants him to do.

Takedown Time.

When we get ready for Tournaments the first thing the instructors want to work on is take downs.  Take downs is vital as it is the way you start the match and if you can get the take down then that gives you an instant lead and makes the other guy now have to score points or submit you to beat you.

I used to wrestle so take downs are in my bread and butter.  I have done 10's or thousands of take downs in my life so I am pretty confident when it comes to taking down the opponent with a variety of take downs and also defending the take down.

Here is my suggestion to BJJ Athletes that have not worked on Take Downs.

1.  Go with what you are comfortable with.  (I think this is the reason most pull guard because they are comfortable with this and they also feel it puts them in a better position to score points with a sweep etc.  The key here is to practice enough to be comfortable with something.

2.  Know your distances.  Know what distance you can be effective at.  Know when you are too far to shoot.  This is the thing that I feel is the most bothersome to most is that they have no idea how far or close they need to be when they start to shoot.  They are afraid to get too close to let the competitor grab them but then they shoot from so far away it is impossible to get the take down.

3. Have a go to move.  When all else fails have a move you can go to, to get the take down.  When you get frustrated with not being able to get the fancy throw etc then have a go to move.

4.  Work on your set ups. Ankle Picks. Fireman Carries, Double Leg, Single Leg, Arm Drag etc all have set ups.  Work on getting the person to right spot so you can do the take down  you want.

5.  Stay in control.  Don't let them grab your lapel and start to drag you around the mat.  If you have to hand fight then hand fight.  Keep them off guard.  Make them concentrate on things that are not going to help them get their take down and get to the spot that they can do their take down and or pull guard.

6.  Just keep practicing it.

Today at open mat we had a group getting ready for competition

The good thing about competing is it makes your workouts more meaningful.  I have noticed that when some knows they are working toward competition or if someone signs up for their first competition all of the sudden the moves and techniques have more importance.   The competitor does not want to be embarrassed so they make sure they have the skills they need to compete.  

I am also the President of a swim team.  We kick people off the team if they will not compete   We have to explain to the parents that if they sent their kids to a school that there was no tests how hard would the kids study.   Would they do their homework?  Would they push themselves to understand a concept?   I think you know the answers.   I think the same holds true for Jiu Jitsu and that is why we get a better turnout for open mat the weeks before the Tournaments.  I also think competing makes you better in the long run and will make your BJJ better.  

I am the type that always has a plan.  When I go to open mat I have specific things I want to work on.  When I compete I have a general plan on what I'm going to do.  Do I plan to pull guard or go for the takedown?  Which takedown will I use?   One of the ladies that showed up today and will compete for her first time in two weeks had no plan at all.   All the guys there tried to help her come up with a plan but it seemed to just confuse her.   Here is what I think you should know before you compete.  

1.  You will start on your feet.  Will you go for a takedown or pull guard?   Your answer should be based on two things.  What are you best at?  What position do you want to be in after the move?   If you don't want to play bottom game then you shouldn't pull guard.   

2.   How do you plan to win?   Do you have moves to score points?   Do you need to get them in a certain spot so you can submit?   Are you really good at a certain submission?   What moves or techniques will you use to get to that spot?

3.   Are their places you struggle?  Do you have trouble recovering the guard or passing the guard.  If someone gets you in Side Control or mount or takes your back are you in trouble?  If you have a spot you are week in avoid getting in that spot.  Don't turtle if you can't escape once someone takes your back.   

Have a plan it will make you a better competitor.  

I would not consider myself a Gym Hopper

I am very loyal to the people who I started with.  I feel that I owe them a debt of gratitude for introducing me to BJJ and I will be forever grateful to them.

That being said I cannot train at Certain times because of my schedule so I do go to a different place once a week and it is a stark contrast to my usual training.  I like being a Student of two places.  I feel it gives me more range in my game and makes me less predictable when we roll.  I am able to take somethings I learn from one place and use them when we spar at the other place and so on.

One place always starts from standing so I get more practice on takedowns and the other place does a much more intense warm up so I don't have to worry  about going somewhere else to better my cardio.  Of course as I have discussed before with age you slow down so sometimes too much of a warm up and I'm ready to hit the shower before we even begin to learn technique.  I really like both places and feel part of the family when there.  I know that the 2nd place I go to the instructor would probably work with me more if I was more dedicated to his spot and I don't have a problem with that.  I just accept it as part of life.

One thing interesting this AM is seemed that several of the people who were in attendance were actually Gym Hoppers who jump around from place to place.  I'm not sure if they have schedule difficulties like me or if they are hopping for another reason but I do think there is something to say about loyalty and consistency.

What is the general opinion of this?  Do the BJJ Schools you attend encourage or discourage people from training at other places?

I signed up for another Tournament Today.

It is funny how as you get older you have to adjust to how your body responds to certain situations. Those young bucks really have no idea what it is like to be older and train.  They also do not understand the older guys need to prepare for a tournament differently then younger guys.

I used to coach Wrestling so I know how to train the younger guys.  You push them hard, break them down, build up their cardio and then give them a day of rest (or a couple of days to recover) before the tournament.  They recover quickly so they need to work up to the very end to make sure their timing is okay and that they don't lose the edge.

We have all seen it with Professional and College level athletes who have a lay off before competition and it  messes up their timing and they need a few pitches, or baskets to get back on and get back to where they want to be or to where they were before the layoff.

With Old guys it is different.  At least it is different for me.  I find that if I train hard up to a couple of days before I compete all I end up doing is being sore and not able to really compete like I would want to.  I compare this more to swimming where they work really hard but the last couple of weeks before a big Swim Meet they taper and rest.  Those kids are bouncing off the walls with all the new found energy they have and if they hit their taper right swim the best times of the Season.  I think Old Guys need to taper.  I think it makes you fresh and ready to compete.  I think being old you already have a degree of rust so it does not hurt as much because you are used to dealing with the rust (timing) issues anyway and it does not affect your grappling as much.

Anyway here's to another Tournament.  May everyone be injury free and compete to the best of their ability with respect for their opponents.