The bane of even mild Judo injury

A couple Fridays ago I injured my foot. It was during randori, I was attempting a classic forward/backward technique feint. I moved in for a hip throw, forcing my opponent onto me. I was deliberately slow waiting for them to brace themselves backwards to which I went back also and attempted a ko-uchi gari to disrupt their balance. Uke did some kind of squat counter but at the same time all of his weight fell on my foot that was in a ko-uchi gari position.

Ko-uchi gare

For those who aren’t aware, the ko-uchi gare is when you attempt to trip the opponent’s foot from between their legs (if you’re attempting it as a left hander/left footer it would be the opponent’s left foot that you’re tripping). Your foot is curved.

The pain

If your foot is in the midst of a ko-uchi gare it’s curved inward, like you’re sweeping the floor with your sole. This was the point when said opponent squatted on it. The pain shot up and forced out an involuntary roar from my lungs. The two coaches rushed over and I clutched my foot in disbelief. The pain subsided significantly once it was relieved of this pressure but it just felt odd.

Over the weekend it grew bigger, it bruised on one side and limping was my main form of transport. It has persisted, one week on.

I’ve looked up all there is regarding foot strains and the main form of rehabilitation is RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). There’s a bunch of other stuff online which is just downright silly e.g. eating dark chocolate to replenish magnesium etc

The wait (and all that entails)

I was looking forward to a competition in early November. I was looking forward to that next belt progression. Everything takes a back-foot (ahem) when injury gets in the way, unless you’re a pull-out-the-stops kinda guy. I’m not when it comes to injuries that I’ve got no experience about.

So it’s a wait to for the foot to heel up properly. So that it’s not a consideration whenever the randori announcement is made.

The mad rush

I’ve had enough time away from training to realise that I’ve been in a bit of a turbo mode to get more progress in with my Judo. I’ve been doing this because for a number of factors: it’s been quiet at work, I’ve got a bit more free time generally, I want to capitalise on my health while I still have it.

I’ve also started to recognize that actually, there really isn’t a need to be in this mad rush. I’m not a professional athlete. I don’t have a deadline for any of this. I don’t have to “work through pain” as my career has nothing to do with Judo pursuits. I’m also very highly value long term injury prevention.

In the end

I’m just taking a break. Not a long break, but enough of one to eradicate that limp which troubles me each morning. It is getting better.

As an aside, I went to a BJJ class thinking “hey I’m rarely on my feet, this will be fine” and sure enough my foot was hurting again from all the pivoting from the ground that sport requires. Then again, it wasn’t like the strain from randori!