On the Mat Day 768: Old Man's Game

As I've passed 40 years old I tend to find that I've slowed down and unless I do a hard cardio program for a few months like P90X then I cannot keep up with the young guys at BJJ. I see a lot of the younger men at the club depending on scrambles and quick movements but there is a lot of energy and athleticism required for that type of jiu-jitsu. I love watching it, don't get me wrong but I cannot sustain such a pace for long periods of time.

The more I think about the best old man's game, I tend to come back to certain aspects that are best suited to ensure that I don't get injured and I can continue to spar with younger guys at least for another couple of decades.
These are:

1. A guard based on anything that will keep them off my neck and their weight off me.
   Butterfly guard, X-guard, Knee-shield
   Lots of framing with straight arm and elbows to prevent passes

2. A passing game that is slow with lots of pressure and requires more use of correct body weight and less physical strength or speed.
  Over-under pass
  Stacking passes

3. Takedowns that cannot be countered easily with a throw, no head first takedowns like single/double leg, takedowns used to counter single/double legs and after grip breaks
    Sacrifice throws such as sumi-gaeshi and tomoe-nage
    Pulling down into butterfly sweep
    Collar drag and arm drag

For now, this seems to be the best way for me to do jiu-jitsu to prevent injury and prolong longevity in the sport.