Written by Michael Krasnov DC, CCSP, CCEP, ICSC
I would like to share some thoughts on my recent experience working at the JuJitsu International Federation (JJIF) Pan American JuJitsu Championships in Bogotá, Colombia, which took place on August 14-15, 2024.This was my second JuJitsu event in three weeks, having just worked the World & European JuJitsu Championships on August 23-25, 2024, in Zadar, Croatia. I also recently worked at the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Championship in Lithuania from June 15-23, 2024. While this blog will mainly focus on the JJIF event in Bogotá, I will also mention the other two events I’ve worked over the past three months. I had a great time in Colombia, and, as is the case with all FICS events, I made new friends, worked with dedicated athletes, challenged my abilities, and introduced the benefits of sports chiropractic to many athletes, coaches, and officials in the sport’s governing body.
I feel fortunate to have made friends at every FICS event and truly enjoy getting to know chiropractors from other countries. I love learning about the state of chiropractic in their nations and exchanging ideas on practice and treatment techniques. I would like to give a shout-out to each chiropractor I worked with at the last three events. Every one of these doctors was skilled, dedicated, and a pleasure to work with. I made new friends and learned something from each of them. I want to give a shout-out to Dr. Roland Claes of Belgium, with whom I worked at the IPF event in Lithuania this past summer. He had personal experience with powerlifting, and I learned a lot from him about the sport’s nuances. He was a skilled and experienced doctor and a pleasure to work with. Next, I want to give a shout-out to Dr. Henrik H. H⌀jgaard of Sweden, with whom I worked in Croatia at the JJIF World Championships. He is a very experienced and skilled doctor, and it was great working with him as well.
Most recently, I worked with Tonatiuh Vallejo of Mexico in Bogotá, Colombia. He was a huge help with the Spanish language (as my Spanish is rudimentary) and was energetic, friendly, and had great hands. This was his first FICS event, and he was a natural.
I want to encourage every chiropractor who wants to improve their sports chiropractic skills to work at an event. For those of you who might be reticent to work at an event where you are unfamiliar with the particular sport, please don’t let that stop you. However, I would recommend the following. First, learn about the sport in advance. Familiarize yourself with common injuries, watch videos to understand the sport’s biomechanical stresses, and learn the terminology. Understanding the biomechanics will help you understand & identify common injuries. Furthermore, learning the terminology and lingo builds credibility and trust with the athletes. Also, as you work with athletes from any particular sport, you’ll notice injury patterns that can help you diagnose and treat them quickly, which can be crucial when time is limited at events.
- L to R: Dr. Vallejo and Dr Krasnov
- Dr Krasnov undertaking an adjustment
I’ve observed an interesting dynamic at events, especially when athletes or coaches aren’t familiar with chiropractic (or with you); they might send a few athletes to “test you out.” Assuming you do a good job, more athletes start coming in. For example, at the JuJitsu tournament in Columbia, I did a lot of taping. By the second day, coaches brought in athletes, asking if I could tape up shoulders, ankles, and other joints. I first experienced this phenomenon in 1996, when I was a team chiropractor for the US Olympic Track and Field team from the end of trials until the competition began in Atlanta. On my first day, the first athlete they gave me to work with was Randy Barnes (who went on to win gold in the shot put). Although I don’t know this for a fact, I believe they were testing me out and thought even if I was not very competent, I probably couldn’t hurt him because, well, he was huge! Fortunately, the treatment went well, and one athlete after another soon followed. In Bogotá, the first day started slow, but soon, we had athletes signing up on a waiting list. Dr. Vallejo and I treated 146 athletes over the two days!
Event work often challenges your skills because you have less time to assess and treat athletes than in a clinical setting. You may also see injuries with which you are unfamiliar. In Bogotá, I saw more trauma in two days than I might see in 5 months at my clinic. Athletes reported things like, “I felt a pop here” or “something snapped there”. JuJitsu is a physically intense sport. I treated torn biceps, shoulder separations and dislocations, finger fractures and dislocations, ankle sprains (some severe), knee injuries (especially to the MCL and meniscus), costal cartilage and rib injuries, and spine injuries. Some were acute; others were chronic. Believe me, working at an event is a great learning opportunity—often more practical than attending a seminar, as you learn by doing in real-world situations.
Lastly, working at events allows you to be an ambassador for our profession. Chiropractic is available to many professional teams because athletes know its value and insist on having team chiropractors. Working at FICS or local sports events is an opportunity to introduce more athletes to the benefits of sports chiropractic. Event officials or administrators may often ask for treatment, further spreading awareness. Our profession grows from the ground up through these interactions. While supporting PACs and lobbying lawmakers are important top-down approaches, athlete demand often plays a critical role in advancing chiropractic care. As we say in FICS, Every Athlete Deserves Access to Sports Chiropractic.
I encourage anyone interested in working at sporting events to explore the volunteer opportunities available with FICS, as well as those in your own community. I’m including some photos from the Pan Am JuJitsu Championships in Bogotá. Including one of myself, Dr. Vallejo and the athlete with the torn biceps who I was able to tape up sufficient for him to compete and medal. Thank you to FICS and the IPF and JJIF for the opportunity to support athletes and help them achieve optimal performance.