Elbow Injury Guidelines for Grappling Athletes

By Myung S. Choi, PT, DPT, CSCS and Augusto A. Arnesen, PTA

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) focuses on techniques of throws, takedowns, joint locks, and chokeholds, in different body positions of standing and ground. Due to its nature, joint-related injuries are more common than other types including laceration, contusion, abrasion, and concussion. Although, there are not many studies about injuries in BJJ that are available, the majority of them report that the most prevalent region of joint injury was the knee and elbow during training and competition. One of them specifies that 78% of the injuries in BJJ competitions during 2005-2011 were orthopedic problems (sprains, strains and fractures), and the elbow had the highest injury rate. The two most common injuries seen in sports physical therapy settings are elbow sprains and tendonitis. This book will cover guidelines on the management and treatment of elbow related injuries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781304139856

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Introduction

Today, regardless of age and gender groups, many people practice martial arts or combat sports in mainly three different levels: professional, amateur, and recreational/fitness. Not only as a means of self-defense, but there are many benefits of martial arts such as improving muscular/cardiovascular strength, balance, agility, and flexibility. It is also known that martial arts can help individuals enhance self-esteem, discipline, and social skills.

Putting aside the ones using weapons, such as Kendo, Fencing, and Kali, the traditional martial arts are usually classified into two different styles: striking (Boxing, Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, and Kickboxing) and grappling (Wrestling15, Sambo11, and Judo7).

Among the grappling martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu2 (BJJ) is a modern combat sport that started in the early 20th century under the influence of Kodokan Judo. With the rise of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), which utilizes the combination of striking and grappling techniques as a hybrid combat sport, the popularity of BJJ has also grown worldwide since the 1990’s. The number of participants for international BJJ tournaments has been rapidly increasing every year. These days, injuries are likely to be seen more with the larger number of BJJ athletes. However, there is not enough information and data about injuries in this sport, which may be due to its shorter history of development compared to other disciplines.

BJJ focuses on techniques of throws, takedowns, joint locks, and chokeholds, in different body positions of standing and ground. Due to its nature, joint-related injuries are much more common than other types including laceration, contusion, abrasion, and concussion (Training, Mcdonald, Jr, Mcdonald & Wolf, 2017). Although, there are not many studies about injuries in BJJ that are available, the majority of them report that the most prevalent region of joint injury was the knee and elbow during training and competition. One of them specifies that 78% of the injuries in BJJ competitions during 2005-2011 were orthopedic problems (sprains, strains and fractures), and the elbow had the highest injury rate (Iii et al., 2011). Another study also observed that sprains due to elbow hyperextension were the most common injury type in BJJ tournaments (Training et al.,