steel muay thai cup vs hard plastic ones

I have read several posts on this forum that its necessary to have a steel cup for any sort of serious sparring.

Now I have used a regular bike cup and jock for almost 2 years now for my mma class in which we spar pretty hard, both standing and on the ground, and never had any problems with it for both comfort and when I have occasionally gotten hit in the nuts.

Am I just lucky or is a hard plastic cup perfectly ok for sparring, even if its pretty hard (not uncommon to have dudes get rocked, black eyes, cuts, etc, but never seen anyone just get completely ktfo yet).

What about fighting, I do plan to fight eventually once I sharpen my skills a bit more and get some better cardio, is a steel cup necessary for a full contact mma competition?

Thanks in advance.

Yes I used the search function, but their doesnt seem to be any clear consensus as whether a thai steel cup is completely necessary.

 

Steele is the safest way to go but the thai thong thing is uncomfy. Get a Shock Dr compression shorts and a thai cup and cut the strings off the steel cup and us it in the SD for the best protection and comf.

www.SSFgear.com

 

wow I have not thought of that Ron, that's a cool idea.

 

That's a pretty good idea. In another thread you mentioned you use shock doctor compression shorts. Any recomendations on a steel cup you know fits with those compression shorts?

 

yea it really works well, I was told at my old gym to do that...haha and so far i've broken two guys toes...

 

I wear a soft cup. Fucking hate cups

 

I have had decent luck putting a Thai cup inside a regular jockstrap and then wearing compression shorts over it. Obviously, I had to take the strings out of the thai cup first. It worked out OK.

I've also had good luck with wearing a Combat Sports MMA groin protector under compression shorts. That one felt loose at first, but once I started rolling it suctioned itself onto me, didn't move, and did a great job of protecting me from a couple of knees to the groin while rolling.

I've read horror stories about guys getting kicked in a plastic cup, and the cup buckling inward, cracking open, pinching a bit of scrotum-skin in the crack, then popping back into shape, tearing the skin in the process. What I don't know is a) how true these stories are, and b) how often this really happens.

 

You just gave me a stomach ache

 

That happened once at a kickboxing class I went to. Guy 1 goes for inside leg kick, guy 2 goes for kick to the body, guy 1 kicks guy 2 in his flex cup, guy 2 screams shortly afterwards and everyone assumes he's taken a solid one in the pills. What had happened was his foreskin almost got torn off when the cup flexed back out after part of his johnson had ended up between the rubber edge and plastic part of the flex cup. He had to go to hospital. I didn't ask about it the following week because I didn't really want to ask another guy if his dick was feeling better. The lesson to be learnt here is flex cups should never be worn next to bare skin.

I still use a metal thai cup and either wear my Kikskin shorts or Underarmour Compression shorts to keep it in place under my Nogi shorts.

 

:icon_cry2

In the bin it goes :icon_excl

 

I've seen 2 plastic ones crack training and I've seen several crack on in Pro fights. Didn't Silva's crack vs. Someone and Goodridges also?

 

Right now I'm using a Windy steele cup and it fits fine. I hate cups but this is the best combo I've found so far. Go to Dick's or Sports Autority I think they sell the compression shorts for the same price as me but you won't have to pay for shipping. It comes with a nice plastic cup that's great for grappling class but for MMA and Thai use the steele cup.

www.SSFgear.com

 

yeah i am buying the steel cup, thanks

 

ouch.

for hs wrestling we dont use cups for practice, and then some kids use practice cups for matches. youre safe from kicks though so it isnt essential like in mma

 

Yeah, definitely going for a steel cup too...

 

Has anyone tried the Shock Doctor flex cup? I don't mind the pressure against the balls, I mainly hate the pressure from the edges of the cup when they dig into the bone of the joint where your groin meets your thigh...what's the best setup to remedy that?

 

I really like my underarmor jock with Pro flexcup, I had the same problem you addressed and this helped me out big time.

 

For what it's worth, I got kicked in the johnson last night twice by my training partner and I was wearing the XO cup (plastic flex) and the Underarmour jock and I felt fine. Granted, they weren't the hardest kicks...

 

So both of you prefer the UA Jockstrap to compression shorts? The compression shorts just look like they'd be more comfortable to me because they don't have the thin little straps...although I do know UA's other stuff is pretty comfortable.

 

I wear the UA heatgear shorts (compression shorts) over the jock and cup combo. The straps on the UA jock don't bother me one bit.