This article and video are about how to train and continue to make progress in BJJ when you’re dealing with an arm injury.
Now I hope that you go through your entire BJJ career without ever suffering a single injury. But this is a contact sport, and therefore you’re probably going to get a little banged up from time to time.
Realistically working around, and healing from, injuries is just part of the game.But you’ve got to be smart about it!
When you’re healing from an injury one of the most important things is to not re-injure yourself. You’ve got to find a way to take it easy and let that body part heal.
Many wanna-be tough guys try to ignore their traumas, push through them, and attempt to train normally. If you do this then you’re risking turning the injury into a chronic condition, which will ultimately set you back much further than if you’d just let the damn thing heal properly in the first place.
I *ahem* speak from experience here…
The thing is that many of us are sort of obsessive-compulsive about training. And sometimes it’s hard to say what hurts worse: the pain from the injury itself, or not being able to train and watching all your friends get better while you fall further and further behind…
With this in mind I’ve released a short video about how to train BJJ even when you’ve got an injured arm. Most of the time when your wrist, elbow or shoulder is injured you’ll still be able to do this drill.
This is a really good drill. In fact, I’ve used this drill even when I’m NOT injured because of how quickly it improves your leg dexterity from the guard. Check it out below: