There are many opinions on whether you should wear a cup or athletic groin protector, with some saying you should not wear one. We won’t debate that in depth here but will only say that it is your body, you have a right to protect your family jewels.
Don’t downplay the risks, BJJ is a contact sport and you will (often inadvertently) get your groin area poked, squished and squashed no matter how hard you try and protect yourself.
Editor’s Pick: Best BJJ Cup
I have a kickboxing background before coming to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So I always wore a groin protector (cup). So when transitioning over to full time BJJ training, it was naturally an easy choice to make on whether to wear one.
However there are some unique differences when rolling with an athletic groin protector versus striking with a cup. Namely your choice of sizing and material will make it less awkward (less dangerous) for you and your training partners.
First when kickboxing choosing a cup was based on maximal protection for kicks and knees. There was always someone getting kicked in the nuts during practice no matter how hard people tried not to. Even with a groin protector those strikes still hurt.
Often the choice was the larger and more “hardened” cup. One such choice was to wear a thai steel cup. This was a perfectly good choice for kickboxing but wearing one while training BJJ will have your training partners cursing your name.
The sizing in kickboxing was not such a factor as long as it provided the largest area of protection. While in BJJ having a more form fitting option is better.
Also some will say you should just wear form fitting boxer briefs (at least that… no one want to feel your private parts flopping around), this may not give the protection
So for BJJ we should try and wear an athletic groin protector that has the best “fit” and built with a material like hardened plastic (unlike steel or other metals) that can flex and protect at the same time.
Also we need to pair the cup with an undergarment that provides maximum holding power for the groin piece.
Diamond MMA Cup
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