Common bruise that can be expected from learning to paraglide or paramotor, mostly from learning forward inflations. This generic pic courtesy Healthline.com
I recently got a question about whether bruising on the arm was to be expected since it concerned him about training safety. After all, we learn in airplanes all the time and it never involves getting bruised. I had no idea. It happened to me and I always assumed it happened to others who went through a full training regimen. So I posed the question to Facebooks 30,000 or so “Paramotor” group users in the form of a poll. The results: it’s overwhelmingly common! 93% of all respondents reported some kind of bruising during their training.
When you do a forward paraglider inflation, with a motor or free flight harness, the risers are laying across your biceps. When the wing comes to life, it does so with great force, especially with a bit of headwind and those thin risers push down your tensed up arms. Some other kiting events can cause it in different place, especially in stronger winds where you can almost get lifted.
Consider those bruises the evidence of intensity that comes with learning a new physical activity. You will probably stop getting them as you learn how much force it take to inflate on a forward, and get better at reverse inflations. Getting better at reverses means that you’ll do fewer forwards.