May 1, 2025 • 20 mins
From the heartland of the sport in São Paulo, to the middle of the US in Missouri, we answer some questions from listeners of all walks of life. How do you maintain progress with life's ever-everchanging circumstances, what to do when you feel yourself transitioning from young calf to old bull, and how to train when you know you becoming injured directly affects your livelihood. You are in for a treat with this QNA episode.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
A good martial artist does not become tense but ready
.
Essentially, at this point thefight is over.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So you pretty much flow with the goal.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to
limitless power.
I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to the Bulletproof for BJJ podcast.
We've got a Q&A episode for youguys.
If you want to leave us one ofthese, go to the website podcast
page.
Record us a voicemail.
First one coming in fromGustavo let's go.
Hey, in my mind I'm having afucking hard guess in from
Gustavo.
Let's go.
Hey, in my mind I'm having afucking hard guess at where
Gustavo comes from, please.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hello guys, Gustavo from São Paulo, Brazil, here,
Please help me out.
I am 30 years old.
I've been lifting for a coupleof years and a year and a half
ago I started training underMestre Everdão Legar, watch Coab
team and amazing team.
(01:12):
I always get to roll withpeople my size, my weight
category or higher White color,red and black belts Like there's
I could even say there's toomany black belts over there.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Maybe yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Like it just helps me keep pushing my game.
However, at the end of thisyear, I'm getting married and
moving to countryside.
According to the internet,there is a local community site.
(01:51):
According to the internet,there is a local community, but,
uh, one black belt and mostlykids.
Any tips on how to keepevolving my game and also, as a
white or perhaps blue belt atthe end of the year, how to to
help this small community?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Fucking cool.
There you go.
Funnily enough, shout outKohabi, I've been there.
Do you know the team he'stalking about?
Yeah, I went out to Kohabi withSerginho Moraes, who's from
there, and also Alex Monsalve,and they did a seminar out there
.
It was crazy.
We did it in this little churchhall.
It was incredible.
So shout it.
In this little church hall.
(02:26):
It was incredible.
So shout out mate.
Fuck Gustavo, with thequintessential Brazilian accent.
I love it.
I looked on the internet.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
It was so good, I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Thanks for your question.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
The fact that we're getting a call from Sao Paulo is
nice.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, yeah, that's my jiu-jitsu home, right there.
So he's moving to the countryhe's moving to the country, and
I mean Kohabi's already prettyfar out right.
And so the challenge here interms of keeping your learning
going when you've gone from agym that has all these black
belts to a smaller gym thatmight only have one black belt,
you just need a senior leaderwho's great with jiu-jitsu.
(03:04):
The thing that you do need to dois have a bit of a mission or a
plan for yourself.
So if you're almost coming upfor your blue belt, you've been
on white belt for a while,you've got some idea, and I
think picking a game that youadmire or you love and really
working on that and getting asmuch information as you can on
that will be key.
And I think another thing thatwill help you is, when you get
(03:29):
the chance, going back to yourold gym or going to new other
gyms is a way to keep your gameevolving, even though there may
still be like a good, goodjujitsu at the gym you go to, um
, you've got to find ways tokeep yourself developing.
Yeah, um, yeah.
So gustavo talks about this gymwhich we've both encountered in
Brazil, with the invertedpyramid, so many black belts.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Where there's heaps of black belts and then there's
like hardly any beginners.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and Gustavo, what I can say confidently is
that the majority of jujitsu inAustralia is the opposite.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You have a coach who is a higher belt often black,
but not always and then theypick up a group of people that
want to start and the teambuilds from there.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And, like we know, numerous teams that have grown
and evolve to be full of savagegrapplers and multiple colored
belts, multiple black belts, byfollowing this approach, and I
really think that it can't beoverstated that if you've got
one or two people that arepassionate and can teach good
jujitsu and that they want toshare it, that you will build
(04:34):
that as well.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And so, um, your training is going to change,
right, you're not going to befighting for survival, like you
probably are often at your gymnow, but it will change.
And I think, like JT said, ifyou've got a bit of a strategy
around what you want to get outof it, I think, if you're
prepared to like, take thatchange on and and help to grow
the culture in this new town, uh, I think you'll create
(04:58):
something special.
You know, whatever, maybe it'llbe very different from that
first year to say the second,third year, so on.
Yeah, definitely.
And look, there's not alwaysgoing to be someone your size.
You're saying you, you're ableto find roles in your own people
, your own size.
There is value in that, not ifyou are on the lighter side and
you have to roll bigger people,even though I always advocate
(05:20):
for you to roll people your ownsize.
This will force you to reallywork on your technique and your
game, and this may force you toactually be better at Jiu-Jitsu,
because you don't have as many,even weighted rolls.
I actually think it could be agood thing.
But, bo Sochi, good luck, myfriend.
Hey, you know what the gym isfull of?
(05:41):
It's full of people who aremessing around on machines and
lifting weights and stuff withno real plan about what they're
trying to get out of it, andthis results in people using the
gym for like 12, 18, 24 monthsand not really getting anything.
As a result of that, we havecreated the Bulletproof for BJJ
app so that you do not have togo through this process of no
results.
The Bulletproof for BJJ appequals instant gains when you
(06:03):
start training your strength andflexibility specifically for
jujitsu.
You can take a two-week freetrial right now.
All you gotta do is go to theapp store, download the
Bulletproof for BJJ app andstart training.
And the best part is JT and Iwill be there to coach you along
the way.
And if you don't love it, weoffer a 100% money back
guarantee.
Go get it, we'll see you on theinside Onwards.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Next one coming in from Dan hey guys, thanks so
much for the podcast and foryour program, really like the
mobility and strength stuff Istarted doing a few months ago.
I'm a purple belt from Missouriin the States.
I'm going to be 45 years oldthis coming year.
I started doing BJJ when I waslike 38, 39.
(06:47):
I've always been fairlyathletic, usually doing
endurance stuff, and then gothooked on BJJ.
Here's my question, and it'skind of a mentality question as
I'm getting older, I'm not ableto keep up with some of the
training partners who areyounger than me that I've
started out with and I know,logically, that this is just
(07:12):
part of life and that they'regoing to start to surpass me and
so on, and you know everyone'sdifferent as far as their
progression.
What I'm curious about for youguys, probably being a little
bit younger than me but soonfacing kind of a similar thing
what are your thoughts aboutstaying positive and just kind
(07:35):
of like the mentality that yougo into training with, knowing
that, um, you know, age iscoming, there's going to be some
things that have to change inthe game, and just kind of
accepting that, uh, someexplosiveness and some speed and
some things that you took forgranted aren't always going to
(07:56):
be there um so yeah, man, I feelit.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
This is poignant.
I mean trying to make me cryover here.
Fuck you, you can start on this.
You're trying to make mefucking angry over here.
Bro, you start, joe, look, uh,dan, my view is that, um, you're
spot on, I totally feel whereyou're spot on, I totally feel
where you're at and I I, youknow I'm I'm in that zone now
and have been for some time thewe're all going to time out at
(08:22):
some point.
Yes, we're all going to Peteroff physically.
You know, like if you just keepdrawing the line long enough,
it's going to happen, right.
So the way I see it is, you canrefuse to acknowledge that and
(08:42):
constantly battle with trying tofight the younger people or
trying to fight against your owninadequacies or whatever,
through hard-headedness, untilthe point where you just cannot,
and then you get injured.
Or then you just get so fed upwith jiu-jitsu that you quit, or
, like a lot of people who I'veseen who up with jiu-jitsu that
you quit.
Or like a lot of people whoI've seen, who still train
jiu-jitsu very productively andvery effectively at an older age
.
You can see that that's coming,and then you can change the way
(09:05):
you approach your jiu-jitsu.
And so, while I'm not sayinglike that, you know you should
still be holding yourself to astandard, but the standards may
change.
So, as an example, where youmight've once just been like I'm
going to fucking dominate thisguy, you might have to be like
(09:25):
this guy's probably going todominate me unless, like me
fighting to not get tapped here,me fighting maybe to move
through positions and becomfortable defending that's
going to be the win for me todayagainst this guy.
And so it's really changing,then, what you're trying to get
out of the training.
Not that you would do that witheveryone, right, and you could
adapt your game and all thosethings but I think that, like
(09:47):
changing what it is that you'retrying to get out of it is the
key in this, in my view.
Yeah, and well, I wouldactually.
I agree with Joe, but I want toreframe.
Based off what you said, itsounds like you're someone who's
looked after their fitness,even though you've come to
jujitsu later in life.
And, yeah, you can definitelyfeel the difference between
someone who's 21 and someonewho's 41.
(10:09):
But really the difference islife and I don't think the
amount of time you spent in yourlife should other than, say,
physical injury.
It shouldn't necessarily meanan advantage for the younger
person.
I feel the advantage for theyounger person is they've
experienced less loss, lessinformation for them to doubt
(10:31):
themselves and they have lessresponsibility.
So they play much more carefree, they play a wilder game, they
go for things that you're like,oh, I wouldn't do, that you
might hurt yourself.
You know, because you've gotall this learned information and
as somebody you know I'm 42this year I push back on the
(10:51):
idea that, oh, you just got toaccept you're not going to be
explosive.
You're not explosive because youdon't train to be explosive.
Now, speed is the first thingthat you lose as an older person
, but it's also the acceptanceof you're not training to be a
certain way.
Now you may just not have time.
This is, I find, the biggestthing as an adult.
(11:12):
The older you get, yougenerally have more
responsibilities.
So you can't be doing sprinttraining and Olympic lifting and
fucking all the things right.
But I would say that if youmodify your training not just
your jiu-jitsu training, butwhat you're doing in the gym you
do stay younger.
We do see this that people wholift weights consistently, they
(11:33):
stretch, they do cardiovascularactivities, whatever that looks
like they are younger on acellular level.
How you think about that is upto you.
I have the mentality that I'mgoing to fuck everyone's day up.
That's just me, and it's gotnothing to do with age.
That's just me because I'minsecure, over-competitive kind
(11:53):
of person.
I don't care what age a personis.
If it's a competitive role, Iam absolutely fighting for the
win and it's just a frame ofmind.
So if we're talking aboutsomething which is like more
psychological, if you want toapproach it in a certain way and
that works for you, that'sgreat.
But I think that you don'tnecessarily have to accept that
(12:17):
everything deteriorates Overtime.
Certain things diminish, but Ibelieve it's more about time and
responsibility than it is.
Just like you don't necessarilyhave to accept that because
you're older, you're lesser inany way.
If anything, I'd say there's alot more to your advantage than
(12:38):
a 21 year old.
That's just my take on it.
That's fair.
I don't think he was saying youknow that I see myself as any
lesser, though it's just like no, but he's saying they're more
athletic.
That's that's training.
Like 21 year old hasn't doneyour reps 21.
Like it's been shown that olderathletes are fitter and
stronger Old man strength isproven.
(12:58):
Tendon and ligament strengthtakes 10 years, you know.
Cardiovascular strength, likeendurance, takes two, four, five
years, like there's many, manyexamples of older athletes
smoking younger athletes.
It's up to you, man, I think,how you want to steer it and
shape it.
Like Joey said, if you want toapproach it in a different way
(13:22):
and that's sustainable for you,that's really good.
Yeah, I think whatever keepsyou in the game is key, but what
keeps me in the game is theidea of giving people nightmares
.
So do what you will with thatNext one coming in.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Hey Joey and JT.
It's Justin from New Orleans,louisiana in the US.
Shout out.
Love what y'all do following theprogram.
I'm 42.
I've been training for about Idon't know a year and a half,
two years on the blue belt andone of the things that I'm kind
(14:02):
of coming to is, you know, beinga little bit older.
I come out of the trades, so,you know, not patting myself on
the back, but I'm really strongRespect of the trades.
So, you know, not pattingmyself on the back, but a really
strong um, I can go to war withthese guys who are, you know,
20, 23, 25, 28, whatever theyare, but, uh, I can't afford to
be injured.
Um, you know, I got two littlekids and the wife and, and have
(14:25):
to have to keep going and do allthe things.
And I'm trying to figure out,you know, if it's a conversation
with the coach who owns the gymor what have you how do I keep
doing this thing and keepprogressing, keep learning, but
also not destroy myself.
You know, I, I, uh, I've I'vegotten into a few situations
(14:48):
where you know'm limping aroundbecause I got into a situation
and I snapped my heel down andkind of strained the sole of my
foot.
The whole thing is bruised.
It's the whole question of areyou hurt or are you injured?
Right now I'm just hurt.
I can still work.
It just hurts.
So what do you think I ought todo with that?
Thanks a lot, okay, so what?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
do you think I ought to do with that?
Thanks a lot.
Okay, not a dissimilar sort ofno, but this question has arisen
before, which is we had theconversation about tradespeople
being strong, and you know a Q&Aepisode talking about like
stonemasons, yeah, of that onour channel was but what if your
(15:30):
income the house above yourhead, the roof depends on your
ability to physically work?
Yeah, then the cost is higher.
Right, it's a different story,I think for tradespeople, as
tough as they are, you cop anarmbar or you twist your wrist,
you can't work.
Yeah, this is a huge challengeIn terms of that, because both
Joey and I our our work, uh, asas trainers, coaches, different
(15:59):
things.
You have to physicallydemonstrate a squat.
You have to physicallydemonstrate an overhead position
.
If you can't, even thoughpeople understand oh yeah,
you're a jujitsu guy, you alsoif you can't demonstrate what
you've talked about, guy, youalso if you can't demonstrate
what you've talked about, therespect for what you have to say
goes down.
Like you, if you can't show acertain ability, now for you
it's very.
You know you need your body foryour work.
(16:21):
My advice is that you wouldreduce your training volume
slightly and you have to reallychoose your training partners,
and even elite level peopleexperience this that they can't
train with everyone because theyneed their body for competition
, to win money and theirreputation.
They start to be very selectiveabout who they trust Like
(16:44):
training partners that they cango pretty hard with but they
know are not going to do somecrazy shit and hurt them.
So my advice is actually asmuch as you can talk to your
coach, I would slightly reduceyour training volume, because I
actually think that is a bigcontributor to injury.
Did he indicate what it was?
No, uh.
And then I would go further andsay you need a a kind of tight
(17:07):
circle of buddies who you cantrain with and you trust.
I think that's key.
Yeah, yeah, feel your situation.
I would very actively avoidtraining with certain people.
I do this myself.
It's just people that I'm likeno, no, no, and very new people
too, yeah, yeah, and it'sactually not thrown shade on any
(17:28):
of those people.
Sometimes it's what I knowhappens to my mind when that
cunt passes my guard.
You know Like it's like oh,there's something about this guy
that fucking greats me, andthen I sort of I become like A
certain way, yeah, like an idiotwhen we're rolling and I'm like
I don't want to go there.
It's not good for me and highinjury risk, sure.
But here's, here's, and I'mjust thinking about this more
(17:54):
and more, and I and I so I'vebeen coaching a lot lately and
over the last year and a bitI've been in my coaching but
also in my training, I've beendoing a lot more positional
sparring and in my mind,positional sparring is way safer
than just rolling free.
Rolling, yeah, yeah, it waysafer and it is a way more
effective way to learn jiu-jitsu.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Would you?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
say it's a constraints-based game.
Joey, I would say there areconstraints in there.
So by virtue of that, yes, I aman ambassador of the ecological
approach.
Call me Joey Souders.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
I hate.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Joey Souders, but no, I love Greg Souders.
And if you're not familiar withthat, justin, like it's just
like going, hey, I want to startwith you on my back and I just
want to work my back escapes.
Yeah, um, I would actuallychoose my partners and then I
would do a lot more position andyou just do that in a row, you
just go, bro, can I start inyour whatever fucking half guard
(18:48):
?
Because I'm working on, yeah,dancing motherfuckers from half
guard, sure you know, and yourtrain partners will always
oblige, because it's like, oh,yeah, cool, yeah, I was gonna
start standing, but yeah, let'sdo it like you got something you
want to work on, um way, saferman.
And then obviously you have adesign, a desk, like a
predetermined end point, whichis okay.
Well, if I pass your guard orif you sweep me, let's restart,
(19:08):
yeah, and you can just fuckingdo that, and I just think it
controls things a lot more andit makes the whole game smaller
and easier for you to staycontrolled with as much as you
can control margin of error likelower yeah, tighter, that's
great.
That's such a good good tip forsure.
Um, maybe I'd fucking love ifyou could.
(19:29):
Well, you know, maybe, if youtake that information, give it a
try and come back to us in acouple weeks, man, let us know,
either in the comments, messageus or send us a follow-up
message to let us know how howthe approach works.
Yeah, and that goes to anyonethat leaves us a question, like
we always want to know how youreceive our advice.
You might be like, hey, boys,that's the stupidest fucking
thing anyone's ever said to me.
Like fine, fair, I tried it.
(19:50):
I love to hear it.
I broke my spine.
Yeah, sorry, I suck, that'swhat you did Unsubscribe.
Hey, leave us a voicemail forthe next Q&A episode.
Go to the websitebulletproofofbjjcom, hit the
podcast page, record us avoicemail.
We you.
A good martial artist does not become tense but ready
.
Essentially, at this point thefight is over.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So you pretty much flow with the goal.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to
limitless power.
I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to the Bulletproof for BJJ podcast.
We've got a Q&A episode for youguys.
If you want to leave us one ofthese, go to the website podcast
page.
Record us a voicemail.
First one coming in fromGustavo let's go.
Hey, in my mind I'm having afucking hard guess in from
Gustavo.
Let's go.
Hey, in my mind I'm having afucking hard guess at where
Gustavo comes from, please.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hello guys, Gustavo from São Paulo, Brazil, here,
Please help me out.
I am 30 years old.
I've been lifting for a coupleof years and a year and a half
ago I started training underMestre Everdão Legar, watch Coab
team and amazing team.
(01:12):
I always get to roll withpeople my size, my weight
category or higher White color,red and black belts Like there's
I could even say there's toomany black belts over there.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Maybe yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Like it just helps me keep pushing my game.
However, at the end of thisyear, I'm getting married and
moving to countryside.
According to the internet,there is a local community site.
(01:51):
According to the internet,there is a local community, but,
uh, one black belt and mostlykids.
Any tips on how to keepevolving my game and also, as a
white or perhaps blue belt atthe end of the year, how to to
help this small community?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Fucking cool.
There you go.
Funnily enough, shout outKohabi, I've been there.
Do you know the team he'stalking about?
Yeah, I went out to Kohabi withSerginho Moraes, who's from
there, and also Alex Monsalve,and they did a seminar out there
.
It was crazy.
We did it in this little churchhall.
It was incredible.
So shout it.
In this little church hall.
(02:26):
It was incredible.
So shout out mate.
Fuck Gustavo, with thequintessential Brazilian accent.
I love it.
I looked on the internet.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
It was so good, I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Thanks for your question.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
The fact that we're getting a call from Sao Paulo is
nice.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, yeah, that's my jiu-jitsu home, right there.
So he's moving to the countryhe's moving to the country, and
I mean Kohabi's already prettyfar out right.
And so the challenge here interms of keeping your learning
going when you've gone from agym that has all these black
belts to a smaller gym thatmight only have one black belt,
you just need a senior leaderwho's great with jiu-jitsu.
(03:04):
The thing that you do need to dois have a bit of a mission or a
plan for yourself.
So if you're almost coming upfor your blue belt, you've been
on white belt for a while,you've got some idea, and I
think picking a game that youadmire or you love and really
working on that and getting asmuch information as you can on
that will be key.
And I think another thing thatwill help you is, when you get
(03:29):
the chance, going back to yourold gym or going to new other
gyms is a way to keep your gameevolving, even though there may
still be like a good, goodjujitsu at the gym you go to, um
, you've got to find ways tokeep yourself developing.
Yeah, um, yeah.
So gustavo talks about this gymwhich we've both encountered in
Brazil, with the invertedpyramid, so many black belts.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Where there's heaps of black belts and then there's
like hardly any beginners.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and Gustavo, what I can say confidently is
that the majority of jujitsu inAustralia is the opposite.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You have a coach who is a higher belt often black,
but not always and then theypick up a group of people that
want to start and the teambuilds from there.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
And, like we know, numerous teams that have grown
and evolve to be full of savagegrapplers and multiple colored
belts, multiple black belts, byfollowing this approach, and I
really think that it can't beoverstated that if you've got
one or two people that arepassionate and can teach good
jujitsu and that they want toshare it, that you will build
(04:34):
that as well.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And so, um, your training is going to change,
right, you're not going to befighting for survival, like you
probably are often at your gymnow, but it will change.
And I think, like JT said, ifyou've got a bit of a strategy
around what you want to get outof it, I think, if you're
prepared to like, take thatchange on and and help to grow
the culture in this new town, uh, I think you'll create
(04:58):
something special.
You know, whatever, maybe it'llbe very different from that
first year to say the second,third year, so on.
Yeah, definitely.
And look, there's not alwaysgoing to be someone your size.
You're saying you, you're ableto find roles in your own people
, your own size.
There is value in that, not ifyou are on the lighter side and
you have to roll bigger people,even though I always advocate
(05:20):
for you to roll people your ownsize.
This will force you to reallywork on your technique and your
game, and this may force you toactually be better at Jiu-Jitsu,
because you don't have as many,even weighted rolls.
I actually think it could be agood thing.
But, bo Sochi, good luck, myfriend.
Hey, you know what the gym isfull of?
(05:41):
It's full of people who aremessing around on machines and
lifting weights and stuff withno real plan about what they're
trying to get out of it, andthis results in people using the
gym for like 12, 18, 24 monthsand not really getting anything.
As a result of that, we havecreated the Bulletproof for BJJ
app so that you do not have togo through this process of no
results.
The Bulletproof for BJJ appequals instant gains when you
(06:03):
start training your strength andflexibility specifically for
jujitsu.
You can take a two-week freetrial right now.
All you gotta do is go to theapp store, download the
Bulletproof for BJJ app andstart training.
And the best part is JT and Iwill be there to coach you along
the way.
And if you don't love it, weoffer a 100% money back
guarantee.
Go get it, we'll see you on theinside Onwards.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Next one coming in from Dan hey guys, thanks so
much for the podcast and foryour program, really like the
mobility and strength stuff Istarted doing a few months ago.
I'm a purple belt from Missouriin the States.
I'm going to be 45 years oldthis coming year.
I started doing BJJ when I waslike 38, 39.
(06:47):
I've always been fairlyathletic, usually doing
endurance stuff, and then gothooked on BJJ.
Here's my question, and it'skind of a mentality question as
I'm getting older, I'm not ableto keep up with some of the
training partners who areyounger than me that I've
started out with and I know,logically, that this is just
(07:12):
part of life and that they'regoing to start to surpass me and
so on, and you know everyone'sdifferent as far as their
progression.
What I'm curious about for youguys, probably being a little
bit younger than me but soonfacing kind of a similar thing
what are your thoughts aboutstaying positive and just kind
(07:35):
of like the mentality that yougo into training with, knowing
that, um, you know, age iscoming, there's going to be some
things that have to change inthe game, and just kind of
accepting that, uh, someexplosiveness and some speed and
some things that you took forgranted aren't always going to
(07:56):
be there um so yeah, man, I feelit.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
This is poignant.
I mean trying to make me cryover here.
Fuck you, you can start on this.
You're trying to make mefucking angry over here.
Bro, you start, joe, look, uh,dan, my view is that, um, you're
spot on, I totally feel whereyou're spot on, I totally feel
where you're at and I I, youknow I'm I'm in that zone now
and have been for some time thewe're all going to time out at
(08:22):
some point.
Yes, we're all going to Peteroff physically.
You know, like if you just keepdrawing the line long enough,
it's going to happen, right.
So the way I see it is, you canrefuse to acknowledge that and
(08:42):
constantly battle with trying tofight the younger people or
trying to fight against your owninadequacies or whatever,
through hard-headedness, untilthe point where you just cannot,
and then you get injured.
Or then you just get so fed upwith jiu-jitsu that you quit, or
, like a lot of people who I'veseen who up with jiu-jitsu that
you quit.
Or like a lot of people whoI've seen, who still train
jiu-jitsu very productively andvery effectively at an older age
.
You can see that that's coming,and then you can change the way
(09:05):
you approach your jiu-jitsu.
And so, while I'm not sayinglike that, you know you should
still be holding yourself to astandard, but the standards may
change.
So, as an example, where youmight've once just been like I'm
going to fucking dominate thisguy, you might have to be like
(09:25):
this guy's probably going todominate me unless, like me
fighting to not get tapped here,me fighting maybe to move
through positions and becomfortable defending that's
going to be the win for me todayagainst this guy.
And so it's really changing,then, what you're trying to get
out of the training.
Not that you would do that witheveryone, right, and you could
adapt your game and all thosethings but I think that, like
(09:47):
changing what it is that you'retrying to get out of it is the
key in this, in my view.
Yeah, and well, I wouldactually.
I agree with Joe, but I want toreframe.
Based off what you said, itsounds like you're someone who's
looked after their fitness,even though you've come to
jujitsu later in life.
And, yeah, you can definitelyfeel the difference between
someone who's 21 and someonewho's 41.
(10:09):
But really the difference islife and I don't think the
amount of time you spent in yourlife should other than, say,
physical injury.
It shouldn't necessarily meanan advantage for the younger
person.
I feel the advantage for theyounger person is they've
experienced less loss, lessinformation for them to doubt
(10:31):
themselves and they have lessresponsibility.
So they play much more carefree, they play a wilder game, they
go for things that you're like,oh, I wouldn't do, that you
might hurt yourself.
You know, because you've gotall this learned information and
as somebody you know I'm 42this year I push back on the
(10:51):
idea that, oh, you just got toaccept you're not going to be
explosive.
You're not explosive because youdon't train to be explosive.
Now, speed is the first thingthat you lose as an older person
, but it's also the acceptanceof you're not training to be a
certain way.
Now you may just not have time.
This is, I find, the biggestthing as an adult.
(11:12):
The older you get, yougenerally have more
responsibilities.
So you can't be doing sprinttraining and Olympic lifting and
fucking all the things right.
But I would say that if youmodify your training not just
your jiu-jitsu training, butwhat you're doing in the gym you
do stay younger.
We do see this that people wholift weights consistently, they
(11:33):
stretch, they do cardiovascularactivities, whatever that looks
like they are younger on acellular level.
How you think about that is upto you.
I have the mentality that I'mgoing to fuck everyone's day up.
That's just me, and it's gotnothing to do with age.
That's just me because I'minsecure, over-competitive kind
(11:53):
of person.
I don't care what age a personis.
If it's a competitive role, Iam absolutely fighting for the
win and it's just a frame ofmind.
So if we're talking aboutsomething which is like more
psychological, if you want toapproach it in a certain way and
that works for you, that'sgreat.
But I think that you don'tnecessarily have to accept that
(12:17):
everything deteriorates Overtime.
Certain things diminish, but Ibelieve it's more about time and
responsibility than it is.
Just like you don't necessarilyhave to accept that because
you're older, you're lesser inany way.
If anything, I'd say there's alot more to your advantage than
(12:38):
a 21 year old.
That's just my take on it.
That's fair.
I don't think he was saying youknow that I see myself as any
lesser, though it's just like no, but he's saying they're more
athletic.
That's that's training.
Like 21 year old hasn't doneyour reps 21.
Like it's been shown that olderathletes are fitter and
stronger Old man strength isproven.
(12:58):
Tendon and ligament strengthtakes 10 years, you know.
Cardiovascular strength, likeendurance, takes two, four, five
years, like there's many, manyexamples of older athletes
smoking younger athletes.
It's up to you, man, I think,how you want to steer it and
shape it.
Like Joey said, if you want toapproach it in a different way
(13:22):
and that's sustainable for you,that's really good.
Yeah, I think whatever keepsyou in the game is key, but what
keeps me in the game is theidea of giving people nightmares
.
So do what you will with thatNext one coming in.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Hey Joey and JT.
It's Justin from New Orleans,louisiana in the US.
Shout out.
Love what y'all do following theprogram.
I'm 42.
I've been training for about Idon't know a year and a half,
two years on the blue belt andone of the things that I'm kind
(14:02):
of coming to is, you know, beinga little bit older.
I come out of the trades, so,you know, not patting myself on
the back, but I'm really strongRespect of the trades.
So, you know, not pattingmyself on the back, but a really
strong um, I can go to war withthese guys who are, you know,
20, 23, 25, 28, whatever theyare, but, uh, I can't afford to
be injured.
Um, you know, I got two littlekids and the wife and, and have
(14:25):
to have to keep going and do allthe things.
And I'm trying to figure out,you know, if it's a conversation
with the coach who owns the gymor what have you how do I keep
doing this thing and keepprogressing, keep learning, but
also not destroy myself.
You know, I, I, uh, I've I'vegotten into a few situations
(14:48):
where you know'm limping aroundbecause I got into a situation
and I snapped my heel down andkind of strained the sole of my
foot.
The whole thing is bruised.
It's the whole question of areyou hurt or are you injured?
Right now I'm just hurt.
I can still work.
It just hurts.
So what do you think I ought todo with that?
Thanks a lot, okay, so what?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
do you think I ought to do with that?
Thanks a lot.
Okay, not a dissimilar sort ofno, but this question has arisen
before, which is we had theconversation about tradespeople
being strong, and you know a Q&Aepisode talking about like
stonemasons, yeah, of that onour channel was but what if your
(15:30):
income the house above yourhead, the roof depends on your
ability to physically work?
Yeah, then the cost is higher.
Right, it's a different story,I think for tradespeople, as
tough as they are, you cop anarmbar or you twist your wrist,
you can't work.
Yeah, this is a huge challengeIn terms of that, because both
Joey and I our our work, uh, asas trainers, coaches, different
(15:59):
things.
You have to physicallydemonstrate a squat.
You have to physicallydemonstrate an overhead position
.
If you can't, even thoughpeople understand oh yeah,
you're a jujitsu guy, you alsoif you can't demonstrate what
you've talked about, guy, youalso if you can't demonstrate
what you've talked about, therespect for what you have to say
goes down.
Like you, if you can't show acertain ability, now for you
it's very.
You know you need your body foryour work.
(16:21):
My advice is that you wouldreduce your training volume
slightly and you have to reallychoose your training partners,
and even elite level peopleexperience this that they can't
train with everyone because theyneed their body for competition
, to win money and theirreputation.
They start to be very selectiveabout who they trust Like
(16:44):
training partners that they cango pretty hard with but they
know are not going to do somecrazy shit and hurt them.
So my advice is actually asmuch as you can talk to your
coach, I would slightly reduceyour training volume, because I
actually think that is a bigcontributor to injury.
Did he indicate what it was?
No, uh.
And then I would go further andsay you need a a kind of tight
(17:07):
circle of buddies who you cantrain with and you trust.
I think that's key.
Yeah, yeah, feel your situation.
I would very actively avoidtraining with certain people.
I do this myself.
It's just people that I'm likeno, no, no, and very new people
too, yeah, yeah, and it'sactually not thrown shade on any
(17:28):
of those people.
Sometimes it's what I knowhappens to my mind when that
cunt passes my guard.
You know Like it's like oh,there's something about this guy
that fucking greats me, andthen I sort of I become like A
certain way, yeah, like an idiotwhen we're rolling and I'm like
I don't want to go there.
It's not good for me and highinjury risk, sure.
But here's, here's, and I'mjust thinking about this more
(17:54):
and more, and I and I so I'vebeen coaching a lot lately and
over the last year and a bitI've been in my coaching but
also in my training, I've beendoing a lot more positional
sparring and in my mind,positional sparring is way safer
than just rolling free.
Rolling, yeah, yeah, it waysafer and it is a way more
effective way to learn jiu-jitsu.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Would you?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
say it's a constraints-based game.
Joey, I would say there areconstraints in there.
So by virtue of that, yes, I aman ambassador of the ecological
approach.
Call me Joey Souders.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
I hate.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Joey Souders, but no, I love Greg Souders.
And if you're not familiar withthat, justin, like it's just
like going, hey, I want to startwith you on my back and I just
want to work my back escapes.
Yeah, um, I would actuallychoose my partners and then I
would do a lot more position andyou just do that in a row, you
just go, bro, can I start inyour whatever fucking half guard
(18:48):
?
Because I'm working on, yeah,dancing motherfuckers from half
guard, sure you know, and yourtrain partners will always
oblige, because it's like, oh,yeah, cool, yeah, I was gonna
start standing, but yeah, let'sdo it like you got something you
want to work on, um way, saferman.
And then obviously you have adesign, a desk, like a
predetermined end point, whichis okay.
Well, if I pass your guard orif you sweep me, let's restart,
(19:08):
yeah, and you can just fuckingdo that, and I just think it
controls things a lot more andit makes the whole game smaller
and easier for you to staycontrolled with as much as you
can control margin of error likelower yeah, tighter, that's
great.
That's such a good good tip forsure.
Um, maybe I'd fucking love ifyou could.
(19:29):
Well, you know, maybe, if youtake that information, give it a
try and come back to us in acouple weeks, man, let us know,
either in the comments, messageus or send us a follow-up
message to let us know how howthe approach works.
Yeah, and that goes to anyonethat leaves us a question, like
we always want to know how youreceive our advice.
You might be like, hey, boys,that's the stupidest fucking
thing anyone's ever said to me.
Like fine, fair, I tried it.
(19:50):
I love to hear it.
I broke my spine.
Yeah, sorry, I suck, that'swhat you did Unsubscribe.
Hey, leave us a voicemail forthe next Q&A episode.
Go to the websitebulletproofofbjjcom, hit the
podcast page, record us avoicemail.
We you.
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