Common Injuries in Jiu Jitsu | Neck

It can go without saying that injuries in jiu jitsu is not so much a question of how it will happen to you, but when.  After getting back to the mat post-honeymoon last Saturday night, I could sense that the coming Sunday was going to be sore one.  After waking up (moving quite like Batman), I felt compelled to write.

INJURY NO. 1 : NECK

[Commonly encountered from neck cranks, guillotine chokes & hard falls]

 Muscles Affected*: [Upper/Mid-back] Semi-spinalis, Longissimus dorsi, Iliocostalis dorsi, Trapezius [Neck]  Semispinalis capitus, Levator scapulae, Longus capitus, Longus colii, Scalenes, Splenius cervicis

STEP ONE: UNDERSTANDING YOUR PAIN & BEING PROACTIVE

The first thing to understand (and sometimes a difficult thing amongst men) is “Don’t be a hero.”  Before more damage is done, Tap out!  It also helps to communicate beforehand with your training partner, especially if they are strong to begin with.  If something feels injured, it probably is (proceed to step 2).  The quicker you start the healing process (which first is the sometimes difficult task of stopping your training – at the very least for the time being).

Listen to your body.  Don’t be a hero.  What you do from the time injury occurs and for the proceeding 24-72 hours, is of monumental importance.  Stretching beforehand is crucial before any activity and will help stave off the soreness and lessen the possibility for injury.

STEP TWO: R.I.C.E., RECOVERY & NUTRITION

Most of us have heard the acronym “R.I.C.E.”  It stands for: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.  Stay away from heat (it’ll increase the inflammatory response).  I learned in massage school the tremendous benefits of ice therapy and highly encourage everyone to apply it, constantly.  Studies have show that heat (although it may feel nice) acts superficially and doesn’t get quite the rush of blood and nutrients that cold produces.  Aspirin or Alleve is a good pain reliever but Arnica is a great natural, topical treatment (applied only to injured, unbroken skin) [Weil, 2006].  Three key nutritional needs for muscle recovery/growth are vitamin C (chief component of connective tissue healing) and protein (essential for muscle growth/regrowth) and hydration.  Speaking from personal experience, even with the use of multiple, daily applications of ice, and plenty of good rest and nutrition, pain (although in a diminishing amount) is present anywhere from 3 to 14 days.

STEP THREE: REHABILITATION / PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE

It is always advisable to see a physician regarding any injury, however many injuries we sustain in the martial arts and through training are (fairly) minor and can be dealt with through the application of good sense and information (from expert sources**).  Acupuncture, massage therapy and (especially) chiropractic treatments are avenues highly worth exploring and will help keep your body working in top order.  And while recovery is best done with rest, it is not to say that some motion is bad.  The body craves motion (but know your limits/boundaries)! Light stretching, slow movement and (pain-free) rotations of the joints can be highly beneficial in boosting circulation, improving muscle tone and lubricating the joints.  A great resource for anyone is Dick Hartzell (inventor of the Flex band).  Here is one of my favorite videos of his for shoulders [Click Here].

CONTINUING TRAINING

You’re body is yours and yours alone, and it goes without saying that we should do our utmost to keep it healthy.  When, how soon and how hard you continue your training is ultimately in your hands and should be a safe call.  Be patient and make sure your ready.  If you’ve consulted your physician or chiropractor, ask him or her if and/or when you’ll be ready to continue training.  Good luck everyone.

We at The Combative Corner wish you all the best and – no injuries!  Cheers.

Please offer your advice if you feel we missed/left out anything

RELATED ARTICLES: KEITH OWEN: DOES YOUR BACK OR NECK HURT?

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*Obviously injuries vary and therefore different muscles can be damaged/injured to a greater extent.  This is not a complete list, as other muscles maybe affected as well.  It is, however, of benefit to become aware of these muscles.

**Author Michael Joyce is a professional martial artist, licensed massage therapist (#6096) and has his degree in the Exercise & Sport Sciences.  Additional Resources: Andrew Weil M.D., The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2004, Volume 32, Dr. Tom Deters, Ashok V Gokhale, MD, PhD, eMedicineHealth.

-Photos of Muscles Courtesy of: Greys Anatomy

Boredom with Exercise : Sifu Lee

In order to achieve elite physical potential, one must liberate oneself from the feeling of boredom while exercising.  The foundational exercises to maintain a healthy state of physicality are simple and if an individual cannot be satisfied with this simplicity then there can never be enough “new” exercises to alleviate this persons feeling of boredom.  In order to be a great basketball player, a person cannot get “bored” of shooting.  The person would literally have to shoot thousands shots before achieving his true potential.  In order to become a great boxer, a person cannot get “bored” of punching.  The person would have to punch thousands of times in order to become great.  With exercising and physical fitness, it is the same concept.

If a person who is unfit wishes to become healthy and fit, the person cannot be bored of exercising.  If this person becomes bored, this person will eventually lose his interest to exercise and never become fit and healthy until he has learned to free himself from this inner feeling of boredom.  No personal trainer in this world can ever come up with enough varieties of exercise to satisfy a clients feeling of boredom.  Any and all exercises are simply variations from the foundational exercises that are required to achieve elite physical potential.

For example the foundational exercise to maintain cardio endurance is running, any other cardio exercise that heightens the heart rate is just a variation to the foundation.  No matter if it is biking, swimming, using the elliptical, using a stationary bike, jumping rope, doing jumping jacks, etc.  In order to achieve elite physical potential, one cannot become dependent on variations due to simply being bored of the foundation.  Many times a person will use excuses to not exercise because he does not have access to certain training equipment that he has become dependent on.  A swimmer may not exercise because the swimming pool has closed for the day.  A biker may not exercise because his bike had a flat tire.  An individual who frequents the gym may become dependent on an elliptical machine and will only exercise when she has access to an elliptical.  All these are examples of different forms of dependency that provide excuses for individuals to not exercise.  If one is satisfied with the foundation, which is running, then one always maintains cardio fitness no matter the location or circumstances.  One can run indoors, one can run outdoors, and one can run in place.  One is not dependent on other variations of cardio fitness; one is satisfied with the foundation.  This foundation will allow an individual to maintain cardio fitness for the entirety of one’s life.

In order to achieve elite cardio fitness, a runner must take thousands of steps.  In order to develop muscular strength in the chest and arms, an individual must practice thousands of pushups.  Being bored of certain exercises simply is not an adequate excuse to stop exercising, one simply needs to liberate oneself from any feeling of boredom and learn to appreciate and find joy in practicing the foundational exercises necessary to maintain physical fitness.  The truth to exercising and staying fit is that it is simple.  Others just wish to make you think that it is complicated so that they can somehow turn it into a profession in order to make profits.  What the majority of the population really lacks is not how to stay fit and healthy but rather the lack is in the motivation and discipline in which to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

– Sifu Freddie Lee

CombativeCorner Profile

FreddiesModernKungfu.Com

One-On-One with Sifu Lee : Exercise Boredom

In order to achieve elite physical potential, one must liberate oneself from the feeling of boredom while exercising.  The foundational exercises to maintain a healthy state of physicality are simple and if an individual cannot be satisfied with this simplicity then there can never be enough “new” exercises to alleviate this persons feeling of boredom.  In order to be a great basketball player, a person cannot get “bored” of shooting.  The person would literally have to shoot thousands shots before achieving his true potential.  In order to become a great boxer, a person cannot get “bored” of punching.  The person would have to punch thousands of times in order to become great.  With exercising and physical fitness, it is the same concept.

If a person who is unfit wishes to become healthy and fit, the person cannot be bored of exercising.  If this person becomes bored, this person will eventually lose his interest to exercise and never become fit and healthy until he has learned to free himself from this inner feeling of boredom.  No personal trainer in this world can ever come up with enough varieties of exercise to satisfy a clients feeling of boredom.  Any and all exercises are simply variations from the foundational exercises that are required to achieve elite physical potential.

For example the foundational exercise to maintain cardio endurance is running, any other cardio exercise that heightens the heart rate is just a variation to the foundation.  No matter if it is biking, swimming, using the elliptical, using a stationary bike, jumping rope, doing jumping jacks, etc.  In order to achieve elite physical potential, one cannot become dependent on variations due to simply being bored of the foundation.  Many times a person will use excuses to not exercise because he does not have access to certain training equipment that he has become dependent on.  A swimmer may not exercise because the swimming pool has closed for the day.  A biker may not exercise because his bike had a flat tire.  An individual who frequents the gym may become dependent on an elliptical machine and will only exercise when she has access to an elliptical.  All these are examples of different forms of dependency that provide excuses for individuals to not exercise.  If one is satisfied with the foundation, which is running, then one always maintains cardio fitness no matter the location or circumstances.  One can run indoors, one can run outdoors, and one can run in place.  One is not dependant on other variations of cardio fitness; one is satisfied with the foundation.  This foundation will allow an individual to maintain cardio fitness for the entirety of one’s life.

In order to achieve elite cardio fitness, a runner must take thousands of steps.  In order to develop muscular strength in the chest and arms, an individual must practice thousands of pushups.  Being bored of certain exercises simply is not an adequate excuse to stop exercising, one simply needs to liberate oneself from any feeling of boredom and learn to appreciate and find joy in practicing the foundational exercises necessary to maintain physical fitness.  The truth to exercising and staying fit is that it is simple.  Others just wish to make you think that it is complicated so that they can somehow turn it into a profession in order to make profits.  What the majority of the population really lacks is not how to stay fit and healthy but rather the lack is in the motivation and discipline in which to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sifu Freddie Lee

CombativeCorner Profile

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One-On-One with Sifu Lee: Nutrition

Nutrition and sleep are more important than concentrated exercise or martial arts. If you did not eat or sleep, you would not be able to function or live very long. But if you did not exercise or practice martial arts, you would obviously still survive. This goes to show the importance of getting good rest and eating healthy. Depending on the individual, it is ideal to receive 6-10 hours of sleep a night. If one has not received adequate sleep for the day and has the option to either get sleep or exercise, one should always choose sleep. As sleep is what supplies the body with energy in which to exercise and it is also during sleep that an athlete’s muscles will be able to repair.
As far as nutrition and eating habits are concerned. Similar to exercise, people know what is healthy to eat but many simply do not follow healthy eating habits. First and foremost we should stop consuming obvious foods that are unhealthy and stop practicing obvious unhealthy habits. We should never smoke cigarettes or ingest any harmful substance into our bodies. We should never drink alcohol, not even in small amounts, as this does not serve any healthy benefit to the body. We should not take any harmful drugs. We should not take any muscle enhancement supplements such as steroids, creatine, etc. Those are some of the obvious substances that we should not consume for any reason, as they serve no health benefit in anyway.
Here is a list of some of the basics of nutrition:

• We should eliminate our consumption of soda. Soda has absolutely no nutritional value. We should drink pure filtered water for most of the day. There may be times that our bodies may crave for some sugar. In order to fulfill this need we can drink 100% Pure Juice with a mixture of filtered water in order to lessen our consumption of mass amounts of sugar.
• We should not drink anything that contains caffeine or consume energy drinks. These drinks supply superficial energy boosts that train your body to become dependent on this superficial energy boost. Rather you should eat healthy foods and drink natural juices or water to gain the energy you need.
• We should not intake powdered protein shakes. The money spent on powdered protein shakes can be better used towards purchasing real healthy foods that provide us with the energy that we need for the day. If we eat correctly, the food that we consume will provide us with more than enough protein for the day. Purchasing powdered protein simply is a waste of money.
• We should eat 5-6 small portion meals throughout the day rather than 3 large portion meals a day. In this way your metabolism will be trained to burn more calories during inactivity resulting in optimal fitness.
• You should never force yourself to eat more food when you are no longer hungry. You should simply eat enough food so that you are satisfied.  Never overindulge.
• 90% of your meals should be healthy home cooked meals. In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle it is a necessity to learn how to cook healthy foods or to at least live with another individual that can cook healthy foods. This is cost efficient and also the healthiest way of eating. Mostly all restaurants serve food that contains more oil and fats than necessary, resulting in unhealthy eating habits if consumed too frequently.
• Fruits are a very good healthy snack that should be preferred over unhealthy snacks such as donuts, cookies, cakes, and candy bars. Apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, etc, are all good fruits to consume for snacks.
• Peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, and various other nuts are also very good for snacks. Although they do contain a high percentage of fat, they contain the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats that are actually very good for the body.
• Sweets such as candy bars and cookies can be consumed in small amounts. Sometimes our bodies crave for sweets. During this time we can have a couple of cookies or a candy bar, it’s ok but there is a problem when you start eating 10 cookies a day or 5 candy bars everyday.
• Ice cream is ok but we should purchase ice cream that has a lower fat content. Slow churned ice cream or light ice cream containing half the normal fat content is ok as long as we consume 1 serving every couple of days or longer. Sometimes our bodies crave for this kind of sweet.
• If we do need to eat fast food we should prefer sandwiches rather than hamburgers. We should rather prefer Jimmy John’s, PotBelly’s, Subway, or any other sandwich fast food restaurant as these sandwiches are usually much healthier than the normal burger joint.
• A good daily snack is a self-prepared sandwich with 100% whole wheat bread, the usual veggies, meat, cheese, etc.
• Potato chips when moderately consumed are ok for a little snack or to supplement a meal.

We are never on a strict diet. We are not on a diet at all. We train our bodies to eat healthy and find joy in eating healthy. We have made eating healthy a lifestyle, a habit. When you begin to live this lifestyle, your body will not feel good when you consistently eat unhealthy. Your body and mind will respond in ways that motivate you to only put quality foods inside of your body. There are times when your body craves for junk food, such as hamburgers, fried chicken, french fries, gyros, hotdogs, etc.
It’s ok to eat these types of foods once every couple of weeks or maybe even once a week but when your body has become accustomed to eating healthy it will not desire to eat those types of foods more than just a few times every couple of weeks. Once you have become accustomed to the healthy way of living all you simply do is listen and pay attention to your bodily functions. You then simply eat whatever you wish to eat and naturally your body will only crave the healthy. Therefore, remember that this is never a diet, this is a way of life, a lifestyle, a habitual way of living that is geared towards the healthy way of living, you eat whatever you want but truthfully it is your body that only wants the healthy.
A day’s example of a food plan while drinking water throughout the day:

1. Eat cereal in the morning with milk.
2. Take a daily multivitamin if desired.
3. 2 hours later eat a banana
4. 1 hour later eat a self made sandwich
5. 2 hours later eat your lunch meal such as a stir-fry with veggies, meat, and rice.
6. 1 hour later snack on a few cookies, some chocolate, or mixed nuts
7. 30 min. later eat an orange.
8. 1 hour later eat an apple.
9. 1 hour later eat your dinner meal such as veggie soup, stir-fry with veggies, meat, and rice.
10. 30 min. later eat some light ice cream if desired.
11. Drink some 100% juice mixed with filtered water

Sifu Freddie Lee

Freddie’s Modern Kungfu

NOTE: As anyone will tell you, always consult a physician when concerned about your health, diet and direction of your wellness plan.  As for ANY nutritional and dietary information on this site (or ANYWHERE), please use your own good judgement.  The authors of this website, are not registered dietitians, but have a strong background in health, wellness & exercise.  Proper nutrition just goes with the territory.

A Day’s Lesson [9/14/2010] : Coach Joyce

A Jedi’s skill flows…

“When I envision a proper martial artist, behold! I see a Jedi warrior, someone who not only has discipline enough to stay the course of rigorous physical training but also [and not emphasized enough] the understanding that “The Force” (Chi, Qi, Ki) flows; as Master Yoda said, ‘Its energy surrounds us, and binds us.’  We should take a serious look into what energy we are fueling ourselves with these days.

In a very serious way, we ARE what we eat, and this should seriously concern us.  After recently becoming vegetarian (90-95% at least) you should see the looks I get when I tell people my new, (healthy) lifestyle.  You would think that I had said or done something horrible.  They turn away and say something like, ‘I don’t know how you do it’ or ‘I could never do that.’  They (the ‘Norms’) go around eating what they want, playing the slave to their taste buds, to those pleasure centers in their brain, and worse off… they are reenforced by a society that tells them that they are F.I.N.E.,… as if eating in this ‘normal way’ IS fine.

Many Americans (that I’ve witnessed) take pride in being different.  Just the other night at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), Lady Gaga walked out on stage in a dress made entirely of animal flesh.  Whether she was trying to make a statement or not, she did make headlines.  In many teenager’s minds ‘different’ is ‘creative.’  It IS if you’re already famous enough that people go along with it.  Many health conscious people can show you another way to be ‘different’… examples: turn your back on fast food establishments, nicotine, alcohol, meat… or maybe the entire lot!

Yoda also said that ‘We must unlearn what we have learned,’ and I think this is an important step for the true martial artist, someone who sees beyond what he can do (i.e. how much he/she can bench press) but moreso, what he/she is made of.  We all know (at least we should know) that energy, not protein and animal fat, powers our physical body and helps us to grow.  My message is to seek a Jedi’s nutition by exercising control (meats, refined sugars, saturated fats & portion size).  Going green should not just be a recycling movement… it should be a shift in our thinking.  Yoda is green for a reason (and he lived to be 900 years old).”

Coach Michael Joyce

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