The Lowly Cup

[Mike Ruhala]

My first consideration is performance and professional appearance is a close second. I'll wear whatever makes that happen most effectively.

[ShaunnM.W.]

Seriously, I have been thinking of getting some of the compression shorts with a cup from UnderArmour.

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/search/pid1214285-Men-s-Compression-Short-With-Cup/1214285-001&FSR=1

Has anyone tried these?

Those are not the exact pair that I bought, but they look pretty close. Compression shorts with a cup. Much more comfortable than your average jock strap. Mine breathe really well which helps keeps everything dry down there, which also keeps your cup from smelling like a swamp. I especially like having the longer legs on mine, which helps keep everything from shifting or riding up. Mine stay put, so I don't have to tug on them or adjust them during practice.

*EDIT*
I took a look at my pair last night, and they are called "Nutt hut" 2.0 made by Warrior. I bought them online and paid somewhere between $40-50 with shipping.

[Mike Ruhala]

Since I've been wearing a cup regularly for some time now I thought I'd share that as far as I'm concerned you need at least one jock strap/compression short for every day of the week you'll be training. You can always lysol and rinse out the cup itself but the supporting garment really needs to be laundered after wear.

I still don't think they're fun to wear but I'm used to it now and I've seen a couple more incidents that made me really glad I was properly equipped.

[Kody Tench]

While I don't normally wear a cup I did find something odd when sparring recentl, I was wearing a cup while Ben was not so we decided to keep away from the tenders but as soon as the sparring started I found myself running in for kneeing him without meaning too so while I hate cups I see the wisdom behind using them

[nathan f]

i use compression shorts and a steel muay thai cup which i cannot stress how much i advise this combo.
plastic cups are bad carbon fibre good but very dangerous.
the plastic one the worst injury i ever heard of was one snapping from a kick popping in catching some skin and popping back out.
As for carbon fibre its strong but if it breaks it shatters and can cause horrific injuries i have only seen it on a small scale with someone breaking an arrow and getting bits of it in their finger.
the muay thai cup is steel with a leather cover and has a thick rubber edge off a tire or something normally you tie them on with 3 strings but not nice. So for grappling and moving about the compression shorts are the best and you can buy a few pairs cheap enough.
Thats my thoughts on the topic most definatley a crucial piece of kit.

[Shay Roberts]

One of the women in our group expressed a need for pelvic protection. That is not a fun place to catch an unterhau. Guys, be advised that they do make such a device:
http://www.amazon.com/Shock-Doctor-Wome ... 381&sr=1-3

[Sean Karp]

There is an old song from around these parts:

Once was a fighter.
He was from Caid.
Didn't wear his cup to a fight.

Now he's using rattan in a new way.
His lady just loves it.
Fits like a dream.

Also an excerpt from an article on a man called Buck Shelford who didn't wear his cup to the first Rugby world cup:

Shelford was jacked in the face with a bare-knuckled roundhouse punch that knocked out four of his teeth. But that wasn't the worst of it – not long after getting de-toothed with a sucker punch, a French cleat found its way through the pile and struck Shelford directly in the ballsack, ripping it open leaving one nut hanging out of his scrote.

You are reading this correctly – the guy got Monkey Steals the Peached by a f**** spiked boot in the middle of a rugby game. Displaying what can only be the utter, literal definition of balls-out, Shelford amazingly didn't even seem to give a shit about a wound that would have brought even a berserking Viking warrior to his knees in agony. Bleeding badly, missing a ball from his goodie sack, and in what could only have been excruciating pain in both his face and groin, Shelford didn't roll around on the turf crying like some kind of professional soccer flopper punk. He didn't get carted off to the hospital in an ambulance for emergency surgery. He didn't even go to the locker room strapped to the back of one of those little golf cart thingies. This psychotic madman got up, walked off the pitch holding his balls back in place, stood on the sidelines, and waited patiently while the team doc stitched up his nutsack on international television. Without anesthesia. With a cameraman right in his face, taping the entire gruesome procedure. I didn't find the footage of the incredibly-unhygenic surgery, but I'm not going to lie and say that I tried very hard, either. There are some things which can be sufficiently described with text and don't necessarily require people to see things that can never be unseen.

Moral: Always Wear Your Cup.

[Joey Nitti]

I just bought one of these http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/2/HockeyIce/JerseysSocksUnderwear/PRDOVR~0832453P/Jock+Short.jsp?locale=en

I tried it on, and moved around a bit, and it's surprisingly ok with regards to comfort. I'll be trying it out the first time this Saturday, but I think I can say that compression shorts + cup are probably a lot more comfortable than a jock.

[nathan f]

Shay
I would also reccomend any women in your group to get a proper fencing chest protector a strong thrust to the chest can cause serious damage to a woman and is an issue along with pelvic protection which some of the women i have trained with seem to choose to ignore.

[Ben Floyd]

While I don't normally wear a cup I did find something odd when sparring recentl, I was wearing a cup while Ben was not so we decided to keep away from the tenders but as soon as the sparring started I found myself running in for kneeing him without meaning too so while I hate cups I see the wisdom behind using them

I've been searching for the guy that randomly tried to knee me in the jewels while I was walking downtown! NOW I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!