Way back in the beginning, when I first began Jiu-Jitsu, I did a lot of browsing around online in search of all the gear I’d need. I researched various brands of gis (I’ll save that for another post), different brands and styles of elbow and knee pads and the endless assortment of mouthguards. I think the gi thing was easy – Jeff told me his favorite brand. The elbow and knee thing was easy too. I just waited until my joints hurt enough to buy them. And at that time, I simply relied on Amazon reviews. The mouthguard – well, that’s a different story.
You’d be surprised at how in-depth the mouthguard topic goes. They’ve got scientists that work daily to bring you the latest and greatest technology with these things. It’s almost as bad as buying a new pair of sneakers. With sneakers, I’ve always been pretty straightforward – give me something white. I’m probably exaggerating here, but I’d say I’m almost on target. I’m a frill-less type of guy. Or at least I like to think I am.
With mouthguards, we’ve now got various colors to choose from. We also have double laminated strap/strapless combos, gel, no gel, high impact, low impact, anti-microbial – you name it. We’ve got them all. I guess that’s good, if you can make up your mind.
The reason I started looking for a mouthguard at the time was because I saw a video on Youtube about a really nasty Jitsu dude. He was explaining how he lost four teeth the very first time he ever trained. And he said he was just drilling – he wasn’t even sparring or anything fun like that. At the end of his story, he pulled out his fake teeth to show as evidence of his story. That pretty much set me straight.
And if you’re interested in 3 good reasons you should wear a mouth guard, just read this post.
I didn’t buy my first mouthguard online. I think it was at Dick’s Sporting Goods up in Manchester. I was shopping for something else, when I decided to head toward the back corner where they keep all their boxing gear. I found a cheap set of Century mouthguards for five bucks. They were clear and had absolutely no frills. Right up my alley.
I’ve been using the same mouthguards for years. They turned orange a while ago when I was drinking my power drink and they never rebounded. I liked them so much that I tried to make them clear again, but there was nothing I could do. So, a few days ago, I purchased new ones. Same brand and everything. Only this time, the price was double. Instead of the $5 Dick’s charged, I had to pay $10 through Amazon. I suppose there’s a price to pay for help in keeping one’s teeth.
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