Snap, Crackle, and Pop

Injuries.

What a dreaded word in the sport of Jiu-Jitsu. Something we all have to deal with at some point in our journey. Whether it be a broken toe from a sprawl gone bad or a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) from a sweep gone wrong. Every injury is a problem no matter the severity.

Almost two weeks ago I suffered a relatively painful pop in my elbow due to applying pressure on a submission in an awkward position. I didn’t really think anything of it; I snap, crackle, and pop just getting out of bed in the morning. So, I continued training that night with some intense competition drilling. I made a grip in one of my favorite positions and immediately felt a stabbing pain in my arm. Realized at that point, the little pop moments ago was a little more severe than I had thought.

With IBJJF No-Gi Pan-Ams right around the corner I had a decision to make. Remove myself from the tournament which is NOT an option in my mind. Or I could heal, grind, and compete. I decided on the second option. However, this did mean actually letting my arm heal. Which forced me into taking time off the mat, which I am not a fan of. So, I decided to bite the bullet and let my arm heal as best as possibly by taking an entire week away from training and stretching my arm as much as possible.

Thankfully my plan paid off. Earlier this week, I got back to training. At first, I was a little scared of re-injury. I could move and push without pain, but I knew it was one bad move away form popping again. So first few days I took it very easy with some light drilling and very controlled rolling. Yesterday, I got to actually roll. Felt amazing. I’ve still got time to grind for a good performance at Pan-Ams, I am very much looking forward to that.

One of the lower rank students asked me after practice, “Do you ever feel like some days are just terrible, but the day before you felt amazing?”. I told him, all the time. Jiu-Jitsu is so full of ups and downs. It’s unrealistic to think otherwise.

I proceeded to give him a little touch of wisdom ill give to my readers now.

Like Jiu-Jitsu, life is full of ups and downs. Too often we get too comfortable in the “ups” or we get stuck in the “downs” that we don’t realize this is all part of the process. It is all like a heartbeat, never does a heartbeat stop going up and down except for one time. When it flatlines, for us humans, that’s not good.

So, when you are having a rough day and feeling down just remember that tomorrow is a new day full of potential ups. But if you are stuck dwelling on yesterday’s downs, you won’t appreciate the beauty of the present.

Until next week, tape up, stay positive, and keep grinding guys!