Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - General Thread

Exercises like squats, slant board, bands will strengthen the muscles around the knee. This can help build strong knees. But if you've injured your knee, and it sounds like you have tbh, the issue is really unlikely to be muscular. That might be something to do down the line, but I'd be careful know without professional advice.

I've had a few knee injures, at different times (none from a submission). What you describe aligns to the more minor ones. Ligament tear, maybe a minor meniscus tear. An exam may help, but only an MRI will confirm 100%. Where on the knee is the pain and swelling?

No not on Facebook anymore. What's happening now?

Still waiting on that buffet. I'm bloody starving!!

Clown.

And is the guy training in an Irish gym? Doubt he'll be welcome at any open mats or seminars.

Some lads have no respect.

I'm hoping to return to training myself in the next few weeks now after about 5 years out. Not sure what it'll be like after such a break.

I'd given myself the goal of 100 sessions in 2024, which was only two a week, but I'll miles behind that because I just keep picking up little injuries.

Trained 4 days last week and after the last session felt a little twinge ...... and now these little twinges turn into week -long strains that I need to rest.

Been a blue belt for a little while and will be for another while yet I'd imagine. The lads who I was getting the better of a little are all passing me by and the guys who were kicking my a*s might as well be Rickson Gracie compared to me at this point 😂

Still, a fun journey all the same!

^ Almost no one I teach ever gets injured. There are some injuries in the school but rare. Competition is a bit more injury prone but even then it's rare. All sport comes with some level of risk. Even Lawn Bowling is not entirely risk free. When we choose a sport we are always balancing the risk with the benefits.

What injuries do happen - happen mostly during "rolling". The way many teachers do a class is 1) Warm up 2) Show new technique(s) which you drill over and over 3) "Roll" (fight for real against 1 or more partners).

Many injuries I have seen during practice rolling have been ego driven. That is the person did not tap out when he was obviously beaten. (S)he was so sure if they just had one more moment they could get free. And they just went a bit too long and something gave. Other injuries happen during the take down portion of a roll.

I've had a few injuries over the years but I am uber cautious and what few I have had - were quick to heal and not that detrimental. I am into archery and running so I am hyper protective of all my limbs.

So if you want to learn it and are genuinely concerned with injuries you have a few options:

1. Learn but don't "roll". There is no obligation to roll if you do not want to.
2. If you do the rolls - learn which opponents go hard and which don't. New white belts for example tend at times to be very ego and victory driven. They see roll time as a time to prove themselves rather than to learn and practice. So they go hard. It's perfectly common to say no to someone if they offer to roll and say yes to the next person. Generally no one takes offence to that and if someone does - we usually as teachers have a quiet word and explain that's not how it works. If you do want to go hard - learn who you feel comfortable going hard against.
3. If you can roll against people a belt higher than you - they tend to go easier, look after their opponent, and not spaz out as much. Of course you will "Win" less but winning during rolling is again far from everything.
4. If you roll tap out early. If you see you are beaten do not force the issue or try to power out of the hold. Sure in competition or a real fight you might use sheer will or power to get out of a bad position. But when learning technique - it's enough to end up in the bad position to tap and reset and start again. If you do not know the escape then tap early and tap often.
5. Do not be afraid to tell your opponent what you do and do not want from your roll. It's perfectly fine to say "No leg locks please" for example at any belt level. Or you can tell people "No submissions". So you can simply start in a bad position like mount and you have to get out of it and into a dominant position - then the other person has to do that - and back and forth. Simply dominate/escape over and over. If they are not into it that's fine - see above what I said about people learning who they do not want to roll with. No ego. For many BJJ is all about the ego of getting that tap. But for others the art of getting out of positions and getting the other guy into positions is half the fun.
6. Do not start from standing up, so no sweeps are required where a large % of injuries have a tendency to happen. You can start both on your knees, or one on back and so forth. You'll notice when rolling and starting from standing - your opponent will often instantly sit down. ( https://images.app.goo.gl/vuJErcyiiuuU71yA9 )
7. If there is a particular injury you are concerned with or feel you may be individualy more prone to - look up and work on excercises that strengthen that area AND all the supporting muscles around that area. If you have a concern about knees for example - then look into the knees over toes guy stuff as he works on not just knees but everything supporting the knees. And so on.
8. Work at home on general flexibility. Yoga isn't bad. But non yoga there are a multitude of you tube videos showing home work outs that are specifically tailored for the kind of movements and areas of your body that are jujitsu related.
9. If you feel a niggle or a suggestion you might be hurt and prone to an injury - don't force the issue and train. Listen to your body.
10. Sleep well. Nutrition well.

Step 1 is of course to be 100% sure that that is what it is. A few things can present the same way as turf toe. Gout springs to mind but there are a few others. Generally Boards.ie tries to avoid members giving medical advice to each other so obviously the first advice is to go seek medical advice if you haven't already.

Bouldering & rock climbing is a great substitute for BJJ.

Similar problem solving and sense of achievement.

Ais moved to SBG Swords with Tom King and Chris Fields when they set up. And subsequently left SBG affiliation when they left.
Paddy have a similar route to being independently affiliated.

Pretty common as people's gyms/business become big enough on their own

It's a round robin format, that means you will fight most people in your division, typically with a max of 4 fights.

The winner of the group will be whoever has the most wins.

How many fights you get depends on your division and the ruleset.

Nice interview almost entirely about Jiu Jitsu with Miha Perhavec on the Jocko Podcast last week if anyone is interested in that kind of thing. Including a short discussion about his time living and studying and training in Ireland - and a shout out to the lads at East Coast.

While some people will be in the gym 7 days a week, training twice a day and mainlining Acai like something out of Trainspotting, i'd say that MOST practitioners are training twice a week. Most lads in my gym are men in their 30s with jobs, kids and responsibilites that only allow them limited windows to train. If you're turning up twice a week, giving 100%, sparring regularly and working hard, you can get your blue belt in two years i'd say. Obivously there are hundreds of variables, but on average if you're a hobbyist and do your thing regularly, you can progress slowly and steadily.

Now, i'm only a blue belt so I can't exactly tell you much about getting a black belt, but it will come eventually if you keep going. Might take 10+ years but it'll happen if you're consistent. I mean, I think my BJJ is trash but just sticking at it is helping my progress. I'm not near purple belt yet but I know if I keep going i'll get there. It's just a matter of hanging in there.

I'm a BJJ black belt.

Whether training twice a week or training four times a week, it'll likely still take 10+ years to get a black belt in a decent gym.

I'd urge you to enjoy your training while you are willing and able to train. BJJ is a wonderful sport and has given me back ten times more than I've ever put into it (I've given a lot to it).

I think you almost have to change your perspective as you get older, your belts change and your jiu jitsu changes. I certainly think differently now than I did at various points through my progression from white to black.

One thing I'm sure of, is that the effort it took to get from white to black was worth it, hands down. The reality is that nobody really cares what belt I wear. All you ever really have is your own skill level, regardless of what belt you're wearing.

Our gym has over a dozen black belts and I enjoy training with them regularly. I also enjoy training with all the other belts, as I've something to learn from them as much as they have to learn from me.

It's a great sport. If you're determined and lucky enough to be able to stick it through to a black belt, then perhaps you'll ultimately see that's the black belt is very much a false summit, and the part after you get it is a big open expanse that you never really get to see all of.

All that aside, if you get a black belt, you'll have a great skillset and you'll be one of only a handful of people, relative to the national population, who have that accolade. That's pretty cool in itself.