Can you get CTE from Jiu Jitsu?
Can Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Cause CTE? CTE is a condition that occurs due to continuous hitting to your head. BJJ prohibited any sort of hitting and ensuring safety from the higher risk of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) that other combat martial arts usually lack.
As your kids practice Jiu Jitsu, their heart-rate is elevated, pumping more oxygen to the brain. As a result, the brain releases hormones that aid in the production of more brain cells. It also leads an increase in growth factors that make it easy for the brain to gain more neuronal connections.
Core Symptoms
The number of confirmed CTE cases is greatest among boxers and football players; however, CTE has also been diagnosed in soccer, ice hockey, wrestling, and rugby players [2].
BJJ training has been known to lead to chronic diseases. During grappling, the pressure applied on the neck, shoulders, and joints can result in serious health problems like arthritis, herniated discs, and constant body pains.
As a grappling sport, BJJ puts practitioners at risk for incurring a sports-related concussion. In this retrospective survey, 25.2% of BJJ practitioners report having a concussion while engaging in BJJ in their lifetime.
Occasional Hits to the Head Do Not Cause CTE
Occasional hits to the head, such as the bumps and tumbles that children take when learning to walk, do not cause CTE.
- 2.1. Little to No Stand-Up Practice.
- 2.2. Multiple Fighters.
- 2.3. High rate of injury.
- 2.4. Application of BJJ Off the Mat.
- 2.5. Concussion in BJJ practice.
Your body releases endorphins through most forms of exercise. It's why you might feel intense happiness or excitement following a run or other activity. However, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu releases all of these endorphins and more.
Several are obvious: To improve self-defence, to become physically stronger and to create a more healthy lifestyle. But there's one less often attributed benefit. Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) will make you not just more physically resilient, but more mentally and emotionally resilient too.
Although most cases of CTE are found in people practicing martial arts, CTE has also been found in others with a history of repeated concussive injuries from sports ranging from professional hockey players [11], American football players, and military men in active line of duty, to the case of a circus clown who was ...
Do fighters get CTE?
Former Fighters Have Already Been Diagnosed With CTE
CTE can only be officially diagnosed post-mortem. Former UFC heavyweight fighter Tim Hague was discovered to have CTE during an autopsy following his death two days after suffering a KO loss to Adam Braidwood in a boxing match.
A recent study indicates that 41 percent of retired fighters likely have CTE, and the more bouts, the higher the risk. New research was published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shedding more light on the prevalence of the progressive brain disease CTE in the combat sports community.

Moriarty et al 17 and Petrisor et al 21 investigated BJJ-related injuries in both training and competition and found that injuries occur commonly in BJJ: The studies reported a high injury prevalence (9/10 athletes sustaining at least 1 injury) 21 and a 6-month injury incidence rate of 59.2%.