Vertigo Survey Results

Several months ago, I launched a survey on vertigo to get more information on the symptoms, affect on grappling, and treatments that other BJJ practitioners have experienced.  A total of 18 people completed the survey, and 16 of them had experienced vertigo.  To create more meaningful stats, I created the percentages based on the 16 people who had experienced vertigo.

Before I give the results of the survey, I'd like to express my grateful thanks to Caleb at fightworkspodcast.com.  He graciously sent this out on his twitter feed and significantly increased the response rate. If you haven't checked out his podcast you really should.

So - now for the responses:

Question 1: Have you experienced vertigo (Vertigo is a type of dizziness and involves a false sensation that oneself or the surroundings are moving or spinning, usually accompanied by nausea and loss of balance.) 

Comments for this question:

I had been grappling for a couple of years. Started to see a chiropractor, immediately had issues with vertigo. Went away after a month or so."

Question 2:  How frequently have you experienced Vertigo (select only one)?

Comments for this question:

"two times one year apart, same month"

Question 3:  Which of the following best describe your bouts of vertigo (select all that apply - note this will add up to more than 100%)

Question 4:  Which treatment worked best for your vertigo (select only one)

Question 5:  How did vertigo affect your grappling (select all that apply)

If you could share advice for a grappler experiencing vertigo, would would it be?

A lot of sleep for a few weeks seems to help.

5/17/2012 9:55 AM

Be careful. Train on the bottom if you insist on training. Play a simple game, lots of closed guard, half guard if you must, and work loads on reclaiming guard. I was never able to train on top during my vertigo, so my bottom game definitely improved during this time.

5/11/2012 12:30 AM

Wish I had some answers...

5/10/2012 12:57 AM

Unless 10 seconds of dizziness after forward or back rolls count, I haven't experienced it. Sorry.

5/10/2012 8:53 AM

Imagine a Dot at the person forehead and stare at it, or imagine the dot on the ground so you can maintain your focus and balance.

4/18/2012 12:53 AM

Epley maneuver. Rest.

4/9/2012 10:07 PM

This guy trained when he could. I think that is like most people who have recurring injuries or a long time issue. from Jiujitsu365

3/19/2012 5:30 PM

tap to chokes when they are set, not when you are about to go unconscious

2/26/2012 6:52 PM

Hmmm go private medical care and get it sorted right there iv been waiting on the NHS for a year now and still have it iv been off my work been a nightmare especially when I cant train and compete, operation looks like my only answer

2/17/2012 6:34 PM

If you're really freaked out about it, get an MRI done. I did.

2/14/2012 7:32 PM

Use the Epley Maneuver - it works!

2/13/2012 11:44 PM

BJJ Bluegrass Open Recap

This weekend found me in Louisville, KY to compete in the Blue Grass BJJ Open.  I decided to register for this tournament because it's a round robin and would ensure that I get at least four tournament matches.  The tournament functions like a lot of the smaller (regional) tournaments, with the following exceptions:

• Weight divisions are made that day using a madison bracketing system (no pre-set weight divisions, and competitors are sorted by rank and weight after weigh in closes)
• A division has only five competitors in it (in my case the five lightest purple belts)
• It's round robin - so everyone in a division competes against the other four people in their division
• Advantages aren't scored to encourage competitors to go for submissions
• First, second, and third place are awarded within your division based on wins by submission, wins by points, and ties (a submission is worth 3 points; win by points is worth 2 points, tie is worth 1 point, and losing is worth no points)

My spouse and I left work early on Friday to drive seven hours to Louisville the day before the tournament.  We had a nice dinner, and I was in asleep by 11:30 PM for a 7:30 AM wake up call.  The morning went very well, though I was somewhat nervous by not knowing how big the other four lightest purple belts might be.

When we got to the venue, my spouse set off for a 7 mile run while I went to weigh in.  The venue was a multi-sport facility primarily used for basketball.  Nestled among office parks, the venue and its neighbors had plenty of parking to accomodate both the BJJ tournament and Volleyball tournament going on inside.

Since easily 60% of the competitors were kids and their parents crammed into the bleachers, I set up camp on the floor and started to prepare for a long day.  Without teammates or spouse to chat with, I soon got bored with people watching and closed my eyes.  

A few minutes later, I was asleep!  The fact that I took a nap while waiting for the tournament to start was the best gauge of my comfort with competing.  It's tough to fall asleep when you're a ball of nerves!

The public address system woke me up to announce the rules meeting, and I was really excited to see that the tournament organizers planned to have purple belts compete before the kids.  This made my day because it meant I could enjoy being a tourist in Louisville most of the afternoon.

As I anticipated, I was the smallest and oldest guy in my division, but there was one competitor who looked to be in his early 30's and close to my weight (after our match, he told me that he weighed in at 135 - so he only had about a dozen pounds on me).  The other guys felt a lot stronger compared to me, and I was surprised by how much one guy towered over me.

Since IBJJF lists competitors before events, I won't go into the details of my matches.  But here are the results:

• Match 1:  Tie
• If this tournament scored advantages, I think I would have won by advantage because my opponent had to fight off a serious submission attempt. 
• Of course, if a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its butt
• Match 2:  Loss by submission
• This match felt like a fight for survival
• I fought like hell to get out of the submission, but he eventually got it
• Match 3:  Loss by submission
• Successfully defended a submission attempt that a training partner has caught me in a lot (need to thank him for always going for that submission)
• Got a specific sweep that I've been working on (yay me)
• Got submitted at the end of a fast-paced scramble
• Match 4:  Tie
• Frustrating match because we just stale mated each other.  
• Neither of us made a mistake that would give the other an opportunity for points

After my final match, I thanked the ref at my ring (who was also the tournament organizer).  As we shook hands he asked, "Did you have fun?".   To be honest I had a great time, but I also thought it was cool that the tournament organizer cared whether I had a good experience

Frank returned from his morning run in time to video my matches, and I look forward to studying my strengths and weaknesses in more detail in the next few weeks.