Martial Arts Hairstyles (knee length hair)

[manticore]

I have a logistical hair challenge here.

In most of my physical activities, I just wear my knee-length hair in a braided lazy wrap bun. This is secure enough for just about anything I do in my day-to-day.

However, lately I've been considering getting back into martial arts, specifically Aikido. A hair stick is out because it's an eyeball-poking hazard for a contact sport where you spend a lot of time right up close to another person. Down in a braid or ponytail is potentially dangerous, as Aikido has a lot of throwing and rolls, and I worry the braid could get caught under my body weight or between limbs. (And at my length, even a braid is something I end up sitting on.) I'd prefer to avoid hard tools like pins, sticks, and clips altogether, as my head will come into close contact with floor and people, and jostled a lot. ouch.

The only thing I've dreamt up is maybe braids taped around my head with ribbon and then held in place with skintight cap or headband.

Not sure if there is a great solution, but figured I'd ask the knowledgeable long hair community. What kinds of hairstyles have you used for very long hair for active hobbies or contact sports?

[foreveryours]

Wrapped bun (turban)? Would get it out of the way and at least provide some impact protection, IME anyway. I;'ve slipped and fallen on ice with mine. Works well.

[Kat]

Heidi braids. Taped, if you like, though I use plastic pins-- figure they'll break before they'd impale my head (I don't do any combat sports, but I'd use them if I did-- they're all I'll use in a bun for skating, for example, for that very reason, in case I fall and hit my head-- which is also what the bun is for, actually).

I'd not recommend a bun for you just because having a mass of hair at the back of your head would be awkward on the floor (hence why I chose Heidi braids for the gym-- no odd lump on the back of my head to deal with when lying down for bench press, abs work, etc.). I suppose you could put a bun on top of your head, but that could be awkward in other ways.

[Alila]

My hair is slowly creeping towards ankle. I do Karate and I've done Muay Thai for a short while.
Neither feature rolling around so my solution might not be perfect for you.
I wear a three strand braid folded up into a third of it's length. This is done by pulling the ends of the braid through the 2nd braid bump of the top. I secure it with an invisibobble hairtie and then gently weave the ends of my hair into the portion of the braid they are now next to. The resulting shortened braid is about waist length on me. My main goal was to not have a my full length braid fling around like an fragile whip.

For Akido it sounds like a folded braid would still be in the way. You could try tucking the braid underneath your shirt or sports bra. That way there is a lot less braid surface area to grab.

If you are concerned about your braid getting roughed up when rubbing against you and your clothes I can recommend sewing a fabric braid cover. Get a very smooth fabric and sew a tube as long as your (folded) braid. The smooth fabric side is facing inwards, toward your hair. Make sure the tube is wide enough all around and the opening should be large enough to drop your braid into. To secure the fabric tube to your hair, sew a wide piece of string to one side of the opening. When you put the fabric cover on, you pull the string horizontally through your (three strand) braid. The string is then fastened to the other side of the fabric tube with a sewn on snap closure. I use a construction like this for skiing. It's very secure.

You may have to experiment and modify somewhat to get it to work how you would like for Akido. For example I can imagine that the folded braid (in it's fabric cover) might move around under your shirt to much, depending on what you are doing exactly. So it my be necessary to attach the braid (or fabric cover) to your sports bra or waist band with some slack. A scrunchy perhapse. Something that lets your hair go when you pull on it enough so you won't get hurt if your hair does get stuck on something.

Despite the complicated explanation I find it's pretty fast to fold the braid and pull a fabric cover on.
Heidi braids seem like a very good solution as well but they tend to hurt my scalp after a while (and cannot be worn for sports that require a helmet like skiing)
I hope I've given you a some inspiration.

[Gwendolynn]

My go to hairstyle for falling, rolling, and moving my head around a lot is three buns in a triangle formation on the back of my head held with u-pins very close to my scalp. This makes them not stab me, divide the weight and makes the surface big enough that I don't hurt my neck if I fall directly on them. If my hair was just a bit longer I would consider wrapping a single plait around my head and taping it down, but I don't know if that holds well enough to not move or if the thickness of the plait would bother my ears.

[embee]

I would consider spinpins and they do not stick out to injure anyone, not likely to fall out, and they're not pointy at your own head either. Taping would be great, but I've never figured out how to manage such a thing myself.

[Shorty89]

I'd second a suggestion for hair taping. You could also do a crown braid and then hair tape the leftover length. I think that would be fairly secure.

[mochichichi]

I would also say hair taping. I braid, tie off, wrap and pin, then sew them down with an big blunt needle, and remove the pins.

[cadaverinna]

Sewn-in crown braid. The one where you have a single plait on your nape and just wrap it around your head. Then you just get some plastic needles for yarn and some ribbon and sew it down.

It'll look something like this, except it'll be a single plait to "eat up" some length.
https://www.sewhistorically.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/medieval-braid-hairstyle-15.jpg


If you have thick hair I'm guessing you won't need any extra steps, but if you have less volume you can eat up some more length by fluffing/pancaking your braid.

It's perfect for martial arts and similar stuff. I'm thinking about going back to capoeira and that's what I'll be wearing if I do. Doesn't hurt the head, doesn't take too long, and it'll survive the apocalypse w/o falling down.

[Hellebore]

ETA: my bad, I see that you specifically did *not* want to use pins. In that case, I vote for hair taping.

[mochichichi]

I don't know what your head to braid area ratios are, but when I tape I spiral my braids a bit in two rows--you may need to do them relatively tight as a "cap" if your braid is very thick.

[young&reckless]

BJJ with tailbone length hair here. I braid mine then run it under by sports bra straps to one side of my beck and tuck the end of my braid in my spats. Everything under the bottom layer of gear helps. Even stays put for no Gi :)

[Kat]

Doesn't it get sweaty?

[shelomit]

For physical stuff I've found that crown braids do very well. I usually put them in with pins when my hair is damp, but the whole construction kind of dries in place. I bet that if you added a tight stocking cap or similar on top of the fully dried bun that it would stay well for contact sports.