I always find it funny when I hear Jiu Jitsu being called the gentle art. In my relatively short time in Jiu Jitsu I’ve seen some very bad injuries befall many practitioners including broken bones, choking to unconsciousness, torn ligaments, busted joints, and even eye injuries. The fact of the matter is that Jiu Jitsu is a full-contact sport and if you train hard and long enough an injury of some type and severity is almost a certainty.
Standing here today and mentally scanning my body over, I definitely can feel the effects of Jiu Jitsu on my body in good and bad ways. I’ve had my fair share of injuries on the mat, but consider myself lucky as none have been permanent or required surgery. Even with some injury setbacks, I find that the positives in mind, body, and spirit far outweigh the nagging injuries I’ve had thus far. I’ve also met many other practitioners who have had serious injuries but continue to practice the art of Jiu Jitsu. Read on to see what injuries I’ve dealt with thus far on my Jiu Jitsu journey. I plan on adding to this as need be and writing in-depth articles on some of the injuries and what I did to get back or stay on the mats.
Please note that I am not a clinical expert and not giving any health advice but rather logging my personal experience. If you experience an injury the most reasonable and prudent action is to get checked out by a medical professional.
Torn MCL 9/2/2011
When did the injury happen?
I tore my MCL towards the end of white belt right before getting my blue belt which was about 2 years into training.
How did I tear my MCL?
I was rolling and fully mounted by a strong, skilled, and larger purple belt. I was struggling to escape and facing heavy top mount pressure. After struggling for what seemed like an eternity, I decided to give my all in an escape by bridging. Unfortunately, I had my right foot’s toes turned in and did a very hard and fast bridge with the majority of my power going through my right leg. With my toes pointed in, my knee collapsed and I could feel the inside of my knees ligaments stretch and tear. I basically heal hooked myself and it was no fault of my rolling partner.
Did torn MCL hurt?
There was a brief sharp pain on the inside of my knee while I was bridging. I was able to back off the bridge quickly and tapped to end the roll as I knew immediately that I had injured my knee. I was able to moderately bend my knee but immediately had issues putting full weight on my right leg. My knee felt numb more than anything else immediately after the injury. I was able to hobble to my car and drive an hour home where I iced it before going to bed. The worst pain was the next day after my knee had swollen up. I had a hard time bending it at all and putting any weight on it the first week after the injury. As time went on and swelling went down the pain followed.
How did I fix my MCL
I took some time off of the mats to rehab. Most of this injury was time off and making sure that I was continuously moving the knee at a full range of motion. I used ice the first few days when the knee was swollen and heat after the first week or so. I progressed to more aggressive stretches and strength exercises as the knee got better.
I also used Motrin to help with pain and swelling when needed.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
My tear was considered a grade two partial tear. I was able to successfully rehab the injury myself and avoided surgery. It took a good 6 months before I had the confidence to roll at full speed and strength. I was only off the mat for about three weeks. When I returned I would do light work and spent most of my time on the bottom working on submission defense while I rehabbed my knee. I wore a knee brace for a couple of months to provide stability and to remind my partners that my knee is injured.
How does the injury feel now?
At the time I’m writing this it’s been a little over a year and I can still feel the injury on the inside of my knee especially if I straighten my leg out and turn my heal in. I do feel like I have regained all my pre-injury strength and mobility range in my right leg.
I also do not have any issues running or practicing Jiu Jitsu. Occasionally if I overdue training or get my leg cranked it does get a little sore the next day, but nothing unmanageable.
Turf Toe
When did the injury happen?
I got turf toe on both of my big toe foot joints as a one stripe blue belt.
How did I get turf toe?
My professor has a collegiate background in wrestling and one week wanted to focus classes on wrestling takedowns. I only had 2 years of wrestling way back in middle school and prefer a Judo style of game for takedowns. After spending a week doing takedowns both of my big toes ached and after some research, I found that I had turf toe with a worse case on the big joint of my left big toe.
Because my wrestling takedown technique was poor, I believe I was heavily driving off of my toes causing the big toes to hyper-extend backward causing the injury.
Does turf toe hurt?
For me, this was a gradual injury that I didn’t notice until the day after when my big toes would be a little swollen and painful when bending. It also would get much better after warming up and while practicing Jiu Jitsu. Occasionally I would have moderate pain the day after hyper-extending my big toes.
How did I fix my turf toe?
I’m still dealing with this injury, but I’m finding that massage and light stretching of the joint have helped. The main thing I found that works is to try and just not use the big toe when training. You can achieve this by taping the toe or being very cognizant of not driving into the mat with the toes.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
I have not missed any mat time as a result of turf toe. The pain is moderate at worst and usually gets better after warming up.
If needed the toes can be tapped or I can practice in positions where I don’t use the toes as much.
How does the injury feel now?
At the time of this writing, it has been about 2 months with the turf toes and it is still an injury I’m dealing with. The pain isn’t that bad so far with the worst being the day after I hyperextended my big toe.
Massaging the knuckle and light stretching of the joint seems to help.
Pinched Nerve in Neck
When did the injury happen?
This is another recent injury that started happening about 2 months ago. At first, I started getting pins and needles sensations in my right arm while reaching across my body for moves like a darce. I didn’t think too much of it as I’ve had pinched nerves before.
How did I pinch the nerve in my neck?
A couple of weeks after experiencing random nerve pain while rolling I was put in a half-nelson while in bottom turtle making my neck go one way while my right arm was extended. I felt an electric sensation go down my entire right arm and sharp pain in my neck.
I groaned in pain and tapped to end the roll. Almost immediately my right arm went numb and stayed that way for about 5 minutes. I was able to continue and finish the JiuJitsu session.
Does a pinched nerve in the neck hurt?
When I first pinched the nerve it did hurt, but the pain was only while my neck was being cranked after that it was just numb. The pain is more of an annoyance for me now since the initial injury.
How did I fix the pinched nerve in my neck?
I’m still dealing with this injury, but feel it is progressing well. One of the best stretches that are working for me is placing a small pillow between the base of the back of my head and the top of my upper back. I will then push the top of the back of my head into the floor while kind of raising my neck towards the ceiling. With this stretch, I can feel the neck vertebrae opening up and releasing pressure on the nerve. I’m also experimenting with hanging and pull-ups to open up the shoulders to relieve nerve pain.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
I’m still dealing with it now, but it has not prevented me from training Jiu Jitsu.
How does the injury feel now?
The pain is more of annoyance if I turn my head sharply or turn it with my arm extended in some directions. Stretching has helped keep it manageable for now.
Popped Elbow 6/22/2021
When did the injury happen?
This happened when I was an overconfident 2 stripe white belt.
How did I get my elbow popped?
I was rolling with a strong larger than me blue belt who took my arm from side control into an armbar. I had been working on armbar escapes and had successfully gotten out of many armbars by getting my elbow to the mat leading up to this one. It was going as planned as I got my elbow between his legs and onto the mat. He had a good grip on my arm and continued to pull for the submission. I thought I was on my out of the armbar when suddenly my elbow popped and I could feel ligaments around the inside of my elbow stretching farther than they should.
Does a popped arm hurt?
My elbow did hurt during and immediately after being popped. My arm went numb from the elbow down and I had a hard time bending it right after. The worst pain came the day after when it was swollen.
How did I heal my popped arm?
The first night it was injured I iced the inside of my elbow for a long time. I took some time off the mats to heal. Rehab was making sure that I worked the ligaments. I started with simple things like extending and contracting my arm.
As I progressed and the injury healed I started more aggressive stretching and strengthing of the elbow.
I also utilized Motrin, heat, and massage to get it better.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
I took three weeks off from Jiu Jitsu to get my arm back up and running and about 4 months to feel confident to roll 100%.
How does the injury feel now?
I have full strength and range of motion now. Oddly enough the injury is still there and I do get pain if I throw something hard or something heavy, like a football. I’ll sometimes forget about the injury and throw something and immediately feel pain on the inside of my elbow.
Mat burn on my feet
When did the injury happen?
I got mat burn in various places on my toes and feet within the first month of beginning Jiu Jitsu.
How did I get Mat burn on my feet?
Mat burn is a common Jiu Jits injury and it is from friction from your skin rubbing on the mat causing a burn. I kept getting burns on my feet that would turn into blisters and sometimes get ripped off during another mat burn incident causing a wound. Sometimes these were nearly wounds that would bleed significantly.
Does mat burn hurt?
Mat burn can hurt, but it usually happens during a hard roll and with adrenalin pumping, I didn’t realize it happened until later or if it started to bleed. It does sting a lot when you have a fresh mat burn and go to shower.
How did I take care of mat burn?
For me, two things happened that helped with mat burn prevention, body awareness and toughing of the skin. As I kept getting mat burn when I started Jiu Jitsu, I started to become more aware of my movements and not dragging my skin as much across the mat when executing moves.
I think with continuous practice your skin gets used to the rigors of regular training and toughens up to friction on the mats.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
Mat burn can take a while to heal depending on the severity, but it never stopped me from getting on the mats. I used bandages and tape to cover mat burned areas when practicing Jiu Jitsu.
How does the injury feel now?
I don’t get these too often anymore, but occasionally when it does happen I just bandage it up and keep the area clean.
Pinch Calluses on Big Toes
When did the injury happen?
For me, this has been an issue that has been building over time from the starting Jiu Jitsu to my current state.
How did I get pinch calluses on big toes?
This is another issue from repeatedly pushing off the mat with my feet/outside of my big toes. What happens here is a callous of tough skin forms over the outside of the big toe.
Do pinch calluses hurt?
At first, the calluses on my big toes didn’t hurt and I didn’t think too much of them.
Then one day one of them started to crack, then during a roll, it got ripped off leaving a gnarly bleeding wound.
None of this hurt much, but it did require management for a few weeks.
How did I fix the pinched callus issue?
I started taking better care of my feet. After showing I use a foot file to file down the calluses to keep them manageable and use a foot lotion to keep the area moisturized.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
Once the callus ripped off it took a few weeks to heal. I was able to bandage and tape the wound and did not miss any training time.
How does the injury feel now?
Taking care of my feet more has thus far made pinched calluses a non-issue.
Sprained Foot
When did I sprain my foot?
This happened as a no stripe blue belt.
How did I sprain my foot?
I was rolling with a very large white belt. I was attempting to escape side control by framing and shrimping away from him. I was on the ball of my foot attempting to shrimp when my partner either fell or laid on my foot extending it backward and producing an audible cracking sound. I was able to shift my foot quickly and relieve the pressure and finished the roll with a submission. I initially thought the foot was broken, but it turned out to only be a sprain.
Does a sprained foot hurt?
At the time of the injury it hurt, but it was only mild after that.
How did I heal my sprained foot?
The first night I iced my foot. Rehab was stretching the foot, massaging, and keeping off it for a couple of weeks.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
It took about a month to fully heal, but it did not force me to miss any mat time.
How does the injury feel now?
This injury fully healed itself and is a non-issue now.
Bruised Eyeball
When did I sprain my foot?
This happened as a two-stripe blue belt.
How did I bruise my eye?
There was a new 20-year-old kid in class who was there for his second class. My professor is old school in the sense that he allows people to jump right into class including rolling. This was a 220lb out of shape young who had a little high school wrestling experience. I watched him roll with a couple of people before me and should have known better before rolling with this noob. When he rolled with people before me, he was very spazzy and would yell/grunt very loudly when stuck in positions.
My professor had me roll with him and we locked up in standing head and arm. He was pushing into me quite aggressively and I hit him with a quick snap down and he spazzed out and rolled onto his back and jumped up quickly. I was being nice to him and allowed him to stand. As he jumped up quickly to stand I think he went to grab my head and threw a very aggressive club, and his hand went straight into my eye bashing my eyeball.
Did the bruised eye hurt?
At the time of the injury, it did hurt and wasn’t immediately sure that my eye was ok as I could barely open my eye lid. I was comforted as within a minute or two I could open my eyelid and see out the eye. I did have a hard time seeing and was seeing double vision and couldn’t focus well at a distance. Within the first 5 minutes it was pretty bad, and I had doubts that I could drive home and thought I may need to see a doc thinking I had a detached retina or something.
I sat around for about 30 minutes and my vision began to improve and I was able to drive home without issue.
How did I heal my bruised eye?
There is not much to do with eye injuries other than rest and see a professional. I would recommend seeing a doctor quickly with eye injuries especially if your vision is impaired.
How long did it take to heal and how long was I off the mat?
The next day my vision was much better. My eye felt a little sore and I took one day off of training.
How does the injury feel now?
This injury fully healed itself and is a non-issue now.