28 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

I don’t think I will ever make squid guard part of my game but I do want to know what the intense sportive guys are trying to do to me in rolls.

Yesterday I realized mid-roll with a big NCO white belt that I was about to join the 2026 shart club after a few of his failed upa escapes. Luckily he got tired and frustrated and left an arm out before I had to call the roll to take a dump.

I’ve been trying to focus intensely on just getting to a good position and then letting people tire out or get frustrated as opposed to hunting for subs. Amazing what people give you in the last 40 seconds if they are worn out. I realized that while getting spammed with subs in a roll is frustrating, getting stuck in heavy side control for 3 minutes makes me think about quitting.

It’s not a bad strategy. There is another purple I train with that probably has 40 lbs on me. If I make it to the top, I am likely not getting a sub but neither is he. Last time we rolled he started to gas out. But if I fuck up and end up in bottom half, it’s a roll of the dice.

What gi‘s do you like. Over the past 20 years I have had Atama, adidas, Kimono Fighter (old school defunct brand from Brazil), Mkimono (defunct), Padilla and Sons (defunct), and now have 2 Inverted Gear gold weaves (love them), a Fuji and a Kitsune. I accidentally bought a 3rd inverted gear the other day. A hybrid cotton/hemp. Hoping it’s not too light weight. I prefer a heavier gi. 450-550 gsm. Probably get a nice hemp gi if/when I make it to brown.

2 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

It’s not a bad strategy. There is another purple I train with that probably has 40 lbs on me. If I make it to the top, I am likely not getting a sub but neither is he. Last time we rolled he started to gas out. But if I fuck up and end up in bottom half, it’s a roll of the dice.

What gi‘s do you like. Over the past 20 years I have had Atama, adidas, Kimono Fighter (old school defunct brand from Brazil), Mkimono (defunct), Padilla and Sons (defunct), and now have 2 Inverted Gear gold weaves (love them), a Fuji and a Kitsune. I accidentally bought a 3rd inverted gear the other day. A hybrid cotton/hemp. Hoping it’s not too light weight. I prefer a heavier gi. 450-550 gsm. Probably get a nice hemp gi if/when I make it to brown.

I just have a Gameness and Breakpoint that I got at the academy. Been meaning to shop a bit so I don’t do as much laundry. I’ve been wary cause I hear stories about shady brands that don’t keep inventory but drop ship.

I like the BP. Very basic but sturdy. 380gsm though so lighter than you prefer.

Actually, that hybrid weave from Inverted I just bought is 350 GSM. Hopefully it isn't too light weight for me.

Yeah, between my girls and I, there are always 3-4 gi's hanging in the laundry room.

Have you checked out bjjhq? They have good deals on several brands like Inverted, Kitsune, 93 Brand. Right now there is a light weight Kitsune for $79.

We are about to move and I was boxing up some of my books and came across these. Before the days of infinite YouTube technique tutorials:

On another note, as I approach 50 years old, I am over letting white belts work. Recently a judoka joined the gym I train at. His newaza is rudimentary, so rather than just get position on him and sit there I let him work. He decided to throw (and when I say throw, I mean aggressively apply) a shitty bread cutter choke on me. He went across my teeth, cutting my lip. Thought I was going to lose a tooth. After the reset I put him in an arm bar as the round ended. He did apologize but what in the fuck. No more white belts half my age getting a free ride.

Edited March 29Mar 29 by Patricio Swayze

On 3/28/2026 at 10:51 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

We are about to move and I was boxing up some of my books and came across these. Before the days of infinite YouTube technique tutorials:

On another note, as I approach 50 years old, I am over letting white belts work. Recently a judoka joined the gym I train at. His newaza is rudimentary, so rather than just get position on him and sit there I let him work. He decided to throw (and when I say throw, I mean aggressively apply) a shitty bread cutter choke on me. He went across my teeth, cutting my lip. Thought I was going to lose a tooth. After the reset I put him in an arm bar as the round ended. He did apologize but what in the fuck. No more white belts half my age getting a free ride.

Fucking judoka or former wrestler “white belts” are the worst for my self esteem as a mid-life joiner. And no one lets me use any of my previous boxing experience on the mats LOL.

You’re a nice purple belt, most at my academy spam wrist locks. I have complicated feelings about letting white belts work (I’m just a “five stripe white belt” myself). I used to (still do) appreciate starting from dominant position and trying to hold it, and when they used a bit less intensity and solid fundamental Jiu jistu instead of exotic looks just to catch me. But I don’t want to get a sub or be allowed into a position I didn’t earn, and I want to have mistakes punished so I don’t repeat. And part of being a white belt is being a crash test dummy for a purple belt to try out whatever shit he sees on YouTube.

I only moderate the intensity for trial class guy/ old guy/smaller guy. Never my actual Jiu Jitsu, I still suck too much to ever not practice my best technique. Plus white belts are dangerous as hell, even the non-spaz wíll get excited and rip a sub if they think they finally got one on a color belt.

I got a new gi, from Elite. The fit is perfect and quality seems good, especially at the price point. I want something nicer eventually but the family tolerates a lot already for this hobby of mine.

2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Fucking judoka or former wrestler “white belts” are the worst for my self esteem as a mid-life joiner. And no one lets me use any of my previous boxing experience on the mats LOL.

You’re a nice purple belt, most at my academy spam wrist locks. I have complicated feelings about letting white belts work (I’m just a “five stripe white belt” myself). I used to (still do) appreciate starting from dominant position and trying to hold it, and when they used a bit less intensity and solid fundamental Jiu jistu instead of exotic looks just to catch me. But I don’t want to get a sub or be allowed into a position I didn’t earn, and I want to have mistakes punished so I don’t repeat. And part of being a white belt is being a crash test dummy for a purple belt to try out whatever shit he sees on YouTube.

I only moderate the intensity for trial class guy/ old guy/smaller guy. Never my actual Jiu Jitsu, I still suck too much to ever not practice my best technique. Plus white belts are dangerous as hell, even the non-spaz wíll get excited and rip a sub if they think they finally got one on a color belt.

I got a new gi, from Elite. The fit is perfect and quality seems good, especially at the price point. I want something nicer eventually but the family tolerates a lot already for this hobby of mine.

Tonight I rolled with a blue belt 10 years younger, 20 lbs heavier (and it great shape) who obviously wrestled (fucker did a textbook sit out escape). That sucked. Then rolled with a buddy who is a brown belt. Always have good rolls. This was a fundamentals class. I still do them once a week and think all colored belts should.

You are doing it right by throttling your strength but not your technique. I need to do that more but usually I just let white belts and certain blue belts get a better position so I can work my way out.

A lot of guys have elite gis at my academy. They seem nice, like you said, especially for the price. I need to stop buying gis.

On 4/6/2026 at 11:50 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

Tonight I rolled with a blue belt 10 years younger, 20 lbs heavier (and it great shape) who obviously wrestled (fucker did a textbook sit out escape). That sucked. Then rolled with a buddy who is a brown belt. Always have good rolls. This was a fundamentals class. I still do them once a week and think all colored belts should.

You are doing it right by throttling your strength but not your technique. I need to do that more but usually I just let white belts and certain blue belts get a better position so I can work my way out.

A lot of guys have elite gis at my academy. They seem nice, like you said, especially for the price. I need to stop buying gis.

Fundamentals class and four rolls tonight: two white belts, two blue belts (one a four stripe, athletic, younger competitor). Grabbed a couple subs on the white belts, stalemated the other blue belt, and then got caught in a toe hold by the competitor.

I need to practice the dark arts.

Wrist locks from everywhere.

Videos of my son at his first and only (so far) tournament.

1st submission

2nd submission. I was nervous because the boy in the black gi arm barred his first opponent in about 15 seconds.

The last round went the full 3 minutes with a tied score, but the match went to the other kid because he was more aggressive.

Edited April 10Apr 10 by Superhero

Fucking awesome man! Congrats to your son on the subs. The Americana is still one of my favorite subs. Also, I love how calm he was. And his confidence to go to side control from mount shows he was likely already thinking ahead to that submission.

Badass.

We are in the middle of a move. So I made the executive decision to let my girls skip training tonight. I also was reluctantly skipping the comp class. I was at the new house working on some plumbing with my brother and when I got home I asked my youngest if she was upset she missed BJJ tonight and she said yes. I was like:

On 4/9/2026 at 11:29 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

Fucking awesome man! Congrats to your son on the subs. The Americana is still one of my favorite subs. Also, I love how calm he was. And his confidence to go to side control from mount shows he was likely already thinking ahead to that submission.

Badass.

Americana is awesome for heavier guys everywhere who like to play heavy side control and mount. Even if you don’t hit it, you open up other attacks and delay escapes just by threatening.

I’ve been more meticulous about grabbing one decent white belt every session for a roll. Really has been useful to have someone to try things out on, and to finally get the lights on “oh, this shit works” moment when you’re finally good enough not to just fight for your life every roll.

On 4/9/2026 at 8:20 PM, Superhero said:

Videos of my son at his first and only (so far) tournament.

1st submission

2nd submission. I was nervous because the boy in the black gi arm barred his first opponent in about 15 seconds.

The last round went the full 3 minutes with a tied score, but the match went to the other kid because he was more aggressive.

Really loved how good he was at breaking posture from the closed guard to set up the move to mount. Easy to see he had a game plan and executed, wasn’t just trying moves.

I wish I had made a video of my youngest hitting a perfect overhead sweep into mount while rolling on Tuesday. I was hyped.

Moving to the new house has been draining. And getting the girls from their after school program, back home and then back to BJJ has been challenging with traffic. Plus work is sucking the life out of me. But plan to go to the comp class tomorrow night.

We got taught a cartwheel pass tonight and….yeah. I’m in my 40s and may have done an actual cartwheel under five times in my life. Can safely say that it’s not going in my repertoire.

On 4/23/2026 at 8:14 PM, 956 Worldwide said:

We got taught a cartwheel pass tonight and….yeah. I’m in my 40s and may have done an actual cartwheel under five times in my life. Can safely say that it’s not going in my repertoire.

Hahaha. Yeah, I stopped that shit by the time I hit 40.

There is a 60 year old black belt that always grabs me in the comp class for warm ups and as his first sparring partner. He knows I won’t hurt him and while 50 isn’t 60, I sure as hell don’t move like I am 40, let alone 20. We often laugh about some of the techniques and drills we are doing because we just can not execute them anymore. Inverting and rolling under someone to get a to the crab ride back take…yeah, maybe once in a year will I get that wide an opening and not fucking can opener myself.

Got to train three times last week. Felt good.

3 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Hahaha. Yeah, I stopped that shit by the time I hit 40.

There is a 60 year old black belt that always grabs me in the comp class for warm ups and as his first sparring partner. He knows I won’t hurt him and while 50 isn’t 60, I sure as hell don’t move like I am 40, let alone 20. We often laugh about some of the techniques and drills we are doing because we just can not execute them anymore. Inverting and rolling under someone to get a to the crab ride back take…yeah, maybe once in a year will I get that wide an opening and not fucking can opener myself.

Got to train three times last week. Felt good.

Three times a week is my sweet spot but I don’t get it as much as I like.

One of the indignities of being an older, higher calorie grappler is that it’s always us dialing back strength or pressure…the young guns never go 70 percent speed and flexibility.

Rolled with a decent 20 year old WB last week and got damn, the guy was a spider monkey. He got fixated on using his legs to hook one of mine while I was in top side control, which he was flexible enough to do, less on escaping. Set up an Ezekiel, let him hook my leg, and then pushed it. Good lesson on neck protection and tunnel vision.

Good and fun fundamentals class tonight, I got caught by a white belt in one round after I got lazy trying out a flower sweep. He passed and got to mount quick, clearly had been working on it. He earned it though, and was walking on air because he hasn’t made it out of a round with me yet.

Really appreciating the gym culture we have. I think I’ve had one roll with someone and thought “dick” in my 2.5 years here.

Been busy with work and trying to sell our old house. But training has been consistent and good. Some days I feel like I’m about be handed a brown belt, other days I feel like I should put my blue back on. But mostly good days and swollen finger joints. Sometimes wonder how long my hand can handle the modern BJJ game. I take a small bit of pride that several black belts acknowledge my base and their inability to sweep me. I guess it’s something. Heres to 50.

Edited May 17May 17 by Patricio Swayze

13 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Been busy with work and trying to sell our old house. But training has been consistent and good. Some days I feel like I’m about be handed a brown belt, other days I feel like I should put my blue back on. But mostly good days and swollen finger joints. Sometimes wonder how long my hand can handle the modern BJJ game. I take a small bit of pride that several black belts acknowledge my base and their inability to sweep me. I guess it’s something. Heres to 50.

g

Good on you for sticking with it. I began to feel a bit of the blue belt blues last week. I have to keep reminding myself that the blue belts who were already blue before me are getting better, too.

Proposal: 20 year old wrestlers who decide to try BJJ shouldn’t get a white belt. I need an easier way to identify/prep my ego.

I have recently been catching white and blue belts all day long in Ezekiels although I resist the temptation to spam them from bad positions against white belts.

My gym nemesis (similar age/size/experience) got wise yesterday and went to defend by shooting up his hand to block my choking hand in side control, then I immediately pinned it and locked in an Americana. Chill and fun guy but was visibly cranky at getting caught in something even more basic.

I’ll never stop.

I say spam away.

last night’s competition training might have been my best I have had since I got back in the mat last September. 7 rolls and didn’t get tapped once. Got in some really bad spots and survived. Caught two brown belts, and brutalized a blue. Almost got this black belt I love training with but he is one sneaky tucker. I had the triangle locked and he still escaped. Regardless, it was a great session.

Made a comment to one of the brown belts that teaches kids classes that I will need to buy a new purple belt before I get my brown because it so old and frayed. She said not to waste my money, that I am a brown. Now I am wondering if she knows something I don’t know (I have no idea if she talks about the rest of us with the black belt owners/professors).

Don’t we blue belts exist to be brutalized?

Edited May 30May 30 by 956 Worldwide

10 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Don’t we blue belts exist to be brutalized?

That’s fair.

I feel like I only check in when things go well. Thursday was “death to the ego.” Firsr our resident purple belt who also does MMA dismantled me (expected). Then my gym nemesis got his sub back. And then, ultimate indignity: a four stripe white belt caught me in the last 30 seconds after a round spent mostly on his back.

He gets no chill going forward.

Sounds like we had the same Thursday. Unlike the previous two comp trainings, I was getting destroyed by everyone. Well, not the blue and not one of the browns, but 5 other brown belts just took me apart.

On 6/13/2026 at 10:41 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

Sounds like we had the same Thursday. Unlike the previous two comp trainings, I was getting destroyed by everyone. Well, not the blue and not one of the browns, but 5 other brown belts just took me apart.

Last night, pretty good sized kid, old gi, loaner belt, asks me “Wanna roll man?

Me: Sure. That’s an old gi, white belt. How long you been doing this man?

Him: “Since I was a kid, just moved here with my family.”

Me: “And you’re….”

Him: 18

Of course this was gonna be a tough roll. Due was a killer, in fact. What I wouldn’t give for the speed and flexibility of youth. I saw him later mopping the floor with a four stripe competitive blue belt in his late twenties and didnt feel so bad.

Hhahaha yeah, it’s like language. You can learn when you are old how to speak another language, but it’s a whole other thing to start when you are a kid.

There is the is brown belt. He is 23, so I am old enough to be his father. Been training since he was like 13. His open guard is impossible for me to pass. I can be defensive and not get subbed by him, but can’t pass and the minute I try to get to aggressive, it’s over. It is effortless for him.

Tonight’s comp class was great. Lots of brown and black belts. Tough rolls, but rewarding.

My kid did his second tournament over the weekend and got silver. This was a smaller bracket but all the kids were more experienced than the last time out. My son won the first match by getting behind the other kid doing the the bow and arrow, but the gi was on the the kid's chin and not around his neck. I felt bad because the kid wasn't able to move for the last 30 seconds.

The second round was more physical, but my kid mounted the kid and won by points. In the final round, the other kid was just faster and attacked a lot more. My son is more of a finesse roller, and he still needs to think through his moves instead of just coming to him automatically.

3 of the 5 kids had byes in their first round and my kid had an extra roll and claimed to be tired. Not making excuses for him and proud he got silver.

That's awesome man. Hope he sticks with it. I think competing is a net positive for most people definitely will help with confidence

My girls aren’t interested in competing as of yet. But that’s fine. I haven’t competed in like 15 years and probably won’t ever again.

He's signed up for another competition in August. The trajectory of his weight gain will probably put him in the the bottom of the 90-99 lb bracket, but he'll be competing in the beginner white-1 (which he technically can compete in) bracket, but should honestly be in with the regular whites.

Watching him roll on Saturday was pretty nerve wracking. My knees were wobbling just standing there watching him. Can't imagine the adrenaline rush he has being on the mat.

On 6/23/2026 at 5:24 PM, Superhero said:

He's signed up for another competition in August. The trajectory of his weight gain will probably put him in the the bottom of the 90-99 lb bracket, but he'll be competing in the beginner white-1 (which he technically can compete in) bracket, but should honestly be in with the regular whites.

Watching him roll on Saturday was pretty nerve wracking. My knees were wobbling just standing there watching him. Can't imagine the adrenaline rush he has being on the mat.

Have you thought about giving it a go?

I have never been in combat so I can’t speak to that. But combat sports deliver a surge of adrenaline like nothing else and then demand you control it like nothing else; especially grappling where all your instincts are wrong.

Life changing feelings, even just sparring.

I’m sure it’s a rush and I’ve given it more than a few thoughts, but don’t think my 50+ year old body is up for it. My shoulders are already grinding and popping, and I often wake up with pain in my right shoulder. I don’t think they can take much more abuse.

Fun night tonight, put a white belt getting ready to test for blue through his paces and then finally nailed an elusive “tap to pressure.” More exhilarating than a slick sub or choke.

Then a high level comp BB wiped me out LOL.

On 6/28/2026 at 11:30 PM, Superhero said:

I’m sure it’s a rush and I’ve given it more than a few thoughts, but don’t think my 50+ year old body is up for it. My shoulders are already grinding and popping, and I often wake up with pain in my right shoulder. I don’t think they can take much more abuse.

I roll with a guy that is 60. He got his black belt at 58 I believe and started at 47. I turn 50 this year as had I not had several breaks, would be a black belt by now. It’s never too late. Especially if the place you train understands age and appropriate training. My girls started training while I was still on a very extended break. They were so excited when I got back on the mats. Give it a shot.

On 7/1/2026 at 11:52 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

I roll with a guy that is 60. He got his black belt at 58 I believe and started at 47. I turn 50 this year as had I not had several breaks, would be a black belt by now. It’s never too late. Especially if the place you train understands age and appropriate training. My girls started training while I was still on a very extended break. They were so excited when I got back on the mats. Give it a shot.

I started at 42 and a retired NCO in his 50s beat most of our cadre to blue belt because he trained smartly and had the time. I move better and feel better than in my mid-thirties,gained a bunch of functional strength and cardio, and look forward to working out instead of making myself do it. The only thing that feels worse is fingers from gripping gis.

@Superhero , the only bad time to try is “later.” I’ve never had a training partner or instructor not champion older grapplers and safety.

Well, this happened. No more purple

On 8/25/2026 at 4:56 AM, Patricio Swayze said:

Well, this happened. No more purple

Dude, congrats! That’s awesome! I’ve been moving and not checking the thread.

I went to my first class in Armenia and dropped in on a sparring night. And damn: these guys are big, young, and good. We had a brooding “visitor from Moscow” purple with devils on his hands. I got wrecked. By everyone. Gonna be a challenging environment.

Thanks man. I was overdue. But taking 5 years off didn’t help.

Armenia??? Man, you are fucked. I bet everyone is a wrestler.