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Edit 12/4/2020 - Thank you all for sticking this thread. I feel much better about having shared the story now that it's been stickied because I feel it will save others. If only one husband, father, wife, mother, child, is saved from this knowledge then we have all done our part. Thank you both for doing the right thing, moving our sport forward, and most importantly, caring about the well-being of others. I've added my story to the bottom of this original post.
Hi everyone, here's some information about BJJ and strokes. This is FYI only, not a statement. If you Googled "BJJ and stroke" a few years ago there wasn't that much out there. Google "BJJ and stroke" now and there's a lot more stories out there. Chris Martin has a series of videos where he interviews BJJ guys who've suffered strokes from BJJ. They're worth watching. Not trying to deter or scare anyone. Be safe.
http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/8660482/sean-entin-life-choke
https://www.mdedge.com/fedprac/arti...tery-dissection-active-duty-soldier-due-mixed
https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/...ced-to-retire-at-44-after-suffering-a-stroke/
https://adventuresinhealth.tv/2019/...rotid-artery-and-a-stroke-with-matthew-jacob/
Compilation of all Chris Martin BJJ stroke videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisMartinbizjitsu/videos?view=0&sort=dd&flow=grid
I think it's time I stepped forward on this. I would like to request the mods sticky this thread for reasons of awareness and safety. At first, my intention in posting this was to bring awareness. Now, I feel it's important to share my story in the hope that it never happens to someone else, especially someone who might be a father and husband. About four years ago I suffered a stroke from a choke. One night I was put in a head-arm choke. I don't remember a lot because the stroke killed 30 percent of my brain. I do remember that night when I got home my neck and head hurt. One week later the stroke hit. I won't go into too many details, partly because I don't remember much and partly because I have PTSD from the stroke and thinking about it sometimes causes flashbacks that I don't like to experience again. When the stroke hit I had a horrific feeling. It was a very scary loss of control and tunnel like experience with the onset of terrifying vertigo. There was a moment in which I felt like I passed through the line between life and death. A brief skip over of the line of death and back into life. I thought of my wife and young son. I thought I was in the moment of death. The room flipped sideways and I immediately had massive vomiting. Fortunately, I could still talk. I couldn't stand and basically laid face down with uncontrollable vomiting until paramedics arrived.
I was transported to a hospital where I continued to vomit along the way. At this point, it's all a blur unless I really try to remember details. I was pumped full of morphine and remained in the hospital for days. I do remember one time someone came in and held up a page with some people on it and asked me what they were doing. Because I had previously worked in a hospital I said to them, "Is this a stroke test?" I think they said yes. I would wake up in the hospital, complain my head hurt, and they would dose me up with more morphine and back to sleep I went. Thanks to God I had no permanent physical disabilities but the inner mental and emotional damage has been very hard and something I continue to struggle with this day. The stroke left with me things I never really thought existed before such as de-realization, anxiety, PTSD, and a host of other inner anguish. I consider myself lucky given that others who have suffered strokes are left without use of an arm, difficulty talking, can't walk, etc.
I should have shared this a long time ago. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't. Perhaps embarrassment, but I'm not sure why. Perhaps for not wanting to remember it. I share it now because I do not want this to happen to you. With every ounce of my core, I say this, you do not want to have a stroke. I could have died and left my wife and young son all because of unawareness of the potential dangers of a choke from a sport. I consider it no different than awareness of CTE in other contact sports, such as football. I could have been left paralyzed, unable to talk, walk, work, or feed myself. I hope this gives you pause to think and consider how you train. Perhaps you don't train with chokes anymore. Maybe you train with them being loosely applied and no fighting against them or hard application. Whatever you do, please take this awareness into account and make a choice that is best for you, your family, friends, and those that care about you. Share these stories with your gym owner, coaches, training partners, everyone you can. It might just save someone's life and I certainly hope it might save yours.
Hi everyone, here's some information about BJJ and strokes. This is FYI only, not a statement. If you Googled "BJJ and stroke" a few years ago there wasn't that much out there. Google "BJJ and stroke" now and there's a lot more stories out there. Chris Martin has a series of videos where he interviews BJJ guys who've suffered strokes from BJJ. They're worth watching. Not trying to deter or scare anyone. Be safe.
http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/8660482/sean-entin-life-choke
https://www.mdedge.com/fedprac/arti...tery-dissection-active-duty-soldier-due-mixed
https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/...ced-to-retire-at-44-after-suffering-a-stroke/
https://adventuresinhealth.tv/2019/...rotid-artery-and-a-stroke-with-matthew-jacob/
Compilation of all Chris Martin BJJ stroke videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisMartinbizjitsu/videos?view=0&sort=dd&flow=grid
I think it's time I stepped forward on this. I would like to request the mods sticky this thread for reasons of awareness and safety. At first, my intention in posting this was to bring awareness. Now, I feel it's important to share my story in the hope that it never happens to someone else, especially someone who might be a father and husband. About four years ago I suffered a stroke from a choke. One night I was put in a head-arm choke. I don't remember a lot because the stroke killed 30 percent of my brain. I do remember that night when I got home my neck and head hurt. One week later the stroke hit. I won't go into too many details, partly because I don't remember much and partly because I have PTSD from the stroke and thinking about it sometimes causes flashbacks that I don't like to experience again. When the stroke hit I had a horrific feeling. It was a very scary loss of control and tunnel like experience with the onset of terrifying vertigo. There was a moment in which I felt like I passed through the line between life and death. A brief skip over of the line of death and back into life. I thought of my wife and young son. I thought I was in the moment of death. The room flipped sideways and I immediately had massive vomiting. Fortunately, I could still talk. I couldn't stand and basically laid face down with uncontrollable vomiting until paramedics arrived.
I was transported to a hospital where I continued to vomit along the way. At this point, it's all a blur unless I really try to remember details. I was pumped full of morphine and remained in the hospital for days. I do remember one time someone came in and held up a page with some people on it and asked me what they were doing. Because I had previously worked in a hospital I said to them, "Is this a stroke test?" I think they said yes. I would wake up in the hospital, complain my head hurt, and they would dose me up with more morphine and back to sleep I went. Thanks to God I had no permanent physical disabilities but the inner mental and emotional damage has been very hard and something I continue to struggle with this day. The stroke left with me things I never really thought existed before such as de-realization, anxiety, PTSD, and a host of other inner anguish. I consider myself lucky given that others who have suffered strokes are left without use of an arm, difficulty talking, can't walk, etc.
I should have shared this a long time ago. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't. Perhaps embarrassment, but I'm not sure why. Perhaps for not wanting to remember it. I share it now because I do not want this to happen to you. With every ounce of my core, I say this, you do not want to have a stroke. I could have died and left my wife and young son all because of unawareness of the potential dangers of a choke from a sport. I consider it no different than awareness of CTE in other contact sports, such as football. I could have been left paralyzed, unable to talk, walk, work, or feed myself. I hope this gives you pause to think and consider how you train. Perhaps you don't train with chokes anymore. Maybe you train with them being loosely applied and no fighting against them or hard application. Whatever you do, please take this awareness into account and make a choice that is best for you, your family, friends, and those that care about you. Share these stories with your gym owner, coaches, training partners, everyone you can. It might just save someone's life and I certainly hope it might save yours.
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