Jiu Jitsu is bad for your body.

Really cool article for a variety of reasons - the perspective of a formerly elite female BJJ athlete now coping with BJJ as a "normal" person.

I came upon a similar conclusion with nogi. The friction and extra holds makes it easier to distort my body and apply pressure in ways that would be harder in nogi. Granted, I probably think this way because I'm 160lbs.

This thread has solidified my decision. I think I'll make the push for black in gi just to say I have it and then join 10th planet. I was hesitant about 10th planet because all I was exposed to was wacky shit but I went to a free trial and surprise surprise, it was almost exactly like any other BJJ class I've taken.

I just hope my body can hold out until then.
 
Mostly kids in their 20s. So the difficulty is that I still see myself as one of those kids, and they see me as one of them.
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"Growing old is not for sissies" -Bette Davis

I agree Bill, but it is also true with most active lifestyles. I ride mountain bikes when not rolling. Trees at high speeds are bad. Jumps and drops are bad on my knees. The injurys pile up.

I was talking to a 30 year old about BJJ and injuries. In your 30s you learn to deal with injury and recovery/modifications until you get better in your 40s you learn to live in pain. I suspect (based on Bills post partially) my 50s will teach me to moderate my pain by recovering better.

The alternative is death......
 
I just want to reiterate. Extended time off helps my body repair chronic injuries. A lot of issues come from repetitive motion.
I still want to compete and go hard. I just can't do it year round.
 
Honestly - if you are worried about this (I am), then you should refuse to roll with people who are likely to injure you.

I read that other post about this athletic purple belt using an ankle lock too aggressive. Look - if your intuition tells you this guy is out to hurt you knowingly or unknowingly, don't roll with that guy.

I think it is also highly gym dependent. Some gyms are full of bullies. Others are super chill and value safety.

I for one think that injury prevention should be the number 1 focus in BJJ. It just isn't worth it for me if I get injured from it. I learned this the hard way when someone almost completely f**ked up my supraspinatus with an americana using his legs from the kesa gatame position. Had to get an MRI and everything and couldn't sleep on that shoulder for 8 weeks because of the pain.

Also, look at some of the greats. I believe Rickson Gracie has like 8 herniated discs or somethng. Now I really admire Rickson and would love to be as skilled as him - but not in exchange for 8 herniated discs. Rener Gracie has several herniated disc, too - I believe. Khabib has several huge injuries that he had surgeries for. And countless of judoka and jiu jitsu fighters have had knee surgeries. Not worth it. Sorry. So I choose to roll very carefully and avoid certain people. If that offends them, so be it.


This is pretty much my conclusion as well. When older 40ish year olds ask me for BJJ advice or wisdom that is what i usually tell them. Who you roll with is more important than how you roll in terms of injuries.

I would also add if you are 170< rolling with guys 200+ regularly is a bad idea even if they are skilled. The bigger the disparity the less it takes. Ive gotten hurt doing the lightest specific drill with a 240 pound friend. He didnt do anything crazy he just put weight on my lasso and it tweaked my lower back, bam out for 3 weeks. Not worth it and way less likely to happen with somebody 180ish.
 
This is pretty much my conclusion as well. When older 40ish year olds ask me for BJJ advice or wisdom that is what i usually tell them. Who you roll with is more important than how you roll in terms of injuries.

I would also add if you are 170< rolling with guys 200+ regularly is a bad idea even if they are skilled. The bigger the disparity the less it takes. Ive gotten hurt doing the lightest specific drill with a 240 pound friend. He didnt do anything crazy he just put weight on my lasso and it tweaked my lower back, bam out for 3 weeks. Not worth it and way less likely to happen with somebody 180ish.

Well said!
 
I just want to reiterate. Extended time off helps my body repair chronic injuries. A lot of issues come from repetitive motion.
I still want to compete and go hard. I just can't do it year round.

Unfortunately for a lot of people I feel like they only take time off when they are injured to the point where they cannot meaningfully roll. I hurt my hip and haven't gone more than twice a week in about a month. It's been awesome actually. With that said, I know I've done irreparable damage to my body - things that I know will never heal 100% regardless of how much time has passed.

I feel really bad for my instructor. Unless he's coughing, he has to show up no matter what year round.

Reminds me of a fight club quote:

"Worker bees can leave. Even drones can fly away. The Queen is their slave."
 
38 next month and train twice a week but do strength or conditioning work every other day usually. Not enough stretching and recovery has fucked me and its my own fault. Through pure discomfort and necessity for mobility I have been stretching daily and actually saying no to multiple hard rolls of late. Knees are jacked and neck/thoracic constantly sore. It has been a process of letting the ego go and listening to my body.
 
I hear that. Some days I still have my highest gear, some days I don't. And it takes a lot less to throw me off my game than it used to. A few drinks or a late night with the kid or working deep into the night can make me roll like shit the following day which never happened in my 20s. Luckily I've been rolling hard as a habit for a long time so I can usually power through on autopilot, but there are definitely moments (especially rolling with young MMA pros) when I can feel the gulf in physicality and energy between myself and my opponent and while it's depressing it just has to be managed. I can't make it go away.
Man i relate to this. I can still dominate or hang most of the time just on accumulated muscle memory and grit and fitness but a late night or broken sleep due to kids and I am rolling like my body is c3p0
 
Man i relate to this. I can still dominate or hang most of the time just on accumulated muscle memory and grit and fitness but a late night or broken sleep due to kids and I am rolling like my body is c3p0
Ya'll make good points. When I had off-days on the mats in my 20's it was usually because of something mental. Now it's usually something like I didn't get enough sleep, or an old injury got aggravated or something like that.

By the way it's cool to see a thread this active. I've been posting here for over 10 years (before under a different name) and it's really cool to see so many F12 old-timers active in a thread again.
 
These threads always amuse me. There's a pattern to certain posts that just makes me shake my head.

"My knee exploded in the second match of Pan Ams when I was 20. I finished the tournament on it. Then I trained/competed with a bum shoulder for 6 months. This whole time I was also power lifting and doing cross-fit. I dislocated every finger on my left hand, but I just worked through it for a year before I got the surgery ... I'm 40 now and don't understand why my body doesn't work right. BJJ IS UNSAFE!"

No. You're just a meathead. It's ok. A lot of us are. The thing is, you have to know the difference between when it's the sport, and when it's YOU. I made a lot of the same stupid mistakes with my body when I was young, and I'm 39 now. I'm sure by 45 I will just be one continuous piece of scar tissue. That's going to be my fault. NOT BJJ. If you're training like a meathead, not getting the right rest/recovery, and consistently rolling with other meatheads, you're probably going to hurt pretty bad at some point in your life. Conversely, I know people who have trained much longer than me, and are actually older than me, and are not only tough to roll with, but have little to no ill effects from decades of training. Genetics certainly plays a factor, but without exception, when I ask these people about it, they are always the people who paid close attention to things like recovery, taking it easy when needed, and getting injuries looked at as soon as possible.

Occasional freak injuries DO happen, but they are rarely the "I can't walk now that I'm 40" type of injury ...

TL:DR

Is BJJ tough? Yep, but if you're nearly crippled by 45, then it's probably got more to do with you than the sport (some exceptions apply - my bum shoulder is 100% Judo's fault! :p )...
 
I'm a 46 year old hobbyist purple and I've thought about "how much longer" recently. Are there other disciplines that do gym sparring the way jiu-jitsu does where you see people in their 40's and 50's? I'm not talking about TMAs where you can do kata or forms but boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, etc. I'm not very familiar with judo but are there regularly 45 + judoka in the gym every day?
BJJ's where broken Judoka go to pasture...

So no none but the very dedicated, best conditioned and physically gifted after 45+.

Think about falling off the equivalent of 1 story building onto lightly padded floor from every awkward position hundreds of times a week....

The best is to blend Nage No Kata and limited Randuri competition, but starting out at 45 as a newbie is going to equal more injury than skill before you get to the fun stuff.

PS

Distal Bicep tendon surgery I was in rehab for 10 years ago.
Proximal Bicep tendon rupture same arm 5 years ago.
Titanium hip resurfacing 10 months ago.
 
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36 and I feel like a donkey kicked me after every training night. I have some floater ribs that won't heal and some finger issues
 
Also, all the forum regulars on here are old now (for BJJ at least). We were all in our 20s when we started posting and now we're all bitchy middle aged men complaining about chronic injuries. I know I certainly am.
I’m 43. Agreed.
 
Hmm I can't say I have any of those problems except #5 but that's from Judo where you mostly practice one side. I have some back and neck pain but that's from stupid avoidable injuries rather than wear and tear. Otherwise I feel stronger when I do practice rather than when I don't.
 
I have to agree that while its gotten me in the best shape of my life, 2 years in and I'm already starting to feel consistent, nagging pains.

- Ears are almost always very tender and bruised now. I already had to drain a cauliflower ear once and don't want to do it again. I am definately susceptible to it though. Personally I dont care (can't get any uglier), but my wife has a huge issue with it.

- Left shoulder hurts all the time now and it feels like I can't lift up my arm all the way anymore. The shoulder joint just locks at a certain point. Almost positive this is after BJJ.

- I got arm barred about a month ago from a big guy and while my arm no longer hurts badly, I still feel the elbow tenderness all the time. Not sure if permanent or not.

- lower back pain that comes up time to time, same spot. I have to stop breaking guard by standing up. I dont think this is healthy for your back in the long term.

I'm 36, so not young but not old either. I imagine by 40 **** will really start to pile on though
 
You guys should stop doing sparring after receiving the black belt unless you are gonna figth for money somewhere, you should master BJJ for a real fight

Everybody should spar most of the time with people close to their weigth like other combat sports do
Maybe all this injuries is just age and a bad diet
 
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You guys should stop doing sparring after receiving the black belt unless you are gonna figth for money somewhere, you should master BJJ for a real fight

Everybody should spar most of the time with people close to their weigth like other combat sports do
Maybe all this injuries is just age and a bad diet

why would you stop doing the very best thing that makes this sport fun?
 
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