Academy of Combat: Christchurch Martial Arts

One of the most prevalent injuries that we encounter in martial arts, particularly grappling systems such as; Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed martial arts and wrestling, is strained ligaments and tendons most often in our knees, elbows and shoulder joints.

These are very annoying and often if we try to train through them they get progressively worse. Just recently one of my Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu students told me about a knee ligament injury that had been lingering for some time and asked me to relate to him an experience that I had many years ago with a knee injury.

I had partially torn my patella tendon doing full squats, this was accompanied with a chronic pain that would get worse if I sat for long periods and had shown no sign of healing after 2 years. At the time I was learning Muay Thai and this injury seriously impaired my kicking power and not wanting to stop training I just put up with it.

The turning point came when I was attending a physiotherapist (an often occurring event for any elite athlete) for an unrelated shoulder injury. I mentioned to him about this long term injury and he suggested trying a form of acupressure.

I was to use thumb pressure directly onto the most painful area of the injury and knead the area for 5-10minutes at a time, twice a day. I was to press with as much pressure that would cause as much pain as I could tolerate, until the pain either disappeared or was significantly reduced (usually 5-10 minutes).

I repeated this activity for approximately 2 weeks after which the injury had completely healed and I have had no more trouble with it.

When students learning mixed martial arts or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu have come to me with similar stories about soft tissue injuries I have related this methodology to them with the majority experiencing excellent results.

After relating this method to the student mentioned above he came to me a couple of weeks later to tell me that it had worked and has not had any recurrence.

The methodology is a form of transverse massage used in acupressure from Chinese Medicine and Japanese Shiatsu. It appears to work by stimulating endorphins to reduce the pain and also increases the flow of nutrients and growth factors required for the healing process into the injured area.

These soft tissue areas of tendons and ligament connective tissue do not have very good blood supply and the added stimulus of rubbing pressure assists in getting flow to the injured areas.

So if you’ve got an injury that’s been lingering give this technique a shot.

However, please consult a health professional to attest the appropriateness of the technique first so that you do not exacerbate an injury by its’ application.