Category Archives: Health & Nutrition
The Dangerous Locks
Not all submissions are created equal: some cause pain, some put you to sleep, and some do a lot of damage. Today I want to talk about the latter category, those submissions most likely to send you to the orthopedic surgeon. (more…)
Concussions are an ever-present possibility in grappling, especially if you do a lot of takedowns or striking. In fact I think it’s fair to say that everyone training in a combat sport for long enough will get hit on the head hard enough at some point to have some kind of concussion. (more…)
Training with an Injured Wing
A grapplearts reader writes:
Q: How can I still train if I have an injured hand, wrist, arm or shoulder?
A: Being injured is super-frustrating when you want to train. But there are things you can do to keep your skills sharp even if you’ve got an upper body injury… (more…)
Trust Your Spider Sense
Most instructors, motivators and ‘experts’ will tell you to train, train, train. Today I am going to tell you the exact opposite: there are some days when you shouldn’t go within a hundred yards of a mat. The trick is figuring out which days those are. (more…)
Neck Cranks
A Grapplearts reader writes:
Q: “What are the true dangers of neck cranks?”
A: It is funny how many clubs ban leg locks but allow neck cranks. Necks are under a lot of stress in grappling, even under ‘normal’ conditions (more…)
There Can Be Only One! The Best Exercise for Grappling Cardio...
A Grapplearts reader writes:
Q: “If you only had time for one cardio excercise which would you choose: swimming or running?”
A: Swimming and running are both awesome exercises, and both have their pros and cons. (more…)
Training with Injury
Injuries suck. They hurt, they take a long time to heal, and most importantly, they prevent you from training. Knowing how to train around injuries is an important part of getting better at any sport, and this is especially true in grappling. (more…)
Grapplers are a tough bunch, and generally tend to ignore injuries unless broken bones are actually protruding from a wound. I want to temper this tendency by using the Grapplearts pulpit to discuss a very serious category of orthopedic injury: strains and sprains of the lowly foot. (more…)
I have received many questions about nutrition, and so far I haven’t tackled them in my newsletter. This is partially because nutrition is such a huge issue, and also because people are starting from such radically different baselines (more…)
How to Safely Practice Dangerous Leglocks
Q: Given that leglocks are dangerous, how do you train them safely and still have confidence that they will work in a ‘live’ setting.
A: Although ANY submission is potentially dangerous, cranking someone with a heel hook or toehold can not only end the match, it can end your opponent’s athletic career. (more…)
The 'Elders' Speak
My newsletter last week about grappling with an aging body generated a fair bit of feedback. Some respondents thanked me for the article (you’re welcome). Others called me a candy-ass and that I should work harder and complain less (they were joking, I think). (more…)
The following question was submitted by a subscriber of the Grapplearts newsletter.
Q: What are your views on the ‘aging grappler’ who tries to keep rolling into his thirties and forties? What are some limitations and injuries to watch out for? (more…)
There was lots of reader feedback about last week’s tip, and everyone who wrote in wanted to emphasize an additional reason for not training while sick: not making everyone else at the club sick too! (more…)
It’s said that lessons repeat themselves until learned. If this is true then there is one particular lesson that has been really hard for me to learn, and I have had to repeat it time after time after time. That lesson is: if you feel sick, don’t train. (more…)
Last week I listed the treatments used, and practitioners consulted, in my quest for a pain-free lower back. What I want to highlight this week are the actual treatments that made a difference. (more…)
I have met many people, both on and off the mats, who seem to take their injuries with resignation. They say things like: “I just have bad shoulders”, or “I’m going to have to live with this bad back for the rest of my life”, and are content to live a less rich life. (more…)
An old judo coach once tried to help me with an injury by saying: “there are internal ligaments in the body, but there are also external ligaments that are available to you” as he handed me the roll of white athletic tape. (more…)
Shoulder Rehab for Grapplers
Shoulder injuries are fairly common in grappling. Most often they are the result of an overzealous Kimura (chicken wing) or Americana (V arm lock) attack, but shoulders can also get damaged by other techniques, such as throws and sweeps. (more…)
Wrestlers are no stranger to wearing shoes while training, but I think that shoes can also be useful for jiu-jitsu and submission grappling practitioners under certain circumstances.
Wrestling shoes have two major advantages: increased traction and injury prevention. (more…)
This week I am will continue talking about protective gear for grappling, moving on from mouthguards to earguards.
The vast majority of submission grapplers and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners do NOT wear earguards, and neither did I for a long time. (more…)
If I could only choose one piece of protective gear to wear on the mat it would be the humble mouthguard. Grappler’s faces are always getting banged up, even if they don’t practice mixed martial arts. (more…)
In twenty-four years of martial arts training I have had more than my share of injuries and surgeries. Recently, however, I had an interesting encounter with the medical establishment that I’d like to share with you. (more…)
Recovery From Chokes & Strangles
Anatomy of a Strangle
This week we will discuss strangles and strangulations; this will be the start of series of articles on the topic of chokes, strangles and other submissions attacking the neck. I define a “strangle” as a grappling technique that restricts the flow of blood through the carotid arteries, (more…)
Some people say that you should change your conditioning workouts on a weekly or even daily basis; “you have to shock your body” they say. I believe that there is some truth to this, but I also think it is important to have a routine, or a constant workout that you do repeatedly. (more…)
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