How is BJJ on the knees?

Underground BJJ Ground
1

Hi,

What sort of stresses does bjj put on the knees?

I am a Judoka/Wrestler who has had knee problems. I feel a lot of my problems are from takedowns.

I am planning on training just BJJ and boxing from now on.

2

Most beginner BJJ classes start their rolling from a kneeling position. If you have a hard time flexing your knees, it might be a problem. On the other hand I have found BJJ to have less impact on my knees than Judo. Depending on what BJJ school you go to though, if they have a strong wrestling influence you'll still be shooting those double legs (always a killer for my knees)

---edited for spelling

3

much easier on the knees than judo!

4

Yeah, B.I.C. is correct. I've had way more injuries from Judo than BJJ.

5

Thanks guys.

That is pretty much my experience of judo as well

6

I try not to spend too much time battling for position when we start from the knees. I go for setups and takedowns that will put me on top; if those don't work, I quickly go to some kind of guard. A lot of people waste a lot of training time pushing and pulling on the knees. While I think it can be productive to start from there, you shouldn't be wearing holes in your pants working from there, you know?

7

A lot of people waste a lot of training time pushing and pulling on the knees.

sooo true. if I wanted to jockey for position we should have stareted standing! I usually just push on a guy and either he'll pull guard, or he'll push back and I'll pull guard and then we can begin!

8

Of course it all depends upon the state of your knees currently and the underlying causes of your problems. Me, I went through a Knee Reconstruction following a ACL snap which left me with a overly tight (when it comes to flexion) left knee that hates any twisting action - basically the end of my Judo days (throwing isn't top on my list these days). If you knee problems stop you from kneeling then BJJ isn't going to be as enjoyable.

I've found BJJ really good on the knees because, unlike Judo, 99% of the time the knee is moving in a slow, controlled manner. I'd suggest you seriously consider whether you want to do any sort of leg locks as you may find (as I have) that there is no such thing as a nice leg-lock, I ALWAYS have lingering pain, swelling etc if I battle a leg-sub attempt in any manner. That being said, one can have a lot of fun doing BJJ without lower body submissions.