Whilst it’s known that strikes to the head can cause brain damage, the question still remains whether choking can cause brain damage. This is often a hotly debated topic surrounding BJJ and whether it’s dangerous or whether it’s actually deserving of its ‘gentle art’ title. There have been various studies on the issue and it’s still a grey area, however it’s good to take a measured approach and use the information available to see whether BJJ can actually cause brain damage.
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Does repeated choking cause CTE?
CTE (short for Chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a condition formed after repeated blows to the head. The first mainstream example of this was with Mohammed Ali who was visibly different after his boxing career. Here, he had taken strong punches to the brain which resulted in a change in behavior, as well as speech and eventually his movement even suffered.
However, chokes are not the same as strikes. In short, strikes can cause trauma by hitting the brain and damaging it. With chokes, the mechanics are different if they are to harm the brain. The way a choke harms the brain is if the practitioner is unconscious for a long amount of time. This means less oxygen is able to reach the brain and this is where the damage can begin. Simply put, the brain needs oxygen to survive.
However, this is a bit of a grey area and differs per individual. Generally speaking, if you’re unconscious for over 2 minutes, then brain damage can set it. This is factual but the extent of brain damage is vaguer. In some cases, some people have been out for several minutes and woken up seemingly fine.
However, some may wake up with clear brain damage symptoms – or if you’re deprived of oxygen for longer, you would eventually die. With this said, training chokes in BJJ can lead to brain damage. This is not up for debate that if you’re choked and remain unconscious for long enough it will cause damage. With this thought of in literal terms, brain damage from BJJ is always a possibility.
But what about drilling chokes without going unconscious?
Perhaps this is the biggest issue in BJJ, is whether you can get brain damage from practicing chokes without going unconscious. Again this is vague as it depends how hard you apply the choke during sparring or drilling. For instance, you could tap very quickly in the first second a choke is applied. Alternatively, you could tap with half a second left and leave it closer to going out.
It should be noted, that as of today there have been no studies that practicing chokes in this way leads to brain damage. Whilst some people speculate that the carotid arteries can get damaged from this, it’s simply speculation at this point with no studies proving otherwise at this point.
Can BJJ cause strokes?
Again, this is something that does get spoken about in BJJ circles. Here, you may know someone who practices BJJ who has had a stroke, or at least you may have heard a story about someone. This is supposedly caused by the carotid arteries getting damaged, some even claim plaque can build in these arteries which leads to possible hemorrhages. However, at this point, there are simply not enough studies into whether this is true.
This brings up the next issue, that there simply isn’t enough research done on whether chokes can cause CTE. One of the reasons for this is due to the cost of scientific studies. To fund a study you need money and purpose. In short, there isn’t really a demand into investigating whether BJJ can cause brain damage. This is why the information is currently tenuous on the subject. With this said, a conclusive study is probably not realistic within the next 10 years either, as there simply isn’t a financial demand for one to take place.
It should also be noted, that as of now – there have been a few small studies into the possible damages of choking. However, these studies have said that repeated choking does not cause brain damage. As said, there is still not enough money involved to make a substantial claim. Having said this, from the evidence available, it doesn’t look like choking is as bad as what some claim.
If BJJ causes strokes and CTE – then what about Judo?
Judo has been around for a lot longer than BJJ. Founded in 1882, Judo has been practiced by a lot more people throughout history compared to BJJ. With this in mind, there have been no apparent deaths in Judo linked with CTE. This is an interesting point as Judo features a lot of similar gi chokes when compared to BJJ. Chokes such as the bow and arrow as well as the Clock choke are used in Judo as well as BJJ. In short, with the millions of Judo practitioners down the years, there would surely be some kind of correlation between training and brain damage? However, as of yet, this is not the case so the jury is still out.
Whilst not a Judoka, a similar scenario can be seen with the longevity of Helio Gracie. He trained BJJ his entire life and truly lived the BJJ lifestyle. Not only this, but he was supposedly rolling until weeks before his death. He died as a red belt aged 95 years old. Whilst this is just one person and shouldn’t be used as an example for others – it shows for Helio at least, that training BJJ didn’t harm him.
Summary
There are basically two arguments as to whether BJJ can cause CTE. On the one hand, it’s scientifically proven that being choked unconscious causes CTE or even death. This isn’t really up for debate and has been known for years. On the other hand, the argument is still open as to whether repeated chokes cause CTE without rendering the practitioner unconscious.
As looked at, this is still a vague area that doesn’t have enough data to give a concrete opinion on. Because of this, the best advice is to train safe and tap early if worried. With this philosophy, you possibly reduce the potential damage from chokes massively meaning you can train with peace of mind. As a result, you don’t have to worry much about chokes and can continue training. For those waiting on hard research, the reality is you may be waiting for a while. As mentioned this is due to the financial constraints which mean a definitive answer is probably decades away.
