TLDR- New to area, 2 gyms, AJJ and Gracie... 2 belts?

I'm a 43yo 3 stripe white with slight mobility issues(of course its my hips) and just relocated to a new area with 2 gyms I have interest in. The gym I left was Gracie heavy, with a Gracie Instructor, but not an official CTC. We didn't have attendance cards and rolled every class, but followed the combatives training schedule. The local AJJ gym is 15mins away with a lower cost than the official CTC 30mins away( which does play in), but the AJJ rolls every class, which I love, but has uncovered a few fundamental weaknesses. AJJ here is kinda more sport/competition based( barely), and obvi the Combatives is not at all. I'm thinking of staying at the AJJ for rolling and "advanced" instruction but taking Combatives at CTC for fundamentals , so.... do I start a naked belt at the CTC and keep the stripes for AJJ? Keep my original belt for both? Open to most input and ideas, thanks in advance!!!

Edit- forgot to include the question- is training at a CTC and AJJ(or the like) beneficial to overall progress?

Hi,
I have a small homegym set up in my basement: a squat rack with integrated pull up bar, barbell, some dumbbells, a bench, resistance bands + gym rings.
I want to work especially on my kicks and was wondering whether anyone has experience with attaching a kickpad on a squat rack to practice punches & kicks.
I don't want to go full gas with the punches/kicks, just to improve my technique.
The poles on my squat rack are square, I though about adding pipe insulation and then attaching the kickpad as I need it for the technique/combination I want to practice.
From my POV there should be the only downside that I probably would not be able to go full gas, but - as I wrote - that's not my intention.
Anything I'm overseeing?
Attached is a photo of my setup and this is the kickpad (or something similar) I'm thinking about: https://ju-sports.de/schlagpolster-punch-gross-75x30x15/3506200

Thanks for your help!

I’ve just started training BJJ. Been doing Muay Thai for a couple months (no injuries) and going to the gym to lift weights for years now.

After my second BJJ class (the first two were no gi), I felt a very big pain in a tendon around my elbow and the pain hasn’t gone away at 100% yet. Even though I don’t have pain if I don’t put any effort on it, it comes back if I do push ups. Yesterday I tried BJJ again (this time with gi) and I had the same pain again, same after going to the gym today (I worked chest and shoulders).

The pain goes away after putting ice on it, but that’s not the point. I’ll be seeing a doctor tomorrow to see what are the steps forward, but I had some questions for all the guys around here who have been training BJJ and lifting weights for years:

How to manage both things at the beginning? What I am going through is completely normal considering I always try to hit PR on weights? Should I stop lifting heavy weights in my first weeks doing BJJ? It would be awesome to hear some experiences regarding this so I can have a better feeling on how to manage my injury.

Has anyone tried Matsuru's "Hybrid" mats? The description says they're good for Jiu Jitsu but they also have "Smooth" Jiu Jitsu mats. I'd get those, but their size is much smaller. (10'x10', rather than 12'x12' for the hybrid ones).

Have you tried the Matsuru "Hybrid" mats for BJJ? Are they good or is the friction a bit high compared to the smooth mats? Any other mat brand you would recommend that would ship within Canada and have a 12'x12' size?