Performance in kimono grip strength tests among Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners from different levels

Abstract

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu BJJ is a grappling sport characterized by high-intensity intermittent effort separated by low-intensity periods [1,2]. The match duration in the official championship for adults graded from blue belt is 5 min, purple belt 7 min, brown belt 8 min and black belt 10 min [3,4]. It is very similar to judo and wrestling in many aspects, although there are differences in these styles generally involving gripping, throwing, ground grappling, chokeholds, and joint locks [5]. In combat sports involving grappling, muscular strength is considered one of the most important physical components to be developed, through dynamic and static actions, specifically in upper limbs [5-8]. Such strength manifestations are vital in BJJ performance [5,8], specially to maintain the grip and to control the opponent, to perform new attacks, and defenses or counter-attack actions [8,10]. As a mechanism to evaluate the muscular strength kimo no grip pull-up test (KPU) has been considered a useful instru ment to indicate dynamic muscular endurance in judo [13] and BJJ [10]. Studies [10,13] have confirmed the effectiveness of this method to discriminate muscle strength in upper limbs of athletes from different competitive levels, Franchini et al. [13] with judo athletes and recent work performed from our laboratory evaluating BJJ athletes [10]. Addi tionally, the isometric version has been used successfully to evaluate the impact of a typical BJJ training session on isometric strength endurance [14].