Below is just some friendly advice. Each suggestion varies
from case to case, but if you speak to a great number of people in jiu-jitsu,
they will tell you that their injuries occurred because of these reasons. If
you avoid certain situations in jiu-jitsu because you don’t want to get
injured, it doesn’t make you a ‘chicken’ or a coward. The goal in jiu-jitsu is
to train long term, but in order to do that, you have to take care of yourself
and make sure you avoid high-risk situations. Every time you get injured, you
interrupt your progress in jiu-jitsu - it’s just not worth it.
- Avoid
the “Spazzes”
To begin with, a ‘spaz’ is someone that goes 100% without any
control or real strategy. They are the ones that are most likely to
accidentally deck you in the face with their knee, heel, elbow, and even head.
Usually, we’d like to think that this kind of behavior goes away once someone
reaches purple belt, and often, it does.
Spazzes are easy to spot, and it is recommended that you
don’t roll with them.
An alternative option, if you do choose to roll with them,
is to play a very defensive game and just work to catch them if and when they
make a mistake. It’s not worth it to get your teeth knocked out by someone that
doesn’t know how to technically control their body in jiu-jitsu.
- Avoid
the ‘newbs’
Another type of clumsy practitioner is the total novice.
It’s more understandable that they will do things that could potentially harm
you, but a ‘newb’ isn’t just any typical beginner. They are the ones that may
have an especially bad balance or try to utilize so much strength that when they
slip, you could end up getting punched straight in the face. Again, depending
on your technical level relative to their clumsiness, you could control the
situation. The ‘newb’ is almost always a white belt and in their first few
months of training.
With both the “spazzes” and the “newbs,” try to use your
experience to help them understand the riskiness of their rolling nature and
have them learn to slow it down and focus more on technique (at least until
they have a solid understanding of the fundamentals).
- Avoid
risky positions
This is an interesting one. You’d be surprised to know how
many self-induced injuries there are in jiu-jitsu. For example, often guys will
watch some Eddie Bravo videos and think they are naturally made of rubber and
have the powers of Mr. Fantastic. So very often practitioners will pop their
knees trying to bring their foot to their chin or damage their spine because
they think they can be stacked by 250-pound men. The truth is, you need to
gauge your abilities and know their limits. If you feel your leg can’t go any
further while you’re trying to play rubber guard, then stop. If you’re being
stacked and you feel your neck can’t handle it, tap. Sure, it might be
embarrassing to tap from a stack, but guess what? You shouldn’t have been in
that position in the first place, and it is better to tap than to face
potential serious injury. It’s not worth permanently damaging your body out of
pride.
