Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or other grappling & ground fighting MA. . . how to wear hair?

[ddiana1979]

I'm taking Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu now. Previously took Tae Kwon Do, and it didn't matter what I did with my hair since it just had to be up & out of the way. I can't find a good way to put my hair up for Jiu-Jitsu. I don't feel safe wearing sticks or forks, because I don't want to poke someone's eye out or hurt my own head while falling. I tried one of those Wrapster things that cover & protect a braid, but I do so much rolling around, it starts to come out about half way through class. Ficcares are out, because if I fell on a Ficcare & broke it, I'd be really, really mad.

Any suggestions from other martial arts people? Should I just put it in a braid & double it so it doesn't become a spinning weapon of doom? ;)

[daemonwildcat]

I take kung fu, and though we don't do ground technique too often, I do also need to keep my hair out of the way. My simplest is just a braid at the nape of my neck that I bring around to my front, tuck into my shirt and under the strap of my sports bra to keep it in place.
A more involved method, but the one that works the best is hair taping. All my hair is out of the way and there's nothing hard to fall on/break/hurt anyone else with. Torrin has a great tutorial on youtube :D

[mtstorm]

I study Maikido, which incorporates a lot of Judo techniques. I braid my hair to the left side and wrap it around my sports bra strap 3-4x, if I only wrap it around once it works its way up and out my sleeve and if I pull it down through my sports bra I tend to land on it when hitting the ground. This is the only style I have found to keep my hair safe and out of my way.

[islandboo]

What about an EZ-bun? I don't know how thick your hair is (ii is a pretty big range) but they hold my type i hair securely without any pointy bits to worry about.

[IcarusBride]

I suggest Vortex Bun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRhVn1n8gpM) it uses a lot of pins but they all disappear in your hair and the bun lays pretty flat against your head. You can also do 3 and 5 strand versions, this video shows the 3 strand.

[MandyBeth]

What level are you aiming for? What I have found is French braids are about it for acceptable. NO pins, loops, buns, anything that can snag. Strikeforce and Bellator have women in a lot of thier events, look around.

[Arya]

No buns, they hurt when you roll/breakfall. The best thing for your hair is two dutch/french braids, and then tuck them down your top. Nothing with anything hard on it, and no bumpy hairstyles. Two pigtails are okay too, if you're alright with fixing them every five minutes. Any barrettes will hurt your head and rip out chunks of hair. You're hair is going to take a lot of friction damage, moreso if you wear a uagi/gi top.

[kittensoupnrice]

When I had to do groundwork at my martial arts, I did twin french braids and then looped the ends around the "base" of each french braid making a figure eight. You can get these pretty flat, and since they are wrapped around each other, they stay put very well.

You can also wrap this whole style in a 'do rag, which keeps them from getting too mussed.

[selderon]

If your hair is around BSL, I would just braid it (secure it with a metal-free, non-decorative hair elastic... the fancy ones hurt when you fall or roll on them) and forget about it. Also, accept that it is going to be used for control and restraint at some point if your instructor is big on realistic defense-oriented ground fighting.

You might experiment with a neoprene wrap (like Hair Glove) and see whether that provides the kind of protection you need.

Avoid putting anything hard near your head. It's going to get pressed or ground into your head when you roll, fall or grapple on the ground.

[Nat242]

Could you try a crown braid?

[Elenna]

I'm taking karate (Shaolin Kempo) and was wondering about this. So far been putting hair into a barrette, but a braid seems a better choice.