THe title is meant to be light hearted but my suggestion is aiming to be serious.
I admit to being one of the older visitors here but I have been really surprised at how many older ( over 40 say) women and men come here.
Anybody over about 40 and cetainly getting 50 and beyond will know exercise gets harder and you slow down. so with all due respect to people wanting " all out, no stopping it " etc etc could I suggest some practical rules to let people carry on grappling safely and with competitive fun beyond super fitness.
Some time ago a german site advocated " fun grappling in the park" ( the german is too long for me!) basically just meet up in a relatively public place and grapple gently for fun and human contact. Seems to be not a bad idea and it semed they got a crowd. So from that idea rule as follows
- start each round on knees then grapple.
- No joint locks at all - no armbars, knee twists , hammerlocks to avoid the inevitable damage when less flexible
- Any other submissions including chokes and scissors , the aim is holds that take strength to apply and stamina to defend.
- pins as well as subs to give more options whilst on the ground, you have guard your back as well as attack
- rounds of no more than three minutes with 2 minute break.
- no more than five rounds even if a draw to avoid injury through tiredness.
- Either fighter can break and stand up but then they have to throw a knee, shoulder or elbow blow (no punches/kicks unless agreed), once done they have to stand back and wait for the opponent to recover or go down. If down on knees or more for over a five (or ten) count it equals a pin or sub. Once recovered inside ten or later restart a fresh round on knees
- only on proper mats or sand i.e soft
The idea is to avoid joint damage which gets more likely as you age and give lots of opportunities for breaks and restarts to keep it moving along.
Some people might say no knees/elbows even but I think some prefer a little bit of "Pro " as long as it is sane
No pressure to wear what you dont want to
Nothing fixed in stone but would like to hear any thoughts on sane grappling for the older ones who want to have go!!!
