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The Injury Cycle
I was talking to my business partner, training partner and good friend Dewey Nielsen the day after he injured his hip (training with me) and I remember thinking about the times I’ve been injured over the last 11 years.
As practitioners of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu we are all familiar with injuries, “physical setbacks”. I learned after my last major “physical set back” (heel fracture) that the emotional and mental journey can be more difficult than the physical.
Like other trauma whether it’s physical, emotional or mental we go through a cycle of grieving. Shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance are all normal. I found out (through my day job as a F/F) and now as an older practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that this cycle is real and the more I understand about it the better I move through each of stages.
The goal is to keep training, there are many benefits in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but most people do not stay with it long enough to really find out the secrets of the sport. Hopefully understanding the grieving cycle will help keep us on the mat for a long time.