I thibk you should only do the things you enjoy. BJJ/understanding and knowledge of ground survival is important to be well rounded, the ground striking in the UFC is down by people using wrestling and BJJ principles to maintain top control and deliver strikes. But we aren't fighting in the cage or for our lives so do the enjoyable thing. I do bjj but not striking styles because I enjoy bjj. It took me a decade and an instructor with a dedicated beginners syllabus to understand the basics of survival in BJJ. Your coach is right, try to learn one thing a week and keep practicing that one thing all week. I would focus on a position, e.g. bottom mount, and ask your partners in all your rolling sessions if you can start from that position and keep trying to survive and safe yourself safe. Once you can survive, then focus on improving your position/escaping. This way you have goals each week.
Follow your bliss! For the vast majority of us, this isn't tied to our profession. Do what you enjoy. Life has been stressful for all of us, dealing with a global pandemic and all. Sometimes at my school, I or my fellow students get all caught up in stressing ourselves out over nothing. Push for this test or tournament or whatever. We put pressure on ourselves, which is good. But we get too caught up in that and stress ourselves out unnecessarily. So, my friends and I at the school have this thing where when we see one of us doing this we tell the person " Remember, we do this for fun!" So I say to you "Remember, we do this for fun!" Life is to short to do something you don't enjoy. As far as the practical application. People on MAP like to talk like there are absolutes. It is not all or nothing if you don't do ground defense. Yes, you are at a disadvantage in a fight if you don't. It is a weakness. No, it doesn't mean you are defenseless or what you learn is pointless for real application. There are plenty of video clips out there of people using striking only to successfully defend themselves. Where it never gets to the ground. But if it DOES get to the ground, the person is in trouble! I have knee issues, I simply cannot do the moving around on the ground things. It is what it is. But I certainly think I have advantages over someone who doesn't train at all. Defending yourself in a real situation is a sliding scale, with a bunch of factors at play. Ground defense is certainly a big factor. It isn't the only one. Also, the chance of getting in a fight is slim for most of us. I think it is a waste of time to spend hours upon hours focusing on something that probably won't happen. Certainly do not see the point of spending time training in something you dislike for that slim chance.
always try to hit the technique of the week, multiple times too. it makes a huge difference in ones training. especially because your partner knows it's coming. i can't stress enough how much this has helped me in my training and technique. furthermore, i try to focus on a particular technique every session. like i'm going to try sweep x today and try it multiple times. also a huge help for me.
@Mangosteen and @aaradia: I think your advice is wise. I really need to re-center on my goals. I want to get back into shape. Muay Thai will help me do that as well as BJJ would. I want to regain some of the level of self-defense capability I had decades ago when I trained in Karate', just to boost my confidence, but hopefully not to ever do it. Muay Thai will do that also. Will it make me some great, "complete" street fighter? No. Will it help me with ground-fighting? No. But those last two aren't really my goals and at my age, probably not even realistic. I think I will give my head instructor's advice a try and give BJJ a try again, but if it doesn't light my fire, I will let it go. There will always be things I can't do. I should focus on what I can do.
You won't stick to it if you don't enjoy it. Gi is definitely going to be a different experience to no gi. I feel that the gap between age shows more in nogi as you can slow the game down in gi with the friction of the gi and grip strategy. It's commendable you see you getting back to it at 69, I certainly hope that I am still active enough to continue training. You coach sound's like they are very understanding, and conscious about how you can safely progress.
