If I had started jiu-jitsu when I was 34<br>years old, I would probably be broken<br>today.<br>Not sore, not tight, but completely<br>wrecked because I would have done what<br>most guys do. Train angry, ego first,<br>chasing belts and metals while ignoring<br>pain and injuries.<br>But I only came to this realization<br>recently while talking to a new white<br>belt who's 34 years old. He's already<br>been injured a couple of times. And I<br>was like, "Dude, you got to chill.<br>Jiu-Jitsu is not a sprint. It's not even<br>a marathon. It's an ultramarathon."<br>Then I was like, man, if I had started<br>when I was 34 years old, and then I<br>paused because it dawned on me, I'd be<br>doing some of the same dumb,<br>the ego rolls, the shoulder tweaks, the<br>just one more round mentality<br>until something eventually pops. Yeah, I<br>realized in that moment that I would<br>have been that guy. You know who I mean?<br>The new guy who trains like he's got<br>something to prove until his body forces<br>him to do otherwise. So, if you're new<br>to jiu-jitsu and you're in your 30s and<br>your 40s and no one has given you this<br>message, well, that's what this video is<br>about. How not to be that guy who finds<br>himself sideline before he can really<br>get started.<br>Welcome to the alchemy of struggle,<br>baby.<br>So, think of today as the beginner's<br>brochure that no one gave you when you<br>first started jiu-jitsu. Today is a<br>cautionary tale. Every gym has that guy<br>in his mid30s who just walked in. He's<br>strong. He's motivated. Sometimes even<br>athletic because he comes from a prior<br>sport. He shows up four to five times a<br>week, pushes hard, does extra rounds,<br>and he's always in kill mode.<br>This guy is chasing progress like it's a<br>90-day program. He constantly talks<br>about how to get good fast, and he<br>actually does get better fast, but at a<br>cost. And small injuries begin to pile<br>up. But he keeps at it because it feels<br>like the grind is working. By the time<br>he hits late blue belt, his shoulders<br>are fried. His knees are aching and his<br>fingers are mangled. But the worst part<br>isn't the physical pain. It's the<br>emotional disillusionment.<br>Training becomes more frustrating than<br>joyful. And the guy who could have been<br>a lifer on the mats starts to drift.<br>First he misses a few days, then a few<br>weeks, then a few months, and then he<br>completely disappears. It's not because<br>he doesn't love jiu-jitsu. It's because<br>no one ever told him. Fast is fragile.<br>You need to be durable<br>before you worry about being dangerous.<br>So now let's talk about the right<br>mindset. The ultra marathon mindset. If<br>you treat it like a short race, your<br>body will fail before your mind matures.<br>This art does not reward punishment. It<br>rewards presence, patience,<br>and pressure over time. The guys who<br>last are rarely the most athletic.<br>They're the ones who adjust early and<br>learn from their mistakes. They learn to<br>train sustainably before they're forced<br>to train reactively because of injuries.<br>They roll to learn not to win. They<br>listen to their joints. They pause when<br>something feels off and they ask the<br>most important questions. Can I do this<br>10 years from now? How would a<br>50-year-old black belt train today?<br>Well, I actually have an answer to that<br>question because one of those<br>50-year-old black belts provided some<br>real wisdom in the comments recently. He<br>said that he learned all of this much<br>later in life. But today at 50, he's<br>into conditioning. His sleep is dialed<br>in and his diet is dialed in. He wants<br>to be an example to the 45 students that<br>are on his mats every day. They need to<br>see a warrior who not only looks the<br>part, but lives it. And here's the real<br>paradox. The guys who slow down early<br>are actually the ones who get better<br>over time because they're allowed to<br>stay on the mats longer. And as OG black<br>belt Chris Hower famously said, it's not<br>who's best, it's who's left.<br>At 34, your body isn't old. And that's<br>exactly the problem. Most guys at that<br>age still feel young until they're<br>sidelineed again and again and again. So<br>now that I've given this some real<br>thought, this is how I would train if I<br>was starting today in my 30s. First<br>develop the habit of leaving one rep in<br>the tank. Even if you could squeeze out<br>another round, don't. Longevity lives in<br>restraint. Next, listen when your body<br>whispers because if you wait until it<br>screams, it's already too late. Next,<br>never roll angry, anxious, or afraid<br>because those are the emotional states<br>where ego takes over and injuries<br>follow.<br>Next, build your agame around<br>durability. Not flash, not what looks<br>good on Instagram, but what you can<br>still do when you're 50 years old. Next,<br>fall in love with drilling and flowing,<br>not just live rounds. The guys who stay<br>healthy are the ones who sharpen<br>technique without needing to go live all<br>the time. Next, this is the most<br>important one. Measure your progress not<br>in weeks, but in months and years. Train<br>for the man you want to be in the next 5<br>to 10 years, not the blue belt that you<br>want to be next year. You'll get there,<br>but only if you can stick around long<br>enough to make it. But let's be real for<br>a minute. This isn't easy. When everyone<br>in the room is pushing hard and going<br>full boore, you will have that urge. As<br>one commenter said recently, "If you're<br>not there to keep up with the savages,<br>then you're just another body on the<br>mats." Unfortunately for him, he's going<br>to have to learn the hard way. And when<br>you're surrounded by people with that<br>same mindset, it's almost impossible not<br>to do the same. It takes maturity to<br>slow down, discipline to say no, and<br>confidence to train at your own pace.<br>So, how do you stay on track? First, you<br>have to get brutally clear on what your<br>goals are before you start. If your goal<br>is to be the toughest guy in the room<br>next month, then go chase it. But if<br>your goal is to still be training 10<br>years from now, you'll have to move<br>differently. You'll have to become the<br>example that other guys eventually<br>follow. Not the cautionary tale that<br>guys like me talk about on YouTube.<br>Because here's the truth. You won't<br>regret training a little slower, but you<br>will regret not being able to train at<br>all. So don't be just another cautionary<br>tale. Don't trade 6 months worth of<br>intensity for 6 years worth of regret.<br>Take it from those who are already on<br>the other side of that hill. If you want<br>to be in it for the long haul, train<br>smart, train with intention, and play<br>the long game. And if this message hit<br>home for you, especially if you're<br>struggling with the pressure to train<br>like an absolute savage every time you<br>step on the mat, then go check out last<br>week's video that talks about what most<br>people get wrong about the jiu-jitsu<br>hobbyist and why not only is it<br>something you should embrace, but a<br>label that you should be proud of. It'll<br>be linked at the end of this video. And<br>as always, I want to thank the<br>subscribers and the commenters for all<br>the support and the amazing comments.<br>And I especially want to thank that<br>black belt who made the comment that I<br>included in this video. It gave me even<br>more insight to include in today's<br>video. And remember, there are other<br>people who need to hear this message.<br>So, let's help them find it. Like,<br>share, and subscribe.<br>Keep up the good fight and stay safe on<br>those mats. Peace.<br>[Music]<br>[Music]<br>Hey,<br>[Music]<br>hey, hey.