How to Secure Slippery Hair for Contact Martial Arts?

[Outmoded]

I think I just mentioned this very video on the braid thread - here is Morgan Donner, braiding a ribbon into a single braid. I also found this Silvousplaits video on how to English braid which I thought does a good job explaining it.

Cheers.

Something on top of the head, maybe secured with a claw clip towards the front seems to me like it would be reasonably safe (others please correct me if I'm wrong), and might give an opponent less to grab onto than a loose braid.

I think I should avoid anything hard or pointy or that could otherwise cause problems if it came loose, so, claw clips are out.

[Outmoded]

What if you tied it in the back? Then it would have that kind of doo-rag look, rather than "odd old-lady babushka." (Or, just a straight-up doo-rag or buff or bandana.)

Nah, still too much. Also, I do not want cover my head, I get overheated and sweat buckets during practice as is.

[foreveryours]

Nah, still too much. Also, I do not want cover my head, I get overheated and sweat buckets during practice as is.

You don't wear headgear?

[Outmoded]

Nope, there is very little protective gear worn; some people do not wear any.

[foreveryours]

Brain injury, even "mild" where your brain just sloshes around inside your skull, is cumulative and irreversible

[sapphire-o]

My hair is very slippery. If you don't want anything complicated, I would just use some product to make it less slippery. Hair gel comes to mind but I'm sure people can recommend all sorts of things. I use velvet or other textured fabric scrunchies but any strong hair tie would do. Goop up your hair with product. Tie a looped ponytail, then use a second hair tie two inches down the length, a third one... etc. until the end. There is no way they would all fall off. And you can wash off the hair products after. In your case I think your safety is more important than worrying about a bit of damage. If all your hair ties are matched and dark colored, it wouldn't look dorky at all.

[Outmoded]

Brain injury, even "mild" where your brain just sloshes around inside your skull, is cumulative and irreversible

We never do full contact strikes to the head on each other. Generally, most of the moves are practiced with restraint, as it is aimed towards permanently removing your opponent from combat as quickly and efficiently as possible, we would end up blind or with broken bones, dislocating joints, punctured organs and so forth otherwise. I am trying to avoid wearing anything sharp or hard in my hair mainly due to the amount of grappling involved (easy for anything in my hair to get grabbed, caught on a person's sleeve, compressed against my head, stepped on etc.) and the fact that I am still very bad at falling and rolling properly, though we still use mats at my level at least.

[Outmoded]

My hair is very slippery. If you don't want anything complicated, I would just use some product to make it less slippery. Hair gel comes to mind but I'm sure people can recommend all sorts of things. I use velvet or other textured fabric scrunchies but any strong hair tie would do. Goop up your hair with product. Tie a looped ponytail, then use a second hair tie two inches down the length, a third one... etc. until the end. There is no way they would all fall off. And you can wash off the hair products after. In your case I think your safety is more important than worrying about a bit of damage. If all your hair ties are matched and dark colored, it wouldn't look dorky at all.

My skin has yet to meet a hair gel that it gets along with, but the looped ponytail with multiple scrunchies is a good idea. How does velvet compare to silk or nylon for grip? If I could find some kind of hair ties/scrunchies that would work without breaking my hair all over the place, that would be great. At the moment I have been practicing braiding, which works well, though I still need my sister's help to not have it looking a lopsided mess.

[KokoroDragon]

My skin has yet to meet a hair gel that it gets along with, but the looped ponytail with multiple scrunchies is a good idea. How does velvet compare to silk or nylon for grip? If I could find some kind of hair ties/scrunchies that would work without breaking my hair all over the place, that would be great. At the moment I have been practicing braiding, which works well, though I still need my sister's help to not have it looking a lopsided mess.

I've found flaxseed gel to give pretty good grip (though I made it with coconut water instead of regular water, so that might have affected my results). It gives great slip while wet, but on my dry hair it became grippy.

[nougat]

Have you actually tried out silk yet? I’ve found real silk to have surprisingly good grip, unlike satin (often marketed as “silky”), which slides all over the place. But YMMV. Velvet seems like it would be pretty grippy. I’ve never tried invisibobbles (those ones that look like old coiled phone cords), but those might provide less damage with more grip for you, since coils kind of mesh into your hair.

Braids are nice because you can vary how close to the end you tie them off, which prevents all the stress being centered at the same point over and over. Still in danger of being yanked, but harder to catch than loose tresses. I love an English braid for sport myself. Just watch out—if you’re at waist length, it might whack you in the face if you whip around quickly.