Getting injured can really put the brakes on your progress train. You never really know when injury strikes, most of the time they happen very suddenly and it may seem like it was due to chance however this isn’t totally true. Risks for injury can be minimized through protecting your body and practicing proper technique and of course using your head.
- Warm up and stretch properly: Everyone knows how to stretch or at least they think they do. However most people simply have a routine that they carried over from a previous experience for example the stretch routine from their NS days or their secondary school soccer times. However stretching and warmup is and should be specific to the sport. More focus should be spent stretching the shoulder and elbow joints while warming up should consists of more activation of the following muscles; hip adductors/abductors, glutes, quads, hamstrings, lats.
- Start rolling from knees: A lot of injuries happen during takedowns, as such you should really limit your takedown practice only near competition time and not make it a routine thing, at least not full on takedown practice. Just going through the technique should be ok but this is the position where a lot of twisting injuries occur especially on the knees. When you start on your knees, you take away the need for a takedown and minimize the risk of takedown injury to the bare minimum.
3. Strengthen your joints and muscles: Besides rolling in class, going to the gym to lift some weights can help strengthen your muscles to help support your joints and strengthen your tendons. What this means for you is less chance of getting injured because now you muscles are stronger and can stabilize the structures better.
4. Wear a rashguard: Roll long enough and you start to become very familiar with gi burns and mat burns. It’s what you get when your skin rubs very quickly on a rough surface producing enough friction to burn the skin. A simple way to prevent this is to wear a compression top or rash guard to minimize the exposed surface area of your skin. Not only that but wearing a rashguard makes you look cool and really good at BJJ.
5. Avoid putting your limbs in awkward angles: Sometimes in the heat of the moment and chaos you find your body put in really awkward angles. Take some time if possible to quickly adjust your limbs so that they are in less compromising positions before attempting to do anything else. Limbs that are awkward or put in compromised positions put the joint in less than optimal positions for stabilization and become easier to dislocate/injure. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it until it does.
6. Tap early: There is a difference between determination and pride. One is when you are very sure you can escape a submission and you are trying very hard while the other is simply not tapping because you believe pain is something to be endured and you just don’t want to tap. Pride will get you injured. If a submission lock is very deep and is extremely hard to escape just tap before you even feel the pain. Your opponent got you, just accept it move on and roll again.
Well there you have it, some basic facts to minimize the injury risk and help you to achieve longevity in the sport. I hope its been a useful read. Keep rolling guys