Follow my other blog for more updates:
https://bjjspondy.blogspot.com/
June 13th, 2016:
BJJ brown belt in my 40's with grade 1 Spondylolisthesis L4/L5 and
pars fracture. I have 4 fantastic kids ages 10, twin 8 year olds and a 3
year old. They keep me busy and spondylolisthesis has been no help in
regards to them :(
I'm documenting my journey with Spondylolisthesis because I'm not ready to give up on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I hope this might be helpful to someone else. I love teaching kids and adults Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I hope to be able to continue doing so. The purpose of this blog is to be a record of my Physical Therapy sessions for me to go back to and for anyone else that might want to learn from my experience. If you are in a similar situation and want to contact me then leave a comment and I'll get back with you.
Update - Aug 16th, 2016:
Physical Therapy has been going very well. I'm continuing to increase my sets, repetitions and times each week. Overall the message I keep in my head is my back feels better then it did. It doesn't feel great or back to normal but better - and that's a blessing!
Last week was my first time back on the mat being able to grapple. It was a single 5 minute round in BJJ sparing with a fellow brown belt that I trust. We went lite and I was glad to be moving again.
Update - Nov 21st, 2016:
I have kept up with my Physical Therapy as you can see from reading my blog posts and I feel it has been very beneficial. There have been a few times that I had to force myself to do the exercises that week but I imagine that is normal as things come up and sometimes you have other events on your mind. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training has been going well overall. I am very aware of my back all the time during class. I think about it during each roll and I make a strong effort to protect myself during each match. I was advised by my physician not to do deep bridging while on my back which means I can't do a strong bridge to escape mount with out potentially hurting myself. So I've focused on other mount escapes. It is tough not being able to grapple as intense as I'd like to but I've used this time to try and slow it down and be more technical. In the long run, that's probably better anyway in terms of keeping myself safe and staying on the mat. Once again, I just continue to remind myself that I'm doing better then I was back in June and I'm still on the mat training! Next update probably sometime in 2017 but I will continue to update the blog posts on my Home PT.
For more updates - check out this page.
https://bjjspondy.blogspot.com/
June 13th, 2016:
I'm documenting my journey with Spondylolisthesis because I'm not ready to give up on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I hope this might be helpful to someone else. I love teaching kids and adults Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I hope to be able to continue doing so. The purpose of this blog is to be a record of my Physical Therapy sessions for me to go back to and for anyone else that might want to learn from my experience. If you are in a similar situation and want to contact me then leave a comment and I'll get back with you.
Update - Aug 16th, 2016:
Physical Therapy has been going very well. I'm continuing to increase my sets, repetitions and times each week. Overall the message I keep in my head is my back feels better then it did. It doesn't feel great or back to normal but better - and that's a blessing!
Last week was my first time back on the mat being able to grapple. It was a single 5 minute round in BJJ sparing with a fellow brown belt that I trust. We went lite and I was glad to be moving again.
Update - Nov 21st, 2016:
I have kept up with my Physical Therapy as you can see from reading my blog posts and I feel it has been very beneficial. There have been a few times that I had to force myself to do the exercises that week but I imagine that is normal as things come up and sometimes you have other events on your mind. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training has been going well overall. I am very aware of my back all the time during class. I think about it during each roll and I make a strong effort to protect myself during each match. I was advised by my physician not to do deep bridging while on my back which means I can't do a strong bridge to escape mount with out potentially hurting myself. So I've focused on other mount escapes. It is tough not being able to grapple as intense as I'd like to but I've used this time to try and slow it down and be more technical. In the long run, that's probably better anyway in terms of keeping myself safe and staying on the mat. Once again, I just continue to remind myself that I'm doing better then I was back in June and I'm still on the mat training! Next update probably sometime in 2017 but I will continue to update the blog posts on my Home PT.
For more updates - check out this page.
Man I would love to connect with you. I tried leaving a comment last night, didn't go through. Just now seeing all the progress you've posted. I'm 35, a brown belt, and actually have my L4 and L5 affected by spondylolisthesis as well. It was super discouraging and have not found anyone in BJJ who is familiar. Found your blog by googling spondy and BJJ. Don't know when I initially I fractured my isthmus, but finally had to get it looked at after going after inverted guard pretty heavily about 6 months ago. Doing some physical therapy, but see that you're kicking my butt and I need to get on a consistent, disciplined schedule to see some results. Thanks for doing this. I have a bunch of kids as well, and as you know this thing affects your everyday life. Would love to be back on the mats full time again, but also thinking about my ability to hike with the grandkids when that day comes. I will thoroughly read your updates, now that I found them, but if you can throw me a bone or throw me some encouragement as to when a big pivotal moment or time frame came for you while doing physical therapy. Looks like I'm doing all the right exercises, stretches, tons of anti-inflammatories etc, just need to get consistent I guess. Look forward to hearing from you. Again, thanks for doing this.
ReplyDeleteHello Jonathan! I did the same as you when I was first diagnosed - I did a lot of searching online specifically for BJJ and Spondy and had a tough time finding anyone to talk to / learn from. That's one of the reasons I put this blog up. Send me your email address or facebook profile link and I'll connect with you and answer any questions you have. Would be great to have another person in a similar situation to keep up with!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks! Sorry for the delayed response. I'm out of town. Here's my Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.oliver.9026
ReplyDeleteI sent you a PM on Facebook. Have a great week. Hope your doing well!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Tres - glad you found this. I'll email you soon. Have a great day!
DeleteHey
ReplyDeleteBJJ Purple Belt, almost 11 years of practice but over 25 years of MA experience. Doc & Osteo think I have spondylolisthesis but need an x-Ray to confirm. Came looking for how this will impact my BJJ, especially as I coach a small team and don't want to let them down. This has given me some hope that I may be able to continue rather than give up completely. Thanks for posting this.
Glad this is helpful. I did the same thing when I was first diagnosed. Went looking for others in my same situation but didn't find much at first. Started this blog and I've found others along the way. Hang in there! This blog is not updated anymore. Use my other blog to see updates and read more:
Deletehttp://bjjspondy.blogspot.com
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI am very grateful for you sharing with us your progress. It is a difficult topic to find people talk about.
I do have some questions please. Almost 1.5 yrs ago I got diagnosed with grade II spondylolisthesis, I have just received my blue belt by that time. I haven’t been training bjj since then.
I would love to start training again, but I am worried. I am strengthining my core now to prepare and once the pain fades awaynI would love to go back to bjj. From what I read, your advice was to avoid bridging.
- are there any other moves/techniques that you advice me not to do while rolling? Should always start on my knees? Should I change my game to pulling guard and playing of my guard? Because I tend to have a top pressure game from side control.
- did you have a problem when rolling with others and avoiding some of them because you know they might hurt you? Almost no one knows what spondylolisthesis is so it is hard -i imagine- to explain to everyone everytime i roll with them.
Thanks again and god bless.
Khaled
Brotha, thank you so much for this. I was just diagnosed with stage 2 and barley any cartilage between l5 and s1. How can I get in contact with you. I have questions in regards to my journey. I don't want to quit bjj. I have noticed a change when I roll. I'm not the same and now I'm even more nervous
ReplyDeleteRegards
Robinson