Wrestlers also have a big decline in their late 20s/early 30s. Kamaru Usman is one of many examples of wrestlers who's body fail due to the harmful training. He can't run but was a ufc champ who had to lean into striking.
If you visit the kodokan or other big clubs you will see old people who still train. Are they going to the Olympics? No but they can still do techniques properly and do randori.
I'd rather be able to train when I'm in my 50s/60s than not be able to run in my 30s.
What outlet do they get to use to continually wrestle? In the US you don't find adult wrestling clubs that aren't wrestling for bjj. They aren't really wrestling in their 40s where I am, just bjj standup.
But if you look at ufc fighters MANY former high level wrestlers regress in it then turn to striking heavy games as they age for a reason.
My MMA gym is in a wrestling heavy state and we do a lot of no gi. "just BJJ standup" isn't really relevant. The wrestlers there are anymore worn down than anyone I run into in judo.
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u/judokalinker nidan Jul 06 '25
Hard randori is more effective for improving than the very light randori which many espouse.