Back in September I wrote about wearing a cup when practicing Jiu Jitsu. I decided not to wear a cup back then because of the following two arguments:

1. In a street fight you won’t have time to put on a cup.
2. When you don’t train with a cup, you get accustomed to it.

I still think both of these are true, but I’m a bit wiser now and have  reconsidered my position on the issue.

First, I have become accustomed to rolling without a cup. It is almost as if I have developed a “six sense” for avoiding trauma to that area of my body; however, I don’t know if I’ll ever be smooth enough to avoid all contact or impact.

In fact, it’s statistically likely that some contact or trauma is inevitable to that area of the body if you train long enough without a cup. So this is my take: I’m now “better and wiser” for not wearing a cup for a while, but because there will always be a risk of injury, I’m going to now protect myself. But I’m also wise enough to not let the fact that I’m wearing a cup affect my Jiu Jitsu. Or put another way: I am still going to pretend like I’m not wearing one.

This is because the point above about not wearing a cup for a street fight is still very true. That’s the thing though: in a street fight, you won’t have time to put on a cup. But in class, you do.

Wearing a mouth guard is always a good idea when practicing Jiu Jitsu. I wear a mouth guard regularly I was excited when Elite MMA asked me to review Shock Doctor’s Power Gel-Nano mouth guard.

The Power Gel-Nano is a heavy duty mouth guard with a high-quality look and feel. Looking at its packaging, one would get the impression that the Gel Nano is Shock Doctor’s “deluxe” item, like the nicest car released by by Honda or the most powerful laptop released by Apple.

Description

The mouth guard features a plastic frame encasing the gel mold material, which is the material surrounding the teeth while the mouth guard molds to your mouth. Both materials change shape when setting, but the design of the product ensures that your teeth don’t really touch the frame itself, only the inner gel mold. The mouth piece is designed to provide more insulating gel mold material than other mouth pieces.

Most quality mouth guards feature a frame for structural integrity, which often act a “skeleton”, giving the product form and structural integrity. A key difference in the design of Gel-Nano, however, is that its frame is bigger and more pronounced, surrounding the wearer’s teeth and gums at a deeper level than many other mouth guards.

For some wearers, this is bound to make the Gel-Nano feel larger then a typical mouth piece. There is a positive consequence to the large frame: it gives the wearer a more confident sense of protection. In fact, when I wear this mouth guard I have virtually no fear experiencing a mouth or tooth injury.

The Gel-Nano mouth guard also provides some indentations in the gel mold for the lower teeth, both for some front teeth and rear molars. Other mouth guards I wear regularly, including the Shock Doctor Gel-Max mouth guard (also available at Elite MMA), don’t feature dramatic indentations for the bottom teeth. These indentations in the Gel-Nano help the mouth piece feel more secure and protective, but it makes it harder to talk. Then again, no one wears mouth guards to give speeches or communicate effectively.

The Gel-Nano’s Trade-Off

While it is obvious the Gel-Nano mouth guard is meant to be an ultimate, premium mouth guard in terms of protection, you will likely trade some comfort for this protection. It does feel large –annoyingly so at times – but it’s something I mostly only notice when I’m not participating in a physical class activity.

Because of this the Gel-Nano is probably not going to be replacing my Gel-Max mouth guard when drilling grappling technique or rolling, but it is a very strong contender to replace it when I practice stand-up self defense and take-downs (I normally have my head gear and mouth guard case accessible in class). When we start doing activities which I feel warrant stronger protection I’ll grab the Gel-Nano. I’m slowly finding myself getting accustomed to the sense of protection it provides despite the size.

The protection does feel top notch. I couldn’t imagine fighting MMA (or sparring in Muay Thai or boxing) with anything else. I expect many professional MMA fighters have it on hand and use it regularly.

Pros
- Deep indentation in the gel mold surrounds more teeth and gums, providing greater protection.
- Deeper mold indents for lower rear molars add extra stability
- Feels well-made and of high quality
- Feels more protective and insulating than other mouth guards

Cons
- May feel large or uncomfortable to some people
- Related to above: for people with smaller mouths, the amount of gel mold in the mouth guard may also be excessive
- More difficult to mold to mouth.

Some Advice…

Although not related to a the review above, I did want to share a bit of advice: when you pick a up a mouth guard, make sure you follow its molding directions as accurately as you can. About 8 months ago I let mouth piece get too hot in the molding process: the result was a deformed mouth guard beyond salvation.

I have been doing some online shopping for a new gi or kimono. As stated in a previous blog post, it is not always a fun process. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that most gi and kimono manufacturers don’t cater or market to thin people. In fact, if you are thin, lanky – or even worse, both, you are going to have an extremely hard time finding a gi or kimono that fits. Period.

I consider myself skilled in Internet research. I’m persistent and usually successful when motivated to find something – a product, a video, a web page – so I am surprised I am unable to find more gi and kimono brands that have sizes more appropriate for trim people.

To illustrate my point, here are some examples of gi sizes from some random brands and sellers I found online. Consider that I’m 5′11 and just over 160 lbs; which size of this “Keiko Raca Gi Kimono Limited” would I buy? Here are the sizes in the said link:

Here’s another example – the 2010 Gameness Pearl White Single Weave Gi. The size chart:

What about the Atama Mundial Model #9?:

Most people I’ve communicated with – even people from gi and kimono sellers – generally recommend I buy size A3 and shrink it down. Sometimes this can work, but it means taking a gamble that I can fix the gi without over shrinking it. If I can’t get the size down or it shrinks too much, I’m out $150. No sellers I am aware of will return a washed gi.

Gi Sizes, Body Sizes, And Body Mass Index

It’s clear that gi and kimono manufacturers target people larger than me. But how much larger? To answer this question I’ll reference a concept known as “BMI” – body mass index – that assigns a numeric value to a person’s weight in relation to his or her height. It is considered overly simplistic and is not an indicator of health, but at least it’s something for thinking about how much people weigh. For example, in sports like Jiu Jitsu, people with high BMIs normally have higher BMIs because of muscle mass.

Apparently, gi and kimono sizes are usually made for people with higher body mass indexes (BMI). See for yourself; here is the BMI chart from Wikipedia:

If you refer to the chart above with attention to almost any gi manufacturers’ size chart, you will notice almost all assume a majority of their market has a large BMI. For some reason – warranted are not – gi and kimono manufacturers are assuming that the majority of Jiu Jitsu practitioners are buff, overweight, or both.

This confuses me because it runs counter to my experience and common sense. While people of all shapes and sizes do Jiu Jitsu, the sport absolutely has its share of thin competitors. Still, for whatever reason, companies have overwhelmingly sized their gi and kimonos to fit people with larger BMIs, and largely glossed over the thinner Jiu Jitsu competitor.

But to the gi and kimono manufacturer it has to make sense – because if the sizes did not accurately portray their market, sales would decline, and they would have changed their sizes years ago. That, or maybe no company has yet to adequately sell gis or kimonos that would fit people with a broader range of BMIs.

The question still remains: if trim people like me are going to try and buy a gi, where are should we look?

Options And Ideas For The Thin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xharekx33/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I am aware of two brands that occasionally sound like a decent choice for thin people: Keiko Raca and Mkimonos. I’ve never purchased or trained in either, although I have tried on Kieko Raca kimonos owned by other students.

I emailed Jiu Jitsu Progear with suggestions for gis for thin people. They suggested that people with tall/slim build may do well with Keiko Raca; that they usually feature a longer cut to accommodate the thin and trim build. This may be valuable advice but it this seems to be counter to the sizing chart for Kieko Raca shown above.

When I tried on another student’s Keiko Raca A2, the chest and waist portion of the gi felt great, but the arms did feel short.

The option I have heard is good for thin and skinny people is Mkimonos – especially their Lutador Americano label. They even warn about this on one of their product pages.

Unfortunately, while Mkimonos has a pretty good reputation for customer service, I’ve experienced some road bumps in communication with them. I have been very close to purchasing their “White Lutador Americano Hybrid Weave Gi” a few times, but it never seems to be available, even after assurances that it would be.

Putting Out the Call

There is obviously a shortage – or chronic miscommunication – between gi sizes, manufacturers, and thin people who do Jiu Jitsu.

I am actively looking to purchase a new gi, but I want to be sure that what I purchase will fit well.

If you are aware of – or represent a gi or kimono label or brand which you think would fit a skinny person well – please let me know. I am anxious to let people know what I find.

I recently snagged the 2009 Pan Jiu Jitsu Championship DVD set from Jiu Jitsu Progear. As hinted in a previous blog post I have been watching more Jiu Jitsu related videos in my spare time. I like the DVD very much so far although I haven’t been able to watch all the fights yet.

I was excited to get the DVD because I wanted to find a solid set of fights to watch and learn from. Instructionals are great for learning, obviously, but it’s hard to have techniques sink in when you are doing other things when watching TV. With this DVD set I can intermittently watch at my leisure.

Some people have complained that videos/DVDs like this fall short because the fights are not narrated (there are no announcers). I disagree: it is one of my favorite features (or lack of feature); I like being able to watch and make my own observations. If I where watching it live I think announcers would be appropriate.

I hope in watching these fights I will be able to pick up little nuiances and techniques. Will it work? That’s the topic for a future blog post.

Below is the official promo for the video.

The next Pan Jiu Jitsu championships are in March.

I would guess that headgears for martial arts have been around a long time; Wikipedia only had so much to say about the topic. Wikipedia did not have an extensive history of the martial-arts headgear. Yet.

I am often surprised by how many people don’t wear headgear when training Jiu Jitsu. I would think that the threat of cauliflower ear – being virtually incurable – would inspire heavy use of them. This is not really the case. In my experience headgears are often the exception rather than the norm. Other schools may be different, of course.

I own a headgear but I rarely wear it. I have been somewhat hesitant too: my particular headgear is a rather bulky piece of equipment. My headgear has a “hard” cup around the ears: when I wear it feel self-conscious that it will bump into the face and head of my opponent, making them uncomfortable. It also seems to run a touch large for me: even at its smallest setting, it still could be tighter.

There is another reason I don’t wear it very often – I don’t (didn’t) think it would happen to me. A Relson Gracie Colorado brown belt who often teaches has barely any cauliflower ear – and when I asked him about it he said it was mostly luck.

I generally don’t consider myself a lucky person, so I think it’s about time I start wearing my headgear when sparring once again. Cauliflower ear isn’t in an issue for everyone – not everyone gets it, and not everyone cares if they do get it – but for me, I’m going to try a little harder to stave it off.

I just need to grab a new, “softer”, less bulkier one. Hopefully Google will show me the way.

pic credit(s): http://www.flickr.com/photos/buildscharacter/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Not too long ago I ordered the Atama Ultra-Lite Gi, which, as confirmed via email with Atama-Kimonos.com, ships with the Mundial #9 pants.

This is a review for Atama Mundial #9 pants, size A3*.

Currenly, the gi and pants are sold only as a pair, but I expect them to be available individually soon.

For a rundown of the Atama Mundial #9 Gi, check out Georgette Oden’s writup where you can also find links to some reviews.

Materials & Structure

The pants are 57% cotton and 43% polyester, but feel like 100% cotton to the touch. Not surprisingly, they are thin – perhaps thinner than denim or an average tee-shirt. Despite the thinness of the material, the pants are still tough and most seams are triple sewn. The pants have no stretch.

Atama must have confidence the pant’s material. I was expecting to find the bottom cuffs reinforced with a thicker fabric, but found it to be reinforced by the same cotton material as the pants. The drawstring also uses the same material rather than a cord or rope (which holds very well when rolling).

The pants also feature a generously large reinforced knee area from about three inches from the bottom of the pant to the top of the thigh.

An interesting disadvantage of the material – at least in white – is that it readily collects and retains dirt and residue. I have owned these pants for a little over a month now and worn them about 12 times or so: they already show more dirt than another pair of pants I own – which was worn to almost every class for about 7 months.

Feel & Cut

Light! The pants feel light and don’t get in the way – and as alluded to earlier, tough. I am currently playing a lot of open guard so my pants are often grabbed (tightly) around the knees. I’ve never thought twice about the material or stitches not holding.

One of my favorite things about the pant is the cut. It is roomy enough not to impede movement, yet tight enough so that it feels like there is no excess cloth. I find the cut of the pants to be a perfect middle ground. They hit at a comfortable spot above the ankles.

From left to right: close-up of patch on upper right thigh, example of reinforced inseam, close-up of drawstring, and the bottom cuff.

Lastly, the pants have good “hang” – they tend to maintain their shape rather than drape over the legs when standing. They also tend not to stick to my legs when they are sweaty.

Summary

I cannot attest to how well these pants wear on every body type. I am 5′11 and about 168 pounds with long arms and legs, and I wear a 32” waist.

These pants are are a great find and I’d buy them again, but probably in a different color. I really enjoy the material, the cut, and I really do feel less “weighed-down” when I roll in them.

* I didn’t review the entire Ultra-Light because I did not feel I wore the top enough before having it tailored to fit me better. It took about 4 or 5 classes to realize the cut was really not for me, despite getting the correct size. I don’t feel right about giving it a review after the alterations.

I will say this, however: the material is good and light and I could really get used the room in shoulders.

Last evening I finally scored a set of patches from Boulder Grappling Academy. They look sharp and three go to set: one is meant for the chest, another for a pant leg, and a large one for the back. I couldn’t ask for a cooler logo or patch for my school. As an additional bonus, they are pre-shrunk which should help reduce the odds of them becoming warped when sewn on the gi.

I plan one applying these to a fancy new gi / kimono I just ordered (which I plan on reviewing for the blog) which should lend itself to these quite nicely.

For my first six or seven months of Jiu Jitsu I was convinced it was smart to wear a cup when training. This was confirmed when I racked my training partner with my knee – on accident, of course – and when my cup protected me from various impairments to my reproductive compacity when people passed my guard with various knee passes which would have otherwise may have been quite painful.

I was able to overcome the discomfort and considered myself wise for wearing one – and for better or worse – my Jiu Jitsu was probably a little more fearless because of it.

My thoughts on the issue remained consistent until I had a conversation with an instructor. He mentioned the following two points about wearing a cup when training:

1. In a street fight you won’t have time to put on a cup – and if you find yourself somehow wearing a cup you should consider yourself lucky – lucky enough to go buy a lottery ticket. As much as possible, you should be able and used to defending yourself without having a dependence on a piece of a equipment. This is a common-sense reality of street fights.
2. When you don’t train with a cup, you get accustomed to it. He said you “develop radar” and sensitivity – you begin to make adjustments that reduce likelihood of injuries to groin.

I pretty much immediately stopped wearing a cup after the conversation. I was a bit nervous at first, but he is right: you really do begin to account for your sensitivities when you don’t wear protection down there. And the more I think about the arguments for not wearing a cup when training, the more obvious and true they  seem.

I have done a complete 180 on the issue and I think my Jiu Jitsu and self defense is better because of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronalddevillaphotography/ / CC BY 2.0

I bought my first gi though my school, Boulder Grappling Academy, for a decent price when everything was new to me – including advantages and disadvantages each type of gi. Since then I have done my research – via friends at the dojo and online – and I now feel pretty educated about the topic. Now it is time for me to buy a new gi – but this time I want to get something a little more tailored to my requirements and preferences.

Jiu Jitsu – and many other martial arts in general – are still niche enough that supplies and gear are usually purchased through the students’ school – or possibly more common, online.

When I make a purchase for something major (like a gi) I am methodical about research and finding out everything I can about the product and the various options out there. I want to be an educated consumer. For mainstream products – like most things sold at Amazon – this is fairly easy. Descriptions and reviews abound and a general consensus usually develops around the product in question.

But not so for a gi. Buying and researching gis online has been an arduous, frustrating process so far. Here’s why:

1. Relatively low number of gi reviews

   Sure, there are reviews online, but compared to other products, there are just not that many. I expect that to change for the better as Jiu Jitsu becomes more popular. Two sources I have consulted are Joker’s Jiu-jitsu Kimono & Gi Reviews and Sherdog’s MMA forums – specifically the gear sub forum. These are two good resources, but overall, the quantity of reviews is still small.

   Some online sellers have product reviews – such as Budovideos – but usually they are small, one or two sentences at most. These can be helpful but usually don’t provide enough insight or information for me to make a good buying decision.

   

   I hope to help out the community a bit in this regard – I plan on posting reviews of every gi I get my hands on.

2. Lack of consistent reviews

   It is often hard to figure out what a gi is really like when looking at a review – and even harder when other reviews on the same product contradict each other. True, a review is only an opinion, and everyone’s opinion will be different, but I have seen opinions on gis that are fairly irreconcilable. For example, most reviews I have seen say Keiko Raca gis are good for trim people with longer arms; but I’ve also found a couple reviews that say their tops are baggy.

3. Lack of measurements

   There is no question about it: the biggest downer of trying to buy a gi online is the lack of measurements. Size is extremely important when considering a new gi -so why it is so hard to find detailed measurements of gis online?

   The typical size chart does not really cut it for me – height and weight only tell so much. I want to know length of the sleeves, length from the shoulder to the bottom of the garment, cuff width, etc. Imagine if measurements provided details like this page does.

The Solution

Thankfully we are bound to be eternally annoyed with finding the perfect gi to buy online. An instructor at my school, Jason, had a great idea for working around this issue: try on other students gis at your academy with a similar or identical size.

pic credit(s): Via Flickr, by PK Kool at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hwanung/1976533885/.

The short answer is no – they are not. But I highly recommend them because they help a ton. A while ago I purchased some rash guards for no-gi classes at my dojo, and the difference is night and day in terms of comfort when rolling. There are two main reasons for this:

First, it helps reduce the number of bruises on the arms, even when worn under a gi. Many bruises I get are from pinches when someone is grabbing at my arms when wearing a gi. A rash guard can help reduce the occurrences of these types of bruises.

Second, it really does do what the title of the product says it does – reduce rashes. I notice rashes more when rolling no-gi, usually when the opponent’s skin or garments rubs against my skin. I’ve also experienced rashes from rubbing against the mat. A rash guard helps reduce this.

Some people may be hesitant to try rash guards because they seem to be primarily targeted for people who are extremely “ripped”. Look at this picture of Hayabusa’s rash guard, for example:

Most people don’t look like this. Even in Jiu Jitsu.

If you are hesitant to try rash guards because you don’t look like Arnold from the first two Terminator movies, I’d still encourage you try one because no one is going to be judging how you look – at any dojo, everyone is there to train. If you are still hesitant you could always wear a tee-shirt your rash guard.

If you decide to purchase a rash guard online remember to be aware of the online seller’s return policy. Sometimes they are less flexible with rash guards, which can be sort of annoying. I’m actually planning a blog post for on the topic in the future.

pic credit(s): mmawarehouse.com (per their terms and conditions) at http://www.mmawarehouse.com/Hayabusa-Haburi-Longsleeve-Rashguard-p/hay-1002.htm. Its original image URI is http://www.mmawarehouse.com/v/vspfiles/photos/hay-1002-2T.jpg.