Found out this afternoon that I have a torn rotator cuff and will need surgery on it. I got injured last Saturday during Judo sparring. My opponent came in for an inside foot sweep I anticipated and tried to evade but it was a good entry and he was fast so I couldn't quite clear it. I still kept him from getting a clean throw but landed right on the point of my shoulder with him on top of me. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and bowed out right away. I was hoping it was just sprained but when I couldn't move my right arm that told me that it was something worse. Got an MRI and the orthopedic surgeon confirmed it. The guy I was fighting is a good player at a dojo that I trained at occasionally. He's also taller, stronger, faster and probably 20 years younger than me. I had seen him in action and wanted to get a feel for what he could do first hand. As a smaller guy I've fought a lot of bigger guys and I believed that my experience and guile could deal with him. I guess like some other longterm posters here I was trying to impress those younger and hold onto to my youth. The lesson I take away is to be smart and know your limits. I could have just given him his attack and just taken a clean fall on my back or better just hung back rather than decide to spar. In this case pride literally goeth before the fall. The good news is that the doctor feels pretty good about the surgery and since I'm in good health I can make a full recovery. That said there is a good chance that my days of doing competitive Judo might be over. It's not just my shoulder but most of my joints ache and I can feel myself getting slower and less flexible every day. I knew a day like this would come and since I got back to doing Judo this past year following the pandemic lockdown the end seemed like it was getting closer. Short of Tom Brady time will get us all so enjoy and treasure what makes you, you while you can. Requisite "cool story Bro".
I've been there. I had a situation where i finally had surgery about a year and a half ago to fix a torn rotator cuff, an absolutely shredded labrum, and remove a nine fragment about the size of a marble from my shoulder socket. I'm still not 100% back to full strength with my right arm, but I'm pain free for the first time in decades. My surgery was a lot more extensive than what you are having done (and you're possibly younger than i am), so while it'll suck for several months, I'm sure you'll bounce back perhaps wiser for the whole ordeal.
I quit Judo after I broke my ankle as an orange belt. Seeing all the members always ailing with a variety of injuries ranging from mild to very severe plus my own injury was enough for me to turn from it even though I liked it. I would still do it if they allowed me not to randori but it was not an option. Shame, I always loved conditioning and drilling but the sparring injury rate is too darn high.
I have mentioned this, I have had to work general labor jobs the past decade after starting my adulthood in corporate America. I am 47. For about a year I've had shoulder pain in my left shoulder. I can't lift anything above it with my left arm. My mother a retired RN said it's probably the rotator cuff. I didn't know a lot of people have problems with it as they get older. I need pursue getting it repaired but I don't know if the insurance will not consider it necessary It's getting worse. I'm going to have to at least try and see if I can get it repaired
The shoulder I've injured I've dislocated and separated before so from the MRI they can tell there's some longstanding damage. The surgeon feels pretty good he can fix that though.
If you can't life your arm up, and that's where I am with my right arm, definitely need to get it fixed. I spend most of my day on a computer using a mouse but the lack of mobility in my right arm is debilitating when I can't even extend my arm to measure a door frame. If you're doing something that isn't a desk job getting your shoulder fixed should be needed for work. Hope you can convince the insurance to cover that. I need to talk to my insurance today but feel pretty good this will be covered.
Have you tried doing Kata / forms. There are some Judo dojos that don't emphasize sparring or competition. At my level it's my choice whether I sparr. It's something that I don't just love but have a compulsion to do. So for me doing Judo without the sparring is difficult.
That was my situation as well, so long as your surgeon is of decent quality and you take rehab seriously, you should be fine.
I'll never do katas/forms again. I spent six and a half years getting my black belt in Taekwondo and the only thing I disliked were katas. Currently doing boxing, mma, bjj and Filipino martial arts to varying degrees, with only boxing with any level of real skill. I like live sparring but I refuse to do judo randori. I even do a little wrestling now and then but judo injury rate is through the roof.
Forms can be boring but are an important part of martial arts. One problem I have though is that previous injuries have kept me from doing forms properly.
At least you went out doing something you loved. The real important question is when will you be able to fap again? @Jontro
