Capoeira Case Study: Groin Pull With Rasteira Do Chão

Ola gente! Tudo bem?

Throughout the course of every capoeirista’s career comes pain. You can stretch daily, keep up your physical fitness and, STILL, something will likely hurt. Whether you get marked with a banda, kicked with a meia lua de compasso or throw too many queixadas in one training session, among other reasons, injury is one of the consequences that comes with training capoeira and all other sports.

This past weekend, one of my capoeira group members pulled his groin—or adductor muscle—in class doing a rasteira do chão. Sadly, he was unable to participate in the rest of the class or roda, BUT, I was able to help his pain and overall ability to walk improve quickly! Here’s how.

First, take a second to let the initial shock die down. Frustration, anger and all the emotions are real after getting hurt; especially during an activity that you love. Once settled, I had the capoeirista sit cross-legged, but stop when he felt more of a stretch than he was comfortable feeling, in which case, he backed off a little. Then, I had him resist adduction (bringing his knee toward his other knee) and hold for 10 seconds. After that, we moved into a little deeper of a stretch and repeated 3 times.

Next, I had him move into cadeira (horse stance in other arts or a sumo stance in the strength and conditioning world). From there, I advised small amounts of movement; again not overstretching past his comfort level.

No roda that day—BUMMER! Nonetheless, I saw him two days later and, though he was not 100% fit, there is no visible sign of injury. Progressive exercise and dynamic stretching will get him back in no time. I’m sure of it!