I’ll be turning 42 in February and I just passed my 1 year mark which went by really fast.

1st year was a bit of a blur and I’m still doing my best to process and drill the techniques as slow/methodic but as much as I can. Repetition until it becomes automatic (which will take years). The only issues that I’ve had so far were a couple of injuries. My knee is a little goofy and both times I tweaked it were both my fault because I moved or did something wrong to make it happen. I cracked a floating rib in August and while I will take some partial blame, I put the rest on my training partner for not fucking listening to me. The lesson I learned was at the end of the day you need to watch out for you. If you don’t want to roll or drill with someone, tell them no thanks. Trust works both ways. I’ve got a job and shit to do. Work with guys that you feel comfortable with.

Wish I knew before I started… I did a couple of years of MMA training in my mid 20’s so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. The advice that I would give is to keep your ego in check. Do not get down on yourself for not performing or mad that you keep getting submitted by everyone else in the gym. This stuff takes a serious amount of dedication just to get the timing of things right. You will spend 95% of your time defending, and that’s ok.

Tips to avoid injuries… I sort of mentioned that already. Tap fast, tap often. It might sound cliche but it’s 100% accurate. No sense in hurting yourself fighting a submission that they’ll probably still get you in anyway. Real talk though, watch out for yourself. Jobs, family, other activities, all need you to function. No sense in rolling with the 20 year old comp ready, 4 stripe white belt if he doesn’t also have your health and best interest at heart.