Hi! My name is Ramses and I’m the owner and head coach of Living Art Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Willowbrook, IL. I’ve been training Jiu Jitsu since 2011, working in the industry since 2012, and teaching professionally since 2019. In my almost 14 years of experience in the sport, I’ve heard a variety of reasons why people believe they can’t start training Jiu Jitsu. While I don’t wish to invalidate anyone’s experience or minimize valid apprehensions, I have some pretty solid rebuttals against the most common perceived barriers.
I’m Out of Shape.
I can dive on this first grenade myself. I found Jiu Jitsu at around the age of 21-22. I had spent my college years drinking 64 oz cherry cokes and stuffing myself with everything in arms reach that was fried, full of sugar, full of trans fats, or a creative combination of the aforementioned. And I was moving my body as little as I could manage while doing so. I’m not exactly sure how much I weighed before college but I estimate that would have been somewhere around the low 160’s/high 150’s. By the time I got out, I was consistently over 205. My back felt tight, I got winded climbing up steps, and I was overall physically a mess.
I was not happy with my life in general and a lot of that stemmed from how unhealthy I had let my body get.
In a strange twist of fate and irony, the first longer term job I found after college was selling gym memberships for L.A. Fitness. But being around weights and meatheads wasn’t the catalyst for any positive change. I just hated my body AND my job. Two weeks into that gig, an aspiring Jiu Jitsu competitor got hired at the front desk. I started talking to him and eventually got myself signed up at the same school he trained at. To keep it short, Jiu Jitsu was the real game changer for my lifestyle. It was tons of fun, and the better I got at it, the more fun it became! The formula clarified itself in my head:
Jiu Jitsu training alone can be a hell of a workout. But more importantly for me it was the spark that motivated me to make a slew of positive lifestyle changes.
So if you’re thinking you’re too out of shape to dive into Jiu Jitsu, that’s exactly why you SHOULD give it a shot. You’ll absolutely have an easier time of it these days where the culture of newer Jiu Jitsu gyms is on average a lot healthier and more positive than where I started (and the vibes at Living Art BJJ are spectacular if I may say so myself). If you’re in the
“I’m too out of shape” camp, give it a shot anyway. It may very well be the start of a lot of positive changes just like it was for me and so many others.
I’m Too Old To Be Good At It.
Age is a legitimate barrier for athletic endeavors. I found Jiu Jitsu when I was 22 and while I am proud of the level I have achieved, I sometimes find myself wondering how much better I could have been had I started at 10 (or younger). According to an AI response I just prompted, the average gi world champion wins their first title at around 23 years old. I would have done deeper research to answer this question but I don’t really care about the answer and let me tell you why…
The archetypal 23 year old world champion has done little else other than train and likely take performance enhancers. Jiu Jitsu training for the people outside of the ultra serious competitor circuit is for well-being, fitness, community, and self-defense. There’s no need to put tons of pressure on yourself to be at the top of the Jiu Jitsu world. All I care about as a coach is that the training is good for YOU (however that positivity might manifest). Jiu Jitsu is here to serve the individual and the community, not the other way around.
I’m Too Old Or Disabled To Do It At All.
I’ll start with my strongest rebuttal. Meet Tom!
Tom is 76 in this picture and turned 77 recently. He’s been training privately with me for a few years now. Granted, he didn’t start yesterday. I believe he started around 10 or so years ago. That puts him around his mid to late 60’s when he found MMA and BJJ. His body had already accumulated a ton of mileage by then as he was a lifelong athlete. We filmed a short clip some time ago where he listed all of his medical issues just for the purpose of articles like these. Here’s one:
A couple of weeks after filming that we realized we had forgotten his latest medical issue (which he overcame because Tom is a badass).
“Unless you gotta bone stickin’ out, there’s no excuse” -Tom K
I wanna grow up to be just like this guy.
While tom is the clear outlier example he’s not the only one.
Off the top of my head I know Eric has had a couple of knee surgeries and a torn bicep. He’s an much elevated athlete from where he was when I met him and he’s still trending upward.
To quell further age related apprehensions, a good gym will be looking out for the well-being of its members. We are here to train and help each other while keeping each other safe to the best of our ability. It’s a contact sport, but we all want to leave the room just as healthy as we came in and we want the same for our fellow training partners, young and old. Come on in and check it out! The water is warm and the vibes are warmer.