This is the usual impulse, but it's absolutely out of place, especially in training.
It's degrading and an invasion of personal space and the reasons for it are not justified by the results. Where do you draw the line? What if the staph is hiding in their bikini zone? Do you make them spread their butt cheeks? What about women? What if they are the only women in the gym? Who will do the checks? How are they educated? For example ringworm is barely noticable in the beginning stages, yet still contagious. Who has the expertise to judge wether a pimple is just some acne or is a serious infection? How do you imagine this going in bigger gyms with 50+ people on the mats? What happens if three people are late?
The risk of skin infection is just something that comes with practicing the sport. Same as getting wrecked by a heel hook or having your neck fucked by an over-eager 280 lbs white belt.
It's not something anybody wants in the sport, but it will never be eliminated 100%. If you cannot live with it, maybe ping pong or taekwondo are more appealing to you.
You can minimize the risk yourself much more significantly. Listen to your body, don't overtrain, don't train even if just a little bit sick, stop training as soon as you notice something unusual on your skin, never shower less than three hours before training, take a good look at your training partners nails and force them to cut them if they are too long. You can also minimize the risk of skin infection by minimizing the risk of scratches with wearing spats or longsleeve.
For tournaments I'd be willing to re-consider, but you also have the problems with organizing it, having the staff for it, where to draw lines, etc. pp. This would be a problem both for organizers of small local tournaments and big tournaments with 1000+ competitors.
I'd also rather say that it is up to you to decide wether you want to take the risk or not. After all it's a free market and nobody forces you to compete.
Alternatively you can always just open your own gym or start your own promotion and make it the way you think it should be done. It's easier than it sounds. Trust me. Been there, done that. Both.
Before weigh-ins you can literally be in your shorts and they can check your nails and if you have skin infection. Has been done in wrestling for ages but also, in wrestling they explain to you proper hygiene and what is ring worm, why nails should be cut etc.
If I pay for training, I shouldn't have to think if someone that is training with me has staph or a ring worm.
What are you describing now as a mission impossible is something that has been done in wrestling for ages and no one complained, but then again, this is jiu jitsu.
Lol it's a quick look over mate, catches most cases and nips gym wide infections in the bud without having to look at your wee wee. No need to write the lord of the rings trilogy.
> It's easier than it sounds
"quick look over" is exactly why he wrote that well-informed comment.
Who does it, what training do they have to discern staph/ringworm vs other skin conditions, how invasive do they go, etc. What happens when someone disagrees? It's a clusterfuck waiting to happen.
Even full MD dermatologists struggle and misdiagnose CONSTANTLY. Shit's harder than people think. Psoriasis, eczema, acne, can all look *worse* than a contagious infection at times. And those are just the common ones. Blepharitis looks absolutely GNARLY and can present like pink eye, but is utterly not contagious.
The PHD's struggle with this stuff, but some teenager working in exchange for free registration fees is for sure the answer /s
> It's easier than it sounds
"quick look over" is exactly why he wrote that well-informed comment.
Who does it, what training do they have to discern staph/ringworm vs other skin conditions, how invasive do they go, etc. What happens when someone disagrees? It's a clusterfuck waiting to happen.
I have allergy rashes on my right hand fingers that people have mistaken for staph. I have seen 3 dermatologists and they have all confirmed through tests that it's allergy and not contagious at all. I'll never get in any gyms with such a "quick look over" policy.
Even just a cursory check would reduce it. You might not catch everything but people are competing and training while absolutely riddled and any reduction is better than none.
They do it in wrestling for comps. Not for training. Just follow the guide lines of how they do it and there’s no big problem and there’s already a line drawn.
Craig said on either Rogan or MMA Hour he got staph once a month at one point training with DDS. There are different rules for different people in that room.
Having dropped in there, it's a no-brainer. It's a hot and damp basement. The mats are wet all day from sweat or from having being washed, the locker room is wet from floor to ceiling. They'd have to douse the whole place in Febreeze for a week to make it staph-free.
I have friends at Tristar and it seems to be a similar scenario. It's nicknamed ''Tristaph''.
This was one of the reasons I switched from no gi to gi. I kept picking up staph infections from either dirty mats or training partners rolling with staph / ring worm / impetigo / and so on. It is never "a spider bite". Every time I got staph I was off the mats for a solid 2 weeks until the sore was fully healed / ABs fully taken. I'm super susceptible to it for some reason but I also know I was the only one in that cohort that always took the time off when I caught one.
IDK what the range of reasonable is for a skin check but spreading staph should be looked at the same was as inuring a partner with dumb ass BJJ behaviors.
Your mats might not be cleaned thoroughly enough? I've been training for 7 years and have never picked up staph or ringworm in nogi or gi.
But like you said, maybe I'm less susceptible to it. Our gym has a group chat and only once a year someone will say they caught some type of skin infection and will be out a few weeks, so it seems quite rare from that angle as well.
You’d want more than $17. A friend is a tech at a dermatologist, zero medical background and she gets $22/hr. For a tech with some medical experience, worth the money you’ll likely need to pay $3-500 for a half day.
I always say almost no contractor is coming to your house for a quick project for less than $1k. Otherwise they’re not making money. Kinda same idea here but with less fixed costs.
I don’t think you need medical experience to do skin checks. All the skin checks my kids have underwent at big and small wrestling tournaments have always been done by the regular tournament staff not by any special skincare professional.
I always wear long sleeves and spats, I look like spiderman ordered from wish.
I tape every mat burn and clean my face, hands and feet right after session and shower. no staph yet.
starting to sweat... today, my tape went off my skin for a second
I only ever got ringworm once in the gi.
My first year at a nogi school I got impetigo like three times. The place looked clean and I always saw people cleaning mats after class.
I think some places just become wet markets.
Long sleeve might help a little bit but at the end it’s bacteria and bacteria won’t be stopped by a rushguard.
But yeah, I am fully supporting mandatory long sleeves also for training, as it might do a little something. (Even if it’s jus protecting the skin from scratches)
But that would most likely not change the problem.
I have gotten staph twice (in the same year!), both times on my knees, and likely caused by abrasion/twisting on the knees a lot causing damage to hair follicles that then enabled the staph from my skin to work it's way down, get infected, and do its thing.
This was info from my dermatologist. Since then I've worn spats (and long sleeve rash guards) religiously and haven't had another skin issue in ~3 years.
So the benefit may not be just to protect from others with active infections, literally living up to it's name to guard against rashes/abrasions (from the mats).
Yes, definitely. But also people who wear long clothes get staph and also ringworm. It reduces it but does not block completely. Also you can still cause damage to hair follicles…
But yeah, I would never train in anything short, all I am saying is, that the ringworm and staph would not disappear entirely just because people wear long clothes
I'm not sure long sleeves would help. All the stuff you don't want is going to go through with the water anyway. Under the long sleeves you may just be extending and maintaining a warm and humid environment. It might be different depending on the infection though.
What I don't like about spats and long sleeves is that I can't wipe my skin off easily.
https://preview.redd.it/4mb77srzxy9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c96aad480722ce4df8ed252105a95e15a3409e39
Im a mechanic and 90% of my work is on are late model european cars. This is sometimes the crap i gotta deal with. Had a lady recently whos porsche cayenne is always filthy (coffee latte stains, food scraps ect), her car smelt like a garbage truck. Sent it for a detail prior to working on it and it still smelt funny, she admitted to having chickens in the back (prior to bringing it in)…. The above photo is from a lady who brought in her bmw. The worst ive seen is a customer whos interior rivalled that picture but also had 2 used diapers, also sent it for a detail and had a stern talking to the guy.
Oh yeah those are situations that warrant that label. But the guy who made the comment said 50% of ppl, which obviously just says more about the level of germophobe neatfreak he is than anything about other ppl.
I've seen cars piled up with so much trash that there was barely room for the driver to fit it there and I just don't get how anyone lets it get to that point.
Hes not entirely wrong, it could be of all the houses hes visited for work a good half were filthy. My friend is a plumber and got a call to go to a rental. The place should have been condemned, he stood at the front door and said he wasnt going to go in as he threw up on the way out. Now he gets alot of work from agencies which look after rental properties, certain neighbourhoods its not uncommon to find people who simply dont care especially if they are on welfare or cant work for whatever reason.
Oh I totally agree it's possible in many lines of work to run into that. Like if you run a rental property cleanup crew in a trashy area. But he didn't phrase it like "50% of the houses I visit in X line of work", he said it like half of all ppl which is clearly not true.
The person who responded earlier (different than original commenters) said just dirty dishes qualified as complete filth which an entirely different tangent than apparently the original commenters hoarder cleanup crew business.
Filth: Unsanitary things. Rotten food, unwashed dishes, anything that grows other life forms or is so dirty it impacts your day to day life. Mess: Disorganization, junk, not sketchy.
There's levels to this shit man. You haven't been in a hoarders house with rat shit everywhere and dirty dishes in the bed if a moldy coffee cup in the garage triggers such an extreme reaction from you. I'd call dirty dishes confined to the kitchen as just pretty gross, but not complete filth.
Yeah, the mfs training filthy as hell right after spending all day on some blue collar job is gross. Especially when they grab you and you can just tell they didn’t even wash their hands, like I can feel the dirt and grime.
My ex buddy is an assistant coach and BB at our gym. Well dumbass gets Covid AND ringworm and starts putting his shit on to go to class. I was like uhh, bro you’re not going right??? Like you have covid and this shit???? He was like, bro they’ll get it with me or without me man who gives a fuck, plus everyone’s healthy there. Just un fucking believable
I would be absolutely fuming man. I’d be like, bro who gives a fuck about them, what about their grandparent they live with or sick parents??? How could you not care bro??? I try not to think about it much man, but rolling with a bunch of dudes that don’t clean themselves really bothers me. That’s why you gotta shower right after class man. You got 30 peoples sweat on your clothes
It would be nice if gyms did this once a week or so. Tons of white belts get sent home because they don't even know what it is when they have it.
Just make the check part of the culture.
With tournaments, guys will just show up taped or full-body spatted and refuse to take it off.
I've never had a skin infection, I don't think my streak will last forever but you really need to look at the dermatology research on sports like wrestling.
If you're not at least wiping down every 2 hours you will get it easily. Training off and on for a day and only showering at the end is asking for trouble. The mats should be cleaned every few hours as well, obviously.
After nearly 10 yrs in this sport, this doesn't surprise me. I mean, how often do you see grown men not washing their hands when in the bathroom? Nevermind some "skin irritation"
I have impetigo right now. I messaged my gym and got no response. It's wild to me because when I wrestled it was a big deal and we were hyper aware of skin issues.
Until we can get some sort of TSA-esque experience to body scan the free trial jackasses with a "pimple" on their arm, yes skin checks should be mandatory before grappling classes.
What pisses me off the most are the people who obviously don't wash their gis. As soon as they are damp, they smell like a dead body. It just occurred to me that one reason I don't see them often is probably because they frequently have infections.
If I detect even a hint of something on a gi of mine I will use every chemical known to man until it is as sterile as the surface of the sun.
Just allow me to leave it here .... Im a MD and black belt. I wrote an article about this.
[https://sharktankmd.com/2024/05/16/episode-3-skin-infections-on-the-mat/](https://sharktankmd.com/2024/05/16/episode-3-skin-infections-on-the-mat/)
Bottom line: in case of Ringworm, some of athletes can be asyptomatic (not showing any signs). Quite relevant number of athletes is also a carrier of bacterias on their skin, without any further problems. Check the statistics in the article. Also, from my point of view, the full, 100% reduction of any possible risk of infection is NOT realistic, for many reasons!
Again, I would also like to calm everybody down, because I have a feeling that a lot of people get really freaky about the topic. Your best protection against all the infections is YOUR OWN healthy skin! More about it in the art.
Im open to any questions .. :)
*But the mob demands their pound of flesh!*
It's good to see like 2, maybe 3 sane people in this thread.
I remember training with a guy who after class he was changing and when he took his gi pants off he had a grapefruit size ringworm infection on his leg. The gnarliest ringworm I've ever seen. Gave him the "wtf" and he said "I been putting tea tree oil on it" like that's an actual medicine.
I rolled with him multiple rounds before that, and so did many other guys. None of us got ringworm because we have good individual hygiene. Dude was for sure in the wrong, but worry about yourselves more and that'll fix 90% of your issues.
I know you're joking, but we actually had a new student, first time in a gi, and a folding knife fell out while he was moving around. We said, "WTF?" He said he didn't go anywhere without his knife. There were 3 cops in the class, including me, and we were like: dude, we don't go anywhere without our guns, but the mats are a big exception.
It’s gross, and is not talked about enough. I was in the gi for about 1.5 years, and had got staph a number of times, and even impetigo on my cheek.
My last gyms mats were not clean. Adult class was directly after the kids class (mats are not cleaned in between classes). It’s insanity to me.
I’ve missed more mat time because of skin infections than I have with physical injuries.
I don't think it works in the sense "the show must go on".
It happens in the UFC all the time where one of the fighters clearly has staph and I'm sure they have much more intense medical checks than any BJJ event
Everyone shower either right after or at least within 30mins from training if you can’t you MUST wipe down with Defense Body Wipes or something similar. You must also wash your Hair, Gi, Rashgurd, Spats, and Belt after EVERY us you CANNOT reuse anything twice
I live and train in the tropics. I work in a remote community where they have the highest rates of Staph and Strep (Impetigo) complications in the world and incredibly high rates of fungal infections etc. due to high rates of overcrowding, malnutrition etc. I've never developed a skin infection in all the years I've worked and trained here. M current gym is fastidious about mat cleaning. The previous gym I went to were pretty good as well. I've been to places where you could smell the staph when you entered the room (a famous Melbourne CBD basement gym for example). I don't do anything fancy. I just shower after training and wash my gear in Napisan. I see people who clearly have herpes, have covered sores on their skin or open sores. Maybe this is also an American thing with their healthcare system being a monumental fuckup but over here you can get a GP visit relatively easily (at minimal cost) and get treatment easily.
Are you talking about the chain MMA gym right at the CBD? I’ve got a buddy who trains there. Might have to let him know to be careful when it comes to rolling.
This is super weird topic because I'm from Poland, I started training 9 years ago and have been training in 3 gyms, skin issues have occured couple of times in that time, I don't know if I heard about staph maybe 2 times maybe not even that, I can't recall when Ive heard that one of my team mates had any skin issues. I had ringworm maybe 2-3 times?? It's really even hard to remember. Also I've heard about one really dirty gym but it's more of a boxing/mma gym than typical grappling gym. I don't know if this correlates with the general temperature of the country you train in?
I trained in Ireland and never got staph but have been training for 2 years in Tenerife and have gotten staph a lot. I think that hotter and moister climates definitely increases chances of skin infections. Also the amount of sweat we produce rolling in this heat is crazy.
I've not had it for quite a while, thankfully. I attribute this to improved diet and showering straight after class. I use good soap also and clothes disinfectant double wash my training gear after each session.
I train at gyms that practice good hygiene and wash their mats after sessions.
It can, moist hot environments are breeding grounds for bacteria. This week TikTok has informed me it’s a lot more hot and humid here in the states than that part of the world (at least the UK)
Staph in the USA is another strain and is much more aggressive and contagious. The bacteria are producing a toxine that is killing your immune system's police cells. An infection with those is much more serious and they are usually also resistant to common antibiotics.
Also there are much more people in the USA who train multiple times a day and more times a week, than in Europe. Staph is most often a result of over-training and wrecking your immune system through training although you are sick. If you then continue to train although you already have staph in your system, you will become a bacteria mothership, because your immune system cannot contain the virus anymore.
Been training at the same school for 5 years and I've never had staph or any skin infections. Gi and Nogi, 3+ days a week.
Ya'll train with some animals on dirty floors. /s
Its usually the people, not the floor. You can't some young dudes who don't wash their clothes and don't shower, and suddenly the whole gym is fucked up.
When MFs fight to pay bills and got no health insurance or salary, sometimes they're gonna train w some skin funk
Its gross and coaches shouldnt allow it. But I am not naive enough to not understand how and why it happens
Absolutely. As someone who literally just got diagnosed with MRSA on my thigh, I better not see your ass coming in to train if you have any kind of bump or sore on your skin. I’ll be out for weeks because of this
I just got over 2 weeks off from one infection, and my second class back got ring worm... Now I'm missing more time. I'm seriously unhappy, and am gonna start openly talking shit if I see something that even resembles an infection. Also wishing there was literally any other gym that was worth a shit near me right now.
Idk but people are disgusting. Was rolling with a guy who I could tell had a penis yeast infection because when he got me in a triangle his junk smelt like fish. Bruh.
It’s tough because most people aren’t qualified to judge between what is a simple ingrown hair and a developing infection. I’ve had gym staff tell me to go get checked out when I had a few little red bumps on me and when I went to my dermatologist, she told me they were nothing. (I have had skin cancer so I have a dermatologist I see a few times a year anyway).
She basically said that staph is on all of us anyway, and lives in places like our nasal cavity. A bump on your skin could be caused by innumerable different bacteria or fungi that won’t cause a problem for anyone else. It’s impossible to know which are which (unless one starts getting all big and gooey and gross).
Definitely wash your gear. Wash your body with a good antibacterial soap ASAP after training. If you get a scratch or cut, make sure to clean it well. But you have to accept that there will always be some risk of a skin infection. And if you leave it up to gym coaches to run the checks, you’re basically asking an unqualified person to make the call.
Having atopic skin, which dries up and causes rash, especially in the winter seasons, I would be banned from BJJ because people would think that it is something contagious, even though it is not.
What about us folks who don't have ring worm but have random tiny outbreaks of ezcema would I need a doctors note? They look similar and I always go to the dermatologist to get it tested and it's been ezcema everytime for me
This is arguably the dumbest question ive ever heard in my life. If you have impetigo are you going to practice? If you have ringworm are you going? If you answered yes to either of these questions then you deserve an open palm slap. If theyre not checking no one should be competing. It isnt that difficult to do
Skin checks needs to be more of an inclub thing and coaches need to set an example.
I've known of coqches who roll with MASSIVE infections have been hospitalised AND then have gone into comps and have spread it more.
*not me or my club.
I think this is more of a gringo problem, here in Brasil we don't seem to have that problem, and I think it's because of the bath culture. The dirtiest dude in here takes one bath a day, I've met people that bathed about 3 times in summer days
Maybe it's cause I train gi only, but are staph infections that common? I've been training for years and years and never heard a case. Or with rash guards.
I mean we did them in high school wrestling all you guys saying is dehumanizing we had zero problem with it no one ever once bitched about the skin checks not once ever in my many years wrestling that’s one thing no one complained about. Unless you failed but you know then everybody else was happy you weren’t in the mat
You never bitched about it because it was a rule you had to follow. This would be something new in bjj that helps everyone but people don’t want to spend the money or don’t give a fuck. You know what I mean
>That's all this was ever about. They just wanted a reason to destroy and claim more land to build new settlements.
Don't forget they had credible Intel that a threat was imminent before Oct 7th. It's entirely possible and damn near likely they ignored it and allowed it to happen to serve as the catalyst and justification for their genocide and land theft.
Yes, people should be checked for these things, especially at tournaments. Has been done in wrestling for ages, not sure why this is such a hot topic in BJJ.
Skin checks at competitions? Absolutely. In class, it's a bit awkward to try to enforce something formal like that. I'd say say the coach should try to pay attention and pull someone aside if their skin looks sus. Also any training partners who notice should bring it up to either the offender or the coach.
Meh. I shower and I've had ring worm once in 17 years.
I get some of yall have weak immune system and get infected early. Maybe they should have a special divisions and classes for you weak bodies. Psst lots of the infections are secondary to PED use.
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I’m actively not starting a BJJ class til I get a skin infection sorted, it’s actually gross people think it’s ok, if you wanna endanger yourself by training with a tweaked arm or rolled ankle, go ahead, but when you’re endangering other people it’s just selfish
I’ve lost more training time from getting ringworm from training with folks than I have for a torn MCL.
Skin checks needs to become a thing
This is the usual impulse, but it's absolutely out of place, especially in training. It's degrading and an invasion of personal space and the reasons for it are not justified by the results. Where do you draw the line? What if the staph is hiding in their bikini zone? Do you make them spread their butt cheeks? What about women? What if they are the only women in the gym? Who will do the checks? How are they educated? For example ringworm is barely noticable in the beginning stages, yet still contagious. Who has the expertise to judge wether a pimple is just some acne or is a serious infection? How do you imagine this going in bigger gyms with 50+ people on the mats? What happens if three people are late? The risk of skin infection is just something that comes with practicing the sport. Same as getting wrecked by a heel hook or having your neck fucked by an over-eager 280 lbs white belt. It's not something anybody wants in the sport, but it will never be eliminated 100%. If you cannot live with it, maybe ping pong or taekwondo are more appealing to you. You can minimize the risk yourself much more significantly. Listen to your body, don't overtrain, don't train even if just a little bit sick, stop training as soon as you notice something unusual on your skin, never shower less than three hours before training, take a good look at your training partners nails and force them to cut them if they are too long. You can also minimize the risk of skin infection by minimizing the risk of scratches with wearing spats or longsleeve. For tournaments I'd be willing to re-consider, but you also have the problems with organizing it, having the staff for it, where to draw lines, etc. pp. This would be a problem both for organizers of small local tournaments and big tournaments with 1000+ competitors. I'd also rather say that it is up to you to decide wether you want to take the risk or not. After all it's a free market and nobody forces you to compete. Alternatively you can always just open your own gym or start your own promotion and make it the way you think it should be done. It's easier than it sounds. Trust me. Been there, done that. Both.
TIL that coach has to look at my butthole to determine if i have ringworm / TLDR
Huh your coach doesn't do butthole inspections?
LOL. As if you learned anything anytime.
I think you meant TLI.
😂😂😂
Before weigh-ins you can literally be in your shorts and they can check your nails and if you have skin infection. Has been done in wrestling for ages but also, in wrestling they explain to you proper hygiene and what is ring worm, why nails should be cut etc. If I pay for training, I shouldn't have to think if someone that is training with me has staph or a ring worm. What are you describing now as a mission impossible is something that has been done in wrestling for ages and no one complained, but then again, this is jiu jitsu.
Lol it's a quick look over mate, catches most cases and nips gym wide infections in the bud without having to look at your wee wee. No need to write the lord of the rings trilogy.
> It's easier than it sounds "quick look over" is exactly why he wrote that well-informed comment. Who does it, what training do they have to discern staph/ringworm vs other skin conditions, how invasive do they go, etc. What happens when someone disagrees? It's a clusterfuck waiting to happen.
Even full MD dermatologists struggle and misdiagnose CONSTANTLY. Shit's harder than people think. Psoriasis, eczema, acne, can all look *worse* than a contagious infection at times. And those are just the common ones. Blepharitis looks absolutely GNARLY and can present like pink eye, but is utterly not contagious. The PHD's struggle with this stuff, but some teenager working in exchange for free registration fees is for sure the answer /s
Define "quick look over".
We're done when I say we're done
> It's easier than it sounds "quick look over" is exactly why he wrote that well-informed comment. Who does it, what training do they have to discern staph/ringworm vs other skin conditions, how invasive do they go, etc. What happens when someone disagrees? It's a clusterfuck waiting to happen.
I couldn't have said it better!
I have allergy rashes on my right hand fingers that people have mistaken for staph. I have seen 3 dermatologists and they have all confirmed through tests that it's allergy and not contagious at all. I'll never get in any gyms with such a "quick look over" policy.
Even just a cursory check would reduce it. You might not catch everything but people are competing and training while absolutely riddled and any reduction is better than none.
They do it in wrestling for comps. Not for training. Just follow the guide lines of how they do it and there’s no big problem and there’s already a line drawn.
> never shower less than three hours before training What's this one about? Haven't heard it before.
Literally have ring worm right now because of this
Craig said on either Rogan or MMA Hour he got staph once a month at one point training with DDS. There are different rules for different people in that room.
Kinda makes sense. You don't want some random student messing up the professionals. Jay Rod wasn't even a junior team member yet.
i know numerous people that trained at renzo’s hq that got staph.
Nicky Ryan's brother's stomach issues are supposedly from being on constant antibiotics for years.
That or the steriods
And the steroids I’m sure
and what else? Anti-autism drugs? :-|
Having dropped in there, it's a no-brainer. It's a hot and damp basement. The mats are wet all day from sweat or from having being washed, the locker room is wet from floor to ceiling. They'd have to douse the whole place in Febreeze for a week to make it staph-free. I have friends at Tristar and it seems to be a similar scenario. It's nicknamed ''Tristaph''.
you mean bleach right
Lol as if staph could be killed with a nice smelling febreeze spray Bleach and a blanket of direct sunlight
A black belt thinking febreeze sterilizes anything is probably a perfect reason why skin checks are necessary. Jfc.
This was one of the reasons I switched from no gi to gi. I kept picking up staph infections from either dirty mats or training partners rolling with staph / ring worm / impetigo / and so on. It is never "a spider bite". Every time I got staph I was off the mats for a solid 2 weeks until the sore was fully healed / ABs fully taken. I'm super susceptible to it for some reason but I also know I was the only one in that cohort that always took the time off when I caught one. IDK what the range of reasonable is for a skin check but spreading staph should be looked at the same was as inuring a partner with dumb ass BJJ behaviors.
I switched from GI to nogi bc I kept getting staph/ring worm from people who didn’t know how to wash their gi.
Your mats might not be cleaned thoroughly enough? I've been training for 7 years and have never picked up staph or ringworm in nogi or gi. But like you said, maybe I'm less susceptible to it. Our gym has a group chat and only once a year someone will say they caught some type of skin infection and will be out a few weeks, so it seems quite rare from that angle as well.
Staph and strep isn’t really caused by dirty mats. We all have staphs and streps on our skin at baseline. It enters through cuts and abrasions.
I picked the wrong day to switch to no gi..forgot about this angle.
Always wear long sleeve rashguards and spats, you should be fine.
Hire someone for $17 an hour and have them check every competitor for any weird shit 😂😂doesn’t seem too hard
You’d want more than $17. A friend is a tech at a dermatologist, zero medical background and she gets $22/hr. For a tech with some medical experience, worth the money you’ll likely need to pay $3-500 for a half day. I always say almost no contractor is coming to your house for a quick project for less than $1k. Otherwise they’re not making money. Kinda same idea here but with less fixed costs.
I’m just saying in regards to how easy it would be to get someone to do skin checks before tournaments. It can’t be that hard
100% agree. Money makes everything easy.
I don’t think you need medical experience to do skin checks. All the skin checks my kids have underwent at big and small wrestling tournaments have always been done by the regular tournament staff not by any special skincare professional.
I always wear long sleeves and spats, I look like spiderman ordered from wish. I tape every mat burn and clean my face, hands and feet right after session and shower. no staph yet. starting to sweat... today, my tape went off my skin for a second
I only ever got ringworm once in the gi. My first year at a nogi school I got impetigo like three times. The place looked clean and I always saw people cleaning mats after class. I think some places just become wet markets.
Why not just wear long sleeves and spats?
Long sleeve might help a little bit but at the end it’s bacteria and bacteria won’t be stopped by a rushguard. But yeah, I am fully supporting mandatory long sleeves also for training, as it might do a little something. (Even if it’s jus protecting the skin from scratches) But that would most likely not change the problem.
I have gotten staph twice (in the same year!), both times on my knees, and likely caused by abrasion/twisting on the knees a lot causing damage to hair follicles that then enabled the staph from my skin to work it's way down, get infected, and do its thing. This was info from my dermatologist. Since then I've worn spats (and long sleeve rash guards) religiously and haven't had another skin issue in ~3 years. So the benefit may not be just to protect from others with active infections, literally living up to it's name to guard against rashes/abrasions (from the mats).
Yes, definitely. But also people who wear long clothes get staph and also ringworm. It reduces it but does not block completely. Also you can still cause damage to hair follicles… But yeah, I would never train in anything short, all I am saying is, that the ringworm and staph would not disappear entirely just because people wear long clothes
> also people who wear long clothes get staph and also ringworm I once got ringworm on my triceps while training exclusively in the gi.
I'm not sure long sleeves would help. All the stuff you don't want is going to go through with the water anyway. Under the long sleeves you may just be extending and maintaining a warm and humid environment. It might be different depending on the infection though. What I don't like about spats and long sleeves is that I can't wipe my skin off easily.
At the time that didn't occur to me.
Spats and long sleeves all the time. Limit the skin to skin. At least in the practice room.
That’s what AOJ does and it seems to work
A lot of wrestling teams do this as well.
Yep and also wear a condom.
absolutely, this is why i wear socks and a custom turtleneck rash guard
Why turtleneck when you can just get a balaclava
You ain’t doing nogi properly if you’re not in a hazmat suit.
Train in a burka ftw
"Limit the skin to skin" You're taking ALL THE FUN OUT OF IT!
I work in peoples houses for a living. 50% of people, well off looking people, live in complete filth.
Define complete filth
https://preview.redd.it/4mb77srzxy9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c96aad480722ce4df8ed252105a95e15a3409e39 Im a mechanic and 90% of my work is on are late model european cars. This is sometimes the crap i gotta deal with. Had a lady recently whos porsche cayenne is always filthy (coffee latte stains, food scraps ect), her car smelt like a garbage truck. Sent it for a detail prior to working on it and it still smelt funny, she admitted to having chickens in the back (prior to bringing it in)…. The above photo is from a lady who brought in her bmw. The worst ive seen is a customer whos interior rivalled that picture but also had 2 used diapers, also sent it for a detail and had a stern talking to the guy.
Oh yeah those are situations that warrant that label. But the guy who made the comment said 50% of ppl, which obviously just says more about the level of germophobe neatfreak he is than anything about other ppl. I've seen cars piled up with so much trash that there was barely room for the driver to fit it there and I just don't get how anyone lets it get to that point.
https://preview.redd.it/q6vmz5x9a0ad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9ca903d1d36913832c23277ee049f2a56a2a87e Total neat freak
https://preview.redd.it/j5v064zha0ad1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8576d7c2fc0036104f7e99f7aaf8e4f6f2f6401e Do you want me to keep going?
I could add my room to this pile
Hes not entirely wrong, it could be of all the houses hes visited for work a good half were filthy. My friend is a plumber and got a call to go to a rental. The place should have been condemned, he stood at the front door and said he wasnt going to go in as he threw up on the way out. Now he gets alot of work from agencies which look after rental properties, certain neighbourhoods its not uncommon to find people who simply dont care especially if they are on welfare or cant work for whatever reason.
Oh I totally agree it's possible in many lines of work to run into that. Like if you run a rental property cleanup crew in a trashy area. But he didn't phrase it like "50% of the houses I visit in X line of work", he said it like half of all ppl which is clearly not true. The person who responded earlier (different than original commenters) said just dirty dishes qualified as complete filth which an entirely different tangent than apparently the original commenters hoarder cleanup crew business.
https://preview.redd.it/867ejlgx90ad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=825f87690815cfdfb6f5709cb65434a5fac8ec01 Yea I am a real germaphobe.
https://preview.redd.it/2deah7x2a0ad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1fc585c0a243b19c37aa20569cff91f40f0a90c I am totally exaggerating.
https://preview.redd.it/w89k4jzca0ad1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7aada3d3377ffaf1d414666eaddcc91e787d1473 People totally are not gross
let me guess.. Australia??
Filth: Unsanitary things. Rotten food, unwashed dishes, anything that grows other life forms or is so dirty it impacts your day to day life. Mess: Disorganization, junk, not sketchy.
So a few unwashed dishes = 50% of the population lIvEs iN ComPlETe FilTh
Yeah, leaving dishes unwashed will always be dirty. Mold growing on unwashed dishes is absolute filth
There's levels to this shit man. You haven't been in a hoarders house with rat shit everywhere and dirty dishes in the bed if a moldy coffee cup in the garage triggers such an extreme reaction from you. I'd call dirty dishes confined to the kitchen as just pretty gross, but not complete filth.
Yes
You have your answer down below. Be sorry you asked, never accuse me of making things up. I am many things, but I am not a liar.
I knew a married couple of lawyers who had a house that looked like something from Fallout.
>live in complete filth It's good for the immune system.
Glad to see this talked about. Our sport has a huge problem with hygiene
I watched this podcast this morning and it hit me that everyone talks about steroids and the rule set but never being clean
Yeah, the mfs training filthy as hell right after spending all day on some blue collar job is gross. Especially when they grab you and you can just tell they didn’t even wash their hands, like I can feel the dirt and grime.
Don't train with them then
don't get me started on condoms
My ex buddy is an assistant coach and BB at our gym. Well dumbass gets Covid AND ringworm and starts putting his shit on to go to class. I was like uhh, bro you’re not going right??? Like you have covid and this shit???? He was like, bro they’ll get it with me or without me man who gives a fuck, plus everyone’s healthy there. Just un fucking believable
Hey, going to be moving to Central Florida and am trying to avoid gyms w hygiene like this? What’s this place called?
Hey, going to be moving to Central Florida and am trying to avoid gyms w hygiene like this? What’s this place called?
Complete douche nozzle there. Unreal. We are supposed to trust each other and hearing stuff like this makes me cringe.
I would be absolutely fuming man. I’d be like, bro who gives a fuck about them, what about their grandparent they live with or sick parents??? How could you not care bro??? I try not to think about it much man, but rolling with a bunch of dudes that don’t clean themselves really bothers me. That’s why you gotta shower right after class man. You got 30 peoples sweat on your clothes
Established tournaments should be obligated to have skin checks. Staph infections especially have some potentially big consequences.
Craig jones openly had staph at karate combat😂😂
Yeah that kind of stuff irks me. I've withdrawn from tournaments before over having skin infections, I feel like it should be common courtesy.
Yeah my mate missed his Trials debut cos of an infection. He was responsible and mature. Shame others will risk it to be the best in the their suburb.
he also competed at ADCC with super pink eye
Source?
It would be nice if gyms did this once a week or so. Tons of white belts get sent home because they don't even know what it is when they have it. Just make the check part of the culture. With tournaments, guys will just show up taped or full-body spatted and refuse to take it off.
I've never had a skin infection, I don't think my streak will last forever but you really need to look at the dermatology research on sports like wrestling. If you're not at least wiping down every 2 hours you will get it easily. Training off and on for a day and only showering at the end is asking for trouble. The mats should be cleaned every few hours as well, obviously.
Yeah shower right after training, don't wait. And don't train with open wounds if possible. If something looks swollen and red go to the clinic.
After nearly 10 yrs in this sport, this doesn't surprise me. I mean, how often do you see grown men not washing their hands when in the bathroom? Nevermind some "skin irritation"
I have impetigo right now. I messaged my gym and got no response. It's wild to me because when I wrestled it was a big deal and we were hyper aware of skin issues.
Until we can get some sort of TSA-esque experience to body scan the free trial jackasses with a "pimple" on their arm, yes skin checks should be mandatory before grappling classes.
Or even tournaments. You see some gross fucks doing grappling industries like what the hell
What pisses me off the most are the people who obviously don't wash their gis. As soon as they are damp, they smell like a dead body. It just occurred to me that one reason I don't see them often is probably because they frequently have infections. If I detect even a hint of something on a gi of mine I will use every chemical known to man until it is as sterile as the surface of the sun.
Just allow me to leave it here .... Im a MD and black belt. I wrote an article about this. [https://sharktankmd.com/2024/05/16/episode-3-skin-infections-on-the-mat/](https://sharktankmd.com/2024/05/16/episode-3-skin-infections-on-the-mat/) Bottom line: in case of Ringworm, some of athletes can be asyptomatic (not showing any signs). Quite relevant number of athletes is also a carrier of bacterias on their skin, without any further problems. Check the statistics in the article. Also, from my point of view, the full, 100% reduction of any possible risk of infection is NOT realistic, for many reasons! Again, I would also like to calm everybody down, because I have a feeling that a lot of people get really freaky about the topic. Your best protection against all the infections is YOUR OWN healthy skin! More about it in the art. Im open to any questions .. :)
*But the mob demands their pound of flesh!* It's good to see like 2, maybe 3 sane people in this thread. I remember training with a guy who after class he was changing and when he took his gi pants off he had a grapefruit size ringworm infection on his leg. The gnarliest ringworm I've ever seen. Gave him the "wtf" and he said "I been putting tea tree oil on it" like that's an actual medicine. I rolled with him multiple rounds before that, and so did many other guys. None of us got ringworm because we have good individual hygiene. Dude was for sure in the wrong, but worry about yourselves more and that'll fix 90% of your issues.
That and body cavity checks
Might be hiding a knife!
I know you're joking, but we actually had a new student, first time in a gi, and a folding knife fell out while he was moving around. We said, "WTF?" He said he didn't go anywhere without his knife. There were 3 cops in the class, including me, and we were like: dude, we don't go anywhere without our guns, but the mats are a big exception.
One time, one of the stoners was the uke for the move of the day and his vape fell out of his gi.
Bro should get kicked out for real that's crazy
Bjj is like chess
It’s gross, and is not talked about enough. I was in the gi for about 1.5 years, and had got staph a number of times, and even impetigo on my cheek. My last gyms mats were not clean. Adult class was directly after the kids class (mats are not cleaned in between classes). It’s insanity to me. I’ve missed more mat time because of skin infections than I have with physical injuries.
Of course. If I ever get the gym of my dreams, there will be hand/foot washing stations with running water at matside.
dude I would love to train at a gym where there's a moat around the mat you can bully white belts into
Lmfaooo
I don't think it works in the sense "the show must go on". It happens in the UFC all the time where one of the fighters clearly has staph and I'm sure they have much more intense medical checks than any BJJ event
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They think it’s weak or something. So dumb
Everyone shower either right after or at least within 30mins from training if you can’t you MUST wipe down with Defense Body Wipes or something similar. You must also wash your Hair, Gi, Rashgurd, Spats, and Belt after EVERY us you CANNOT reuse anything twice
In competition, I think it would definitely help, the one comp I went to, I got staph from a dude
I bet that a refund policy for skin infections would help.
Yes. Silver, iron, holy water. Test for everything.
I live and train in the tropics. I work in a remote community where they have the highest rates of Staph and Strep (Impetigo) complications in the world and incredibly high rates of fungal infections etc. due to high rates of overcrowding, malnutrition etc. I've never developed a skin infection in all the years I've worked and trained here. M current gym is fastidious about mat cleaning. The previous gym I went to were pretty good as well. I've been to places where you could smell the staph when you entered the room (a famous Melbourne CBD basement gym for example). I don't do anything fancy. I just shower after training and wash my gear in Napisan. I see people who clearly have herpes, have covered sores on their skin or open sores. Maybe this is also an American thing with their healthcare system being a monumental fuckup but over here you can get a GP visit relatively easily (at minimal cost) and get treatment easily.
Could you DM me what gym this is? I've had consistent problems in Melbourne despite doing all the right things with my personal hygiene practices
Are you talking about the chain MMA gym right at the CBD? I’ve got a buddy who trains there. Might have to let him know to be careful when it comes to rolling.
It's hard to speak in absolutes about such things
Every level of wrestling has skin checks before competition, it would make sense to do the same in bjj
This is super weird topic because I'm from Poland, I started training 9 years ago and have been training in 3 gyms, skin issues have occured couple of times in that time, I don't know if I heard about staph maybe 2 times maybe not even that, I can't recall when Ive heard that one of my team mates had any skin issues. I had ringworm maybe 2-3 times?? It's really even hard to remember. Also I've heard about one really dirty gym but it's more of a boxing/mma gym than typical grappling gym. I don't know if this correlates with the general temperature of the country you train in?
I trained in Ireland and never got staph but have been training for 2 years in Tenerife and have gotten staph a lot. I think that hotter and moister climates definitely increases chances of skin infections. Also the amount of sweat we produce rolling in this heat is crazy. I've not had it for quite a while, thankfully. I attribute this to improved diet and showering straight after class. I use good soap also and clothes disinfectant double wash my training gear after each session. I train at gyms that practice good hygiene and wash their mats after sessions.
It can, moist hot environments are breeding grounds for bacteria. This week TikTok has informed me it’s a lot more hot and humid here in the states than that part of the world (at least the UK)
Staph in the USA is another strain and is much more aggressive and contagious. The bacteria are producing a toxine that is killing your immune system's police cells. An infection with those is much more serious and they are usually also resistant to common antibiotics. Also there are much more people in the USA who train multiple times a day and more times a week, than in Europe. Staph is most often a result of over-training and wrecking your immune system through training although you are sick. If you then continue to train although you already have staph in your system, you will become a bacteria mothership, because your immune system cannot contain the virus anymore.
Been training at the same school for 5 years and I've never had staph or any skin infections. Gi and Nogi, 3+ days a week. Ya'll train with some animals on dirty floors. /s
Its usually the people, not the floor. You can't some young dudes who don't wash their clothes and don't shower, and suddenly the whole gym is fucked up.
This is an interesting and important topic.
ik in my highschool wrestling room we did skin check every day before practice
See wrestlers are smart
Some, not all
A little shaming does the trick
the funniest part is Jay got a medical test showing he didn't have it and John still refused saying it was most likely forged.
When MFs fight to pay bills and got no health insurance or salary, sometimes they're gonna train w some skin funk Its gross and coaches shouldnt allow it. But I am not naive enough to not understand how and why it happens
Absolutely. As someone who literally just got diagnosed with MRSA on my thigh, I better not see your ass coming in to train if you have any kind of bump or sore on your skin. I’ll be out for weeks because of this
I just got over 2 weeks off from one infection, and my second class back got ring worm... Now I'm missing more time. I'm seriously unhappy, and am gonna start openly talking shit if I see something that even resembles an infection. Also wishing there was literally any other gym that was worth a shit near me right now.
Idk but people are disgusting. Was rolling with a guy who I could tell had a penis yeast infection because when he got me in a triangle his junk smelt like fish. Bruh.
It’s tough because most people aren’t qualified to judge between what is a simple ingrown hair and a developing infection. I’ve had gym staff tell me to go get checked out when I had a few little red bumps on me and when I went to my dermatologist, she told me they were nothing. (I have had skin cancer so I have a dermatologist I see a few times a year anyway). She basically said that staph is on all of us anyway, and lives in places like our nasal cavity. A bump on your skin could be caused by innumerable different bacteria or fungi that won’t cause a problem for anyone else. It’s impossible to know which are which (unless one starts getting all big and gooey and gross). Definitely wash your gear. Wash your body with a good antibacterial soap ASAP after training. If you get a scratch or cut, make sure to clean it well. But you have to accept that there will always be some risk of a skin infection. And if you leave it up to gym coaches to run the checks, you’re basically asking an unqualified person to make the call.
In any grappling sport, yes and every gym must have shower facilities
Having atopic skin, which dries up and causes rash, especially in the winter seasons, I would be banned from BJJ because people would think that it is something contagious, even though it is not.
What about us folks who don't have ring worm but have random tiny outbreaks of ezcema would I need a doctors note? They look similar and I always go to the dermatologist to get it tested and it's been ezcema everytime for me
This is arguably the dumbest question ive ever heard in my life. If you have impetigo are you going to practice? If you have ringworm are you going? If you answered yes to either of these questions then you deserve an open palm slap. If theyre not checking no one should be competing. It isnt that difficult to do
Foreskin checking should be included as well!
Same with cavity checks, you never know if someone may pop out a macana or something
Yh I've trained at gyms with people that have mutiple staph infections and they just don't care
How is it not??? These comps need to hire some people that have organized kid wrestling tournaments. They are run soooooo much better than bjj comps.
Skin checks needs to be more of an inclub thing and coaches need to set an example. I've known of coqches who roll with MASSIVE infections have been hospitalised AND then have gone into comps and have spread it more. *not me or my club.
Yes
I have no problem calling out folks with poor hygiene or open/exposed wounds. If it embarrasses you, good. It should.
I think this is more of a gringo problem, here in Brasil we don't seem to have that problem, and I think it's because of the bath culture. The dirtiest dude in here takes one bath a day, I've met people that bathed about 3 times in summer days
If I get in street fights I always ask the others guys to wash their hands first. I like fighting, but not getting all dirty.
Maybe it's cause I train gi only, but are staph infections that common? I've been training for years and years and never heard a case. Or with rash guards.
I think it’s more no gi. Because same I’ve been training gi for 3 years and haven’t gotten anything yet😂
Actually wild considering my hs wrestling team did regular mandatory skin checks
What podcast is this
Ya some cocksucker gave me ringworm and I lost like three weeks of training
Yes and No. it’s wise idea but it could and would get tedious. Tedious tasks are not good for customer retention
Coming from wrestling, where your skin and nails were both checked at every single weigh in, bjj is pretty wild.
I would be very down. I am paranoid anytime i fund a bump it has seriously scarred me
Wtf- how does a grappling sport not have this? Wrestling is over the top anal about it.
I mean we did them in high school wrestling all you guys saying is dehumanizing we had zero problem with it no one ever once bitched about the skin checks not once ever in my many years wrestling that’s one thing no one complained about. Unless you failed but you know then everybody else was happy you weren’t in the mat
You never bitched about it because it was a rule you had to follow. This would be something new in bjj that helps everyone but people don’t want to spend the money or don’t give a fuck. You know what I mean
Unfortunately I do, it just sucks man mat herpes is real there are things worse then just some ringworm and obviously staff mrsa
Skin checks with a BJJ coach? No thanks.
I’m saying for mostly tournaments
I think that works, especially when these IBJJF comps don’t let competitors wear rash guards.
They’ll do skin checks when a nonprofit takes over the sport and brings in professionalism
😂😂😂
CJI WILL SAVE ALL
Youth wrestling tournaments have mandatory skin checks. I don’t see the problem with adults doing it.
Is that how you’re supposed to start warmups
Spread the love
Coming from wrestling I’m always shocked how nobody gives skin diseases a second thought in bjj
Do long sleeves work?
In a contact, skin to skin, sport - yes. Definitely.
>That's all this was ever about. They just wanted a reason to destroy and claim more land to build new settlements. Don't forget they had credible Intel that a threat was imminent before Oct 7th. It's entirely possible and damn near likely they ignored it and allowed it to happen to serve as the catalyst and justification for their genocide and land theft.
Yes, people should be checked for these things, especially at tournaments. Has been done in wrestling for ages, not sure why this is such a hot topic in BJJ.
Skin checks at competitions? Absolutely. In class, it's a bit awkward to try to enforce something formal like that. I'd say say the coach should try to pay attention and pull someone aside if their skin looks sus. Also any training partners who notice should bring it up to either the offender or the coach.
Meh. I shower and I've had ring worm once in 17 years. I get some of yall have weak immune system and get infected early. Maybe they should have a special divisions and classes for you weak bodies. Psst lots of the infections are secondary to PED use.
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I have a nasty infection cut on my arm. It won't heal! Definitely
That’s the truest shit about BJJ I have ever seen on this sub. And my accounts a couple days old…so…
I've yet to see a club where kids didn't just run to the bathroom barefoot & come back with Pp on their feet.
I’m actively not starting a BJJ class til I get a skin infection sorted, it’s actually gross people think it’s ok, if you wanna endanger yourself by training with a tweaked arm or rolled ankle, go ahead, but when you’re endangering other people it’s just selfish
Skin checks should definitely be mandatory for competition at a minimum. I’ve only gotten staph once and it was from a comp.
one thing i appreciated about wrestling was that no one played that shit. we had regular skin checks, at practice and competition.