Tom DeBlass has issued a blunt reminder to the grappling community about one of the most talked about issues in the sport – hygiene and skin infections.
In a recent Instagram post, DeBlass didn’t mince words, calling out practitioners who train while knowingly carrying skin conditions as “selfish” and “careless”:
Jiu-Jitsu students, listen up.
If you knowingly train with a lump, rash, or anything suspicious on your skin without getting it checked out, that is a selfish move.
You are not just risking your own health, you are putting your entire academy, your teammates, and their families at risk.
Skin infections such as staph, ringworm, and impetigo can spread quickly through close contact.
DeBlass emphasized that such behavior endangers more than just training partners:
People go home to their children, their spouses, and their loved ones.
Bringing an infection onto the mats because you did not want to miss a day of training is not toughness, it is carelessness.
The veteran instructor urged students to act responsibly and communicate openly with their coaches if they notice any suspicious symptoms:
If you notice any kind of skin funk, show your instructor.
Do not try to hide it.
That is not cool, and it is not how a real teammate acts.
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