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# Why I started Old Man Jiu-Jitsu
- URL: https://www.oldmanjiujitsu.co.uk/why-i-started-old-man-jiu-jitsu/
- Published: 2026-10-26T14:40:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T17:53:14.000Z
- Author: Michael McGarry
- Tags: News

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By 2015 I had been doing traditional Jujitsu for 35 years. Then I tied on a white belt and started again.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu humbled me fast. Experience counts for a lot, but it doesn't stop a fit 22-year-old from passing your guard. My first experience of BJJ was having my ACL torn by a young kid who was visiting our traditional club.. I rolled with him, took his back.. and crossed my feet.. ouch!

Ten years later, in December 2025, I was given my black belt. I was 60\. A few months later I stood on the top step of the podium at the 2026 UK National Masters and then the IBJJF Lisbon Open.

**What I noticed along the way**

Almost everything I read or watched about BJJ was aimed at someone young. Train every day. Push through it. Cut ten kilos for a comp. None of it allowed for a body with four decades of mileage, a job, and a knee that predicts the weather.

Yet every time I competed in the masters divisions on the IBJJF and JJIF circuits, I was surrounded by people like me. They had real lives and a few old injuries, and they still wanted to compete. We were all working it out on our own.

**What this site is for**

Old Man Jiu-Jitsu is the site I wish I'd had in 2015\. Every week I'll share something practical:

- How I train now, and what I've stopped doing
- How I recover between sessions and between comps
- What competing at 61 is really like, the wins and the losses
- The gear that's worth your money, and the gear that isn't

I'm not a physio or a nutritionist. I'm a 61-year-old who has been on the mat since 1980 and is still competing. I'll tell you what has worked for me and point you to the experts when you need one.

**One ask**

If you're over 40 and still training, or thinking about your first comp, sign up for the free weekly email. Reply and tell me your age, your belt and what's holding you back. I read every reply, and the best questions become future posts.

See you on the mat.

Michael