Some tips on hygiene...

One thing you have to know when starting a sport, especially one that involves skin to skin contact is that unfortunately, your risk of contracting skin infections go up. In Jiu Jitsu It just comes with the territory. The good news is that it can be avoided with proper hygiene and using some other precautions. I've compiled a few tips to help avoid some unwanted funk on your body. =]

1. Wash your gi and training clothes in hot water when possible. Some avoid washing gi's in hot water for fear of shrinkage but if you hang dry and skip the dryer, you should be fine. Also use CLEAN gi's and training clothes for every training session. It's a well known fact that guys use the smell test for cleanliness, but sorry, bacteria can multiply over time but still smell nice. ;]

2. Cover up all open wounds well. Even if a wound is not due to an infection, it can potentially be a point of entry for harmful bacteria.

3. Shower immediately. You'd think this is a no brainer but to some it's not. Wash all that funk and other people's sweat off you ASAP!

4. Check your body often and thoroughly. You can have a skin infection and not know it. Nowadays you can never be too paranoid about something that looks amiss on your body. Infections left untreated can lead to some major problems and you risk passing it on to others.

5. Look into some anti-bacterial foam to use before and after training. We sell Athletic Body Care foam at the gym, but products like KS Skin Cream work well too. This helps to add a protective barrier while you're training and kills whatever germs you might have picked up after with a second coat.

6. If you notice that you have an infection, STOP training. Don't think that it's safe to do so because it's not. Respect you fellow training partners by staying off the mats. Sadly I'm sure this is why the cycle repeats with an outbreak because the hygiene level isn't staying up.

7. Avoid touching younger children and babies after training. Their immune systems are not fully developed at a young age so you increase the risk of a minor infection to become worse.

Again, these are just tips for you so you and your training partners can train in a safe and clean environment. It's shouldn't make you paranoid, just aware. Hope this helps! Happy training!