Photo by Daria Kochetkova Photography. IG: Tebezvonu.
What can be said of BJJ instructors that don’t roll with their students?
These are usually older instructors that have accumulated injuries, and have relegated themselves more to a role of coach instead of coach/training partner/hammer for the students…
Are injuries to blame or is ego and not being able to dominate the younger athletic students like before, the real cause?
By the time most BJ practitioners have reached the black belt level they’re heavily digging into their 30s. And life as an aging grappler is no picnic.
Source: bjjsurveys.com
BJJ black belt instructor Keith Owen shared his point of view on what could be the reason why older instructor don’t roll with their younger students anymore:
DON’T BE SURPRISED if you see many athletic BJJ instructors who change their tune as they get older and will miraculously start preaching that technique is more valuable then just brute strength.
THESE GO HARD OR GO HOME instructors will find that all the jumping, flipping, speed and power they used as a younger man or women have deserted them. The instructors who refuse to change their point of view might even retire or simply quit grappling all together because younger, stronger, faster students are giving them an unexpected run for their money.
THEY, OF COURSE, CAN BLAME all the unnecessary accumulated injuries they have acquired over the years as the cause of their retirement but they know in their heart that the days of dominating others through their extreme athleticism are over. Glory days are gone.
THESE INSTRUCTORS CANNOT BEAR the thought of tapping because they have preached all these years and have tied their ego to a win/ lose philosophy for all to see and adhere to in the Academy. A Klingon approach that says you must kill the person ahead of you to be able to take their place. It’s why so many quit.
I HOWEVER, AM IN PURSUIT of that elusive hidden technique that if done correctly using proper angles, leverage and manipulation of my opponent’s weak muscle groups that I will be able to at the very least stifle a much younger man’s attack and at the most easily dominate him while using little force or energy. I have caught glimpses of this hidden technique on numerous occasions and will relentlessly pursue it for the rest of my days.
REMEMBER THAT CAPTURING that elusive “Perfect” technique must come above all else in your personal Jiu-Jitsu development even if the result is being “tapped” by your opponent on occasion. It’s part of getting better.
I AM IN JIU-JITSU FOR LIFE.
