Finger joint pains

[AdrianC]

I have just started BJJ training last month and I am beginning to exp some pain in a few of my finger joints closest to the tips.
The pain is not sharp but rather a kind of sore stiffness that consistently comes when I am making a fist.

I have done only striking arts prior to this and while I don't have a problem coping with cuts, sprains and bruises, I am concerned that I might be doing something wrong during training or that I should be doing some form of finger conditioning.

I also noticed that some of the guys in class would have bits of tape or band-aids around their fingers or even have 2 fingers bounded together. Is that something I should be doing?

Hope someone can shed some light on this because it is bothering me quite a bit esp during my karate training!

Thanks!

[Tonuzaba]

Hello Adrian,

first of all: welcome to Bullshido.

As with all contact sports, your body will receive some punishment and pain during BJJ trainings. Under qualified guidance, with sane training partners (and some luck...) - which means generally any BJJ gym - none of that should cause serious or permanent damage.

If you never grappled before, give your body some time to adjust and get used to a whole new world of moves and tiredness.

Gripping is crucial in grappling and most people never use their fingers to grip so strongly for an extended period of time (rock climbers might be an exception and have an advantage in BJJ :-) ).

Marcelo Garcia has legendary gripping power and he says he never trains anything but BJJ\grappling, so you'll eventually get better in it too, if you'll train persistently and in a wise manner.

Never overtrain yourself, rest between the training sessions, sleep enough, drink a lot of water and eat healthy.

Also, talk to your instructor and\or senior students about the specific pain\problems you are experiencing. Taping some fingers is meant exactly to prevent further damage to already hurt joints (or sometimes just to cover up open blisters - caused by mat burn or gi burn).

Get yourself some quality sports massage from time to time as well.

Good luck in your training and get back to us about what you've been told in your gym.

[gregaquaman]

Otherwise go see a doctor get a preventitive plan in place. Heat and ice work well for just about everything.

Train hard rest hard.

[AdrianC]

Hi Tonuzaba and gregaquaman, Thanks for the great advice.
I spoke to some people at training and realised that I was straining my fingers a bit too much because I spent most of the time trying to hold on to my sparring partner's gi for dear life without knowning when to relax my grip and to apply pressure only when nessesary.

I started applying some conditioning medicine that I got from Kung fu class after every BJJ lesson and basically just bit the bullet and worked through the pain. Of course, I am also starting to relax more during spars and that is what mostly helps.

Again, really appreciate the advice from you guys, I guess this is what learning through actual application is all about!

[Petter]

I also noticed that some of the guys in class would have bits of tape or band-aids around their fingers or even have 2 fingers bounded together. Is that something I should be doing?

Taping a finger to the next finger—“buddy taping”—is generally done when you’ve tweaked one a bit and want to provide it with extra support. Kind of like a splint with joints.

[AdrianC]

Hi petter, thanks for the information, will prob need to do that sometime!
Haha, since my last post i have gained 2 new injuries, a sprained rib (or at least i think thats what it is, will be going to the doc later to make sure it is not broken) from the last 2 BJJ sessions and a bad right foot from a badly timed kick that was met by an elbow during karate sparring. Still, i am having the time of my life!