No one told me BJJ would destroy my body 

I've done a lot of sports and martial arts. Nothing destroyed my body like the ten years of doing nothing I did after I had kids. Stay active, stay strong, don't overdo it. But all of it is better than the atrophy your body experiences from sitting on your butt.

40 year old black belt. No surgeries. The older ive gotten, the more selective I am with my partners, and the more strength & conditioning training I do (“pre-hab”). And I roll smooth. Don’t fight life n death for positions in training. Keep it playful. Warm up. Staying consistent (don’t take long periods off). So many things play a part in not getting injured. Helio was rolling at 85. I roll more now than in my 20s. It just requires more diligence.

I've been doing this for a really long time in traditional Chinese Kung Fu, and one thing I've found out over the years is that every sport under the sun from MMA to golf to badminton to high school wrestling can damage the body if done incorrectly. Not only every martial art but EVERY sport.

TLDR: My Kung-Fu instructor used to tell us in order to become a fighter one had to "eat bitter". Except he frequently wasn't feeding us bitter, he was giving us a jar of poison. I boxed for a year, wrestled for a year (state champion), spent two years just training weights, then I joined Kung-Fu at age 20 in college. At that time my instructor was 35 and complained of "old man" hips. Fast forward to age 26 and I knew he was injuring all the students via overtraining for two reasons. 1) Experience. I knew how to push myself past pain and through fatigue, and by my 6th year I knew this guy was pushing us past that point into the injury zone. 2) At age 26 I was a year into physical therapy school, and a lot of the training practices he was utilizing just did not align with modern sports medicine. He was setting us up for lifetime chronic injuries. Nobody should have "old man hips" at 35 years old. Thankfully, I quit learning under that instructor. I do wish I had had the wisdom and the maturity to go and talk to him about it, but at the time I felt like i could not approach him, which is a real shame because I could've helped him and all of his students that came after me if I had. I think these are the kind of injuries this viewer is talking about.

8 years of BJJ. 5 years in the second major MMA gym in my city. One semi serious injury, but I've seen the same accidents so I always prioritized getting great at defense before anything else. You have to not focus on athleticism. Tap strong and often. Don't be embarrassed about it. I'm a four stripe purple and will still tap to these MMA wrestlers that have to prove a point to themselves.

Knees Over Toes/ ATG training changed my life! Recovered from wrestling knee injury. Now even better than before 💪

I’m literally disabled and I can still do BJJ despite having trouble walking, that speaks to the versatility of the training, it’s more about communication and finding rolling partners that are not complete A-holes.

This is a perfect video for beginners. One of your points that we always try remind some young, new members of our group is how it's good to be patient after a minor injury. We dont want them to make the mistakes of our past, where we'd go to train again even though we were bruised up and had a sore joint. That's when the real injuries happen that force you to stay home. Like the karate knuckles reference, it's about letting the body adapt to what it's facing. To be completely afraid of injury is foolish. If a person's inlove with the art and motion of combat sports training/martial arts, than they don't worry about what's going to limit them, aslong as their being defensive of injury. Myself and all of the guys I train with have a spot or two, or three, that aren't in the same condition they were when we were younger, but once your geared up and ready for training, a combination of a bit of dynamic stretching with an easy going warm up, and it's no longer an issue. Some injuries do take longer than others. I pray your knee recovers soon Ramsey. A few us know all to well of minor knee injuries, but nothing to that degree. With school starting, and other youngsters getting into sport and such, if you have any other tips for begginers in combat sports, and martial arts, it might be a great oppurtunity for them to flow towards your channel to learn.

There's a video from 2019 (or earlier) from John Danaher talking about safety rules at Renzo Gracie's gym. He strictly prohibts jumping on your training partner including jumping the guard. He doesn't want anyone to run your partner into other people. Ego will get someone and their training partner hurt in striking or grappling martial arts.

I train BJJ for two years I had several small injuries like fingers/toes/shoulder, and for a while it caused me a chronicle back pain that made take a break. I’ve been doing striking for a year and haven’t had any injuries besides bruises. In my experience striking causes less injuries.

I was a martial arts enthusiast for about 3 decades: I tried just about everything just for the fun of it. I enrolled in jiujutsu, and, by the second month, I had my knee bent 90 degrees sideways AND twisted (a guy jumped guard on me and, by reflex, I tried to scape turning my body...). I spent a whole year unable to walk going through surgeries and physiotherapy. Only by miracle I can walk without help today. But I'll never be able to practice any sport or martial arts again. Yeah, jiujutsu fucked me up permanently.

Craig Jones did a video recently on how, contrary to the jujitsu-saved-my-life meme, it is more realistic to say jujitsu ruined my life. He went through the various injuries one can sustain and the general wear and tear the body takes. Bulletproof for BJJ also did a video on how to avoid serious injury in jujitsu and the general takeaway was that its nearly impossible, unless you're an extremely fit and experienced young athlete who trains in an excellent gym. I think the issue in part is that there really is a huge push regarding the real benefits of jujitsu without much mention of the risk of injury.

you made alot of good points regarding injury prevention and keeping the body strong. Great content. i will subscribe

My grandfather used to say that moderate exercise keeps you healthy, and professional sport cripples you

It's interesting that you talk about the importance of strength and conditioning to prevent injury. I've done a decent amount of muay thai and wrestling, and there's almost always a decent amount time spent on conditioning. In bjj on the other hand, it seems to be a point of pride that particular gyms don't do any at all and participants are expected to do so in their own time.

I tell my students something I wish I'd applied to myself " It's ok to train when you are hurt, but not when you are injured ". Most of my chronic pain and issues come from not knowing the difference and compounding an injury into something long lasting. Learning to push through pain is very important but so is stopping and getting treatment and recovery time when it's needed.

Im started bjj at 30 or so. I went to 10 bjj schools over the period of about 4 years. I hated the mentalities of most schools. I had loads of injuries, like dislocated wrist, neck problems, a popped arm by a dumb purple belt. Anyways, I gave up for a year or two, but was still passionate about it. I found gracie university online, did their gracie combatives course and now train at one of their certified training centres. For me its been an absolute joy. I learned more in 6 months doing that course, than in 4 years, not only about techniques, but respectful, non confrontational and helpful training. No injuries at all since back then. I would suggest to anyone to do that course and or train at a ctc near them, and if they can’t, at least find a club that teaches in a cooperative manner. One thing that i always noticed… if the instructors are talking about being better than other clubs, get out of there.

haha your take on white belts is so true ! Sparring with a spazzy newbie in muay thai requires so much more care than with someone experienced ! I think the worst are the 3 month to 1 year newbies, who still suck but learned a few tricks except control.

I stopped doing bjj because I was concerned with the amount of injuries I was getting affecting my other training but I still encourage people to try it. It isn't for everyone but it's still for people out there and you don't know until you try things

As a martial artist of almost 30 years I 100% disagree. Experience includes TKD, wrestling, Judo, MMA, muay thai/kickboxing, BJJ and the worst injuries I have gotten were from BJJ as well as injuries I've seen others get. In striking, if someone is going too hard you can cover up and say "woah stop take it easy" without taking major damage. In BJJ, by the time you are in danger it's often too late to yell "stop". Most injuries don't even come from another person. They come from repetitive stress on certain areas and your body being in unnatural positions. Striking doesn't include any unnatural use of your body except making sure you pivot your base leg and turn your hips while doing a round kick. In BJJ you are constantly bending and twisting in ways that cause stress and damage. Your knee isn't supposed to be side-loaded but in positions like De LA Riva or X Guard you can injure your own knee from the bad angle and pressure on it. I have seen many injuries happen this way. I can't even do triangle chokes anymore because of the stress it puts on my knee. People end up with repetition injuries in their necks and don't realize it until it slowly creeps up on them over time. You never hear of boxers with bad hips or ankles. Boxers might have arthritis in their hands but old BJJ guys have arthritis in their entire body including parts they didn't know existed.

Every BJJ brown belt ever "My Knees are F*cked."

Ramsey is spot on, training partners are key no matter what the art. I've trained bjj, boxing, muay thai and been blessed with good training partners and academies and to be honest I've still gotten more injuries from striking, also giving your body time to recover is crucial.

I was training karate for several years in my youth and had great fun with it. Did other Martial Arts as well. Once, I joined a traditional Jiu Jitsu class. I was absolutely surprised how rough the trainer was with my joints and wrists, just for demonstration. He was surely competent in the techniques, but that was not a fun experience. I did several years of full contact sparring beforehand in my Karate club, so Inthink I was familiar with more intensive training. But Ingot the impression that the jiu jitsu trainer was deciding for me, what my body should tolerate and what not. I did not continue that training and I am quite happy that I am training now with people who understand consent and empathy. It is not the trainers job to decide about your body. You're going to drive it for the next couple of decades, not the trainer.

Very measured response. Thorough explanations. Nice one.😎👍🏾

In striking combat you will get more injuries but most of them will be something that you can recover from.... In BJJ you get less injuries but when one occurs is catastrophic and might change your life.

It’s weird, all the times I’ve been injured, I had a bad feeling right when I started the session. The partner usually gave off an energy, like a kind of determination. I think what was happening was that they had the mindset that they would “win” the sparring session which usually means they will always escalate intensity if you outskill them at equal intensity. My mistake sometime when this happened was that I would lower my intensity to try to bring them down with me but instead they just saw my slack as an opening and they would attack with higher intensity than what I was defending with. The funny thing is I’ve only ever been injured by smaller opponents who probably just assume they can’t hurt me.

Congrats! Great explanation! You know what you talking about!

This honestly seems to be a growing issue in BJJ. That’s not knock the martial art, but definitely a criticism of the culture. Even around me, there are a lot of places that don’t take it seriously. And I don’t mean necessarily mean that in a “hobbyist versus professional” sense but in the sense too many people think of it as “play time” even when the goal is submitting people… The culture of many BJJ places has swung super hard into this… I don’t even know… realm completely lacking in structure? Like you ask people to warm up or stretch before rolling or to communicate with partners better and you very literally will hear the response “I’m Just a hobbyist bro” Idk, at least in America, a lot of BJJ gyms have this anti-traditionalism, lais sez faire attitude paired with a very consumerist attitude. This tends to make a lot of places almost devoid of strong authority. It also means that people show up and pay monthly fees kind of thinking of the gym like an amusement park-like the place and people are just something they paid for so they are entitled to do whatever. Again, I don’t know. The reason I backed out of BJJ and went full time into Judo, ironically, is that BJJ guys seem way, way more likely to do stupid shit with zero oversight. Judo-ostensibly the “less safe” art-puts a lot of emphasis on doing things by the book and mutual respect. I’ve tried to get BJJ guys to come over but you always get excuses about safety or how Judo “bows and shit.” I suspect some of this might have to do with younger people in BJJ combined with the BJJ “brand” being pretty hands off. At least in America, too, the popular discourse has gotten to a place where people basically think all TMA are bad and everything they do is bad, so any tiny hint of that in BJJ or Kickboxing or whatever and suddenly the gym is a “cult” lol. Like I have my fair share of criticisms of TMA, but packaging mutual respect and concern for your partners in with a martial practice is not cult behavior… that’s being a decent human being and actually keeps your training partners in class longer.

I've been doing jiujitsu for a while and I'm in pretty good shape. Agree that partner selection and training sensibly are important.

This has been a topic for a while, I heard in Judo and wrestling I believe it's worst though. I practiced boxing non-competitively for 2 years without a singled injury(in my 40's), when I has in my early twenties I was just a BJJ blue belt and I had hurt my knee, ankles, shoulders, neck. Not from not tapping, but just grappling and something suddenly hurts. My friend joined Judo as well and he told me people are expecting their ACL to get blown at some point.

I had a little injury a while back. I've been doing BJJ for about 5 months now, and just starting to see improvement. I was training with a completely new guy and he injured my elbow joint a bit. When I got home, I just wrapped my elbow in athletic tape and rested it. I even skipped a day at the gym to let it rest. Thankfully, my elbow is better than ever and I'm still going to BJJ practice. BJJ is dangerous when your partner has no idea what they're doing

When I was younger I would let submissions go too long because I didn’t treat it as a checkmate. That definitely affected my body. But injuries I got were from dynamic movements, takedowns, opponents passing when I was defending and popping a rib attempting to escape a bow and arrow choke. The older and more experienced I’ve gotten the more caution I take in defending early and tapping when I’m caught. (Meaning I’m not escaping the position that the submission is applied) I’ve also learned when to a transition when I’m escaping and defending passes. Also I will adjust who I roll with. There are days where I avoid rolling with certain team mates.

Everything Ramsey said here was on the button. One thing I'd add is that I think BJJ weakens your joints over time - with striking arts you have the danger of hyper extension when you kick and punch but this is relatively rare. In jiu jitsu when you hold someone in a position i.e. closed guard or triangle (just a couple of examples) - your opponent is trying to get out or you're trying to finish the sub - both of you end up wiggling your joints in their sockets, straining against each other. Over time this weakens them which is why controlled strengthening - i.e. lifting is SO important - more important even than striking arts. You need to tighten them up. I got two dislocated knees - since I started BJJ - my knees had always been bullet proof before. Granted I'm older - but I don't know that dislocations are necessarily increased with age. I put it down to doing a lot of BJJ and micro-tweaking the joints over the past 7 years or so but who knows. What I know is that doing some strengthening through a lifting program outside of class makes me feel so much more 'put together' for want of a better description. I also follow all of RD's advice - I'm older (46), I don't push myself and recently I've decided to pick some of the people I roll with - I don't care if people think I'm lazy or a coward etc... I take my time on the mats as a precious gift, not as a given, and it's more important to me than any egotistical measurement.

I only have my experience, but I'm in my mid-40s having started BJJ over 6 years ago and I feel better now than I did then.

THE JIU JITSU KNUCKLES AHHHHHH. Lol. Love this channel.

BJJ has kept me flexible, quick, agile, and pain free. Before I did BJJ my hips were starting to hurt and I was afraid I might wind up with hip replacement. After doing BJJ the pain is gone and I feel great for 60 years old. If you know you have been caught in a submission then tap early. I don't try to prove I can fight out of a locked in kimura or knee bar in a practice session. I have done BJJ since 2011. I don't have any pain from it.

2018-2021 (with a year off during the pandemic, obviously) I started training BJJ with my friend who’s an amateur MMA fighter as a total beginner. After about 3.5 years I developed a herniated disk on my L5, pinching the S1 nerve, and I now have bone spurs on the L5 and L4 disks. I’ve had surgery and am a little better, but my back is too weak to be explosive, so ironically I got into BJJ to learn to defend myself and now I’m less capable of defending myself because of my back. Overall, I’d say BJJ was detrimental experience in my life and would discourage people from training. Save your money and get a normal gym membership and please exercise safely.

I used to hurt myself during my first few years of doing BJJ. I still go hard, but just somehow changed and adapted my style according to some intuitive sense of what's going to hurt me. Just as an example, if there is a choice between triggering an arthritis flare-up in my knuckles for 3 weeks, or let go and lose a wicked Spider guard sweep, just let go and do something else...

Definitely motivating me as an old man to give wrestling a shot, I’ve always done better with a particular activity to give structure to my resistance training and recovery, I think it can be a workable one.

It's like you said, you need good training partners. I'm lucky that in my gym there is a very good atmosphere and I enjoy rolling a lot. I'm 44 years old, started BJJ this year so I'm also a white belt. From my little experience I can say: Rolling with other white belts requires the most force, and it is the most uncontrolled. Still I get good roles, sometimes I tell other newcomers to slow down, conserve energy and be more controlled. It's not about winning, it's about learning. You need to take out the fear of loosing, then those people also relax. I learn a lot of rolling with blue belts, but enjoy most rolling with purple belts. They are so calm, giving me opportunities like letting me pass the guard, getting the back, etc. putting themselves into bad positions. This way I can get more experience and they train escaping from bad positions. A win-win situation. After the role they often give me valuable tips what I did wrong or can improve an. Just a cool sport. @ramsey: I would love to hear more about prehab and rehab in BJJ ;-) Thanks for your good videos.

I've had many small injuries from bjj. It was always my fault. I had an entire sports career before joining jiu jitsu and my ability to understand where my body needs to be or more importantly where my body isn't in a safe position or at greater risk took time. Freak accidents happen. I've popped my shoulder out multiple times from slipping on sweat laden mats and then reinjuring it from larger opponents. The reality is, I didn't have to try so hard and could've rolled at 50%-70% and just gave up positions/negating their game and only turning it up with training partners I trust. Most people you'll train with wont be aware enough themselves to not hurt you.

I 100% agree and understand the fact that in the end gyms are trying to make money. I have trained in multiple gyms and not one of them had a serious talk about taking care of your training partners.. unless someone got seriously hurt.

Good points about jumping guard injuries

It's not the system that brutalises you, it's a sadistic/careless/can't control his aggressive students he should ban - instructor and the sociopathic students that do it. A good friend has found nothing but saftey and community in the BJJ he's been doing for 10 years. I nearly had my spine broken, knee trashed, and another friend had a career ending shoulder break from where we used to train. Conversely at 45 I'm more into grappling now (started over) as getting hit just hurts now, my body is too rigid. You will make greater gains at safer clubs.

I'm primarily a striker myself, learned a few BJJ moves back in the day from the old Gracie VHS training videos tried them out and found them very effective and I was intrigued. However I never had the opportunity to seriously train BJJ for a long time after that and by the time it became more popular and the opportunity was there I found myself hesitant because I have heard this exact same sentiment echoed by many BJJ practitioners. Not so much from the training alone where injuries do occur as in any martial art but they would give you a heads up that if you have any aims on doing BJJ competitively you may as well brace yourself for the impending injuries, some of which will likely stay with you forever.

did someone ever made a tierlist of most "body preserving MA" or "least body destroying MA" ? this video would kind of prompt such a tierlist video, maybe you can collab with other martial artist (for example that group from that self defense champion season 1 thing, which was great btw)

great video!

I do agree with most if not all of your assertions made here. However for me it was the pensive facial expressions and the sub woofer like quality of the voice that made this video super entertaining.

I must admit, I've had something of a similar experience. I lift weights, used to powerlift and have practiced various kinds of Muay Thai or kickboxing over the years. I've been doing BJJ for about a year now and I find that my shoulders more than anything else get impingements or cranked etc. I find this tends to be from better but smaller guys than myself. Like they think because I'm a bigger strong guy they have to really put on the kimura or Americana, and the intensity of the leverage just tears my shoulders and the tendons around it. I think it's a case of me having fairly injury prone shoulders from the various modalities of training with their intensity. It is super disheartening though having to take weeks and weeks off from lifting, thai boxing and BJJ because some smaller more experienced guys just want to put it on the bigger guy.

I've been hurt more in bjj more than any other martial art. I think it comes from people hearing bjj is safer so they try harder and ignore safety but it definitely depends on the people. I've seen people come and go because they go too hard at the gym I was at. I should also say martial arts hurt you in different ways. I find muay thai is more bruises and harder cardio but grappling leads to more sprains and more muscles being sore.

What is your take on drop set training and would or do you use it thank you for your response

Great video. Spot on.

I started with 'self defense' and 'combat sports' late in my 40s. (I started with Krav Maga, realized that it has it's limitations and started jiu jitsu.) My biggest pains are from the jiu jitsu and ground work from Krav Maga. My fingers, wrists, joints, and back will hurt for days afterwards. Most of it, I think, is from instructor and some of the opponents. They don't seem to care if they go just a bit too far, whereas I try my best to not actually hurt someone in training. (I sometimes wonder if the instructor dislikes me on a personal level.) I think I may switch to try boxing. Less malicious cranking of the joints.

I think it really depends on how you train. In my 40s it has IMPROVED my body, to include some nagging knee issues if you can believe that. What about real competitors? Well, that is what happens to athletes. I do have a couple permanent injuries (broken finger, couple toes, ribs lol) but overall my quality of life is vastly improved. Some people do wreck themselves, but I haven't met anyone that truly has. Our professor is a worldwide competitor that just retired from "adult" at 36 years old, lol. He is feeling age, but still...

Several of the Gracies developed herniated disks from rolling around for so many years.

I have a question I've been doing downhill longboarding for a while now I'm starting to feel the wear and tear any suggestions for this sport prehab and rehab?

Donn Draeger called judo “the great crippler”. Old judo players end up doing ne waza (groundwork) a lot, so we tend to find bjj pretty chill and easy on the body in comparison. Bjj is probably the easiest grappling sport on the body.

I'm in my 24th year of training and aside from the arthritis in my hands and a single loose rib, I don't really have any other injuries I can blame entirely on BJJ. I have some disc deterioration in my spine but if you line that up to how I sit in my office chair, poor posture is the more likely culprit. Sure, BJJ can damage your body but it's really not that bad compared to wrestling or football. It's all relative. The most important advice is to value your body over your ego. Tap when you should and don't try reckless techniques when rolling.

My limited experience training MMA grappling gave me the impression that it's very conducive to creating good training partners. In striking arts or wrestling, there are always the type who treat their partners as punching bags. The whole training session can feed into an ego trip of domination. But when you take turns trying to defend knee mount, guillotine or RNC for example, everyone gets constant reminders of what it feels like to get crushed.

I practice iron fist. I practice a few other 'risky' things that can definitely cause injuries when people do not take proper precaution in training and approach it with the necessary knowledge to accomplish that training safely.. I'm glad you called it out, because it sounds like the person was either dealing with a bad instructor who did not teach how to properly train with a partner safely, or a series of bad partners who weren't picking up on good instruction. Whew. Scary tho. It really makes me want to be much more aware and mindful of what I'm doing *TO* the other person in partner training, versus what I'm doing *FOR* myself

I dabbled with BJJ for a while, loved every second on the mats, but got injured every time I trained. Only minor things, but I got out quick before a major injury happened. As a fit strong and healthy middle-age dad, I don't need it in my life enough to let it mess my body up. I think there should be more messages of caution to would-be trainees. I don't just mean, "these are the steps you can take to reduce risk of injuries". I was doing all of those. I mean more like: "you will get injured and sooner or later, badly. Is it worth it to you?". If it is worth it to you, great, go for it.

Vast majority of BJJ trainees are casual practitioners, and the risks of BJJ are absolutely not obvious to them when they start. Not only is it not obvious, but because of the absence of explicit violence, and its marketing as "The Gentle Art", people are led to believe that it is "gentle" and safe. I am not referring to acute injuries, which can happen anywhere, but the accumulation of wear and tear on the spine and major joints that you can mitigate only minimally, even if you could chose your sparring partners wisely, which the vast majority of people most definitely cannot. The rotational torque on knees and elbows, and most importantly the loading of the spine in structurally compromised positions, which are at the core of most grappling arts, over time lead to deterioration of function. For casual practitioners, boxing and even kickboxing (at least you can do a teep if your knees are compromised) are going to be much safer from the longevity stand point. This obviously does not apply to people who are in serious pursuit of martial arts, who are well informed and who accept all of the tradeoffs. I think this whole discussion actually started with Craig Jones, who in one of his videos talked about the detrimental effect on the body.

"The Jiu-Jitsu knuckles, Ahhhh"😂❤

yo, i have scoliosis and want to work on takedown defense so if someone grapples me i can have an upper hand to prevent me from straight up paralyzing myself if the situation arises, chances are the local gym would understand me exclusively working with instructors or very high level to avoid injury to my already messed up body, could you give me advice on which moves to work on that are most effective in an altercation and potentially rank them by least stress on back and joints, but i understand there is no surefure way to know what will happen, you made a VERY good point, when you are grappling and risk paralysis or bone snapping you only train with people you trust with your life, thank you for the lifelong advice, and being open and honest about limitations of the body you are a treasure to the community

with possible exception of starting bjj as a teenager or college athlete and only doing it for 10 years while being careful, bjj/mma is where you trade your joint and tendon health for the ability to beat people up. If you still want to do it, the best way to reduce the risks is when you're a beginner with less than 6 months or a year, because you won't even know when you've done some lasting damage. Only do moves as a beginner that you've drilled and practiced in person, don't try and do moves that you've simply seen other people do, especially involving rolling or falls or big, fast movements. Don't just tap when you feel a choke coming on or feel the joint is locked out, tap as soon as their is any discomfort from a neck attack or they have your joint isolated even if they haven't reached the end range yet. Similarly , any situation or sweep or throw that you don't recognise, don't resist it, just let it happen and only think about moving your body parts to safety out of the way of them landing badly or something. Move smoothly and with control only use explosive movements for situations you have been taught and drilled These rules are very hard to follow as a beginner because sparring is fun. I didn't, i wasn't even told most of them or was told them in passing and given different advice by others, but now my range of motion in my neck is less than it was before I started. It will be very frustrating watching people who joined later than you start submitting you because they roll more aggressively and experimentally and gain experience more quickly, but if you do this for your first 6 months or a year you'll cut down on so much of the danger of accumulated damage

Training for 4.5 years here (I’m 40), and so far no real injuries. I was training 4-5 times/week for a long time, now it’s only 2-3. I have no doubt that if I were training every day, it would destroy my body. Rest is important. Listening to your body is also important.

Thx enjoyed this and good tips. Common sense is something you would assume ought to be there in MA schools. I cracked ribs on three occasions and ongoing issues via worst injury broken lower back. The teacher/teaching style when it came to sparring classes was a 'school of hard knocks' (a degree of macho where no protection aside from mouthguard is worn) and then I have been to schools that do not offer full contact sparring at all. So ultimately finding a good teacher is as important as the style in Q' i.e. a teacher who offers the full range of rookie slow/easy progressing to sparring with full body protection, then for those initerested in full contact at the senior level when you are skilled, in control of your emotions and temper and conditioned. Just like other sports such as surfing not pt in riding big waves before you know how to roll with the waves and ripties etc. So common sense is the key here. Try out other schools untiil you find a teacher/students you have an affinity with as much as the style itself is worth considering.

My roll with people of higher belts was always very very good, informative and applying just the right amount of pressure to make me better. And my white belts training partner are also friends and we do it safely but there is some people that I normally avoid at the gym because with them it's crazy and not worth it 😅😅 Also strength and conditioning are very important really cause they will boost your performance as well

Love the aged photo, when you actually get to that age you should compare this image with a real one haha

BJJ now for 12 years, with some stops and starts due to moving, and I will say some of the most important things you can do to increase your ability on the mats is strength and conditioning. From weights of yoga, it really does matter, and it helps in every aspect of your life.

Thank you for addressing this ,it's not only BJJ it's every Martial Art . I'm a 50 +GoJu ,Hapkido ,AikiJutsu , Boxer and Aikido Ken Jutsu Practitioner currently concentrating on Go Ju and Hap Kido while doing the Ken jutsu once a week on my own my recently I let my body and training go lax especially my conditioning that I used to do to keep on top of future injuries I'm a Fit Pro with 25 years experience training people from wheel chairs to Amatuers athletes so to most I appear to be in great shape however what most people don't understand about physique versus Athletics is we require as martial artists a much higher level of Strength , endurance and durability than people that want to just fit into a bathing suit or go to a High School reunion. We have to build our bones muscles and tendons and especially our core muscles while maintaining functional range of motion of our joints just to be able to keep from getting injured from long term practice . My Boxing Coach taught me to train everyday not just scheduled days as did my Exercise Science Professor,I forgot this and as a result I started becoming like your viewer described feeling not only my age but much older it wasn't until I started putting my money where my mouth was and applying my own Fitness System to myself it all started to reverse itself . I'm still working on my injured Elbow from the Arm bar but my Rotator cuffs and left hamstrings are started to finally get better . My turning point of realization was when I became that guy , ,,the one that has to keep apologizing for every limitation they have to have for training with other Deshi. That's when I finally got angry and did something about it .

Spot on with your take on rolling with white belts. As a 4 striper, I am learning not to be so erratic. Is this the reason the last 2 times I rolled with the same blue belt he cranked too hard and hypertended each arm = injury (almost broke them)?

BJJ ruins your body for only 3 reasons 1) You don't tap or you make reckless moves 2) Your partner makes reckless moves 3) freak accident. If you tap when you're caught you'll be fine. Always spar defensively (I don't mean no offense, but you treat it like self-defense where anything can happen so you want to control your opponent asap), and put priority on the safety of your neck, spine and knees. Learn how to fall properly too, break falls should be part of a daily routine or warm up at the gym, and if not, LEARN them. The biggest cause of injury is probably ego, and white belt spazz.

My judo coach at 50 was told she had developed a leg and back muscular condition that was pretty much only known in old Japanese men.

In my experience, injuries can occur when training with an inexperienced/newbie roller, a roller who has something to prove/beefer, or a roller training for comp - steer clear if you're not ready for weird, unexpected or excessive resistance & attacks.

Good training partners for the win! Good breakdown... Do you do voice work?

Hey Ramsey I just received my purple belt and sometimes youjitsu is not always nice on the body

All sports are inherently dangerous. Thats why rules exist, to limit injuries, even in combat sports. I wrestled all 4 yrs of high school, did basketball in middle school, martial arts on/off over 20yrs, and have been injured. But ive also been careful to protect myself and be aware of risks of different movements. Currently, im only in my mid 30s, and physically im healthier and in better shape than in my early 20s. Its how you take care of your body.

I started at age 73, 11 weeks ago, 48 training days and took the last week off to recuperate. There is always someone who likes to hurt someone else. I got slammed on my face in the first two weeks thinking it was a walk thru practice. I have a background in Judo, TKD, boxing and wrestling and Krav Maga. Went 50 years away from martial arts but had reasonable cardio and strength even at 73. I suffered a back injury in Krav Maga, took over a year to rehab 95 percent but seem to be doing okay. I agree, you need to be selective with your partners, sometimes though this isn't possible. The next time someone goes beyond reasonable with my I will employ some tactics I learned long ago.

3 years in BJJ. MCL injury, broken toe here and there. Mostly bruises. If I know I'm gonna get submitted, I tap. It's pretty easy to tell early if you don't have an ego about it. That MCL injury taught me some lessons.

This is why after over twenty years im very selective on who I train with. It's always either new guys who think they have something to prove or a higher belt in other styles who has an ego flair because they're getting tapped by someone whos smaller than them and they're frustrated. Me on the other hand cant tap quick enough enough once I know I've been caught 😂

I studied a traditional Japanese "hard style" karate for nearly 2 decades. My body was wrecked before I turned 30. I now believe that it doesn’t matter what you do: football or some other sport, nearly every martial art that exists, it will destroy your body. This also happens to members of the police or military. In summation, getting old sucks, but living an active lifestyle with lots of adventures makes it worth it. IMO 🙂

52, total hip replacement and im doi g fine. It did take some time to come back after a long lay off due to needed a new hip. But im very thankful. Recovery is a but harder and i have to mix it between learning and more competitive rounds but im learning better jits. Its a lot more important to do the right amount of training vs overtraining. Frequency is more important than duration.

You are a very wise man with beard!

Grappling does have a dark side. I heard a lot of this in the 90's. Not a secret that some martial arts including grappling can cause injury. Like Ramsey said be careful who and what you train in. As you grow older you will have to make adjustments or change your training(style).

Ramsey is downplaying how bad BJJ wrecks your body. Maybe you never experienced that because you live in China and are a big guy. Young dudes dont want to hear that but its true, especially in USA in the old days when I got my purple. Permanently injured both shoulders and big toe, everything else healed when I quit.

listening to you is kind of therapeutic

I'm old getting out of my chair to get coffee and donuts can injure me now. Lol

Crazy to think my ITF TKD Master is still spry despite "turning 39...for the 6th time" in 96. I think it's good to hear the truth about these sports and arts, so that one can make an informed decision.

I think the key to any sport is stretching & some strength & conditioning combined with whatever sport you keep up with to keep your body strong.

That drug reference is crazy ironic with the choke dealer shirt

Staph infection is another serious concern with training aside from physical injury. Gym hygiene and the health status of your training partner.

Ramsey, two points: 1) after a class inBJJ I get a “runner’s high “ for the rest of the day. Secondly, to avoid injury, you must warm up! Do not go in cold.

dude, your voice is amazing. I started bjj January last year at the tender age of 39. I chose it specifically because I know I'm too old and not interested in being punched or kicked. No permanent injuries yet, but the rolls that made my life the most hell for weeks at a time over the past ~20 months were my fellow white belts. Being older and almost 41 now, I strive to not be "that white belt," because I'm not an ADCC contender and I know a lot of people I train with have kids and work the next day. It is possible to go hard and not maim your frens. Guy who submitted that question should check out other gyms in the area, eh?

Once you find the right team to train with and get in the groove of things, yes you will get hooked and it can become a treasure.

You can try and comfort yourself, cope... Bur day will come when you'll regret it, one day when you can't put your socks on, can't bend your back... It's better to exercise and be healthy than to ruin your body through twisting your joints for fun. It's less damaging to lose a fight than to destroy your body over decades.

u got a perfect radio commentator voice.

I’ve had injuries in BJJ. Strained thigh, hurt shoulders and knees. I’ve had rotators tear in weight training. My worst injury was in a situation that I had to control a combative at work before I knew BJJ. Tore my chest and bicep. Still have a hole in my chest. I argue if I did BJJ back then and was in the physical shape I’m in now I wouldn’t have been injured because I would have known how to move and am more flexible now.

In white belt I had a few minor injuries and one more serious one where someone snapped my finger. Since I got away from the white belts nothing has really happened.

I've been doing martial arts for over ten years and I've seen and had some pretty bad injuries but the worst injury I ever saw was a full ACL and MCL tear during a game of pick up soccer after work. Guy went to kick the ball and stepped wrong and pop