Injuries, Injuries!

-- Jonna B.

This week, we had three major injuries, two in one night.  And the week is not over yet!

1.  JAW. Someone accidentally gave his partner a knee to the jaw, while the guy on top was going for a knee ride and the guy at the bottom was shrimping. Both of them are blue belts, and two of the best blues in our country. He couldn't move his jaw until the following day (lockjaw?). Good thing he has recovered already.

2.  KNEE. While doing standup, a guy landed badly on his knee.  He sort of twisted it, and he couldn't walk on it after. He was screaming in pain. He described the pain to be on the inner side, so it could be MCL. But he has to see a doctor and probably undergo MRI (which is very expensive in my country, by the way).

3. SHOULDER. Again, while doing standup, a guy did a double-leg takedown on his partner. Partner tried to counter, but the takedown was good. His arm got caught up while in the air and sprained his shoulder when it landed on the mat.

As one of our big local competitions is just two weeks away, the intensity in our training has been high in the past month. The good thing about it is everyone develops their heart for fighting. The bad thing about it is, well, INJURIES.

I've had my fair share of injuries during my white belt years, particularly in the first year or so. I have had a fractured pinky toe, sprained ankle, stiff neck, popped wrist, and the worst of all, twisted knee. Somehow, I haven't had a major injury (something that will take me off the mat for at least a month) since my bad knee in 2008. Maybe these are the reasons why:

1. I roll better now. As I understand more about the mechanics of BJJ, I commit less mistakes, thus hurt myself less. I don't turn to the right anymore, when I'm supposed to go left. When I can't get out, I tap.
2. My body is more conditioned to BJJ now. I was never athletic, and BJJ was my first dabble in anything sporty. As I train more, my body adapted to the mechanical and physical needs of BJJ.
3. I choose my partner. I don't go for the egoistic novice grappler who uses brute force and power moves. I have been hurt by this kind of people before, so now I refuse to roll with them.
4. I stop when I can't continue. I tap. And tap. And tap some more.
5. I take supplements regularly -- Vitamin C (immune system), Calcium (teeth and bones) and Glucosamine (joints).
6. I let my body rest. When I feel that I twisted or I popped something, I let my body heal. Before, I would be crazy enough to be on the mat the next day, wearing lots of tapes and some support around my injury. But I realized I am getting older, thus healing and recovering takes longer!

Injuries, no matter how minor, is always a bad thing to get -- the simplest will give you discomfort, the worst will render you disabled. And yes, I'll say it again: it gets harder to recover from an injury as you get older. So I try to prevent one from happening.

How do you get yourself away from injuries?