Time to Suit Up?

During Practice

For martial arts training and during practices for contact sports, wearing protective padding seems like the logical thing to do. There are, however, people and schools that don't believe in that. I, myself, had gone through a phase like that in my training. Young and dumb. Although training with bare knuckles and no mouth guard can remove a bit of fear and make you feel "tougher", it's mostly an illusion. Training even a few essentials can prevent major injury and reduce trauma. In my experience, even wearing gloves can remove inhibitions to hit the face or injure the hands and immediately puts a more realistic spin on your training, even if you don't have any interest in sport fighting. Mouthguards not only keep you from picking up your own teeth (which I've experienced...it sucked), but it also keeps your brain from bouncing off the walls of your skull, which causes concussions and head trauma. Head injuries scare me because there is a lot that isn't known in that field and can lead to conditions like epilepsy, memory loss and personality disorders. On that note, my previous objections to wearing head gear for high impact training have been withdrawn. Also, don't rule out the idea of a jock, gentlemen. I've had an injury there; not sure what was worse between the pain or getting it checked. Awkward.

In Sports

Through the evolution of contact sports, the safety of the athletes have become more and more a priority. This is directly quantified by the amount of protective padding players have to wear. Hockey and football come to mind. Moutguards, helmets, jock straps and other pads keep the players safe by reducing injuries and allows for longer careers and more comfortable retirements. This also applies for combat sports. Although there is little protection during the actual fight, fighters are usually well protected during their training. They're professionals and they're doing this for the same reasons. If you have the means of keeping your body as injury free as possible, why wouldn't you? If players and fighters are still risking injury, despite these measures, then it's safe to assume that it won't exactly improve by removing them. On fight day, there is little as far as protection, but all the essentials are mandatory. Gloves to protect the hands and reduce cutting on the opponent, jock straps to protect long-term damaging in the groin and mouth guards to protect the teeth and brain.

For Combative Professionals

When people tell me that wearing head gear is "going soft", I always wonder if they would refuse a bullet proof vest if they were working in the field. If anyone answered yes to that I would use them here as a clear example of head trauma victims and you'd all be wearing head gear. Anyone in any combative field from police officer to soldier to security worker would gladly add any measure of protecting themselves. This seems more obvious because the stakes are higher and more dramatic. We think of what can happen in reality combat and we can clearly visualize the repercussions of  not being protected. If people understood the long term effects of a head injury, a torn tendon or a broken bone they might take it more seriously. It's a question of perspective. I'm the first to admit that it took me a long time and a lot of injuries to appreciate being healthy and maintaining a quality of life. Unfortunately, these injuries aren't as impressive as explosions, gun shots or stabbings. What worked for me was to observes the practices of all the most successful people in my field and figure what they're doing that I'm not. They're health is a top priority. You can help anyone if you're hurt.


In Your Day-to-Day


In a self defense context, you're probably going to be in regular civilian clothing. In the case of a home invasion, maybe even less. I've found myself in a self defense setting a number of times and I remember feeling exposed and naked, despite my winter jacket. This is just a sign of feeling vulnerable. Suddenly, what seemed like a mild risk in training became a life or death variable for me. A blow to the head can lead to a knockout, which can lead to hard impact on a hard surface or more unprotected hits. It's a scary thought, but the truth is you're probably not going to be wearing protective gear when caught off guard in this context, which I believe is why most responsible instructors remind students regularly that you fight if you have to but should run if given the chance. It's just not worth it to stick around. There are many of the same risks present here (although less consequences) as in your training, but a whole different context. Breaking your hand in class will hurt and force you to take time off, but breaking your hand in a street fight can take away your ability to hit, grab and protect yourself. Class stops for you when you're hurt; attackers don't in the street. The only point I'm trying to make here is that the same injury can mean more in different settings. Adding a little perspective to what it means to risk injury will hopefully encourage everyone to stay safe and protect themselves whenever they can. Take from me and my stubborness: injuries suck.

Jordan Bill
Fight or Die

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