Protective gear question

[xfighter88]

In reality/scenario based self defense training what if any protectve gear is used? I am looking at getting some gear that will work for standup and groundfighting. without having to change gear out. Is High gear or Red man the only options?

 

[girlbug2]

I don't know about brand names, but since you're male, a cup would be the first thing on the list.

Protect your teeth! Mouthguards are a smart investment. You can go with a boil and bite if those work for you, but they never fit me right. I had a dentist fit me for my own mouthguard. The brand is Playsafe, which is what the local Gracie BJJ schools all use. It's not cheap but IMO it's really worth it.

In Krav Maga, we are told that shin pads are mandatory for certain types of training. At my school, we use the kind with a rigid core, I think it's made of kydex or something like that. They're made custom with our school logo on them--I can check with the owner to find out what company does them.

Padded headgear is also recommended.

 

[corwin137]

We have two or three basic setups. Drilling, "scenarios" empty handed, and "scenarios" with tools.

All of 'em we use mouthpiece, some sort of basic hand protection (lacrosse or somesuch with tools), and something for the groin. For drilling and scenarios, that's the basic setup. One on ones, going for tools, two on ones, assassination style criminal assaults (with and without hustles) etc, just gloves, groin, and mouthpiece. Sometimes we'll use a FIST helmet or some variation.

With tools, the hand protection is a little different. We do a lot of Filipino style stuff, so hand protection has to be a little more intense, we use the aforementioned lacrosse gloves (or similar). We've been experimenting with tons of melon protection (in part because we will work unequal armament and/or unequal initiative), but still haven't found the best solution. Fencing helmets, different types of helmets with cages (steel and plexi), other ideas. Nothing has been perfect in that way because of problems with visibility, air, not enough protection, instability (the piece moves too much when hit), that sort of thing.

We try to use as little gear as possible, being fully aware there's no perfect solutions. The only perfect solution is going to constantly send folk to the hospital, unable to train. Hard enough to keep consistent partners anyway. Essentially, it's up to the person, but we always encourage as little as is safe given the type of contact intended.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

We typically use helmet with face guard, cloth hand pads, cloth shin/instep pads and depending on what we are doing very thin belly pads. All in all this set up runs you about $100 per person. I will admit other than the head gear the padding is very minimal but sufficient unless you kick/punch and elbow. :0

 

[Draven]

I just use MMA gloves, mouth guard, & head gear. Cups are a good idea for males but I never bother with them myself. I find its better to run the scenario drills with as little protection as possible, its not as "safe" for those who are obsessed with safety but... hey...

 

[chaos1551]

We do Kenpo and use head, mouth, groin, shin and hand. Some guys forego the head (since we use gloves). We don't elbow or knee when sparring.

Once in awhile we go to the ground and head/hand gear gets lost fast, but no one seems to care at that point; we just have it on because we start standing up.

 

[jks9199]

There are numerous ways to do this. The idea behind most of the Red Man, Bullet Head, Tony Blauer's new gear, and the like is that the role players will be protected, but the student will not have much protection; in other words, they're as close as possible to the way they are in the real world, which is positive. The problem with this is that it takes time to switch out partners...

The other way to do it is to use some form of protective sparring-type of gear on all participants. You sacrifice some reality for some safety -- but you can flip sides quickly.

Assess what you can afford, considering the goals of your training as well as safety.

(And, don't forget, one way to work a lot of things more safely is to go slowly...)

 

[xfighter88]

Any thoughts on Martial Armor gear from century. I am a big fan of the Blauer HIGH Gear but that is aorund $1500.00. Looks like I can get a pretty good setup of Martial Armor for around $200 includeing some good head gear.

 

[Franc0]

A mouth piece, a cup, Harbinger or UFC type gloves and good leather shin guards from Fairtex, Windy or UFG, for light to med sparring. For full contact we add head cages.
We use a jerry rigged red man suit for womens self defense classes during pressure testing.

Franco

 

[Drac]

I have trained with both and have been very satisfied with them...We use the RedMan suites in the police academy..They aint cheap, but worth it..The FistSuit www.fist-inc.com is also nice but the sweat collects inside the suit..Do you really wanna don the suite after another student got it all sweaty??? If ya wanna save money go with all the excellent suggestions above..

 

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

We require , Mouthpeice, Headgear, MMA training Gloves, Knee Pads and Elbow pads and suggest strongly to have a cup.

Depending on what we are doing and the contact and speed level, we might wear it all or just gloves and headgear and sometimes just the elbows to avoid cuts.

We are looking to get either a FIST suit or Blauer's suit next year for full contact scenario where the Nage does not wear gear and is in astreet cloths. WHen we can afford it we want 2 suits for multple attacker drills and to go all out and fight in the suits.

I have sparred Full Contact wearing a FIST suit with another guy in one and it was great.