Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho
BBJ is all about trying to control the other person with moves that can easily cause injury. Injuries are expected.
Motorcycle riding and snowboarding are not about trying to hurt or gain physical control over an opponent. Injuries are accidental.
I'm not going to get into the details other than to say, I had to drop out of college because I could not endure the stress. I would crash during exams and tests. I had the same experience at 10th grade after a concussion from heading a soccer ball. My academic skills declined greatly.
My academics were a roller coaster after my severe concussion at 10.
The rugby community is just starting to acknowledge the damage players have suffered. Rugby players have a culture of "nothing will keep me down" except those who get hurt with long term consequences are disregarded as they leave the sport.
People of mediocre intelligence do not notice the differences as much as people of higher intelligence.
If you don't want your fear of head impacts to control your life, you have a choice to ignore that fear. It does not change the risk. Live your life. Just don't try to get people like me to affirm your choices.
My short term memory is horrible. It tests in the bottom 10% of the population even though my intelligence is in the top 12% to 2% of the population. Driving on busy streets is a terror because my brain is constantly reacting to the fast movement around me.
My mother and my wife have both observed serious negative changes in my personality.
Look up anhedonia.... Yeah. It sucks. Visual aphasia, afantasia, verbal/expressive aphasia,
I used to have a photographic memory. Now, I can't look at a object and look away and describe it.
I post online because I can read what I was just thinking and typed because if I said it, I would not remember what I just said so I could continue the thought and comments.
There are many activities you can do that have a lower risk than BBJ. BBJ is about ego, not enjoyment.
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You might be right. As much as I love BJJ tonight might have been the final straw for me.
I was rolling again and was in Mount (on top of opponent) and was digging for a choke and because my hands were tied up I got bumped aggressively forward (a legit technique to create space to escape), but I couldn't break my fall forward and my head drove straight into the mat.
I was only maybe 15 - 20cm off the ground because I was low and I hit my forehead and the mat is somewhat soft so I am hoping I don't have another head injury/concussion. I feel pretty much fine, maybe SLIGHTLY and dizzy but nothing bad. I had a cold last week and still kinda recovering so that could be part of it anyway.
But I ended up accidently smacking another opponents face into the mat as I went for an inverted armbar into omoplata transition and I smacked the back of the guys head accidently into the ground and his nose started bleeding HEAVILY.
But I was at home thinking, if I keep doing this even small hits will add up eventually and I was thinking about how I have been feeling this week. I'm only studying so I can pace myself but I think, wow once I get into 9-5 workdays if I keep this up I might struggle to maintain that level of brain activity in the future.
It was just playing on my mind. And I think what worries me was I always thought it would be sort of acute. Like I'd get a major head injury, my IQ would diminish and not fully recover.
But I'm starting to think that it might be slower and sneakier than I thought, where if I keep going this way, over a few years I might notice a subtle decline over a period of years, especially as I will get more and more knocks, even small ones.
You make a good point about how snowboarding and motorcycle riding are not ACTIVELY trying to control and are more accidents when something happens.
However, I don't think it is fair to say BJJ is ego because it is a sport like any other and something I love. It is not about trying to smash someone, it is a complex game where you can flow, move and develop your body.
But yeah, I think it might be time to hang it up.
Also, would you consider what I did likely to cause a concussion? I feel mostly fine, slight pressure in head but that happens a lot from minor knocks and my anxiety anyway.