Likely Injuries in Judo

**ghosttraingray** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 6:05am

Hi all,

I may look into judo classes soon. What are the most common injuries in judo, and how likely are they to occur? I'm not put off by pain and/or physical roughness, but I am a professional animator and illustrator and so any damage to my fingers, hands or wrists could really mess things up for me. What are your experiences with injury in judo? This is, of course, assuming full contact randori is a regular part of the weekly routine.

I have a great interest in martial arts, and in my teenage years I was involved in daily practice. If I am a bit paranoid about the safety of my hands and wrists, should I just forget about martial arts training altogether and take up something else for fitness? It is something that weighs heavily on my mind since it is such a great concern to me professionally.

Many thanks.

**Soldiermedic** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 6:27am

If you train Judo in a proper manner, with decent people and instruction, the thing that will get injured most is your pride.

That being said the likelihood of you being hurt, sore or injured while training a live art like judo would increase a bit, accidents can happen even in an art that doesn't train full contact.

**ghosttraingray** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 6:29am

My pride is willing to take quite a beating. Pain and soreness are all fine by me, but it's the practical aspects of injury that worry me because it would deeply impact my income. Thanks for the reply.

**Soldiermedic** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 6:31am

I've supplemented my bjj with judo for around 6 months now, and my most common ailments have been sore shoulders, sore neck and "tennis elbow" usually from not break falling properly or other noobish antics.

**CrackFox** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 7:10am

Maybe if you already do a lot of manual labour you won't have much problems with your hands, but expect blisters, callouses, mildly swollen joints, general aching and all that. Major injuries to the hands are relatively uncommon in my experience, but the odd twisted finger or sprain happens.

**philmgriffin** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 9:16am

your hands should be ok, I don't know how old you are but as long as you don't have arthritis in your hands then you should be fine.

Keep your fingers out of the ends of peoples sleeves, listen to the sensei and I can't see any problems.

Now if you had asked about knee injuries...

**ghosttraingray** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 9:16am

Thanks for your replies. I'll be checking out some classes with a friend soon. I'll get a feeling for it, and I'll try my best to stay within my limits. I'm not in shape currently, so I will definitely take it easy and ramp it up piece by piece, day by day...

While I'm on the topic, are there any particularly good ways to build stronger joints/bones? Particular exercises, foods or supplements? Additionally, is weight training advisable in tandem with judo? I am interested in becoming a strong person!

Any replies are greatly appreciated!

EDIT: @philmgriffin Knee injuries eh? Do tell.

**philmgriffin** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 11:22am

it's hard to pinpoint what has done the most damage to my knees over the years, I tend to think it was all the football I played in my youth that did most of the damage.

However that said I was doing randori with a heavy set (fat) Brown belt when I attempted Yoko Sutemi Waza

he pulled back and landed with his kneecap on the side of my knee and within a minute I had a swelling on my knee the size of a small child.
After 3 weeks of rest and elevation I still have a pressure bandage over the injury and it has yet to return to normal. (I'm assured that it will make a full recovery)

**ty5** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 11:31am

Originally Posted by ghosttraingray

While I'm on the topic, are there any particularly good ways to build stronger joints/bones? Particular exercises, foods or supplements? Additionally, is weight training advisable in tandem with judo? I am interested in becoming a strong person!

Any replies are greatly appreciated!

EDIT: @philmgriffin Knee injuries eh? Do tell.

A lot of the more old school judo guys are dead aginst any kind of weight training, but personally I use free weights once or twice a week and this has helped by making me generally stronger but also I think more resistent to injury.

At least that is the plan, having has another newb injure my shoulder a few weeks ago when practising a technique I have added more shoulder specific weight exercises.

For the first couple of months my elbows and fingers especially ached, but now gradually I am finding that my elbows are going back to normal and my figures ache less so I think the body just needs time to adapt.

**doofaloofa** · Posted On: 7/28/2011 11:32am

I am a ***** so always wear knee and shin pads whist judoing. After a few weeks of starting Judo I started to get pains in my knees whilst kneeling down. The Pads(€10 on ebay) have solved the problem and my knees are fine
Also a groin guard

The worst injury I have had due to Judo directly is hyper extension of my elbows during an arm bar. I am pretty quick to tap from one as a result

Practice breakfalls like your life depends on it!