Our Story

I grew up in martial arts. As a kid I trained in a few different martial arts, and I was the athletic one, always moving, always healthy.

Then life happened. Marriage, kids, a desk job. The years went by, and my fitness went with them. I kept telling myself I'd get back in shape. Someday.

In my mid thirties, someday finally showed up. I walked into a Jiu-Jitsu gym, and the owner told me to give it a try. Honestly, I didn't think much of Jiu-Jitsu. I figured I could hang with anyone.

I couldn't. Reality hit fast. It was nothing like I expected, and I was not the in shape kid I used to be.

So I signed up. The training was hard and the learning curve was steep, but I fell in love with it. Then I cracked a rib.

Lying in bed, I kept asking myself: What am I doing? Am I too old for this? Should I quit?

If I was asking that in my thirties, I knew there were people in their forties and fifties asking the same thing, and most of them were asking it alone.

I didn't quit. I started Midlife Rollers instead: an online community for the men and women of the 40 and up crew who train Jiu-Jitsu, built to keep each other motivated on and off the mats. With the help of my family and the school owners who believed in it, we set up free weekend open mats across the country to get Midlife Rollers on the mats and keep them there.

Today I'm 49, and I'm still rolling. That question from the morning I cracked my rib is where our slogan comes from, and the answer hasn't changed: You're Never Too Old To Roll.

Where the shop fits

Every order keeps the lights on. It funds the community and The Phone Book, our free directory of BJJ schools, so more of the crew can find a mat and stay on it.

Thank you

To everyone who has bought a shirt, sewn on a patch, shown up to an open mat, or rolled with someone new because of this community: thank you. Every order and every mat you step on keeps Midlife Rollers going. This exists because of you, and I never take that for granted. See you on the mats.

David, founder