Injuries

[JowGaWolf]

Wrestlers can be crazy tough.

Mark Coleman tells a story about Kevin Randleman from back in their wrestling days. Apparently they were both at a national championship tournament and Kevin got his jaw dislocated in one of his matches, which meant he would have to withdraw from the tournament and forfeit his remaining matches. Kevin tried to convince Mark to punch him in the jaw to pop it back in place. Mark (quite sensibly) refused. So Kevin went over to the edge of a mat and slammed the side of his own face into the mat to pop his jaw back into place. He then went on to win the championship.

BTW - I looked the story up to make sure I wasn't misremembering anything. What I remembered was correct, but I learned the additional detail that this all happened a week after Randleman had dislocated both sides of his jaw in another competition and had spent time in the hospital with doctors telling him he wouldn't be able to compete safely.

Just something to think about the next time a discussion comes up about the effectiveness and reliability of pain compliance techniques.

That story doesn't surprise me. My brother is a wrestler. That same mentality is why he eventually had to have surgery on shoulder that was dislocated and then instead of calling it quits, they popped it back in and he continued. He did that more than once an screwed up his shoulder. Wrestlers have that "push through" mentality which isn't always the best. After a few surgeries to correct things that he did when he was young. His mindset is slowly moving close to where mine is.

As for Pain Compliance. Don't even get me started lol. To me a lot of people misunderstand that. Especially kung fu people. I probably blame Hollywood for most of that.

 

[Hanzou]

Let me think...
Bear in mind that I've been practicing martial arts for 40 years, so the injuries I'm listing below have been spread out over decades.
I'll ignore routine bumps, bruises, and minor strains. There have been way too many of those to list in any art I've practiced for any length of time.

I got a broken finger in Tae Kwon Do practice while holding a board for a friend to break. He missed the board and instead kicked my hand that was holding the board.

I got a couple of cut finger tendons that needed surgical repair during my Bujinkan training while doing cutting practice with live blades. I suppose that might have had something to do with the fact that the instructors leading the class were at that time utterly unqualified to being teaching a sword art. Just a possibility.

I got a broken wrist during freestyle (sort of MMA lite) sparring with a karate practitioner. He caught my kick and swept me and I fell incorrectly. That's my fault. I knew better.

I got a dislocated shoulder during a Judo tournament. I threw my opponent for ippon, then like a doofus I turned my head the wrong way to admire my work and crash landed on my shoulder. Man, that one hurt. Also totally my fault.

I got another broken finger during another freestyle sparring session. I apparently parried a punch incorrectly and my finger tip swelled up. I didn't realize until the swelling went down that the tip was now crooked. Surprisingly that one didn't really hurt much, which is why I didn't realize it was broken until after the fact.

I had a badly broken thumb which needed surgery from BJJ sparring, when a sparring partner got too enthusiastic about breaking my grip.

I've needed stitches for forehead cuts ... I'm thinking 3 times? Once from Judo, once from BJJ, and once from stickfighting drills. (Actually it was SCA, but the teacher had us doing drills without armor.)

I've had a few mild concussions, from Muay Thai and BJJ. Nothing severe (no headaches, disorientation, or other symptoms that lasted longer than a couple of minutes), but when you get knocked down or TKO'd by a blow to the head it has to count as a concussion. My brain still seems to work okay, but I'm doing my best to avoid more of these.

I think that most injuries are avoidable with sensible practice, good coaching, and keeping one's ego out of the way. However if you spend enough time training any art with significant intensity, the odds are you will eventually get an owie of some sort. The trick is to keep those to a minimum.

That Ninjutsu story is horrific. Ouch!

My list of injuries aren't nearly as epic....

I broke two of my toes in Shotokan by front kicking incorrectly.

I broke my hand trying to do stupid **** I saw in a Karate video (reverse punching a tree).

Went for a jump kick trying to show off with my shiny new black belt in karate. When I landed I slipped on the gym floor and somehow fell on my chin and bit off a piece of my tongue. Everyone thought it was hilarious until I opened my mouth and blood gushed out.



In Bjj, I got my windpipe hurt from a choke, got my knee strained via a grapevine while in mount, got mat burn so bad once on my foot that it broke skin, and got a finger dislocated from being caught in a gi.

Nothing too serious, except the knee strains have repeatedly forced me to take breaks over the years.

 

[dvcochran]

That story doesn't surprise me. My brother is a wrestler. That same mentality is why he eventually had to have surgery on shoulder that was dislocated and then instead of calling it quits, they popped it back in and he continued. He did that more than once an screwed up his shoulder. Wrestlers have that "push through" mentality which isn't always the best. After a few surgeries to correct things that he did when he was young. His mindset is slowly moving close to where mine is.

As for Pain Compliance. Don't even get me started lol. To me a lot of people misunderstand that. Especially kung fu people. I probably blame Hollywood for most of that.

True story; you see a Lot of dislocated shoulders in competitive TKD, mostly from sliding side kicks. I have lost count on how many shoulders (and noses) I have seen my GM set back in place.
No pun intended but he is a master at it. He sets them down on their butt at an inside wall corner, raises them arm and put both legs on their mid-section. Takes longer to get them in that position than it does to set the shoulder sometimes.

 

[Cynik75]

From boxing - dislocated thumb.
From BJJ - dislocated elbow from fast and stron armbar during competition - 3 month out of trainings, 9 month till fully recovered
Both little toes broken - one was tangled up in kimono, second stuck in a gap between pieces of mat.
Many dislocated/twisted fingers. a few injured tendons and muscles.
Plus dozens smaller injuries - now at 45 I tap to everything just to avoid next injuries - time of recover is longer and longer.


Here in Poland we have proverb "sport to zdrowie", it means " sport is/means health". Sportsmen usually say "sport to zdrowie... utracone" - "sport is/means health ... the lost one".

 

[JowGaWolf]

True story; you see a Lot of dislocated shoulders in competitive TKD, mostly from sliding side kicks. I have lost count on how many shoulders (and noses) I have seen my GM set back in place.
No pun intended but he is a master at it. He sets them down on their butt at an inside wall corner, raises them arm and put both legs on their mid-section. Takes longer to get them in that position than it does to set the shoulder sometimes.

That does surprise me

 

[Unkogami]

Should have told him to rub some dirt on it and work it out lol. Just your description of that injury make me cringe trying to image it.

The first thing I did was throw a sweatshirt over it so he couldn't see it. Even the paramedics did a doubletake when they first looked at the arm.

 

[Unkogami]

Wrestlers can be crazy tough.

Mark Coleman tells a story about Kevin Randleman from back in their wrestling days. Apparently they were both at a national championship tournament and Kevin got his jaw dislocated in one of his matches, which meant he would have to withdraw from the tournament and forfeit his remaining matches. Kevin tried to convince Mark to punch him in the jaw to pop it back in place. Mark (quite sensibly) refused. So Kevin went over to the edge of a mat and slammed the side of his own face into the mat to pop his jaw back into place. He then went on to win the championship.

BTW - I looked the story up to make sure I wasn't misremembering anything. What I remembered was correct, but I learned the additional detail that this all happened a week after Randleman had dislocated both sides of his jaw in another competition and had spent time in the hospital with doctors telling him he wouldn't be able to compete safely.

Just something to think about the next time a discussion comes up about the effectiveness and reliability of pain compliance techniques.

Sounds about right.

I could tell you some stories to turn your hair white, but I'm not sure you want to know.

 

[Unkogami]

That story doesn't surprise me. My brother is a wrestler. That same mentality is why he eventually had to have surgery on shoulder that was dislocated and then instead of calling it quits, they popped it back in and he continued. He did that more than once an screwed up his shoulder. Wrestlers have that "push through" mentality which isn't always the best. After a few surgeries to correct things that he did when he was young. His mindset is slowly moving close to where mine is.

....

Just yesterday my doctor was going over the long list of **** wrong with me today as the consequence of an intemperate youth.


Worth it.

 

[Buka]

Injuries? In Martial Arts? Say it ain't so!

 

[wolfeyes2323]

I’m 36 and have very little training in martial arts

My question is what arts do you guys train that get the most injuries and the least

sports where you are struck in the head , or repeatedly slammed on a mat, as we age our body can not take this kind of punishment. Otherwise it is more a matter of how you practice , rather than what you practice. I'm 65+, train every morning and regularly during the week (have for almost 40 years). Injury comes from uncontrolled contact, or trying to do things we could do in our 20's without a long process of building up to it again, and even then wear and tear will take its toll. Learn to pace your self, give your self time to recover, live healthy and you can training till end of the line.