I definitely didn’t think I’d be doing a combat sport at this age, 38. After starting BJJ over two years ago, I have put my body through the ringer. I feel as good as ever, now that I don’t drink booze or do drugs anymore. But, I do have to remember that I cannot recover as fast after a hard training session or go as hard as I could if I was 10 or 15 years younger. Sometimes I forget that and that leads to injury.
Lets talk about injuries in jiu jitsu.
Imagine, you just showed up to class, you get changed in your nice clean gi, and head to the mat to do your warm ups and stretches. You say Hi to all the regulars. You’re feeling good. During the instructions and practice, you noticed you are understanding everything, it all makes sense. You’re hitting the techniques as if you knew them all along. So far so good.
Then the sparring starts…
You flow-roll with a purple belt, just to get a sweat going, not too hard. They even give you some advice and tips that you happily eat up. Then you roll with a new white belt, you don’t go crazy and tap them mercilessly, but you match their intensity and maybe even give them some advice after the roll and they happily listen and thank you for your tips. You feel on top of the world. But there’s one more round left. And the only partner left to partner up with is the heavy weight blue belt you were told to avoid. He never goes easy and always puts on subs like its a competition.
But, you’re feeling lucky today. Today will be different. You’re pumped and motivated, you’ll finally pass his guard and take his back and slip in a smooth RNC. What could possibly go wrong?
Fast forward to next week. You can’t train because your ego got the best of you the other day. Not only did you NOT pass that blue belts guard or get to their back, you pulled guard, all his wonderful 280lbs on top of your 160lbs. What were you thinking? Now your out for at least two weeks because you bruised some ribs.
I’ve sparred like that. Not using my head and letting my pride cloud my better judgment. Being blinded by my self-importance. Succumbing to my hubris. I was dumb. And as a result, I got injuries that put me out for weeks and months. Although, I’m lucky I haven’t had a serious injury that has kept me out for a year or more or indefinitely .
I train smarter now.
You WILL get injured in jiu jitsu. From minor cuts and bruises to tendon and muscle rips to sprains and pulls to dislocation and breakage. And it mostly depends on what happens on the mats. But what you do off the mats is just as important to keep your body from being permanently injured.
Here are some ways that I have avoided serious injury so far after two years of jiu jitsu and seven competitions:
-find the sweet spot in your training schedule
-trusted training partners
-have perspective (the long game)
-exercise
The Sweet Spot
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before somewhere on this blog, the importance of having a training schedule that works for you. 3-4 classes a week is my sweet spot. I’m not a professional grappler and I have two jobs and a wife and dogs. I have plenty of other things to take care of and other hobbies that keep me busy everyday. Even if you can only train once or twice a week, that’s better than the people who are sitting on the couch every day (I’m writing this as I sit on my couch).
The Trust
After two years of training almost every week, I’ve learned I can make my training my own, I can customize it. For example, I can go when I want and I can train with who I want. Don’t feel obligated to train with every person who asks you to roll. Although I say Yes nine times out of ten, there are times when I simply want a rest round, or I don’t feel like rolling hard with the heavy white belt. And that’s okay. Find a training partner who you’ve rolled with often, about the same size, and a person who knows how to control their body. Trust me, I know what it’s like to let my ego get the best of me and end up rolling with the person that is rough and will probably hurt you.
The Long Game
Roll and spar with the intent to learn. You don’t “win” practice. Be smart with it. This is advice for me as well. Heck, I love a good competitive roll. You know the ones, where you and your partner are all over the mat, almost rolling into the other people on the mat. But doing that every class or every open mat can be dangerous. You might become one of those people I warned you about, the ones that are rough and will hurt you.
Don’t become a training partner that people say say No to because they’re afraid that you might go too hard and hurt them. We all want to be able to go to work the next morning and show up to training the next day as well, in one piece. Think of the long game. Hopefully you’re committed to jiu jitsu for many years to come, I know I am. As long as we’re smart with our training we’ll make it to black belt without any serious permanent injuries. Hopefully.
The Crew
I asked people on X/Twitter, “What are some ways you have learned to avoid serious injuries in BJJ?”
So far I got over 30 responses. I’ll share them with you here:
“Stretching daily and lifting weights to build up that armor. Tap early, drink water, and sleep good.”
“Tap early early. Once they get it locked, its over. You fucked up a long time ago.”
“Tape up & Tap quick!”
“Consistent strength and conditioning has allowed me to be stronger and more stable in many different ranges of motion regarding joints. It has also helped improve my mobility. Conditioning helps too, because it’s easier to prevent injury when you not completely gassed.”
“I’d like to emphasize two things: – Sleep – Hydration”
“Train more and if you don’t feel good, stay away make sure you get a lot of good stretching and then ice up when you come back maybe you have to just stretch again and then tape”
“1) always stretch and warm up
2) tap early and often|
3) very careful with body weight in free fall (no jumping guard etc)”“Tap big guys fast or tap before they tip it off”
“Choose training partners carefully. Don’t be afraid to say no to the heavyweight white belt with a massive ego.”
“Roll slow and avoid scrambles. Make tucking your chin a reflex if you go airborne. Listen to your body.”
“Study anatomy and physiology”
“Tap quick, don’t be tough in practice”
“Not every roll is ADCC finals”
“Had a purple belt almost break my wrist and elbow today. Some guys never drop that ego. Guy had 100+ lbs on me and asked how long I’d been training. When I told him, he said “ah I don’t feel bad then..” Avoid those dudes like the plague”
“The first “invisible jiu Jitsu” skills I learned were to never c grip in bottom. Monkey grip or lose your thumbs!”
“Defaulting to a chill/flow-y rolling style is a big one. I still get in hard rounds when I roll w/ certain ppl, but I default to being calm & technical. Also, having a strength & conditioning routine. My body feels better now at 33 than it did in my mid-20s.”
“Know when I need to avoid rolling that day, instead of feeling compelled to roll every single time I step in the gym. If my body doesn’t feel right I just do class”
“Tap early. Stretch. Good nutrition.”
“Avoid training or sparring lol. On a serious note: 1) strength and conditioning (legs and back in particular) 2) don’t start from standing when the gym is too crowded 3) Rest and don’t overtrain – don’t be too hard on your body”
“Every roll doesn’t have to be a competition. Sometimes you work on defense & if they’re real spazzy control the position until they get tired. Then have some fun”
“Lifting weights helps too”
“say no when asked to roll with a spazzy white belt”
“Warm up. Tap early.”
“Tap
Get stronger”“Train calm and slow”
“Tap early. Avoid people who spaz out.”
“Overtraining causes slot of injuries. Take days off.”
“Avoid big white belts, avoid big blue belts, avoid competition guys, tap immediately on leg locks, skip competition classes, don’t roll when cardio is cooked.”
“Don’t talk politics or religion in class lol”
“Avoid new people, avoid heavyweights, avoid your ego”
Some good advice there, I agree with most of it.
How about you, what have you done to help you prevent injuries in BJJ?
Here are some A.I. generated images from Adobe Firefly, using the prompt, “Jiu Jitsu man in pain injuries crying on the mats laying down”
There and Back 