So I started BJJ about 2 or so weeks ago...I am going to my 4th class thursay, it nearly kills me but its so much fun...wish I had started 10 years ago! Anyway - I am getting what I believe is the usual sore hands from all the Gi gripping etc, is there something other than just resting my hands to help with this, or is it just case of keep training and it will eventually sort itself out? i.e. are there exercises / regimes to help my hands heal/strengthen? I am also getting soreness in my ring finger on right hand in the first knuckle which hurts when you pinch either side, I know don't squeeze it is one solution . What I am now interested in is -is there something I am doing wrong or is this mainly caused by excessive gripping on my part and torque of having my hands pulled from my partners collar especially during sparring where I am pretty much latching on to the other guy and hoping my size wears them down...which has worked a couple of times but I am sure this has limited mileage against more experienced practitioners.
I've never had sore fingers except when I'm gripping and people are trying to break it. Perhaps go for different grips? Don't squeeze too hard. Some people use tape for some reason, but I've never had that problem.
I did wonder what if anything tape does / did, have not seen anyone at my dojo with it yet - but seen plenty of guys with tapped up digits in videos. I saw a video last night where the guy suggested relaxing and trying to not rely on brute strength so much, which means more tapping in the beginning but long term you gain better technique. Think this might be partial solution for me, being a big guy means its natural to try strong arm my way through stuff, and then having my hands pulled from a Gi using technique looks like I am coming off worse? Correct me if I am wrong also see that there is more technique to holding a Gi than just pure hand / arm strength so have another thing to keep my eye out for in sparring.
Your tendons are not used to the forces being put through them, which makes them sore. If you keep with it, they'll get stronger and the pain will go away. Taping them will help with the pain, but it will stop the tendons from getting stronger and you'll become dependent on the tape. You're almost certainly gripping too tightly.
Your over gripping which will tire your muscles out and start to make a mess out of your fingers if you carry it on, tapping is good, it means your learning!
i have to tape my fingernails sometimes because gi's cause my cuticles to bleed, or the knuckles closest to the tip of my finger. for some reason, i just bleed a lot there. you might be gripping too hard. i used to get finger and forearm pain too. maybe something you can do is to think of using your fingers like hooks. that's helped me. don't like grip tight, just think of using your fingers to hook onto the opponent's gi fabric.
I will give the more gentle approach a go tomorrow night, see how my hands/arms feel afterwards. I think the thing I have to get my head round is its more to do with mechanics than physical force. Have no concern about tapping especially at this stage in the game where I am basically waiting for them to come to me and find out what they are going to do rather than me having a game-plan of my own (and we are starting from within the guard as my class is all white belts that have not really learned to break fall properly yet).
