are injuries inevitable in BJJ?

[roventu]

i'm wondering how long ppl have practiced BJJ until they meet their inevitable injury? or are there ppl that have trained injury-free for years?

 

[Stephan Kesting]

Sadly yes. It's a contact sport, and like any other contact sport (football, boxing, cheerleading) you're going to get dinged up.

Hopefully all your dings are relatively minor

An interesting question would be what percentage of dings are major. Injuries requiring hospitalization, casting, or surgery say (I've sadly had all 3)

 

[loyalyolayal]

Yes. I treat them as forced vacations. Then you come back more hungry.

 

[Karihtala]

Nearly 3 years now without injury. I've had some snapped ankles and such, but they don't require anything but some tape
I train 6-8 times a week and some strength training on top of that. 2-3 times a week. I think strength training helps a lot in preventing injuries and healing quicker from them. I've also had something like 100 matches in jiu-jitsu and sw. Most injuries come from takedowns from what I've seen. I always pull guard though...

I think the injuries will come someday, but that day is not today.

 

[Dogstarman]

I've been injured in bjj. I recently had a radial break in my wrist area. Had to be casted and stay off the mats for 3 months. It still hurts. I've sprained my ankles, hurt my knee, my shoulders are all fucked up, and I think I'm starting to get arthritis in my fingers.

As Kesting says, it's inevitable in a contact sport. I'm 43 now. I don't recover as fast as I did even 10 years ago.

 

[Codger]

Quite a lot of injuries but none of them directly from subs mind.

 

[Foxflechette57]

much less injuries in BJJ than when I used to do Judo & play Handball.
Handball was by far the worst when it comes to injury

 

[fanboysareevil]

handball worse than Judo? Wow, had no idea.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I've been training BJJ for 10 years. I probably get a very minor injury every month or so. I've had 4 this Summer, two of which are still causing me minor lingering problems.

I've only ever had one injury that was bad enough that I actually consulted a doctor, as I was physically unable to extend my leg. This completely resolved on its own, although I did not train for about 4 months.

So yes, injuries are inevitable imo.

 

[NSchoke]

Andre Galvao very recently posted that he just had his 1st surgery ever, meniscus.
I'd say if you're living your life, injuries are inevitable. It's better to wear out than to rust out though. Sitting on the couch is hurting, just a little slower.

 

[Badger67]

Never had anything in BJJ that kept me off the mats more than 1-3 days. In judo and wrestling i have though.

 

[Foxflechette57]

handball worse than Judo? Wow, had no idea.

I stopped Judo when I was 19 but played handball until 29 and started BJJ @ 30 ( am 35).
Guess If I would have done Judo until my late 20s it would have been another story as it's a tough sport. But in 8 years I never head major injuries in judo.

In handball I twist one ankle like 6-7 times, I broke some fingers, twist my knee (internal) ligaments (a year out).. a friend in my team used to dislocate his shoulders like every 4-5 games. At the end when it get dislocated he was just going in the locker with the coach get it back in place and was back on the field 5mn later...
The thing with Handball is that you receive a lot of impacts and get taken down when you are regaining your footing/jumping/ or in the air ..and when you play at a decent level guys are big (I am 1.81 - 77kg & used to be one of the smallest and lightest guy in my team).

My two cents is that Judo is worst for your back, handball is worst for you ankle / knee & both are awful for your fingers & shoulders. In BJJ it's a lot minor stuff, I fell like we are all always hurt and fell pain somewhere, but not tmany bad injuries

 

[Forceof1]

Aside from the random fluke injury (catch a toe, swept over ankle wrong, post wrong / hand slip, etc) how you train and who you train with are going to be the biggest factors in if you get hurt or not.

Going hard with spazzy white belts (until you are good enough to control them) = injury

Hard, competition style rolling, while enjoyable, does increase the chance of injury.

Playing a ton of closed guard, rubber guard or letting yourself get stacked = injury.

And obviously, not tapping when your caught = injury.

It's a contact sport, so expect a # of bumps bruises and soreness. But if you are training 2-3 times a week, are fairly good, tap when you should and avoid being stacked a ton - you should be able to roll pretty hard most of the time and avoid major injury.

 

[mcdowels]

i have some bad mat burn on my knees and toe knuckles. is that considered an injury

 

[mcdowels]

[QUOTE="Forceof1, post: 119793573, member: 403437"
Playing a ton of closed guard, rubber guard or letting yourself get stacked = injury.
.[/QUOTE]

why does closed guard - rubber guard lead to injury

 

[EGDM]

why does closed guard - rubber guard lead to injury

I assume he means:

Closed guard -> Stacking -> Neck problems. Rubber guard -> cranking on your own knees -> knee/hip problems.

 

[Darwinambrosius]

Yes, injuries come with the territory. None of mine have been serious though and they've never been a result of a submission.

 

[Russky]

I am getting fewer injuries with BJJ than riding bicycle. In 3 years I only sprained my finger once, occasional neck and back pain from bad partners. 4 years of Judo - 5 broken toes and 2 fingers.

 

[SubmissionarY]

i'm wondering how long ppl have practiced BJJ until they meet their inevitable injury? or are there ppl that have trained injury-free for years?

Injuries are inevitable in life, you might as well do BJJ!

 

[AK Gerard]

I've had a few minor injuries over the years that have required a few days off just to make sure everything was alright, but nothing serious. Hopefully that whole "tap early and tap often" philosophy keeps it that way.