ChrisWrestling's blog

Ok, this blog is a bit overdue but I would like to give my thoughts on gear. First of all, it should be noted that I am a fetishist with deeply rooted opinions but hopefully this gives some people some good ideas of how they'd like to approach their wrestling wardrobe. I will exclude opinions on lutador hoods and wrestling shoes because hoods annoy me and I haven't experimented around with shoes/boots.

Singlets: First off singlets come in a few basic styles based on their cut, traditional high cut, FILA cut (which is lower in the neck and arm holes), and low cut which has the holes going down to the floating ribs (roughly). There are some fetish singlets which go all the way down to the hips and I don't recommend these for actually rolling because hands and feet are liable to get tangled in them and they could get torn or come off. I personally tend to prefer high cut for this reason.

The next thing I consider before buying a singlet is how the legs are finished. Some cheaper singlets like Rhino and the Asics unrestrained singlet use a silicone gripper elastic which will pull out hairs and stretch your skin. Matman and Brute use a rubber gripper elastic in most of their singlets which is more leg and hair friendly but will wear out over time. The elastic will still work but the rubber will wear away. Some singlets like the Asics snap down singlet, some collegiate, and other higher end singlets will have a nylon rib knit. I find this the most comfortable.

Singlets are commonly made from 4 different materials, nylon lycra being the most common followed by polyester lycra, nylon knit, and heavyweight nylon lycra. Regular nylon lycra is my favorite, it has more weight and is firmer than the polyester blend but not as restrictive as the nylon knit. I bought a nylon knit a couple years ago because I like the way it looks on your junk but I find that your balls are more likely to get banged while rolling, it doesn't move with you, and the arm and neck holes land in awkward parts of my body so I almost never wear it for rolling. I haven't ever bought a heavyweight nylon. So far I find the polyester blends to be a decent cheaper alternative to the nylon lycra singlets. There are other materials on the market such as neoprene, faux leather, rubberized lycra, cotton lycra and mesh. The mesh can be pretty good, I like my american jock mesh singlet and roll in it often enough and it holds up well enough. Neoprene, faux leather, and rubberized lycra are really for fetish only, they will not hold up with rolling.

You may be tempted to get a reversible singlet. Honestly, they fit and move like the nylon double knits and aren't that comfortable to roll in. I don't even wear mine around the house anymore.

If you're considering a printed singlet you want to go with one that is actually printed on the fabric, not silk screened. Silk screening will not hold up and will chip away over time. Printing on lycra is becoming more and more common so that is definitely a better way to go. Simpler printings will allow your body to shine through the singlet whereas busy prints will obscure your body.

When choosing a color for your singlet there are a few things to keep in mind. Bright colors like yellows and white will become transparent when you sweat. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, but if you don't want your butt crack or your pubes showing through you might want to go with a darker color. Matman makes their white singlet with the heavy weight lycra to prevent this. The Asics conquest singlet has this issue which is too bad because it is by far their most attractive singlet. That being said, how much do you want the character of the fabric to play with the look of your junk. A black singlet will hide moisture, and the outline of your junk and abs, and is by far the least revealing. Reds and light blues will show if you didn't get the last bit of urine off the tip of your dick before putting the singlet on. Bright oranges, yellows, whites, etc will show a lot of shadow so your body and junk will be the most visible in these colors.

Some of the fetish brands have some odd choices such as a genital pouch or poor seam choices. A pouch is asking for testicular torsion. When it comes to seams, and this is a big deal for me, you don't want a seam going right up the center front EVER for any kind of spandex clothing. These turn your balls into a camel toe or divert your junk down to one side or the other and never in an attractive way. Just don't do it! Some people like this cut because the seam also runs up the butt making the singlet go between the cheeks giving you a nicer ass. There are ways about getting that effect without destroying your junk in the process but this would call for a 3 paneled singlet instead of 2 which is probably the real reason they do it that way. It's not to highlight your butt, it's to make the singlet cheaper and that's not a good thing.

Moving on to compression tights and shirts. These are made from nylon lycra or polyester lycra. (I should note that lycra is the same thing as spandex or elastane in case you're reading labels and are looking confused) My main points on these are mostly redundant with what I said about singlets. Seams matter and most tights have the seam right up your junk, give those a pass. Instead look for one's with a gusset which moves the seams to either side of your junk, you'll be happier, I promise. When it comes to the waist, I prefer an elastic over a draw string. When I'm rolling I don't want the string to get out and get in my way. For shirts, I pay attention to the arm pits. If a shirt is tight and they put a seam in that goes around the shoulder you'll find that your arm pits get chaffed. Some brands do more of a baseball style shoulder and sleeve where you have 2 pieces of cloth, one that goes over the shoulder and one under. This puts the seam running the length of your side and arm so there is no seam scooping under your pits and your pits will thank you for that.

Vale tudo shorts. These really are more just compression shorts. They frequently have a place to put a cup and if you're playing with a rough partner this may be a good idea. Most wrestlers and BJJ guys are encouraged not to wear cups and the aren't allowed in competition. BTW, the only thing that makes NorthSouth position worse is a hard cup on your nose (it happened to me right after my nose was broken, it really sucked). I don't wear cups unless I'm kick boxing which basically translates to I never wear cups. They can shift while rolling and pinch your junk and that's not ok. Ok, I got off track, with vale tudo shorts you have a number of well respected brands which you can find at MMA Warehouse. I own two piranha brand vale tudo shorts. Their drawstrings are a bit long and their made in a way that my junk is pushed forward. I have yet to roll in them but I do feel like they may make you a little too exposed for safety. That being said, they're probably also designed for a cup. I have worn them several times when I wasn't rolling and they have a wonderful fit and I really do like them.

Speedos. I think we've all started in speedos for wrestling. I don't know how they became the go to for wrestling, maybe because pro wrestlers wear them. I like rolling in them sometimes because they certainly give you a good range of motion. They don't offer any protection from mat or carpet burns. I find because of their shape my balls are definitely getting crushed from time to time. Again, most older speedos were made from nylon lycra and polyester lycra is taking over. Nylon is more restrictive and tends to be tighter whereas polyester more or less molds to you. Because of this polyester offers less support and makes your junk look smaller. I don't tend to wear jammers for wrestling because they have less range of motion than regular compression shorts.

Jeans. I would never let jeans get anywhere close to my mats. Not only do they not offer any range of motion, they have metal rivets which can tear your mats. Don't wear them to the gym, don't wear them to wrestle. As for athletic pants, I find that limbs get caught in the material and that's no good. MMA shorts can be fine but I find some of the lighter and longer cuts can get caught on limbs. I have a weird off brand pair that appears to be a stiffer nylon and their a little snugger than my hyabusa shorts and they work way better. Some people do wetsuits from time to time, not only will these be too hot for any real wrestling to happen, they are expensive and won't hold up. Not to mention the huge zipper and zipper lanyard.

I was hoping this was going to be more fetish oriented but if nothing else I hope people find it helpful. I am always happy to share my thoughts on gear so feel free to ask.