Is competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu bad for you?

alaykala04 said:
A lot of people get injured doing BJJ, regardless of whether they compete or not. A lot of the movements are not natural for the human body (bending of the spine all the time, knees in awkward angles, takedowns, etc). Every black belt I have encountered has had some type of knee/back injury in the past, but they tell me if you train "smart" you can avoid all that. Outside of stretching regularly I don't know what training "smart" means, and too many schools don't have adequate warmups
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I have been training just under 7 years and am a purple belt three stripe and it is only over the last 6 months that I have understood how to train "smart". My interpretation of this is two fold.

Firstly you need to practice and drill techniques as much as sparring. As part of this if your technique has failed then do not fight so hard to force it, rather let it go, try something else and re-drill the technique later so that you improve it. I was injured many times in my first few years by just forcing things which simply weren't there. I was always told by my first instructor that jiu is not about "what you want when you want" but rather "what you can when you can" and it is only in the last six months that I have really applied this ethos.

Secondly training smart includes choosing your training partners carefully. If I am 170lbs then it is not the smartest thing for me to train consistently with big strong guys between 220lbs and 270lbs, especially if they are not of a high level. It is OK to do this once in a while but ultimately you end up butting heads with these guys and more often than not you don't get to practice your technique in live rolling due to the fact that you get squashed.

Personally for me, these are the two factors which have led to injuries for me in the last few years.
 
A bit unrelated, but I am reading your book as we speak! I had never read your blog or anything before and just bought it on a whim for my Kindle. Just wanted to say, I've really been enjoying it.

I just got to the Brazil chapter, so no spoilers.
 
The most common injury in competing in BJJ is egos. I haven't heard of many people worried about physical pain.

It definitely hurts my wallet quite a bit.
 
JudoYourDayUp said:
A bit unrelated, but I am reading your book as we speak! I had never read your blog or anything before and just bought it on a whim for my Kindle. Just wanted to say, I've really been enjoying it.

I just got to the Brazil chapter, so no spoilers.
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Glad to hear you enjoy it :)
 
That was an awesome read, thanks for posting that. You really summed up well in your bullet points something I've been thinking to myself, and why its a goal of mine for 2013 to compete at least every 3 months.
 
Graugart said:
I don't really understand, what you are trying to say?
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Trying to say that some people get to obsessed of winning. Nothing wrong with winner mentality, but a few people get to competitive and can't really enjoy the experience (even when winning).
 
MarcoW said:
It could lead to injuries and such
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As could doing anything at all.

The only perfectly safe activity is watching tv, well if you exclude the back and obesity issues.

Nothing in the world is completely safe.



I do honestly believe competeing in BJJ is safer than playing weekend soccer.
I know of at least 10 knee reconstructions due to low level weekend soccer, I know of one from BJJ but I never met the guy.


All that being said, my shoulder is kinda screwy right now.
 
Horrifically dangerous, because it's addictive. Like all addictions it takes a toll on your wallet.

And, of course, there's always the prospect of getting carried off the mat, which is pretty embarrassing. I suppose being publicly choked unconscious is most likely worse. It's ego-destroying in an almost Zen way, but violently.
 
I have a strange relationship with competition. I've been on both sides--spectacular submission wins and losses where the medic runs over and says "I saw that kimura from across the room....you ok?" Whenever I decide to compete it goes through the same progression:

1. Decide to compete
2. Train more intense for said comp.
3. Decide I suck at jiu jitsu and flip-flop about competing about 20 times
4. Get talked into actually doing it by team mates/girlfriend no matter how doubtful I am.
5. Get to the comp. miserable and not wanting to compete. Wonder why I'm even there.
6. Put on my gi, realize it feels like a suit of armor and be ready to fight.
7. Win or lose, have zero regrets about competing. Except maybe cost.
8. Repeat in 2-3 months.
 
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