The Wandering White Belt

"Slow down, and relax more." 🦥

The longer I've grappled the more I've found myself saying this to people.

I will share a tip on how to help work towards this at the end👃

Often it'll come with this semi-technical add on.

🤓 When you try and move fast you become tense, stiff and burn out your nervous system (energy).

I understand why people look to speed things up.

Well, I've noticed a couple of reasons why 👇

First, people want to do it fast because they think it will hide anything they might be doing wrong from getting seen.

This isn't the case and often exaggerates the mistakes🤣

Second, they rely on speed to make up for a lack of control, patience and general skill.

Lastly, they're just nervous and even when watching a slow/techncial demo is seems as if it's being done 'fast' to them and thus they try to also move in such a way.

Funnily enough moving quickly on the mats is more about set up, prediction, probable responses, timing and experience than actually being fast 🐆

Don't get me wrong, being athletic and physically able to move faster than the other person does play a role.

For example, if I roll with some 20 year old marine and I wrestle him down to the floor, if I don't have my weight/connection correctly placed on him he will scramble far faster than I can.

This is just how physiology works from an athletic standpoint.

However over the course of a 5-7min round he will tire because of using his athletic gifts, and while he may not gas-out entirely, there will be a moment where he slows or have to catch his breath due to the anaerobic threshold being hit, that's when I move.

As a result is seems that he got caught because I was faster.

Nope, not in the slightest.

All it came down to was efficiency, patience and being relaxed.

This all allowed for him to make the mistake(s) needed for me to gain an inch or perhaps and arm💪

Now it's all well and good for me to say 'slow down & relax more'.

These are just mere words though.

So here's something practical to help you when you're rolling and training in general to start to have to find a more flow-like state.

Breathe through your nose exclusively👃

Nasal breathing is a very powerful tool for keeping a calm heart, reducing excess muscle tension and generally becoming a more effective/efficient grappler (crosses over to general fighting too).

Focusing on your breath in general/daily tasks is a good practice.

Of course have concentration on what you're doing, and also be mindful of breathing in & out only through your nose.

In training once you start having to breath out through your mouth that's a hint you're perhaps a little too tense or using too much excess effort (muscle).

When you start breathing in and out via your mouth it's only a matter of time before you need to stop, and that's when you'll get caught.

So take some time to focus on nasal only breathing because it'll not only help your grappling 🤼‍♂️

It'll bring down your overall tension, stress and help in cultivating a neutral state of active readiness free that ever so common low level anxiety.

🤓

Feeling 'banged up' can occur at any age😥

A post for average folk that love training but have a ni**le or two.

While more common for those around age 40+ to feel jammed it can occur at any age.

This isn't something that is a predestined element within life, it can be managed and even reduced (or avoided).

Over my own life of training I've push this body to the limit and even past it on many occasions.

With this I've learned a great many things.

These three I feel are the ones worth sharing 🦥

📈 You can always push the limit 'just one more time'
🪫 The energy you have to stay at this peak dwindles
⏳ Each time you push hard you take longer to recover

There's a line in a song that sums the above up well.

"I'm not as good as once I was. But once more I'm as good as I ever was."

Now this might not be the exact line ☝️

It was from a song by Toby Keith - As good as I once was

As far as songs go, it's not exactly Beethoven's 5th.

But that specific line really does some up life quite nicely, especially that of most folk that have a competitive streak of a physical nature within them.

As you can guess I've been finding this recently.

An undeniable truth - I'm getting older.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not yet at the stage of having one foot in the grave however the places I've pushed this body to that accumulated what used to be minor ni**les have come back to remind me they're closer to mini-permeant disabilities now 🤣

With grappling this really has become apparent.

I don't shy away from a good roll with anyone regardless of size, age, experience or level.

What I've noticed though is that my common rolling partners, although lower in skill are in most cases 10-20 years younger.

The biggest difference is recovery time.

Last night was some good rounds, however today has been a swift reminder that when I fancy going into a war of attrition, because sometimes the ego needs appeasing within this way 🤣 there will be a physical cost.

As such it's where the other elements of training need adjustments.

For those at the 40+ mark (or near it) at least.

These are my training recommendations for you to help you retain your strength & health.

💪 2-3 focus strength sessions a week (whole body approach)
🧘‍♂️ Daily stretching, mobility or yoga
🫁 Daily CV work (can be rolling, power walking, skipping etc)
🥘 Eat mostly nutrient dense whole foods, you're an adult now

The reason for the daily focus on say Yoga/CV is because these will aid in your recovery.

You also done need to spend hours on these ☝️

Depending on what you've for free, 20-40min for both is enough.

That might be say 10min of skipping followed by 10min of yoga for example, trust me it's well worth that minimal time investment.

While I will always have a bias for strength, it's secondary now.

This doesn't mean you let yourself become physically weak it's more a case that 3 strength sessions a week are more than enough to help you manage fatigue and also allow you to roll/train in other things you enjoy.

Training time here is also something you can condense, 45-60min is more than enough each session (that is including rest periods).

One more thing worth keeping in mind - be smart.

By this I mean don't do dumb s**t.

As in s**t you know to be dumb 🤣

Tempting as it can be to prove to yourself that you can still keep up, which you're welcome to do, I will remind you that your body won't hesitate to remind you of the folly in this.

Look after yourself out there 🤓

Also feel free to drop any training related questions in the comments as I may have an answer or two that can help you.

Imposter syndrome, let's talk about it🤓

First off I'd like to put something other that will make me sound like an absolute fool.

This isn't something I personally have ever suffered from.

Why?

Because for better or worse, over my life the world and it's dog have been very quick to make me aware of my limitations taking great joy in reminding me I ain't s**t 🤣

Be this in a training related expression or work/life.

Someone has always been quite forthcoming with reminding me there's always a bigger fish.

It's actually why I love grappling.

You can think you're one thing but the mats will always serve to remind you where your current limits are and offer you the opportunity to rid yourself of false pride with some humility and continued learning.

Now I've gotten my own ego defence/boast/distraction 🤔 out of the way let's talk about imposter syndrome in grappling.

I've noted this common theme around belts/gradings.

Recently a lot of folk I've had the pleasure of training with across the years have levelled up considerably.

It's really awesome to see.

A part of me wants to go roll with them to see if I can still keep up, and if not then I can establish what is needed to improve and continue to become better, either way it's exciting.

But back to the point.

Many of these fine grapplers always (seemingly without fail) say this:

"I don't think/feel I was ready for this belt."

So many think it was too soon to be given their next belt.

Obviously this isn't the case because their coach knows them well.

From my experince it seems that as people progress they apply a lot of pressure to themselves.

Often I've seen people level up and crack mentally because of it.

For some reason they now think they can't be tapped (or have their guard passed etc) by anyone at a lower belt, or who is perhaps younger, stronger or generally an athletic specific of such magnificence it'd make Tom Brady jealous.

Seriously, why do that to yourself 🤔

No one has an impassable guard, inescapable submissions or is un-tappable.

You will get caught because you either do something stupid, make a mistake or just weren't paying enough attention in that moment.

When it happens to these newly minted folk you can see in their eyes how hard they're taking it.

I mean they really beat themselves up about it 👊

If you've done this, ask yourself - Why?

There's no need to treat yourself in such a way, seriously it doesn't matter.

Grappling is meant to bring you joy, don't sully your experience because you mistakenly think you now need to hold yourself to some ridiculous standard.

You're not Gordon Ryan. Unless you are, in which case, how on earth are you even reading this? 🤣

Back to the point though.

When the thought that you don't belong, or "I'll be found out as a fraud." starts to creep in ask yourself this question:

What is it that I think will happen as a worst case scenario?

☝️ Imposter syndrome comes from a fear based belief.

When you know what that belief looks like to you specifically it becomes far easier to overcome.

So take a moment to think about this answer.

Do any of these elements come to mind 🧠

- You'll lose respect from others
- People will laugh at you
- Gossip and ridicule
- "How did YOU ever get that belt" will be asked etc
- The apocalypse will begin

You get the idea.

Seriously this is worth doing, and even writing down because it'll help you see you're causing yourself a lot of mental strife for nothing.

Comfortable as it is to stay where you are, accept when things change.

Allow the imposter syndrome thoughts to crop up and then face them head on, asking what fear based belief is at their core🦥

Then see the truth.

It's all just nonsense in your head because you're a bit scared of the new perceived responsibilities you've put on yourself.

Trust me, you wouldn't have been given the next belt etc if you weren't ready for it, trust your coach and be grateful.

You're no imposter, you're just someone who put in the work and this is your due reward for it.

Then get back on the mats and stupidly fall into a white-belts triangle, refuse to tap and wake up with everyone stood around you 🤣

Have you ever been caught sleeping with your trousers down👖👀

Or a sneaky submission, pass or knee to the soul🤣

Some see these happenings a gift🎁

Others get very pissy and down on themselves.

Usually with a lot of negative self talk because for some reason they have it in their mind they shouldn't be caught by anyone they don't deem on their level.

Sadly that's not how the real world works.

And that's what makes it fun.

Complacency is common in all aspects of life.

However some are less forgiving of this than others.

This week I've had three wake up calls🧠

Two on Tuesday evening, the first being someone spanning on a triangle and the second was hitting a swift mount after a float/hip-switch pass.

Ironically both of the set ups I'd shown the lads too 🤣

Thankfully both situations were controlled and crisis with a sever wounding of the ego by tapping as a result of my own taught traps was avoided. This time around 😂

The third wake up was a solid knee while practicing cage wall takedowns/wrestling last night when I jumped in with the MMA fighters in our gym.

This got me reflecting.

It's good when people start getting sharper because in doing so they help you in return.

Learning from these experiences is what life is all about.

And in addition to that it makes training exciting again because while I can only speak for myself, struggle is good.

Having to keep your wits about you 🦥
Moving (training) with clear purpose 👁
Remembering what it is to be present ☯️

Truly things to be thankful for.

When was the last time you had one of the above - "Uh oh" or "Oops" moments 🤓

BJJ (and other) online instructional content👨‍🏫

Worth the investment or a waste of money?

My own answer is - worth it (provided you practice the skills) 🦥

One of the first ones purchased on my end through the acclaimed BJJFanatics was the Arm Bar DVD from Danaher.

It was detailed and filled with a lot of solid info.

(Plus I got it on a 50% offer and a voucher for another 20% off)

Especially that focused around control and how you would establish it.

After watching the first of the 8 parts I started catching arm bars everywhere with far more success than before 👍

One of the lads I trained with who was away for a month or so on holiday came back and actually asked if we'd been focusing on them as he'd not been caught in one for years.

I was honest and said it was due to the DVD.

That and then I decided to focus on apply what was learned.

From that point the collection of instructional grew because it was a good way of gaining extra knowledge and allowing me to focus for 2-3 months on a specific element/skill 🤓

Personally having a focus for a set period of time works well.

As with all things you can have too much.

I've known some folk to buy DVD after DVD just for the sake of owning it and before they could actually practice and apply they knowledge from said instructional they were on to the next one.

This is where the digital learning can fall down🧐

It's easy to spend money and try to find a 'hack'.

However there's no substitute for practice with ever increasing resistance so to build to using what you know in live rolling.

And ideally you use it in comp as well, if that's your goal 🥇

These days I find myself going back over the instructional content and learning even more, which then I'll work on.

These have been the ones I resisted the most that I own:

- Danaher collection (Kimura, Arm Bar, Triangle & Back)
- Lachlan collection (half guard, defence/escapes)
- Gracie 32 Principles - a really solid investment to be fair

From Danaher I really learned a lot about control🫂

Lachlan opened my eyes to frames, space and transitions🦎

The Gracie Principles just made a lot of sense which helped in the application/refinement of what I've learned so far🤼‍♂️

You'll find a lot of good free content online as well.

YouTube, IG, TikTok and various other places offer some real pearls of wisdom however the specific nuance may be missing due to the nature of quick consumption content.

That being said, you'll certainly learn something 🧠

And that is always worth some investment in.

So enjoy what is free, however I'd say it's well worth getting an instructional set or two that are relevant and useful to you.

Obviously that is provided you're at the stage to do so or you don't have access to solid face to face instruction and have to make your own way through training with regular rolling partners.

Otherwise listen to your coach and follow their guidance.

Face to face will usually come out top trumps, however the above can be a nice addition.

It'd be good to know if you've ever gone down the online education rabbit hole and what you gained from doing so.

Leave your thoughts/experiences below.

Belts matter, until they don't🤣

Over the years I've heard a lot of black belts remind their students that a belt is just a belt 🥋

Usually along these lines -

"It's just a belt at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything."

Essentially it doesn't really matter.

And when starting out the others that started at the same time would usually stay something like this in reply to the above.

"Easy for them to say. They're a black belt. 🦥

Now in my experience I can see both perspectives.

Those who value belts usually do so because at least in BJJ they need to be earned and you can often bet that someone who is purple belt and above has been training for at least 6-7 years and has a decent level of skill.

You don't just get that belt for nothing (one would hope).

So in this way a belt is a nod to the hard work, effort and progress made.

This makes them very important to some folk, which is fair🥰

However once you've been training long enough you start to think along the lines of - yea, it's just a belt.

Essentially you no longer chase the belts because there's no longer a need to prove anything by attaining one.

It's a funny old situation because eventually most come to the conclusion a belt is just something that goes around your waist and the real measure of 'you' is what you can do👍

I've rolled with people of all belt colours and found that the higher the belt the more enjoyable the roll because they've learned to stop chasing things and instead enjoy the roll.

It's the blues that are out for blood all the time🤣

Belts will come in time if you are at a club that grades, just be consistent and aim to improve a little each time you train.

I'd say that as long as you love grappling that's the main thing.

However I'd really like to know your thoughts on belts 🧠

Do share them below.

Strength, speed and endurance are very useful in grappling 💪

Do you know what else is worth having?

Mobility & Flexibility🤸

A good way to think about the benefits of the above as as follows:

Flexibility helps you learn to how relax and find extended positions safely and is also great for recovery purposes.

Mobility helps you express (build) strength at the ends of your natural range in flexibility which allows you to move better and will lead to improved overall performance (and less injury).

Remember you need both of these 🧠

Knowing the above differences in the pair will help you in training them correctly because in my experience as a strength coach a lot of people who lack this knowledge rarely make progress in flexibility or mobility.

Here's a couple of examples of how you'd apply each in training.

Mobility - Hips

A1 - Seated Straddle Lifts x15
A2 - Reverse Table Bridge x15
Hold the end ROM for 2-3seconds

These two example movements work on your end ROM strengths in compression and extension.

You'll often find people complain of cramps after a few reps 😱

This happens because your body isn't used to working in that range yet, so don't force it, just get to the point you feel controlled tension/contraction, hold and repeat.

Alternating the two movements will also help as when you're working one group of muscles the other group is relaxing🦥

When it comes to flexibility, this is my best advice👇

Be patient.

Too many want to force a stretch for a quicker progression.

Trust me this will end up going awry with minimal progress at best and an injury at worst, take this approach instead.

Sit in a stretch, feel where the tension in and gently lean into it🤓

Here's the catch though...

You'll want to sit there until you feel the tension ease.

This could be one minute or five.

There's not guaranteed time that will provide your body with the permission it needs so that the nervous system tells the muscles etc to let go of their tension.

You're simply going to have to wait it out.

Learn to listen to your body when stretching 👂

I know I've just said about sitting and waiting, however if your body is telling you to back off a tad, slightly move or even release the tension and shake it out for a few seconds then it's worth doing it 👍

I'll pop up a video of the stretches I've found useful.

Same for the mobility bits as well.

However for today just keep the above in mind and by all means do some research into this wonderful topic 🤓

Here's three books to get you started:

Super Joints - Pavel Tsatsouline
Relax in to stretching - Pavel Tsatsouline
Flexible Steel - Jon Engum

You'll get better before you get worse again🤔

Hear me out.

Chances are you've experienced this scenario:

- Dedicated time to training
- Began getting smoother, sharper and catching everyone
- A massive spike in 'level' was gained

After enjoying all of this precisely 87 hours later you're getting dominated again and it's almost as if you'd not made any progress🤣

Essentially you became better before you somehow got worse.

I've heard a lot of folk get very despondent after this happens.

"What's the point in all the effort when I'm still getting smashed."
"Thought I was getting better. I don't know what's happened."
"I just do this for fun anyway, it's not about winning."

It an indeed seem like all the effort that went in to training for such a brief time standing in the sun at the peak you reached was hardly with it, but if that's how you feel then you need an attitude adjustment.

We all know you can't stay at the same peak forever🏔

Well 🤔

You could stay at that peak, however others would come and join you (making for tough rolls that are even).

Then this individual would climb down from it (allow you to start raking up wins against them again, making you feel better).

Next they'd begin climbing another mountain to a new peak, when they've reached the height you're at you'll again find tough yet even rolls, but this is where things change.

The new path they're taking allows them to climb even higher🤯

And this is where things get interesting.

You see this journey is repeated several times by our second imaginary grappler, while you're possibly choosing to stay at the peak you've reached for the fear of having to come down and go through the stages of getting hammered again.

What's most important is this👇

After each peak reached when we come down to the find somewhere higher to climb we often do so starting from a higher base point.

This is the key element many overlook 🦥

Eventually your new base point will be higher than what is the peak level currently reached for someone else.

You've probably heard this - "There's levels to this game."

It's true.

You get better, then you feel you've gotten worse.

It's not quite true though.

You're simply giving away a little of what was so you can move forwards to what can be.

Yes it's frustrating, most people would rather not have to experience this however that's not how the pathway of progression works🤓

Enjoy the highs, embrace the lows and keep showing up👍

It's always worth it in the end.

The limb length of some folk seems disproportionate to the laws of physical reality🤣

Seriously.

It's like rolling with Mr Tickle at times.

But that doesn't mean some good lessons can't be learned from such rolling partners that will come in handy against similar opponents.

One of the regular rolls I had was with a chap of around 6,3' maybe, 6,4' with about 40kg on me and a 72inch inside leg 🤣

We had some good rolls.

I learned 4 unforgettable lessons that really helped me.

🧠 Always aim to be on top, it's better that way
🧠 When not on top be sure to keep the frames strong
🧠 If they don't have weight on you then MOVE
🧠 His legs seemed endless but they could be passed in time

The past point is the one I'd like to expand on.

Often people complain that getting past someones legs is too difficult or what they most struggle with.

And it's fair to say because legs can be very pesky 🦵

Over the years I've found three things that have aided me in getting past someones legs while also avoiding the danger of certain inversion entries.

☝️Not always mind you because people evolve as you do.

The first point comes from a question:

What are you going to control 🤔

Ideally I'd like a grip on their hip(far) and knee(close) as these allow me to pin, pivot and avoid immediate danger.

However I'll settle for a grip in the foot if I have to 🦶

With the foot my own goal is usually to jam their heel to their butt, which is generally a good idea to reduce (or kill) their potential power/leverage points.

So the first thing I'd say to assess when getting past the legs is this - what controlling grips are you looking for.

At least if you're looking for tight passing.

My second notion is on how I might be able to have them extend their legs creating space between their elbows/knees, because if that happens there might be a free pass straight through the middle (knee cut for example) 🦵

Another fine option from an over extended leg can come in the form of an attack.

Or you might use that lengthened leg to toss them aside.

Either way it can allow the opportunity to get a dangerous tool of theirs away from me and unable to connect, frame or hook somewhere troublesome.

So beyond jammed heels to butts, or baiting an extended leg.

The third option for me is to force someone into a guard position.

Ideally half guard where I can gain a cross-face & underhook because in this position a lot of beneficial outcomes can occur provided your patient.

But I'll talk any form of guard so that engagement can happen on my terms (that being they carry my weight)👍

Obviously you will have to be careful doing this.

There's a lot of very good guard players that can kill you 1632 ways from any given guard position on their dominant side.

And now for a bonus bit of info from my annals of grappling.

If you know a persons dominant side (usually right handed plays)🧠

One great way to pass their rather troublesome legs and guard is to simply go the opposite way.

For example...

Most drilling is taught by a right handed person 🖐

And so all the defences, resistance and general trouble will come when you make right handed plays.

So the obvious, yet not utilised option is to pass left handed 🤚

Yep, doing things left handed can really create issued for people.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not that good, just average.

However I've found doing things left handed (learned this because of old injuries etc and have played that way since for passing, attacks etc) really evens the playing field because people are very ONE SIDED 🦾

Much like Derek Zoolander, they struggle turning the other way.

I know, it's staring us right in the face.

Yet we're happy to walk into the dangerous strong side of a person 🤣

So when dealing with tricky legs or even guards you can:

🫂Crush
🤸‍♂️Extend
🧩Force a play

Or just go the other way 🔁

Simple really.

I reckon I can guess why you use a lot of speed🏎

Be that in drilling, positional work or general rolling.

Fear😱

It's because you're scared of getting something wrong and being seen when drilling, so you do it super fast just to get it over with.

This is a mistake❌

Within regard to positional work, same basic principle applies in that you're scared of losing the game/positional play and choose to rush towards your doom instead of taking the opportunity to learn.

This is a mistake❌

As for rolling, like the first two you're a little scared of getting tapped out so you claim 'athleticism' is your natural proclivity and look for speed based finishes (which probably fail a lot) which result in you ending up on the bottom a lot, frantically scrambling and speeding your way into a submission.

This is a mistake❌

There's a time for the use of speed.

First though it's more beneficial to work for control within the positions you're looking to improve because this will have the following benefits:

- Reduced wasted energy
- More potential opportunities for passes/subs etc
- Less knees to the face for your training partner

I know it's tempting to go fast.

Especially when you don't want to look stupid for getting something wrong, however it won't help you in the long run🤓

Taking some time to really slow down your pace might seem like su***de on the mats, and initially it may indeed result in you getting caught a lot, but it will give you so much in return.

You'll see more, feel more, learn more.

It's a short term suffering for a long term and ongoing reward.

So why not try this the next time you're training.

Go a little slower🦥

While difficult initially it will be worth it in the end.

In 10 words of less, how would you describe your grappling style🤔

Without too much extended thought, this would be mine:

"Don't worry, that 'insert joint' always makes that noise."

Which isn't really a description of anything grappling related and just highlights that every other movement made is a snap, crackle or pop🤣

So to give the 10 words or less another go.

"I'm just here waiting for you to do something stupid."

This is a fairly accurate way to describe how I grapple these days.

I'm not good enough to make much happen, so I'll just wait for my partner to make a mistake, lose concentration or get tired and then I'll use that to my advantage 🦥

Essentially it's a very simple way of being in the moment.

Someone wants to give me their neck or random foot, awesome.

We shall see what happens without being forced because that just requires a little too much effort.

I find it fascinating to watch the high level folk roll.

They play a very creative game akin to double-blind chess♟

Or maybe Gliński's hexagonal chess♟

It'd be nice to have this style of grappling eventually because then it becomes less about the all out war of attrition and more the mental battle that is going on inch by inch.

It'd be good to know how your game currently feels/plays.

Is it something you've been aiming to achieve or has it been more of a natural evolution influenced by other factors?

Do share your thoughts below.

Sub-Grappling is great fun, it brings me a lot of joy🥰

Do you know what else is also something that satisfies the heart?

Wrestling 🤼

While we can argue it's a young mans game because of the athletic demands this grappling sport requires, that doesn't mean those who are a little further down the road can't also gain some great benefit and joy from this.

Hitting solid double legs, scrambles, reversals and knowing how to get out of less than idea situations where you're going to be pinned is a skill all people need.

This is especially true for anyone looking to compete in MMA.

Or even Sambo.

Plus it looks really cool if you nail a shot into a fireman throw 🤣

I've got no idea how old wrestling actually is.

I'd wager it goes back to the very first days of what we call the modern man.

Chances are one dude decided to grab another, pick him up, dump him into the dirt and keep him there as a display of dominance 💪

With the rise of BJJ there's a lot of folk that prefer it over wrestling, which is fair due to less potential wear and tear.

Now personally I like the submissions and also the pinning element, both can end fights although one you can consider nice and the other nasty.

Over the years I've delved into various grappling styles that cover a broad range of skills 🧠

The one that has become my individual favourite....

Catch Wrestling 🦥

Or CACC (Catch as Catch Can).

Which essentially means find what is efficient, effective and ends things.

In the Catch rule set you get the win by pin or submission 🥇

It also has a plethora of throws, trips and takedowns for all.

Although due to this there's very little playing off your back, and while you can play off your side it might not be the wisest first choice.

There's also 'guard', per-se 🥵

Not in how BJJ players use it, just because one little shift in weight and you're pinned.

You can perform guard variations, however what you may know as full guard isn't really a thing.

The rule set is interesting and makes for great fun in comp.

If you want to know more (UK related), contact these guys:

https://www.snakepitwigan.com/snake-pit-world-championships-2023/

With the US, you'll find Josh Barnett was over recently for the Catch World (you'll find info in the link above), for USA related catch start with him and branch out.

Oh, and also go devour all of Erik Paulsons videos 🧠

I'll admit that first of all the idea of wrestling worried me.

Yep, I was scared of getting hurt.

Carrying old damage from years of sports etc mean that some takedowns and sparring for wrestling set off alarm bells.

But there's nothing wrong with a healthy dose of fear🤓

It keeps you aware, sharp and mindful.

Without it you'll grow soft, dull and absent in of the moment.

I'm going to say that wrestling (any style) is worth your time👍

Freestyle, Greco, Catch etc, just choose one and go have some fun.

Be honest with people if you've got injuries or ni**les and avoid the egos (if there is such a thing) temptation to try and WIN the drilling or the in-house sparring.

You're there to learn, not have a war of attrition ✌️

If nothing else you'll gain a lot of physical benefit from the training itself as it's rare you see a wrestler that doesn't have a good base of CV, strength, mobility and overall athleticism.

So even for something as simple as getting in shape for 2024 you'd do well to explore this avenue.

And if you're a competitive grappler (or in MMA etc), then this is am just have set of tools for your utility belt.