The Shintaro Higashi Show - Essential Grappling Gears

Episode Date: December 20, 2021

Grappling may look simple to start-- after all, you only really need your body and a training partner to grapple-- but there are many essential gears that can make your grappling life a lot more pleasant. You might not have even thought of some of the gears mentioned in this episode! Any gears we missed? Please support us on Patreon if you can: https://www.patreon.com/shintaro_higashi_show. Any amount helps!

Welcome back to the Shintaro Higashi Show with Peter Yu. Today we're going to talk about essential grappling gear. No, we're not sponsored by anybody except ourselves, which is Patreon. Please subscribe to our Patreon. I am wearing a Fuji Sports t-shirt. Full disclosure, I do work for Fuji Sports as well. I head the international up the division, strategy division. So, yeah, I am with fuji in many different ways

and jimmy peijo used to be my judo coach right but peter's not and this episode has nothing to do with fuji or anything like that but it's all essential grappling gear yeah go ahead it's almost like a starter kit like well you know based on our experience if you want to do a grappling art these are some of the things you would shoot you should consider buying yep you know and it'll make your grappling life easier a lot easier easier yes yeah easier all right so what do we need to get started essential grappling gears so i think that first you know a lot of times the most popular ones require gi right well i guess you don't but then i in that case a lot of people go for rash guards that's true i yeah i don't okay so here's the thing about rash guys i don't really like it because i thought

in the beginning i thought it would just observe all of my sweat. So I wouldn't be sweaty. But it turned out it just gets really wet. So I just wear t-shirts for no-gi classes. Maybe it's not. You're that guy. No, no, no. I'm that guy. T-shirt, the cotton absorbs this.

I feel like the rash guard wicks it away from your skin. Uh-huh. I see. That's why. Yeah. Ah, I see. That's why. Yeah. Ah, I see. But it's so hard to take off.

But, you know, the rash guard... It's faster drying too, right? Oh, it is? If you sweat... Yes. So if you sweat into the rash guard, and then your sensei or your professor starts rambling about when I was competing back in the day and this thing or whatever it is and they go 20 minutes and you're just like jesus and you've cooled down you'll notice your rash guard

is also semi-dry it's fast drying right oh is it i guess i guess it is faster drying than cotton definitely if you're wearing a cotton t-shirt in your training and you go through that 20-minute dissertation on how that person was a champion back in the day, you'll come out of it, it's still wet and it's cold. I see. It's the worst. That's the case for rash guard.

And rash guard will protect your gi. Oh. That's why I wear rash guard guard on my gina you do yes you protect in what way so if i used to i used to love gi bare upper body like yeah never wear anything under the gi that was my thing and i i was like sold on like the exfoliating effects of the gi no no i was sold on it i always thought like i had like smoother skin because i wore gi and had nothing to do with grappling yeah yeah i always felt like that it was a thing that i always believed in kind of like a weird thing that i always kind of thought about but now, what changed your mind? Well, so like,

it didn't really change my mind, but I started wearing a rash guard under the gi, and it just was more comfortable. And then the gi doesn't absorb most of that sweat. Right, so the gi is like not 20 pounds heavier after practice. Not 20 pounds heavier after practice not 20 pounds heavier after

practice and also it creates this barrier right so now the gi lasts longer so i'm a big believer that and you know i gained a little bit of weight and you know i've been at times chubby in the midsection and it covers my belly it shapes up your body well yeah yep and i like the option of if someone wants to go nogi i could just take the gi top off and then i'm still i'm ready to go i see so that's that's my case for the rash garden gi i think it should be standard and it's a lot cleaner okay if you're doing nirwaza and i'm not wearing a rash guard and the other person's not wearing a rash guard and our gi is disrobed we're bare chest to bare chest right right so it protects it adds another layer of protection it's like wearing a condom okay okay well i'll i'll wear it i think i'm gonna that means i gotta buy more but i only

have like all two old ones you can go to fujisports.com and buy it all right well then what next up what what else do we need what's a ghi rash guard that yeah i'm a big believer that and you should have a couple of ghis because you don't want to be that person wearing one ghi over and over oh i forgot to take it out of my bag and i showed up to practice and oh gosh please no happens all the time happens all the time you know every other practice i feel like someone comes in kind of a semi-funky gi yeah sometimes they forgot to wash it sometimes they wash it and then sometimes they're like you know oh i it, but the funk is embedded in the cotton. Yeah.

Right. We should have worn the rash guard. Rash guard. Now they have this thing called a flow tech key. Right. They have like sort of a mesh material under the arms. So it like breathes better in there. Wow. IJF approved?

No. But they're working on like a microbial inside lining situation lots of cool ideas to prevent uh order like bacteria based order yeah all that stuff yeah we're trying to be as innovative as possible over here um but yeah gi rash guard you should have a couple gis couple rash guards always right the thing about the gis and the rash guard is that it's not always your sweat. It's like, oh, I don't smell. You might not smell, but that person that you're grappling with, they might have a gland situation or their sweat smells, right? And you're absorbing that when you're working out with them. So, yes, you may not smell, but your gi might ultimately end up smelling because you're also absorbing everyone else's sweat in the practice room.

Right. Right. I know people in the room that it's like, if I work out with that person, my gi is going to smell after this. Right, right, right. Especially down by the sleeve. Yeah, because they grab it. Go like this and wipe the sweat off your forehead with your gi sleeve. And then when you're going for choke, you have your sleeve against their face.

And you're taking all their neck sweat onto that sleeve. Right, right. So it's going to eventually end up smelling. That's why you got to rotate. Rotate the gis. Yeah, just have enough that you can wash it after practice every time that's right yeah yeah that's right rash like me having like 30 pairs of geese and you're only rotating two or three

what a waste right what a waste yeah but you've accumulated over the years yeah i have two geese that i never wear i just can't throw them away because it's like... Sentimental values. Oh, it's very sentimental because back in like 2000, year 2000, if you won junior nationals, they gave you a free gi. Oh. A gi that had like the champion thing on it, shoulder, whatever it is. It was a really cool gi.

I really wanted it. I've won two divisions that year so you got two it was like 15 16 division and then 17 to 20 division like i won two divisions in one in two years yeah yeah i picked the white one and the blue one oh god i can't get myself to throw it out. Why would you? You got to frame them. I don't know about framing, but... Like, I tell myself I'll wear it, but I won't because it's, like, super thick and it's super canvas-y. You can grab this thing because it's, like, it's been around forever.

Yeah, it's like it's starched over, you know. But anyway. Guy Rashgard the rash guard tape you need tape yeah that's right especially if you're doing a lot of stuff yeah yeah by their finger tape now just the thin ones oh really i always yeah one inch roll and cut it i cut it, you know, literally. Fugisports.com. I did not know that. Hey, guys, I'm not sponsored, so I'm not affiliated, and I'm just offering my own objective opinion. But tape, you do need.

What I do is I just get a box of Johnson & Johnson stuff on Amazon. Do you? Yeah. I used to use yours a lot. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's a funny thing.

Tape. Because even at the dojo, people assume if there's tape on my desk, they'll assume it's community tape. And I've seen white belts walk over just nonchalant and just grab tape off my thing

and start taping their wrist. Not even taping it right. I'm like, hey, man, that is my tape. It's not the community tape. Yeah. Community tape is up on the ledge above the mats. I see. I see.

Buy your own tape. Just have it. Maybe you should make a box. Just have a box of community tape. Then people will know. Yeah. You know, when you go to these training camps, it's like, you know, people have their own tape. Like, I used to go and bring 10 rolls of tape or something.

Right. Right, right, right. I always knew, like, a roll of Johnson & Johnson one inch. It's good for two ankle tapings for me. Two or three ankle tapings for me right two or three ankle tapings that's it just a way right and if i knew like when i was competing when i was training like i could kind of budget myself be like all right i'm gonna do you know two u's instead of the three u's down the thing you know i'm only gonna use one time around for the anchor and then

i'm gonna figure it figure eight you know around the thing and exactly how much so someone borrowed my tape and then i ran out at the end of it i'm just kind of like jesus i can't finish my ankle tape i have to start a new role and it just didn't feel right i i get it i get it i get it yeah so tape is essential. Bring your own tape. Bring your own tape. Sandals. You need sandals. Because you don't want to put your shoes on and off. Right.

Right. Right. When you're at training, you don't want to go to the bathroom with bare feet. What a no-no. Because people piss on the floor. Yeah. There's pee on the floor. Yeah.

They miss. Inevitably. They miss. piss on the floor yeah there's pee on the floor yeah they miss inevitably they miss and then they walk around in the pee and then they bring it onto the mat and inevitably inevitably someone's face is gonna get rubbed onto that mat oh gosh oh gosh you know it's funny i i wrote like wear shoes to the bathroom and i put it on the men's room and the women were like how come you didn't men's room. And the women were like. How come you didn't write the same thing for the women's. And like this is sexist and all this stuff. And I'm like well. You know.

Women don't pee on the floor. Second. I've never seen a woman. Not wear sandals or shoes. At the dojo. Go in there. Because men are disgusting pigs. I didn't say that.

We are. I'm not saying that. but i probably should just have both yeah on both maybe i'll just have it in the middle yeah that's that will be the part yeah but you know you want to be yeah that's right like sandals it's very useful you know because we do uh you know do things like Even when I was wrestling in high school, we were not allowed to wear wrestling shoes off the mat because it gets dirty. Yeah, you're not allowed to. They're very strict about it. Yeah, exactly.

Because you pick stuff up. But the flip side is that we do things barefooted. So any shoes are for outside, you know, off the mat. Don't wear shoes in. So have your sandals, you know. Keep your feet clean. Keep your shoes, wrestling shoes clean. Yeah.

That's right. So you need sandals. Bring the sandals to your dojo. Don't leave them at the dojo because I'll throw them out. I'll throw them out. You know, one thing when this is saikam but with this gym i go to in michigan they when thing when someone leaves something behind and gets caught the next time they have to bring sweets really yeah this is to deter oh my god Oh my God, that's so adorable. Is that Garmo's gym?

No, no, it's the Troy Judo. Yeah, it's a local Judo gym I go to. Not Garmo's. Oh man, that's so adorable. I don't know if Garmo's does that. Our dojo is like, you leave something, it'll probably get thrown out. My dad was notorious for that after years of teaching judo like in his 70s he just had it and just like all right guys bye get out class is over people leave

it's like water bottles hoodies sandals he just brings out the garbage can just starts dumping everything in there ah god yeah I can see him doing that. Well, so now we have a lot of stuff. So what do you need to carry all this stuff? You need a bag. A bag. A good bag. A good judo bag.

What kind of bag do you wear? Huh? Duffel bag? You use a duffel bag? Fuji Comp Duffel. It's a good one. Nice, nice. It's a convertible duffel.

It doesn't have to be that i mean it could be any really bad you know backpack yeah that's the beauty of nogeek because you could throw a rash in a regular backpack right that's the beauty of that you know i um i've got this bag um it's like a big gym bag a back it's a backpack i think that let me see i have it right here it's it's by aer air i think aer anyways it's got a a huge compartment for your gym stuff so you can fit a key in it and you know your other stuff and then in the back in the back pocket you can put your laptops and so i actually use that to you know yeah go to school and it's pretty big and it's pretty sizable that's another idea should i i'm not sponsored by this i just like this bag

maybe they should sponsor i'm sorry j, Jimmy Pedro, if you're watching this. Well, maybe Fuji should make one of these. It's nice. Let's see. That is pretty nice. Yeah, it's got... This is the compartment here. And then you can store shoes on the bottom.

Yeah. Very nice, man. Very nice. Well, that's... I've been looking for a solution like that for a while. And they seem to fit it. But duffel bag, I used to carry duffel bags too.

Yeah. Put some water in there, throw some supplements in there. If you take supplements, water bottles. Oh, protein bars. Yeah.

Water bottles. I like the, the camelback ones that you can squeeze. Oh, those are nice. Yeah. So you don't have to to touch the mouthpiece. But the flip side is it's a little harder to clean

because of how the nozzles work. Speaking of cleaning, you ever heard of the Lark bottle? Lark? Yeah. I don't know the Lark bottle. It's a self-cleaning bottle that was on Shark Tank. You press the button, and it shines a UV light within the bottle,

so it cleanses it. So it's like a self-cleaning. Put the water in there, push the button, it cleans it. You need a battery for your water bottle? I think it comes with it. It's like a rechargeable thing. I'm not sponsored by this, right? Well, I don't know

I totally missed that episode I like Shark Tank have you used it or you just saw it I just saw it oh okay okay I saw a guy I was looking for

reviews on YouTube because I'm an educated consumer right and this guy's like hey guys check it out I'm gonna drink pond water

with a lark bottle and see if I get sick oh gosh oh my god really water yeah and then put it the thing and he pushed the button and he's like all right the uv light's doing its work and he opened it and drank it and he's like tastes like an aquarium oh yeah oh my god i was like thinking about something like okay maybe it killed all the bacteria and stuff but there's still particulates in it. Yeah, and then, like, the toxins... Like, sand and stuff. The toxins don't...

Toxins are not killed by UV light. I mean, they're not alive. Yeah, I mean, yeah. So, I don't know about that guy. I hope he's doing okay. I hope he was okay, yeah. I was highly entertained by it. It was, like, 1 o'clock in the morning, like lying in bed, like watching this thing.

I'm like, I got to get myself a lark bottle. Like, why should this guy drink pond water? Oh, my God. It's so silly, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, so get yourself a bottle. Don't leave it at the dojo. I will throw it out.

Or you got to bring cookies after. Yeah. That's a good one. But don't bring me any cookies this is the worst season to be me because at the dojo people like happy holidays i brought you cookies i brought your chocolates the worst is like i baked you cookies and it's like i feel obligated to eat them yeah right right right right and then i'll eat it i have a unlimited supply of sweets if you're running a dojo everyone will bring you sweets it's a thing you know i mean it's easy you know and it shows thoughtfulness but shintaro's waistline needs to be protected too lever used to bring these like brownie cookies. It'll be like a cookie base with a brownie on top of it.

Like that's like baked together with bits and pieces of Oreos in them. I think I've had it. Yeah. Yeah. She used to bring it. She doesn't make shit for me now, but yeah. I don't even see her anymore. She's in medical school. Right right in the far away land yeah

yeah that's how he was born so that's uh cookies are not essential grappling grappling gears no one thing uh oh another thing i we forgot to mention is all these braces I bring I tore my meniscus and got surgery so I always bring a knee brace to wear yeah

yes that's another thing I guess it kind of goes up the tape yeah you want to hear something funny man there was a guy

on the wrestling team back in the day who knew another guy who had an older brother who wrestled on another team with my friend and he would always bring a watch to practice. A watch?

A watch. A watch. Why? A watch. And he would tuck it in his pants strap. And then one day, he came into practice late. I heard this through my friend. Coach was like, hey man, do you know what time it is? Practice starts at 4. He looked at the coach and he pulled out his waistband. He looked at the clock and he was like, it's, do you know what time it is? Practice starts at 4 He looked at the coach and he pulled out

His waistband, he looked at the clock and he was like It's 4.07 coach And the coach was like, why do you Freaking have a watch? He's like It's an essential item Right, so he could Constantly check to see how many More minutes are left in practice

Oh, he had it In his pocket while? Oh, he had it in his pocket while practicing. Well, he like would tuck it into his waistband because he didn't have pockets. Oh,

gosh, gosh. Well, that is not an essential item. It might be actually dangerous. We got to be missing something. Let's see. What do I do

in my daily routine? Oh, not daily routine. Practice routine. Gee pant restringer. That's been my idea. let's see what do i do my daily routine like oh not daily routine practice routine gee pant restringer been my idea oh yeah that's annoying someone please invent it when the string pant comes undone uh yes you can just use a hanger yes you can use a safety pin but something dedicated just for that you just put it in and it'll do it for you yeah yeah i don't know how mechanically you would even do it yeah it's it's such a pain when it happens

and you have to yeah it connects to the wi-fi internet of things tech in there and when you buy it you get an nft right there you go because you own it you own it, you get an NFT. Right. Because you own it. You own it. That's yours. That's right. It's yours. I think that's about it. Honestly.

I feel like we're missing something. I do want to say, though, it's not to deter. It's not to say that you need all of these top dollar item gears item gears to start i got one more well what do you got your phone yeah i mean i guess that's because if you're grappling uh and if you can't post clips of it on instagram you don't grapple do you even grapple Yeah. You have to ask your friends to tape you. Yep. Remember I used to do that when I first got my GoPro? I was so into it.

And then I'll bring it to practice and I'll film the whole damn thing. Yep. Don't be annoying, but yeah. Stop doing that. That was actually, you know, you took a video a video of 20 like a 20 minute video of randori one of the friday night randori sessions and it got a lot of views people loved it yeah yeah yeah people loved it yeah it's good one i gotta do a little bit more of that yeah i always feel bad you know uh if we're doing if we're filming randori if i'm you know kicking the piss out of somebody

and then it's like it might get posted and then you do a commentary that's why it's i i understand like that's what people want to see the randori the live but it's like i that's why i do it very sparingly with people that i that okay with it. They don't care. But it's like, even if I ask, who's going to be like, no, I don't want you filming. You beat me up. It's hard to say no. I don't want to put them in that position.

I do it sparingly, but I do do it. You can do it with me anytime. I don't care. Buy you a ticket right now. Yeah. I got to go. I got to go visit again.

Anyway. Come back. Yeah. I think that's about it. All the essential grappling gears, your starting kit, starter kit. Yeah. Definitely missing something. I don't know what it is.

Well, if you guys think we missed something... Towel! Towel? Oh, I don't... Take a shower after practice. You don't have to bring it to... Well, I guess it's an essential gear. There's guys now at the dojo who are like,

Hey, sensei, can I borrow one of your towels? It's consistent. Really? Really? Yeah. i borrow one of your towels it's like this consistent really really oh yeah for those who don't know uh kbi has a nice shower uh we have nice yeah nice yeah so that's it yeah shampoo body wash and nice towel yep fuji sports.com you can buy all of it even even shampoos maybe grappling shampoo grappling shampoo all right well thanks for listening guys uh these are some of the things uh you know you should think about when you want to start grappling or even when you're already grappling and try to up your game and uh stay tuned for the next episode