How bad is grappling on the body?

[ChickenBrother]

The other Masters 3 guy who kicked my ass in the absolute division on Sat was kind enough to end me quickly...just a little sore around my neck....

All good. How did the matches in your weight division go?

 

[Thrawn33]

All good. How did the matches in your weight division go?

The one other old guy no showed after registering... so won by dq.... not what I wanted

 

[ChickenBrother]

The one other old guy no showed after registering... so won by dq.... not what I wanted

That sucks. It's harder to get a full bracket as a 40+ dude. When I did a tournament at 43, I had to do the 30-something bracket to get my 4 matches.

 

[Thrawn33]

That sucks. It's harder to get a full bracket as a 40+ dude. When I did a tournament at 43, I had to do the 30-something bracket to get my 4 matches.

First BJJ tournament (competed in wrestling and judo before....years ago) so wasn't sure if I wanted to play with the young ones yet lol

 

[ChickenBrother]

First BJJ tournament (competed in wrestling and judo before....years ago) so wasn't sure if I wanted to play with the young ones yet lol

I hear you, same deal for me. If you do another one, I will say that in your early 40's, it's still KIND OF possible to pretend you're 35 as long as you're training properly and getting good sleep. But at least for me, now 48, that doesn't fly anymore and I have to check my ego every time I roll. Even though I was less skilled at grappling (wrestling + Judo base), I feel like me from 10-15 years ago would tap current me just on explosion, gastank and still being hellbent on trying to beat everyone's ass.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

First BJJ tournament (competed in wrestling and judo before....years ago) so wasn't sure if I wanted to play with the young ones yet lol

Do you still train judo, or just BJJ?

 

[Thrawn33]

Do you still train judo, or just BJJ?

Just BJJ now, 2-3x a week.

 

[Thrawn33]

I hear you, same deal for me. If you do another one, I will say that in your early 40's, it's still KIND OF possible to pretend you're 35 as long as you're training properly and getting good sleep. But at least for me, now 48, that doesn't fly anymore and I have to check my ego every time I roll. Even though I was less skilled at grappling (wrestling + Judo base), I feel like me from 10-15 years ago would tap current me just on explosion, gastank and still being hellbent on trying to beat everyone's ass.

I suffered a rather traumatic ankle injury competing in Judo back in 2013 that I'm ashamed to say has made me a little gun shy. Fought in one Judo comp since and now this BJJ tourney.

Feel like I should still have some gas in the tank at 41, but the stretcher ride off the mats, ambulance, emergency surgery and year+ recovery stifled my old aggressive mindset and I'm finding myself again.

 

[ChickenBrother]

I suffered a rather traumatic ankle injury competing in Judo back in 2013 that I'm ashamed to say has made me a little gun shy. Fought in one Judo comp since and now this BJJ tourney.

Feel like I should still have some gas in the tank at 41, but the stretcher ride off the mats, ambulance, emergency surgery and year+ recovery stifled my old aggressive mindset and I'm finding myself again.

Well if you're anything like me and it sounds like you might be, losing the "always on" aggressive mindset might be a blessing in disguise. In my case, my body started giving me the finger a few years ago and going "I must break you" every roll stopped working for me. So it's forced me to ease more into my old man game but also to relax (to conserve energy and avoid injury), and that's led to improvements in finesse and timing.

When I look back at the 3 memorable injuries I had in Judo - bad ankle injury in practice that led to a permanent mobility impingement, ligament tear in neck that got me stretchered off the mat and ambulance ride in a neck brace, and getting literally KTFO'ed from an uchi mata at senior nationals, all of them happened because I was going super aggressive, exploding and muscling the shit out of everything. When you're relaxed, you rarely get hurt even if it means occasionally giving up that sweep or guard pass.

 

[Matsukaze]

As an older grappler myself, I think it all depends on how many spazzy white belts you roll with. I avoid big meathead white belts until they have trained several, several months.

 

[BJJ Lover]

Always wanted to get into it for basic self defense and confidence but have bad knees and spine issues. How bad is BJJ and wrestling on the body?

pretty bad.

Most people who grapple for a long time develop knee, back, or neck issues or a combination of all 3.

some people do it with enough restraint and thoughtfulness to not develop these problems.

some people have strong bodies and good genetics and can go hard and not have annoying injuries for the rest of their lives.

I have very minor knee issues. Didn't tap to a kneebar in time.

Also have some back/neck discomfort once in a while but that's mostly from sitting in an office chair for 1/2 of my waking hours, ironically enough.

So another way to look at it is that grappling is hard on your back and neck, but sitting in a desk all day is a lot worse.

Grappling is hard on your knees, but probably not as much as jogging.

If you want to do it and do it to excel and get really good it becomes a lifestyle where you should eat properly and learn a lot about keeping your body healthy to tailor your life around it.