BJJ Belts awarding systems

If you or your kid is learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it would be good for you to know about the Jiu Jitsu belts ranking. It is a matter of respect if you earn the higher ranked belt in the martial art of Jiu Jitsu. When a person is learning BJJ martial arts, the school awards them with different kinds of belts that indicate their rank in the school. The martial arts require a lot of energy and dedication and if no encouragement is given to them, it becomes de-motivating for them to carry on their progress.

At present, there are four kinds of BJJ belts that are awarded to the kids learning the sport. These are:

• White
• Yellow
• Orange
• Green

This system is particularly followed in the kids’ league. Till the kid reaches the age of 16 years, he will be ranked under this system after which he will enter the adult belt system. Unlike other courses, there is no syllabus prescribed as such to obtain a belt as far as the technique involved in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu martial art is concerned. It depends upon the evaluation of your performance by your trainer who will decide to graduate you to the next level. When the trainer is satisfied with the performance of the kid, he can decide to award the next belt to him and the kid will then undertake the next level of learning the sport. For the adult belt system, the color code of the BJJ belts goes like this:

• White
• Blue
• Purple
• Brown
• Black

The next level of the sport is obviously tougher than the previous one, though it might not appear so in the beginning. There are many BJJ and martial arts experts who have acquired their highest degree of martial arts that is the black belt after a long practice of twelve or more years. The best thing about this sport is that when you get graduated to the next level and get your new belt, you are sure of the fact that your trainer is completely satisfied with your performance and he wants you to take up the next level of training.

Another system for awarding belts to the student is to award strips of the next belt color after regular intervals to keep him motivated and informed about his progress. Various martial art schools have their own way of awarding the next belt to the student. For wearing these strips, there will be a sleeve attached at one end of the belt. It can be either black or red. The strips are tied to the belt with the help of these sleeves. It also determines the authenticity of the belt because if this sleeve is absent, this indicates that the belt is not original. Five such strips are given to the student while he is on the lower level and the sixth strip will mean the next belt. Now it depends upon your school which style of awarding belts it prefers.

Mouth Guards and Its Features

If you are an athlete or a sports person, you must have heard about mouth guards which are otherwise also known as mouth piece. Or in case if you are new to this term it is sports equipment that is worn in the mouth to prevent teeth from getting dislocated, pulled out or damaged. The use of mouth guard ensures 90% safety of the tooth while playing any sort of sport or martial art activity. Mouth guards can also be utilized by the patients who have persistent breaking up of the teeth and TMJ disorders.

There are a number of mouth guards available in the market for use today. A Mouthguard can also be purchased from over the counter from the medical stores, however for the people suffering from dental issues are not recommended such over the counter stuff. Special custom made mouth guards can be obtained with the help of dentists. The mouth guards are majorly divided into three categories which are as follows:

Stock Mouth Guards: These are the most common type of mouth guards and are least expensive as well. They can be purchased from any of the local sports store, however they provide the least amount of protection and hence are not advised to use by the dentists. Another aspect that makes stock mouth guards not fit to use is their bulkiness due to which it can be hard for a person to breathe.

Boil and Bite Mouth Guards: They are so called because all you need to is to boil the guard in hot water and bite it around the teeth so in order to have more of a custom fit mouth guard. Boil and bite guards can also be easily obtained by searching in the local or departmental stores. They are being offered in a reasonable price and are quite effective for its purpose for all people.

Custom-fitted Mouth Guards: These kinds of mouth guards as named are custom fitted at a dental clinic or a lab with the instruction of the dentist. In order to obtain a custom fitted mouth guard one need to follow three simple steps. The first and the foremost step is to give an impression of the teeth at the dentists to for the dimensions of the mouth guard. Then the mouth guard is either created at the dental clinic or sent off to be created at a dental lab. The final step is to check the proper fitting of the mouth guard by the patient that it fits and is comfortable. The manufacture of the mouth guard can be time consuming and due to its high quality material and custom fitted features, it can be a little  costly than usual mouth guards.

For majority of the cases mouth guards are worn on the upper teeth only but for some special cases like if a patient wear braces then the dentist may suggest a mouth guard for lower teeth as well. An effective Mouth guard is easy to clean, convenient to be word, resilient and should not limit the breathing or speaking capabilities in any way.