Do you get hurt?

[world of peace]

I was thinking of joining a jiu jitsu or bjj class, but i have a couple of questions if anyone can help me.

Do you bow to each other or to your teacher in jj or bjj?

Do you harm your opponent(in class obviously) while practise, i mean do you carry out the whole move and apply your force or do you have to restrain your force in order not to hurt them?

Are there moves where you strike your opponent's face?

[Ronson]

At my MMA club we don't bow to each other or to the instructors.

Before we spar or "roll" (grapple) we just slap hands before and after.

Most subs. can be applied in a controlled fashion without comprimising the integrity of your sub. and maintaining both participants safety. With proper positioning and technique of applying the sub., one needs only to apply minimal force to get the tap (generally speaking). Some subs. are more sensitive than others i.e. The straight armbar - it's a matter of a few degrees between a tap and hyperextending/"poppin" an elbow, so be careful and work on body proprioception/awareness.

[bvermillion]

If you dont mind me asking what are your reasons for asking these questions?

[shasan]

Don't worry, you'll only get hurt if you do silly things like refuse to tap because you don't want to lose.

As for punches to the face, I'm not sure there is a lot of emphasis on it in a pure BJJ class, but in a Vale Tudo setting yes, people will be taking shots at your face, but we always wear gloves, and some people even wear head-gear.

Here's the thing though, whereas I have never seriously hurt myself when rolling, there's no gaurantee that you can't get hurt. Just like crossing the street, or driving a car, or whatever.

The benefits FAR outweigh the risks. Go for it.

[squidd]

hi, i hope i don't get flamed for saying this...

yes, you will get hurt when you train in bjj. pain is an intrinsic part of bjj training, even if you opt for a class that is purely grappling without the vale tudo aspects. the only way to know that a technique works is if it hurts on the part of the person it is applied to.

but allow me to qualify the above statement. i suggest that you don't look at getting hurt in bjj training as something binary (that is O: not get hurt at all, and 1: get hurt). in my limited experience, i dare say ghetting hurt in bjj is a scale. for example, a cross choke can hurt a little (.1: on the hurt scale) or strain your neck for a week (.9 on the hurt scale).

if you train with responsible people, the hurt you will experience will be of the .1, .2, or .3 variety. rarely will you get hurt at the .5 level. i hope i will not sound too presumptuous if i tell you that despite my very limited knowledge (ie. a couple of months only) i am one of the more careful practitioners. i hold fast to the tenet that one need not hurt one's opponent any more than necessary. there are quite a handful of people i train with who are like-minded and i feel very safe in their hands.

on the off side, i have seen and had experience rolling with people who don't give a hoot how much they hurt you. avoid these people at all costs. saying no to a challenge to spar from such people does not make you less of a person.

most importantly, realize that accidents do happen. it is possible for even the safest bjj practitioner (specially the newer ones like me) to apply a lock too hard. this is, of course, nearly impossible for practitioners at higher levels. sometimes it is not a matter of just tapping out in time. sometimes the person will not seem, hear, or feel your tap out. this has happened to me. amazingly, it happened with a very careful person. as such, i did not hold a grudge because it was really an accident which we were responsible for in equal parts.

in closing, allow me to say this. to a certain extent, in bjj training you put your limbs and neck in the hands of people you train with. there is no way around that. and that being so, chose wisely in whose hands you place your limbs and neck in.

good luck and i hope bjj will have gained another practitioner.

[Nothingness]

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[TylerDurden]

There are two basic types of injuries, wear and tear injuries and more immediate ones. The wear and tear ones happen, and there is little you can do about it. BJJ is hard on the body, you will be in difficult positions with people applying alot of pressure to your neck, knees, shoulders, back, etc. Get warmed up, work the supporting muscle structure and wear knee pads, and you can minimize this. Also if you feel an area becoming chronically sore take a week off and let it recover. I am currently doing this with my knees after my first year of training, and they feel much better now.

More immediate injuries, broken bones, sprains, pulled muscles are also common. You can avoid most of them by being careful and not forcing anything. The only broken bone I have had so far was a finger, and I broke it trying to force a guard pass with I didn't have the correct position. I muscled the pass and heard a loud SNAP, when I looked down my finger was pointing 45 degrees to the right. So be careful, when in doubt use less force, it's about technique not muscle.