No teens practice BJJ?

**BJJTappedOut** · Posted On: 3/31/2007 3:01pm

Hey guys,

I'm new to these forums and I have a question about teens in BJJ. I'm 17 years old and it seems to me that BJJ (and a lot of grappling arts in general) are dominated by people in their late 20's and older. Even on forums like these, I usually don't find anyone my age that trains in BJJ. I've practiced it for about six months now and really enjoy it, but I'm beginning to wonder if there are more people my age out there that enjoy BJJ too. I train at a BJJ place in Tampa, but with people much older than I am. Is there a reason for this? And are there any teens here that practice BJJ too?

Thanks,
Jeff

**mya** · Posted On: 3/31/2007 3:36pm

I think its because of the close contact.

Young guys are probably sexualy insecure to practice BJJ, since the guard and the mount screams GAY.

Also, BJJ is a lot less flashy than TKD/Kung-fu. A lot of movie condicion the kids to be ninjas and cool Shaolin Monks etc. But who want to go to school and say that they roll around on the ground with other guys and go into North-South .
I think you (US) call it north south, its the almost 69 position, we here call it "Meia-Lua" (half-moon).

Also for someone who does not know how to fight BJJ looks a lot borring, and useless. Punch and kick looks a lot more usefull.
You probably see on BJJ people who have already trained on stand up and now wish to learn how to grapple. These people are of course older, as they need time to atain this state.

**twKoxinga** · Posted On: 3/31/2007 3:37pm

I'm 17, started when I was sixteen, been training for about maybe like.. 6 months too.

Its probably just because high school rules out anything until after like 3-4 o clock in the afternoon, then we still have like afterschool **** and homework

That and the whole fact that lots of kids are like "grappling is gay"/ theres a shitload of people out there who'd rather learn "cool flipping ****" in TKD than manhugging in BJJ.

**polishillusion** · Posted On: 3/31/2007 5:00pm

there are PLENTY of High school wrestlers, maybe your looking at the wrong crowd

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 4/01/2007 2:34am

There are lots of guys in your age bracket that train. However, they also often have the opprotunity to train with their school's wrestling teams. The smart ones take advantage of that.

**Virus** · Posted On: 4/01/2007 2:44am

I agree with t3h Dick V.D. A solid foundation of ninjitsu in your youth will benefit you more than rolling around on the ground "passing for mounts" and "submitting a position". What are you going to do when you pull guard on the street and get a nice fat AIDS needle stuck in your ass?