“You guys are awesome! Love to read your reader questions! I been doing Jits for about 3 1/2 yrs now.
There are 2 guys in particular I hate to roll with because they smell terrible!
Not just a little BO smelly but full on smell like p*&s and s#@t.
It’s disgusting!
Other teammates have also said stuff under their breaths regarding how bad these guys smell.
How do you politely tell a teammate that they smell so bad you don’t want to roll with them?
It seems there’s no way to do this without hurting people’s feelings?
Would love feedback as I really need to say something.”
On Jiu-jitsu Times: 6 Types of Difficult Students
Jiu-jitsu Times: This is a stinky,..errr…sticky situation!
Truth is ever academy has “the Stinky Guy” or two.
It is a delicate situation to bring someone’s poor hygiene to their attention at risk or offending the fragrant person or making them feel bad.
There are a couple of things that you can do.
1) Should be the responsibility of the academy owner/ manager to handle these types of etiquette problems.
At one gym I trained at, one of the senior students was known to be especially diplomatic.
I used to tease him that he was neutral like a doctor and could deliver uncomfortable news with grace.
He was tasked with the job of handling this.
A number of times he would take a student aside and tell them that some of the other students noticed that their body odour was strong.
Suggested that perhaps they needed to keep an Axe body spray and deodorant stick in their gym bag.
2) A general announcement at the end of class to ALL students reminding EVERYONE that it is important to always train with a clean uniform.
Hopefully the guilty parties recognize themselves and renew their efforts to be clean for class.
The instructor should remind people that a clean academy and clean uniforms lessen the incidence of ring worm and other communicable health problems for all of us.
Or you can simply do what I do.
Upon detecting a foul aroma, I will pause and say “Something smells bad. I think my gi stinks?”
I have a sniff of the collar and say “I just washed this…it should be good?”
I am puzzled.
“No,..my gi is okay.”
Then look over at them.
Lean over and have a quick sniff.
“I think it is your kimono bro! It smells like Nacho Cheese Doritos ha ha”
Usually they will have a self sniff and acknowledge that they need to wash their kimono.
* Tip – One time it was MY kimono that smelled of nacho cheese (despite having just been freshly washed).
I was horrified!
It was one of my favorite kimonos too.
A colony of stinky bacteria had established itself in my kimono after I had forgotten it in my gym bag one day after class.
A kimono company recommended that I fill a pail with water, pour a bottle of regular white vinegar in and soak the kimono over night.
The acid in the vinegar would kill the bacteria.
Wash normally after and it should be cured.
It worked!
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