Picture this: You're training at your favorite Jiu-Jitsu academy, and the student next to you reeks from his unwashed gear. You're disgusted and distracted, struggling to concentrate on the techniques you're supposed to be mastering. This is the unpleasant, but very real scenario we're dissecting in today's episode. We're exposing the ugly truth about hygiene in Jiu-Jitsu, sharing personal experiences and confronting the importance of cleanliness in this high-contact sport.
From our personal experiences to a shocking true story about a student being asked to leave due to poor hygiene, we're pulling no punches when it comes to this under-discussed topic. Hear us explain why washing your belt won't make your knowledge vanish, why neglecting hygiene can lead to dangerous skin infections, and how maintaining high cleanliness standards is a sign of respect for your training partners and the academy. So, tune in as we dive into this important issue and discover how you can contribute to a cleaner, healthier training environment.
Ask me questions on IG @rozdzynskibjj, I will personally respond to you and record the episode with an official answer.
Links you need to check out: www.rolacademy.tv www.therolradio.com
Speaker 1:
Stinky students got kicked out True story. Listen, this happens at average gym at some point and hopefully it doesn't happen too much at your gym. However, it's unfortunate part of life and you know, as gym owners, academy owners, as Jiu-Jitsu instructors, we encounter this. Hopefully not too much, but at some point we all do. We all do.
Speaker 1:
Stinky students, hygiene, hygiene, not being taken care of, not taking showers wearing dirty geese, not trimming your nails See, all that is part of the culture that we set at the academy and I'll tell you, if you see this at your academy and it's visible, it's present, you need to talk to somebody. This is a dangerous, dangerous situation. There's nothing more dangerous than skin infections. And listen, jiu-jitsu is a contact sport, physical contact sport. We constantly touch each other, we sweat We. There is a physical component behind all of this and keeping high hygiene is extremely important And my academy we clean that all the time. The academy is spotless. There is zero room for anybody coming with a dirty gear. However, in the past I have witnessed, i have witnessed individuals who have put their sweaty gear in a trunk and the next day they took the same gear out and went and trained with the same dirty gear. Now imagine what happens to this gear that sits in a trunk for literally 20, 24 hours and the bacteria and the fungus and whatever the hell is inside the gear is continue growing and developing. I mean that's just gross. That's not only gross to yourself, that's gross to your training partners, disrespectful to the academy, and I can't express. I mean, i can't even wrap my mind around this. To be honest with you, it's 100% unacceptable. So, one, if you're witnessing this, you need to talk to somebody. Talk to the staff, talk to the instructors, talk to perhaps I would not necessarily approach the person who is doing this is not your job, but I would definitely bring this up to staff owners or instructors. They can deal with this in very nice and polite way. But listen, if those things don't work, unfortunately I've witnessed this myself Individuals like that oftentimes asked are being asked to leave.
Speaker 1:
We are all of us. We are individually responsible for being clean, healthy, with a high hygiene, especially when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu Perhaps, and I hope that you have never encountered a situation where skin disease is present or happened to you. However, i've witnessed where, i've seen it. I've seen it where it starts very innocent, it progresses, it gets very dangerous And you know, i've seen one particular case where individual went up, end up actually in a hospital with staff, and it was. It was just nasty. It was nasty.
Speaker 1:
We don't want to get to that point And we can very easily, very easily, control the entire environment simply by one facility taking care of the mats and facility. Whoever those owners are, whoever the instructors are, they probably are doing their job, but it's not all on them, it's also on us. We need to make sure that we are washing our geese after every training session. Wash your belt too. Your knowledge will not disappear. Two, take showers. Make sure that you wipe it down. You are sweaty, you are gross. Why not freaking? take care of yourself and make sure that you respect your training partners.
Speaker 1:
So anyway, getting back to my true story, or true story that I've witnessed in the past, listen, an individual was at the academy, there was many conversations taking place about his hygiene and nothing has improved after a week or two And unfortunately, that person was asked to leave and never came back to the academy. Those are unfortunate points, unfortunate situations. I think we all can adjust, we all can improve, we all can learn from these situations and it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way. Take care of yourself, take care of your academy, take care of your training partners, and your Jiu-Jitsu will be that much better. Keep on training, peace.