BJJ and Arthritis – Part 1 of ?

Well, this is about BJJ and osteoarthritis, if we want to get specific.

To provide some context, let’s start back at (sort of) the beginning:

My right hip has been bothering me for years: it’s always come and gone, or something stupid would happen while training and I would hobble around a bit – the pain would go away, until it took longer and longer to go away, and then it stopped going away. I told myself that it had something to do with my right hip flexor, or it was a muscle strain, literally for years – just that nagging injury that just wouldn’t seem to quit.

I was still fairly active, but there was something that was going on, even when I didn’t realize it: I remember one of my bosses mentioning during a stand up meeting that I always looked like I was walking on a tight rope.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was standing that way so I could keep weight off of my hip – at the time it was just a thing I did.

Then at some point in early 2020 the pain went from annoying but manageable to substantial and started to cause me to limp. If we’re being totally honest, my training started to suffer and so did my performance at competitions: I was afraid of being in more pain, making whatever was going on worse for myself.

I’m not sure honestly what made me decide to see an orthopaedist – I think I wanted some assurance that it wasn’t something wrong with the joint, and really it was the muscle like I told myself it was all these years.

As they say: I took a calculated risk, but boy was I bad at math.

I finally went to an orthopedist, first thing they did was take an x ray of my hip, which was kind of a weird experience in and of itself, but that isn’t really worth going into. Anyway, they then left me in an exam room for me, with the image from the x-ray on a computer screen, so I examine it with the growing anxiety that this definitely was not a muscular thing, that something was quite wrong. The first doctor that came in was actually a physician’s assistant, who gave me a pitying look and opened with,

“So, you weren’t dealt the best hand in life when you were born…”

“…when it comes to your hips.”

They then explained that it was arthritis, and thought my hip was in this state due to a hip impingement – which for anyone who doesn’t feel like googling it, is a malformation of the hip joint: either the ball or the socket are malformed and creates additional friction in the joint, wearing down the cartilage. By this point the second doctor showed up, and when pressed for more information let me know that it was bad, but bad can be subjective based on the patient.

“I mean, I’ve seen people with hips like yours that can’t walk.” Cool. Coolcoolcoolcool…. exactly what everyone wants to hear. They also hypothesized that I was probably still so mobile because of my core strength, so yay jiu jitsu, and strength & conditioning training.

During that appointment they also estimated that I had about 5-10 years before I needed a new hip joint. At the time I let them know that I wanted to try to keep the original joint for as long as possible, and I decided at the time to get a steroid shot in my hip to relieve the pain. I managed to get the shot right before the pandemic shut everything down, so I was lucky in that regard. The shot worked for a few months, but I started to feel pain again about 3-4 months later, which grew progressively worse as time went on.

During this time I decided to go to a different orthopedist, and ended up going to one recommended by my primary physician.

The second orthopedist I went to also took an x-ray of my hip: I was again left in an exam room with an image of my hip. It was less of a shock this time, but it was also evident that my hip had gotten worse. The doctor came in, introduced himself, sat down, looked me in the eye and said “your hip is terrible”.

He then went on to say that I need to have surgery soon. My right leg had become shorter than my left, which has given me an uneven gate and is started to effect my back.

You know, just nonstop fun and excitement over here.

This one believes it could have been any number of things that happened to my hip, including possibly an injury to the cartilage that I didn’t notice when I was younger, possibly from jiu jitsu – which my guess would be that if that’s the case, there’s a 98% chance it’s from jiu jitsu.

One nice thing was the doctor also explained it was going to be a 45 minute procedure, and that I could be up and about as early as the next day. he then went on to show me videos and photos of people who were up and walking as early as 5 to 6 hours after their surgery. So, now I have surgery scheduled for the end of August.

Admittedly, I still had a few days where I sort of had to go through the stages of grief over the whole thing essentially, but I think I’m basically at the point of acceptance, and I’m trying to focus on the things that I should be able to do after this replacement.

Will I compete as much as I did before? I’m truly not sure: I know there’s at least one (older) guy who competes with a hip replacement, but right now I really want to focus on my day to day before thinking about whether or not I can get back into competition.

I’m not writing this for sympathy from anyone, but for the same reason that I ever write on this blog: if I’m going through it, there’s at least ONE other person in the world who is going through the same thing. The circumstances may be a little different, but if I can offer the assurance that there’s another person going through this, that they aren’t alone, that you can get through it, then I’ve accomplished what I’ve set out to do.

Also, moral of the story: if something is bothering you for longer than a couple of months, please get it checked out. Unfortunately due to several factors I put off seeing someone for this some time, but if I had gone to a doctor earlier there may have been a chance that I could have done some alternative treatments and extended the life of the joint.

I’ll try to post on instagram about my progress, and maybe I’ll even get my act together and write another blog post about my progress.

That’s all for now: have a great day, and don’t ignore nagging injuries.

Ribeiro East Coast Tournament: a Success!

Hey Everyone,

This past weekend we had a tournament down in Virginia Beach for all of the East Coast affiliates in the Ribeiro Association: a number of schools competed for a pretty sweet trophy, made some great friendships and overall had a fantastic time.

How was your weekend? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day!

 

Explaining vs. Showing: How Do You Best Learn Jiu Jitsu?

So, anyone who has talked to me for longer than 12 seconds knows that I’m a visual person: I think in very visual terms, when I speak or write I like to build an image for my intended audience, and when I learn something, I need to “see” it with my mind’s eye to understand it. It’s one of the nice things about jiu jitsu class: in addition to explaining the technique, more often than not the instructor will go through the motions of the technique, offering the best of both worlds, showing the technique and then providing additional explanation and focus on certain details.

I’m bringing this up because I know there are some blogs out there that go tremendously in depth in their explanation of a technique, and basically provide a how to: and more often than not it’s all Greek to me. Not that I lack the capacity to eventually imagine what the person is trying to explain, or that the person is somehow failing in their explanation- it’s just I can’t “see” what they are trying to explain very easily.

It’s just a learning preference: I imagine there are people out there who love the step by step, written instruction on how to do something. If so, let me know who you are, and what appeals to you about that method: I’m genuinely curious.

Otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Jiu Jitsu Techniques: It’s the Little Things that Matter

I was talking to a teammate last night about some troubles she’s been having while training, and while there are some larger movements that we talked about, it was really focusing on the smaller details that made the most difference. It makes sense, when you think about it: when we first learn a technique we focus on the general movements and principles, and sometimes become frustrated because we attempt to execute them and fail. But it was supposed to work, right? It creates a sort of cognitive dissonance: I was told to do this thing, in this situation, and it’s not working. It’s not until we go over those techniques again (and again, and again…) and hone in on the details that we really find success with those techniques. If you’re having trouble with a particular detail, slow down, take your time and make sure you have all the finer points and details down, and if you aren’t sure you have it, take the time to talk to your coach or instructor so they can help you with those little details.

Just my thoughts for today- have a great day everyone!

Pans Training Camp Weekend

In preparation for Pans this week, our academy had a training camp during the entire weekend- hours of drilling, positional training, we even threw in some strength & conditioning and a yoga session. It was a good time, and in addition to a great training session, just a fantastic time to be around friends and teammates.

I’ll post some photos when I get them (I know, I never seem to take photos of these events- usually because I’m in the middle of doing said activity). How does your academy get ready for a big tournament? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day everyone!

BJJ and Takedowns: Attacking “On the Move”

My coach had an excellent point last night (which you know, happens now and again…I kid, I kid) during class- one of the more difficult elements of takedowns, other than the actual technique itself, is executing it with a live, moving target. We become used to drilling a particular takedeown- a judo throw, a single or double, etc- that when it comes to go time, it’s hard to translate those “static” drills into a smooth execution of the technique.

It’s beneficial to work on attacking “on the move”- either through sparring, or a light back and forth with a partner who isn’t necessarily overly resistant, but more mobile and offering a more dynamic situation to work off of, rather than just standing there (we call this “hop randori” in our academy). Practicing in this fashion is a better representation of just how you will execute your takedown during more intense sparring and in competition, leaving (relatively) little surprise when it comes to use it.

Just wanted to share with you all- have a great day everyone!

People Say the Darndest Things (About BJJ)

Meerkatsu has a post up of 10 Dumb Things People Say About BJJ– I’ve heard one or two of those comments, but I’d like to add a few comments I’ve heard a couple of times over the years:

“So, do you think you would be able to handle yourself in a fight [on the street]?” – I always find this question odd,  and the snarky part of my personality always itches to say something really sarcastic in response to this comment. I suppress it for the most part, but there’s still that urge- I can’t help it, I was born this way.

“What would you do if I took you down right now?” – I would get out of the situation and forever refer to you as “the creep who tried to assault me in public”.

And one of my favorite interactions with a coworker:

“It’s karate?”

“Well, no, it’s more like wrestling,”

“Oh…so karate wrestling.”  

That’s what we’re doing everyone: karate wrestling.

Anyone else have any notable comments you’ve heard over the years about jiu jitsu? Let me know!

BJJ and Competition: “If You Do This, I Will Lose My Mind”

This is another one of those phrases I never thought I would say in jiu jitsu class.

Sometimes competition can be just as nerve wracking for the coaches as it is for the competitors themselves. I firmly believe half the white hairs which comprise my gray streak are probably from coaching my teammates at tournaments. Well worth it, but still.

We’re headed to a NAGA this weekend, so during one of the classes we (the higher ranks) did a quick review of the rules and points with the white belts. We started to talk about mount, and points for taking the back, and I’m not entirely sure how we got to this point but I rolled onto my belly with my legs straight and just laid there, explained that position is what we call a flat turtle, cautioned them to avoid it and said,

“If you do this, I will lose my mind.”

I understand things happen sometimes beyond our control during a match, but in complete honesty- yeah, I would probably lose my mind. I don’t think it’s something they would even think about consciously doing, but again, crazy things happen sometimes in tournament.

Just wanted to share with you all. Have a great day everyone!

The Snowstorm That Wasn’t (Not in Philadelphia, at Least)

So as a precautionary measure our academy cancelled some classes last night in preparation for a hella-ton of snow.

… That didn’t happen.

It can be frustrating, especially when you’re getting ready for a tournament or itching to get into the gym to train and try some new stuff, but we do have to keep safety in mind. Or whatever. The bright side to this however is that since the snowstorm in Philly is so relatively mild, that means pretty much everyone who was planning to come to class still can-hooray! (within reason- I’m sure some people have to deal with more snow than the majority of us in the city).

Does this happen to you often? Or enough times that you can remember- cancelled classes due to a bad weather fake-out? Let me know: otherwise, have a great day everyone!

 

Progressing in BJJ: The Better You Are, the Longer it Takes

I was talking to one of our purple belts last night, who admitted to being a little frustrated: he mentioned that up until now there had been some peaks, and admittedly some valleys to his progression, but those lulls were always fairly short and after a couple of months he would progress again. This past lull however seems to be particularly long for him.

So I actually drew a parallel between jiu jitsu and playing video games for him. Sure, in the beginning you progress or “level up” at a relatively quick rate: you’re learning new (basic) skills all the time, and you feel quite accomplished with yourself. Once you start to get the basics down, more skills are built on top of that basic foundation, and may take a little longer to master….Or at least not be terrible at executing.

And this trend continues: you keep building your skills, and inevitably it will take longer and longer to notice progress. But rest assured, as long as you keep attending class, drilling and training, being open to new ideas, progress will eventually happen. Sure it can be frustrating at times, especially when you become accustomed to that initiate rate of success. But, as I mentioned to someone else last night, I highly recommend the Dory approach to jiu jitsu:

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming….”