People who participate in close contact sports such as BJJ are susceptible to a variety of contagious bacterial skin infections such as MRSA, Staph, Strep, Ringworm , Impetigo.
Many bacteria can move, often by swimming through liquid. Sweating can mobilize bacteria, spreading it to other parts of your body or to other people’s bodies via the skin or the gi. Many can start when bacteria get into an open wound such as cut, scratch, abrasion, open sore or insect bite.
What the Academy does to reduce risk of contracting/spreading infections:
*Mats are mopped with bleach prior to the first class of every day.
*If blood gets on the mat, it is immediately cleaned up with bleach.
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What individuals should do to reduce risk of contracting/spreading infections:
*If you have open sores and don’t know what it is ,see a doctor to determine what it is. Notify Dax of any suspicious sores you might have.
*Don’t walk barefoot outside of the academy. Use shoes, flip-flops when going to the bathroom or outside. Also do not walk on the mat with shoes on.
*Take a shower within an hour of working out, the sooner the better There is less than a 2 hour gestation period for most micro-organisms to take effect. This is probably your best defense against the spread of bacterial skin infections. If you assume you picked up a bacteria, how soon would you shower?
*Wash your gi after every class, preferably within 2 hours of working out. Many bacteria survive on surfaces and fabrics. Washing your gi protects you and our BJJ partners. Same with rashguards, kneepads,towels, etc: after every practice.
*Cover any open sores or cuts with tape, gauze, bandaids, whatever is necessary.
*Wipe off any open sore/wound with anti-bacterial sanitizer, or soap immediately after class.
*Make sure you clean any blood off your gi as soon as possible.
*If you have an contagious skin infection, stay off the mat. This will keep it from spreading to other members. After whatever you have is no longer infectious, you can return to the mat.
Dax made it down to the Roger Gracie Seminar that Bruce Shepherd just brought to Evansville last Saturday: Roger Gracie Seminar at the Jiujitsu Academy in Evansville . Good stuff, as those of you who are coming to classes this week are finding out!
Another Promotion seminar has come and gone, and as you can see, the Razzano Academy had a good turnout. three of us were able to get down to Evansville for the Friday class with Marcelo, and the rest came down for the Saturday Seminar. Marcelo focused on the graduation ceremony movements for Brown belt graduation at his school. he broke down the series to digestable sections. Bruce said is plan is to some day replace the seminar format with the model Marcelo uses, one of a big graduation party where students do demonstrations for the group. the last couple of years, Marcelo's seminars have been butressed by cultural aspects of graduation taking it beyone just promotion. And as time passes, the returning students find themselves a part of an ever-growing family. great to see Marcelo and Lila again, as well as Bruce and his entire group! Here some pics of the seminar (from the Razzano Academy perspective) 
