pits of hell

[Richard S.]

theres a guy in my school who is new to martial arts(formal study anyway) he is about 6ft. a little better than 300lbs. he gives a 110% effort in everything we do, but he stinks. i mean i dont think he takes a shower for weeks at a time. its not too bad if youre across the room, but when we do ground work and your face ends up in his armpit its bad, REAL bad. hes one of these guys that knows everything you do and can do everything you do. i suspect there is more than a little insecurity involved, so my question is this; how do i tell this guy about his hygiene without causing any damage? i guess i could leave it to our teacher but its getting tough to wait anymore..............respects

 

[Kirk]

Try sticking an anonymous note into his gym bag or something.
Be very sensitive but 100% honest. If you can avoid any
embarassment to him, you may be doing him a favor, many times
over. He may end up staying in class, losing weight and being
a healthier happier person. If that doesn't work get everyone
in class to tackle him, hold him down while you spray some right
guard on him

 

[fist of fury]

Eat some big greasy, lumpy nasty food. Make sure you're bloated so when you start working out with him you can puke all over him when you get a good whiff. Maybe he'll get the message.

 

[tarabos]

we had a guy that was much the same....actually, a few of them. when your white gi is just about brown and it stinks up the whole room to where i almost have to go and puke in the bathroom, there's something wrong. one of the guys was on a particular med that increased BO...so you never know.

it's not your place to tell him about it i don't think, it's your place to tell the owner of the school and have them do something about it. my instructor sent one of the guys home one night because he just smelled so bad. it's not fair to the other students in the class.

this may seem like a strange topic but i'd be willing to bet there are a lot more people on this forum that have encountered this.

 

[Nightingale]

a couple of us at my other school did this:

put a ziploc bag with soap, deodorant, little bottles of shampoo, and cologne with a note that says "use me...please." in his gym bag or on his car.

nobody ever said anything to the guy, and he never said anything about it, but from then on, he smelled much better.

 

[bart]

Hey There,

We had the same problem at my old school one time. An additional problem to stink was slime. It was a Wing Chun school so there was lots of bare arm to bare arm work and sweat flying around. This guy secreted some nast slime and his general issue black uniform was always white from dried sweat. He was a very nice guy aside from that. He didn't have an attitude or anything, just the hygiene problem.

On several occassions he was told on a personal level and that just didn't work. Eventually the Sifu had to be told. Only then did anything happen. Unfortunately it had to be repeated every few months.

I think the best way is to inform the teacher or the head instructor. Martial Arts schools are often "top down" affairs and as such a directive from high up will have a better effect than that of a peer or a subordinate in the ranking structure. Doing it that way will cause the least amount of waves.

Aside from that, albeit somewhat illogical, my fear was not so much the slime or bo but disease, like a fungus or something like that. I can always take a shower, but I didn't want to have to resort to medicine. Anybody ever have an example of disease being spread like that?

Bart

 

[artful dodger]

Probably best to see if your instructor can do a small hygiene talk to the class as a whole, first, rather than single him out. But if that fails....

 

[Yari]

I'd tell him, but on a one-on-one basis. You have a problem with his smell, then you should tell him.

I know this is a sensitiv area, but the only way he can learn and trust your honesty is being told. What I think is important is the way you say it, and when.

/Yari

 

[Seig]

Originally posted by Yari

I'd tell him, but on a one-on-one basis. You have a problem with his smell, then you should tell him.

I know this is a sensitiv area, but the only way he can learn and trust your honesty is being told. What I think is important is the way you say it, and when.

/Yari

Would that be before or after you turned a firehose on him? :angel:

 

[Yari]

Originally posted by Seig

Would that be before or after you turned a firehose on him? :angel:

No I wouldn't do that, just push him into a car wash..... set on premium gold, with extra wax.....
:asian:

/Yari

 

[Master of Blades]

Lol...Heartless!

 

[Chronuss]

the school I attend had a problem with someone like this. it appeared as if he hadn't washed his gi for two months and was salt deposits from the sweat all over the back and none of believe that he bathed at all. not only was he unclean, he hurt one of the younger students at one time. our instructor finally asked him to leave because none of us could put up with his bad hygiene...

 

[Seig]

Originally posted by Yari

No I wouldn't do that, just push him into a car wash..... set on premium gold, with extra wax.....
:asian:

/Yari

Make sure it's hot wax!

 

[Seig]

Originally posted by Chronuss

the school I attend had a problem with someone like this. it appeared as if he hadn't washed his gi for two months and was salt deposits from the sweat all over the back and none of believe that he bathed at all. not only was he unclean, he hurt one of the younger students at one time. our instructor finally asked him to leave because none of us could put up with his bad hygiene...

No. I did not axe him because of poor hygiene. I axed him because in ADDITION to the obvious lack of self respect he had, he had no respect for other people or our school rules.