For those who can’t quite pull flying armbars and Imanari rolls any longer, the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD offers a way to keep grappling competitively until you’re as old as Helio Gracie was. Outside of TRT, changing your approach to grappling is the only viable way forward.
After a certain age, your grappling priorities will change from dominating and winning to being able to just roll and. or compete. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still want to win and dominate, but other things are going to come first. Having a structured gameplan that protects your body for years, hopefully decades to come is the first thing to look into if you’re aiming for longevity in BJJ.
Key Takeaways
- A 7-volume Gi instructional DVD containing over 6 hours of material.
- Each volume outlines complete game plans forstanding, guarded, or pinning aspects.
- Features a submission-heavy approach proven to work in competitions.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
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Training Grappling Past Your Physical Prime
The thing with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that you don’t want to stop doing it. Another thing is that our bodies get through so much abuse doing it, that it would very much like to do something else. Since this decision lies solely within our will, the end result is more abuse for the body and food for the soul.
All jokes aside, I’ve seen many people quit Gentle Art as a result of physical issues. Some get injured early on, nipping very promising grappling careers in the bud. What is truly difficult to witness, though, is seeing brown and black belts quit after decades of training on account of their bodies not being able to withstand the exertion any longer.
The one thing in common for these veteran grapplers who hand the Gi up is their grappling style in their prime. Those who like to move, jump, invert, and be a lot more daunting in their game, usually have to call it quits while they still have a solid portion of time left to enjoy BJJ.
While there is no way, or need, to limit such styles, there has to be a cutoff point after which you willingly switch to a different type of game. Our physical prime is between the ages of 35 and 40, and that is the time when you need to slowly re-tailor your game so that you can grapple deep into old age.
If you wait until you’re over 40, you’re already late and will suffer a bunch of different Jiu-Jitsu-related consequences. In a quest to offer a blueprint for its transition, we take a look at the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD reviewing its contents.
OG Legend Bernardo Faria
Without Bernardo Faria, Jiu-Jitsu would be light years behind. His video instructional revolution has truly changed the landscape of the BJJ world in the last decade or so, and I am not just talking about his instructionals.
Faria is a well-known name to those who followed competitive BJJ in the 2010s. As an alliance team member (originally a Ricardo Marques black belt), Faria has 4 IBJJF world titles to his name, 4 Pans titles, 3 Europeans, and the Brazilian Nationals. Short of pro grappling tournaments which were rising in popularity during his final years as a competitor, Bernardo has really won it all.
His greatest contribution to BJJ, however, came in the form of BJJ Fanatics, a platform that records and releases BJJ DVD instructional featuring everyone and anyone in the realm of BJJ coaches. From legends such as John Danaher and Marcelo Garcia to local coaches with a wealth of knowledge, Faria has provided a platform for everyone to contribute with their grappling knowledge.
He, of course, has been adding great value to the knowledge stock at BJJ Fanatics with his own instructionals. His latest effort, the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD comes at the back end of an impressive collection of 40 BJJ DVD titles! I guess that is why when you Google his name, it says “YouTuber” underneath it.
Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD Review
the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD is a collection of 7 fairly short volumes, each covering one of the key aspects of grappling, dedicated to building a game for people over the age of 40. Each volume lasts between 15-30 minutes and covers the most important Gi concepts and techniques for older grapplers to master.
Part 1 – The Standing Game Plan
After Bernardo declares that this DVD is a huge honor for him in the intro, he quickly moves on to provide an outline for putting together a strong-standing game for grapplers over 40. I was somewhat surprised to see the double leg takedown featured here, but the takedown setups Faria offers make sense.
Bernardo provides different finishes to the takedowns, from standing and kneeling as well as guidelines on how to force top half guard immediately after pulling it off. Since he really loves the half guard, he offers an alternative to use when the double leg fails in a lapel-based deep half guard pull.
Part 2 – Half Guard
As expected, there is lots of half guard focus in this Bernardo Faria DVD. Sticking to the optimal use of the best guard for older grapplers, as well as the full use of the opponent’s GI, Faria covers several easy-to-perform sweeps, changing between the knee shield and deep half guard.
The Turksih get up sweep is what caught my eye in this part of the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD, but I’d also suggest you pay attention to his philosophy of using the different levels of the knee shield.
Part 3 – Closed Guard Game
No surprises here, an instructional for OGs covering the closed guard. I like all my students to use it, regardless of age, so I was quite critical about this part of the DVD. I expected efficiency and got exactly that, though.
In 20 minutes, Bernardo covers everything you need to master to have a competition-ready closed guard. He begins with a detailed game plan, which revolves around the Omoplata. Faria shows variations of this sweep-submission combo that either get you on top, get you a tap, or an unexpected way into the deep half guard.
Part 4 – Guard Passing for OGs
Passing is a difficult task for anyone, when you’re on the wrong side of 35 and trying to deal with a young flexible stud in their early 20s, it is the grappling definition of hell. Bernardo has a way out though, or better said, through.
The passing method he sticks to in the fourth part of the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD is the over under pass, which comes as no surprise. He does restrict it a lot, though, focusing on pressure and checkpoints throughout the pass more and going into great detail. Just for fun, he wraps up by teaching us how to stack efficiently and smash the half guard in addition to over under passing.
Part 5 – The Mount
If you think that ending up in the mount is going to help you deal with an adult division competition in its prime, you’re in for a rude awakening. There are things that you can do from the position, though, that will help you ride it out smoothly, and Bernardo knows them all.
I was quite surprised about the set up and execution of Beranrdo’s submission-heavy mount but it made sense. The more you threaten with submissions, the easier it is to retain position. After testing it out (I am 39) I have to say that the arm triangle choke and climbing arm bar combo is a real wrecker!
Part 6 – Side Control Tactics
One of the longer volumes in this Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD, going on for just above half an hour. I always thought that the Twister side control is the best way of not wasting energy while easily keeping side control, but Faria makes a point of using its sister position, the Kesa Gatame more.
It makes sense, especially when you hear his philosophy behind the control that leads to submissions which you don’t set up, but rather bait toward. Essentially, he sets up the scarf hold as a trap, with the submissions being the closing mechanism once prey enters.
This part also sees Faria address the turtle, basing most of his efforts around lapel control and breakdowns that open up the back.
Part 7 – Back Attacks
Speaking of back attacks, the final volume in the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD has a few chapters to offer on the subject. Once again, the Gi features heavily and helps tie in the back attacks with previous top control volumes such as passing and side control.
Using the same or nearby grips he established early, Faria demonstrates effective bow and arrow and collar choke finishes from the back. He also ties in the arm triangle from the mount beautifully, offering a transition into it in case your initial back attacks fail.
The Fundamental Game Plan for Longevity
People tend to run away from the fundamentals on account of them being too simple or boring. Originally trained as a veterinary surgeon I can draw the parallel between BJJ and surgery. I was way more interested in complex sutures and maneuvers as an up-and-coming surgeon rather than simply doing what is proven to work.
For the most part, it was the same with my BJJ style until I got my brown belt. While I did catch the OG game switch in the optimal window, I could’ve hopped on the train a bit sooner. Or, as my surgery mentor said back in the day “master the basics first”.
The point I am trying to make is that having a strong fundamental BJJ game is not just a great and reliable way to dominate in matches – it will also allow you to train until you are an advanced age. The more you turn towards the basics, such as the gameplan outlined in the Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD the more efficient you’ll be, achieving the dream of longevity on the mats that every grappler over 40 has.
BERNARDO FARIA OLD GUYS JIU-JITSU DVD DOWNLOAD
Beware of the Old Guy…
You’ve probably heard that you should “beware of the old guy in a young man’s game”. This is exactly who you want to be after you’re past your physical prime, the old guy/girl that everyone is wary of engaging.
The Jiu-Jitsu For Old Guys Bernardo Faria DVD is a fantastic resource to help you plan out your transition towards a much more user-friendly BJJ game. While aimed at Gi grapplers primarily, the same principles apply to No-Gi, and the instructional is not overly long or complicated to go through.
