40+ BJJ Open Mat, South West and Wales

I felt very honoured to be asked to teach the technique section at the 2nd South West and Wales 40+ BJJ Open Mat this weekend at Bristol Dojo. It’s a group set up by a couple of older BJJ players who just want to organise some get-togethers for people to train BJJ in an open mat-type format. So, you can chat, pick each other’s brains, learn some technique or just roll. It’s up to you. There were 4 black belts on the mat and a whole raft of purple and browns, so there was no shortage of experience in the room.

I didn’t start BJJ until later in life and have always felt it’s a great sport/martial arts for older people despite its reputation as being all about younger, stronger, athletic guys who want to smash it in competitions or get into MMA. To me BJJ was just a natural progression from the arts I already practiced, like Tai Chi, into something that was similar, relied on technique not brute strength, and didn’t have the lack of martially-inclined training partners that Tai Chi suffers from.

Tending towards the ‘soft’ style of marital art, BJJ is also something you can do as you get older. Sure, you can’t keep up with the young guys, and your body racks up the damage, but with enough technique under your belt you can stay martially active and still enjoy really competitive rolls as you age.

I taught some back takes from the guard pull. All donations went to the Dementia UK charity. Thanks to Rob, @b_team_bjj for organising everything, it was a great day.

And thanks to Eira Culverwell @beyond_the_mats_ for the amazing Kinetic Massage I received – I felt like a new man again in just 10 minutes! Great for grapplers.