Skin.. your best defense.

Hywel Teague of Notes from Ringside put up a very interesting post the other day.. I'll save you the gory details, but I encourage you to check it out along with the rest of his blog.

Essentially he was covering the dreaded "Staph" in particular the "MRSA" or medically resistant staph ("The Superbug"), almost sounds like a bad movie plot eh?

Thankfully, just like Injury prevention 101, there are a few simple things you can do to reduce your chances of contracting this nasty disease and enduring the treatment process.

Step 1 - Keep your stuff clean, this includes your bag!

I like to keep all my equipment (mouth guard, towel, ear guards, first aid stuff, tape, etc) in a cheap nylon mesh bag. That way when I'm done training I can shove everything in there, and then when I get home I can shove everything (bag included) into the wash. Of course I don't put my ear guards in the wash, I toss them into the shower and scrub them off while I'm showering. However the bag tends to collect assorted nastiness making a run through the wash cycle important, no sense putting clean stuff back in a nasty bag right?

Simple, efficient, cheap and easy to clean.

Step 2 - Pack a very simple first aid kit and keep it in your bag.

Ok, you don't have to be an Eagle Scout to understand this, frankly it's common courtesy to cover up cuts and scrapes before you resume training with someone. What do I keep in my bag?

1. Hydrogen Peroxide Gel, Very cool stuff, foams and stings without the mess, it's like a highly targeted germ RNC.
2. Neosporin, simple, powerful, and straight to the point, a little goes a long way, toss some on then bandage that thing up.
3. A handful of bandaids (No I don't buy name brand)
4. Extra Tape, wrap the whole thing in athletic tape and you are good to go
5. (Optional) - Liquid Bandage, I've got some, but I don't use it that often, I find it too easy to rub off or tear again.

Your Mom was right, put some in your bag.

Step 3 - Get some decent soap

Grab a stack of Dial Anti-Bacterial, first off, it's Dial, so it's cheap and good quality, second it's plenty strong enough for your bacteria ridden skin. Now, you might be one of those people who say that Dial is too strong and hurts my skin (you'd be saying this to yourself as sharing this with others would severely impact your manliness quotient) try Tea Tree Oil soap. Think of it as the "more friendly, green" version of Dial Anti-Bacterial, you can get some here from Puritan's Pride for a decent price.


Now, to close, a bit of showering humor, "How to Shower: Women vs. Men"

Embedded Video

Enjoy!

-hz

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Injury avoidance 101

The other day we talked about career ending injuries. If you haven't read that post yet, check it out here first.

Today or should I say tonight we are going to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart, injury avoidance.

It's quite simple really, here at WhiteCollarBJJ we understand you've got a life off the mats. Most of my readers are fellow white collar professionals, Moms, Dads, people that work the 8-6 and understand that limping from meeting to meeting just doesn't cut it.

Yes, it's impossible to prevent all injuries, unless you stop rolling all together, and since we both know that's not going to happen then we need to focus on some simple rules of thumb to avoid the preventable ones.

So, let's get started.

Rule 1

Never roll with someone until you've watched them roll with someone else.



I can't tell you how many times this simple rule has saved my bacon. it's quite simple, you don't know if you are dealing with a poor soul afflicted with "lethal spastic flailing" or if you've got an opponent who is "tap def", and either way it's in your best interest to know BEFORE you consider rolling with them.

Rule 2

Wear a mouth guard.


I only have to put one link here, just go ask "chewy" about wearing a mouth guard. Honestly, if you don't like the boil and bite then suck it up and go to the Dentist and have one custom made. I did that early on and absolutely love it. Be sure to request the mold when you are done, that way if you ever lose your guard you can have a new one made up quickly.

Rule 3

Wear a cup.



Unless it's not allowed (ie competition) Need I really say more?

Rule 4

If you have a tendency to get "the ear" then get some ear guards.
We all know how unpleasant Cauliflower Ear is, it's truly nasty, don't take my word on it though, check out the nice summary at "Why We Not Hit Hard".

Rule 5

Final Rule, get some simple wrestling knee pads, because you only get one set of knees.



This one is a hazmat signature, I've been wearing knee pads since back in the Gi days. Early on in my game I found I could "create weight" with knee on belly, but conversely that meant I was shooting my knees all over the place. End result? Lots of bruises on my knees. Thankfully switching to a pair of wrestling knee pads has greatly reduced this problem. Be sure to try a few sizes on though, as when you get to rolling they'll start sliding on you very quickly if they aren't sized properly.

Well that's about it in a nutshell. So I'll close with Mrs Hazmat's favorite quote..

"Have fun and don't get hurt!"

-hz

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Could you stop?

I wanted to share this with you all, take some time to think about what you would do in the same situation...

Last night as class was getting started an accomplished BJJ player I've grown to respect dropped in wearing street clothes. I've been watching this guy train for a while, he's clearly got exceptional talent and motivation, so I was surprised to see him in street clothes. However, he was obviously injured by the way he was carrying his shoulder.

Next thing I hear..

"It was a career ending injury, sorry coach, I'm done."

Yes, just like that, here's a guy who'd been rolling for years and after a freak shoulder separation (with considerable complications) his orthopedic had confirmed his worst fears. No more BJJ, no more MMA, no more "training".

Poor guy looked shell shocked and frankly I would be too.

The whole experience got me thinking, sure I get frustrated when I get dinged up, annoyed when I have to miss a training session, etc.

But how small and petty is that compared to being told you can never train again?

Yes, there are plenty of other things in this world that are far more important than this game.

But.. could you stop cold turkey?

Think about that and offer up a little to all those guys and girls that had to leave the mats forever.


Next time we'll talk about a few basic injury avoidance tactics I like to use.

-hz

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Strange Chinese herbs heal my leg!

Ok, I'll be honest here, I don't put much faith in non-western medicine. Who knows, maybe it's my family history, maybe it's my harsh analytical mind, maybe I'm just a dull guy. Who knows, the point is I'm not one to buy into stuff that doesn't come from Walgreens or CVS.

Well I got hurt a few weeks back, it was a strange sort of tendon injury in my right calf. Happened...of all things.. when I was tiling the back porch. Don't ask me how, it's a very long and very stupid story. Well back to the injury..

I was pissed, I had just switched to a new, closer NoGi BJJ gym and I wanted to use my skills (meager ones at that). Well my guard game (and damn near everything else) hurt. It's amazing how much you use your lower legs, especially in Jiu-Jitsu.

So, I started taking Advil, copious amounts of Advil. It had a minor effect, but to be honest I was getting concerned at how much I had to take to get an effect. It was time for a change but I didn't really know what.

I'd had this bottle of Dit Da Jow from Plumdragon Herbs (back in my Kung Fu days we used Jow for any minor bruising or injury) for awhile and didn't really know what to make of it. It seemed to work ok on bruises, but I mean really, we can all just wait out most bruises.

So I emailed the owner of Plumdragon Herbs, Josh, he said to soak some Jow into gauze and wrap it on my busted up calf for 30 minutes twice a day. You want honesty? My first thought was.. geez I'm gonna have a stinky leg! But I figured what the heck, I've got the stuff here I'll head over to CVS and get some gauze, maybe an ace bandage and make it happen.

You know what happened? Well after 3 days it felt better, I mean much better. After days 4 and 5 it was amazing, I'd say 90% healed. Remarkable!

Now the doubters are saying that I took time off right? No training.. Hahah those people don't know me, I trained BJJ 3 times that week, and 3 days of explosive weight training, to top it off there was a conditioning session and a Yoga Session.

End result? They've made a believer out of me, I can't imagine some raisin scented herbs in a little bottle would have made me feel so much better.

I've emailed Josh and asked him to guest post here, I'd like him to tell you all about a couple of different traditional herbal and alternative remedies to common MMA/Submission Grappling/BJJ ailments.

Look for his post soon, until then, avoid crazy tiling injuries and train smart.

-hz

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