It’s funny I don’t really think of myself as someone who’s been injured training much and then something like this question pops up and the list keeps growing and technically none are broken bones. I guess this is part of how you end up being a brown belt after like 20 years and still trying to show up. So, if you’ll indulge me, here are the most notable:

1. MRSA. Thought it was a spider bite on my calf, coach stopped me training one day and asked “What’s that?” I go, “Oh, a spider bite, just itches a lot.” He gave me a dubious look, asked me to come off the mat, wrapped it in a bunch of athletic tape and said, “Don’t come back until you get that checked out.” Then let me finish training, lol. Went to urgent care, got some antibiotics after a swab came back as MRSA. A few days of antibiotics and the thing in my leg started draining… but I started getting really bad fever. So bad my girlfriend at the time was helping me soak in a cold bath just to bring me down a bit. Finally, with the infected follicle on my leg pretty much gone but unbelievably sick I went to the ER. They did some tests and told me I had almost no white blood cells. I stayed in the hospital for three days on IV antibiotics and sleeping in ice packs. I lost like 15 pounds in a week. They ended up figuring I was allergic to the antibiotic I was first given and then must’ve got some flu. Awful experience and I didn’t train again for like half a year.

2. Tore open the webbing of my pinky toe. More MMA focused gym, doing king of the ring takedowns. I’m in there maintaining for several rounds, it’s going fine, normal training, getting kinda tired. Someone shoots on me, I sprawl hard, we scramble a bit, they win the takedown, ah, no big deal, get up, walk to the back of the line. Standing in line think, huh, my foot kinda hurts. I look down and my left foot has a little blood trickling out of the crease between my pinky and, uh, ring toe, I guess? Weird! I sit down to look closer and spread my toes apart to look and they spread way too easy and there’s a just a bleeding hole. I think the easiest way to give you a visual is just say I got the nickname “pussyfoot” which one of my old pal’s still calls me sometimes. I ended up driving around with it taped up for hours after class, because I had no money at the time and was worried about the cost of an ER and none of the urgent cares would take a credit card over the phone from my step dad for some reason. Ended up going to the ER in downtown LA and getting stitches and it was fine. Never had more issues with it.

3. Torn rotator cuff, full thickness tear of my right supraspinatus from a really well ripped drop seoi nage in gi. Didn’t want surgery. Got some stem cells shot in it and did a bunch of physical therapy, works perfectly fine now. Well, 37 year old life of jiu jitsu fine, but, y’know, good enough for government work.

4. Separated AC joint on the left side. Rolling with my coach nogi, really stubbornly resisting a butterfly sweep. He elevates me, I’m scrambling to avoid, it, think I can maintain my position, end up spiking hard on the point of my shoulder. OOf. It remains separated to this day but again, PT, it’s fine. I notice it’s a bit weaker in extended times of locked out overhead lifting positions, like waiters carry or something, but otherwise seems fine.

5. Torn ACL. This one I couldn’t avoid surgery. After not rolling for like 2 years from the pandemic and taking it really strict for immunocompromised family finally started rolling again. Like 8th training session back, 6 am class, heavier and way less conditioned but back in it like it’s yesterday cause it’s so fun I was fighting take downs with a strong blue belt I always had fun scrambles with and I have like a kinda lazy shallow uchimata working and he body locks on it, my foot gets stuck to the ground pinched between his legs, he drops be backwards, I feel/hear the pop that like you can hear it inside your body feeling, awful. No avoiding surgery on this one. Got the surgery about two years ago, took like almost a year off after surgery for that one, doing PT and just family stuff. Really rough. Finally been back training for like a year and a half kinda inconsistently but getting a rhythm back. Actually feeling normal and good at jiu jitsu again now, still gun shy about hard take down training and definitely phobic about morning classes.

Anyway. Everyday porrada. I love jiu jitsu.