BJJ Injury Statistics
Understanding injury patterns in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to help practitioners train smarter and stay on the mats longer.
Annual Injury Rate
9.2
per 1000 hours
Most Common
Knee
28% of injuries
Training vs Comp
3x
Higher in competition
Avg. Recovery
4.2 weeks
Time off mats
Injuries by Body Part
28%
Knee
High severity
22%
Shoulder
High severity
15%
Neck
Medium severity
12%
Back
Medium severity
10%
Elbow
Medium severity
8%
Fingers
Low severity
5%
Ankle
Medium severity
Injury Rate by Belt Level
White
45%
Blue
38%
Purple
32%
Brown
28%
Black
25%
Percentage of practitioners reporting at least one injury per year
Injury Prevention Insights
High-Risk Factors
- Training when fatigued (+40% injury risk)
- Skipping warm-up (+35% injury risk)
- Training 6+ days/week (+25% injury risk)
- Not tapping early enough (+30% injury risk)
Protective Factors
- Strength training 2x/week (-30% injury risk)
- Proper warm-up routine (-35% injury risk)
- Adequate sleep 7-9 hours (-25% injury risk)
- Rest days between intense sessions (-20% injury risk)
Track Your Training Load
Monitor fatigue and training intensity to prevent overtraining injuries.
Start Tracking