Escapology BJJ

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Health and Safety

How To Protect Your Fingers In Jiu Jitsu

If you want to enjoy training Jiu Jitsu for a long time, it’s important you keep your body in good shape and avoid unnecessary injuries.

One of the most common injuries people suffer in Jiu Jitsu is to their fingers. While injuring your fingers might not be life threatening it can make it hard to train BJJ.

This short video from Tom Barlow and Chelsea Leah of Escapology BJJ covers 5 things you should do to protect your fingers and avoid unnecessary finger damage.

For more information about Escapology BJJ drop us a message HERE or check out our Online training programme HERE

BJJ for Self Defense

Hoo boy, I know we’re going to be opening a can of worms with this one! However, this is a really important topic to cover, and I’m going to do my best to do justice to the discussion.

Whether BJJ is designed for self defense (or not) is one of the longest-running debates in the community. It’s not uncommon to see people who have been part of the sport for a long time claiming that “new school” BJJ has actively harmed the self-defense aspect of the sport; it’s also not uncommon for people who are active in the competitive “sport” BJJ scene to brush these concerns off. Addressing all of these issues is exhausting and delves into some of the minutiae of BJJ politics, and continuing to hash out all the details doesn’t really add much to the discussion, particularly for people just starting out. I’ve developed a short guide to the discussion of BJJ for self defense, and I hope it’s helpful for people who are looking for answers.

New School/Old School BJJ

I already alluded to the fact that there are two groups standing off against each other in the BJJ community. There are people who believe, fundamentally, that BJJ should be functional for self defense.  These people believe in the “basics:” triangles, arm bars, side control, and mount.

Old school cool.

The mindset of an individual doing BJJ for self defense requires that he or she use techniques that would be effective on concrete, against someone who is trying to punch him or her in the face.

Someone who trains with a sport BJJ mindset will be willing to do more innovative, creative BJJ. The rules of sport BJJ don’t allow for face-punching, so the sport BJJ practitioner doesn’t care what would happen if his or her opponent could punch him or her in the face. Someone who adheres to this mentality will be willing to do things like invert to win a match or score points.

Don’t worry, beginners. Everyone looks at this and thinks “what.”

BJJ for Self Defense: Yes and No

Now that I’ve established the two “schools of thought,” so to speak, let’s talk about why everyone is wrong.

Don’t let the old school guys convince you that “old school” jiu jitsu is a magic bullet against an attack: it isn’t. If you’re looking for self defense training, take up running. If any altercation gets to the point where you are on the ground, something went wrong long, long ago. Fleeing an attack is always safer than engaging with an unknown opponent in a situation where there are no rules.  Absolutely train BJJ, but it is imperative to realize that BJJ should be a last-ditch effort to protect yourself.

Unknown instructor. Excellent knife defense technique.

This is particularly true if you are small or female, but it holds true for everyone, regardless of size. If a person is close enough to touch you, they are close enough to use a weapon. BJJ won’t save anyone from a knife or a gun.  Compliance in the face of a threat is likely the safest course of action. The one exception is if the attacker is trying to force you to go somewhere with them; in this case, fighting can be an essential, life-saving tactic.

If there’s one thing you’ll learn in your first week of training, it’s that size matters, but training matters just as much. Even setting aside the issue of weapons, the fact of the matter is in a self-defense situation, you will have no way of knowing what training– if any– your attacker has. You might be facing someone with no knowledge of martial arts, or you might be facing a boxer, muay thai fighter, or MMA fighter. With the growing popularity of combat sports, that is not a gamble I, personally, would be willing to take.

Taken from Google Images

BJJ will give you many things, and it is a gift that you continue to give to yourself as long as you train. Those who say that BJJ has no applicability to a real combat situation are wrong; those who say that BJJ should be solely for self defense are also wrong.  There is nothing wrong with doing BJJ for sport and competition, with no intention of ever using BJJ as a self-defense tactic. There is also nothing wrong with doing BJJ as complementary training to self-defense preparedness, as BJJ is a combat sport that can be practiced live, with fully-resisting opponents.

What BJJ will give you:

  • Better bodily control, awareness, and fitness
  • A generalized knowledge of how to control an opponent’s weight, leverage, and strength on the ground
  • Ability to “buy time” during an attack, which can be used to escape, subdue, or get away from the attacker
  • Potential ability to submit or disable an attacker, should a fight go to the ground
  • Awareness of your own weaknesses, and knowledge of your own vulnerability.

What BJJ won’t give you:

  • Karate-kid-like abilities to defend yourself against every attack effortlessly
  • A guaranteed win over an attacker
  • Imperviousness to bullets, blades, and large rocks
  • Common sense.

Basic Self-Defense Tips

This is not, by any means, an exhaustive list of self-defense tips. However, I’ve experienced numerous “self defense” classes over the years– some better than others– and these are the most important things I’ve learned.

  • Be proactive about your safety, whether you’re male or female. Don’t take unnecessary risks.
  • Be willing to give up physical items to an attacker.
  • Familiarize yourself with the theory of verbal de-escalation. Try to determine what the attacker wants and come to a non-violent conclusion.
  • If the altercation does escalate, martial arts should be used to physically get away from the attacker, not to continue the confrontation.
  • BJJ can also be used to control the situation once a threat has been neutralized, as seen in this video
  • If a situation is feeling uncomfortable for any reason, leave. Don’t worry about rudeness: our instincts exist for a reason.
  • Contact authorities as soon as possible if you experience violence.

It should be noted that these tips focus on what to do if you don’t know your attacker. For individuals who are experiencing partner violence, these tips do not necessarily apply. Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft has some excellent self-defense tips for individuals experiencing partner violence specifically.

Reading/Watch List

For more information on self-defense, these books and videos are excellent and come highly recommended for everyone.

How To Prevent Infections and Care for Your BJJ Equipment

Alternatively titled: wash your belt, you filthy animals!

Accidental injuries in BJJ are rarely serious, particularly when compared to other contact or combat sports. Injuries occur, of course, but BJJ does not present any real elevated risk of serious injury. However, there are dangers that can be mitigated when training, and one of those risks is the risk of infection. In this post, I won’t include any graphic images of what can happen when someone gets a dermal infection as a result of staphylococcus, strepylcooccus, or any other microbe that invades the skin: if you’re a visual learner, any of these infections can be seen on Google Images. I will go through what an infection is, how they’re treated, the most common ones in BJJ, and what you can do to avoid them, however. I’m also going to include some practical information about basic care for both gi and no-gi apparel.

About Infections

In the context of BJJ, wrestling, and other close-contact sports, the type of infections that we worry about most are bacterial infections. Viral infections are spread around the gym, of course, because jiu jitsu necessitates touching, but bacterial infections spread from skin-to-skin contact are of particular concern.

There are also fungal infections that can be spread around the gym as well: issues like ringworm can become endemic in the academy if untreated, particularly as they spread so easily. Ringworm is itchy, extremely contagious, and an all-around pain to deal with, but it rarely causes major health issues. Ringworm is commonly found in children, but the close-contact environment of jiu jitsu, wrestling, gymnastics, and other sports where skin is exposed also sometimes fosters outbreaks.

Ringworm, taken from Google Images.

The real culprits for infection problems in the jiu jitsu academy are bacterial infections. Strep and staph are two of the more common bacterial infections that can occur— these bacteria often live on the skin (and in the nose, funnily enough), but become a problem when they enter the skin through a cut or tear.

Taken from Dr. Hussein Abulfotouh

Some strains of bacteria can be treated with antibiotics, but antibiotic-resistant microbes are becoming frighteningly common, and an infection can become serious and life-threatening very quickly. But now that all the doom and gloom is done, and I’ve frightened everyone sufficiently, let’s talk about what we can do to avoid infections and keep the academy a clean, healthy place for everyone.

Preventing Infections

Preventing infections is partially our responsibility, and partially yours.  To prevent infections at the academy, we:

  • Wash and clean the mats after training
  • Clean all shared spaces regularly
  • Clean our gis, belts, and other equipment after every use
  • Replace mats regularly when they become worn, dirty, or impossible to clean.
  • Remain vigilant when teaching students, watching for potential infections.

Your responsibilities are similar:

  • Clean your gi and belt after every training session
  • Clean all spandex regularly.
  • DO NOT train if you have any kind of infection at all– no one wants to come down with the flu after training, and absolutely no one likes ringworm or MRSA.
  • If you have an open wound that appears red, hot, inflamed, itchy, or weepy, go immediately to A&E for treatment. Infections progress quickly, and the faster they are treated, the better the prognosis.
Signs of infection in a wound, taken from Google Images.

So with no further ado, let’s get on to… cleaning and caring for your jiu jitsu equipment.

Cleaning and Caring for a Gi

We’re relatively lucky in jiu jitsu– gis are easy to clean, and they don’t really have any nooks or crannies where microbes can hide through a wash cycle.  That said, like any athlete, jiu jitsu practitioners tend to have some really strange superstitions.  I’ve been a black belt a number of years, and let me tell you, I’ve never once washed away any of my knowledge by washing my belt. Wash your belt, people!

Gis and belts are primarily made of cotton, although there are some that are made from other materials like hemp.  Cotton tends to shrink in the washer and in the dryer if washed on hot, so washing on warm or cold with extra agitation is a good way to ensure that your gi and belt are clean without shrinking your gi too much.

Typical BJJ gi, image from Scramble.

Tom and I tend to hang dry our gis, which, depending on the humidity and temperature, can take anything from a few days to a week. If you do hang dry, hanging them in a place with good airflow will keep them from smelling musty when they dry.  Some gis are advertised as “pre-shrunk,” but I’ve personally had middling success with these claims. Sometimes gis don’t shrink at all; sometimes they shrink more than a size. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to tell whether the gi will shrink other than asking someone who has bought the same gi.

Generally, this means that if you’re training three times per week, you’ll need at least two gis. Gis have a shelf life as well: a gi worn regularly will last anywhere between one and two years, barring any kind of ripping incident. Gis also come in different “weaves:” this refers to the thickness of the fabric. A single-weave gi will be extremely light and compact, but it will also wear out faster than a double or pearl-weave gi. The heavier the gi, the longer it will take to dry, so always make sure to plan your washing accordingly!

Cleaning and Caring for Spandex (Spats, Rash Guards, etc.)

Usually, in jiu jitsu, spandex is found in apparel like rash guards, spats, and sometimes spandex shorts.  Spandex is also found in sports bras and other athletic tops.

Rashguard, from Scramble.
Spats, from Scramble.

Generally, spats and rash guards are worn for no-gi, but they can also be worn under the gi. Washing regimens should be the same regardless of how the apparel was worn.

Spandex is similar in that it must be washed after every training session, but I always wash my spandex on warm to hot, and I frequently use a tumble dryer for my spandex rather than hang drying. However, hang drying spandex is a much faster process than hang-drying a gi, but it is even more important that you hang spandex in a place with good airflow, because spandex can and does become more smelly than a gi much more quickly.

Permanently Smelly Rash Guards

There is something about the alchemy of male sweat and spandex: over time, the combination of man-sweat and spandex becomes overwhelmingly stinky. Sometimes, you’ll find that you wash your spandex and it smells fine– but as soon as you put it on, it begins to smell again. You can sometimes save your rash guard by soaking it overnight in vinegar and water: I usually use a ratio of 3:1 for water: vinegar when I have to soak rash guards. After I soak the rash guards, I usually rinse them well, then run them through the wash as normal.  If they still smell, it’s time for retirement– remember, if you can smell yourself, everyone else around you can smell you as well!

We’re invested in making sure our training environment is safe in every way, and that includes creating a clean environment for the students. If you’d like more information, this post, written by a microbiologist, is an excellent primer on the science of infection and how to protect yourself from infection in an environment like a jiu jitsu academy.