For most of us, eyesight isn’t really an issue when it comes to training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. However, for others – it can be a pretty big deal. This is why newcomers often ask whether they can train whilst wearing glasses, or whether it’s necessary at all.
In this article, we shall assess wearing glasses whilst training and whether they’re needed. If you don’t have good eyesight then don’t worry, there are plenty of solutions and grapplers with bad vision, so worry not!
Table of Contents
You can’t wear glasses while sparring
Sparring in BJJ is physical by its very nature. If you’ve experienced it, then you’ll understand that sparring with glasses is not a good idea. Even against the most gentle of grappling opponents, the chances are that your glasses would break within weeks of training. This is because your face will take knocks from random limbs. You’ll also often be rolling around (literally) which would displace your glasses and put them on the floor.
Again, this could easily lead to your glasses breaking. As glasses aren’t cheap and often cost hundreds of dollars, this isn’t a good idea. To sum up, your glasses are probably safer sparring BJJ compared to boxing for obvious reasons. At the same time, they will get damaged and will get in the way of sparring.
Wearing glasses in other areas of class is fine
At the same time, lots of BJJ practitioners will still wear glasses whilst drilling as opposed to sparring. This is because you can do techniques at a slower pace and in general, there are fewer explosive movements. This means you’ll be able to wear glasses for certain techniques.
For instance, if you’re doing inversions and putting your body upside down – then you’ll probably need to take them off. However, if you’re passing the open guard then this is fine as they’ll stay on your head and won’t get damaged – regardless of whether you’re in the top or bottom position.
Just remember, drilling BJJ moves can still cause damage to your glasses. Although the chances of this happening remains very low, it’s still possible. Over the years, a few people have gotten injuries from drilling with no resistance. Even though this is rare, it’s proof that drilling can still cause physical problems.
Of course, you can also wear glasses whilst watching technique demonstrations. In fact, if you have poor eyesight then this is ideal. Remember, if you don’t have your glasses at hand, getting closer to the demonstration is a good solution so you can see what is going on.
Solutions to poor eyesight for grapplers
Thankfully, there are plenty of solutions for grapplers who wear glasses. The first solution is to train whilst wearing contact lenses. Physically, these are far less invasive compared to wearing glasses and won’t cause you any problems.
Secondly, you can also wear grappling goggles. These are worn by the likes of Meerkatsu and others. The idea of grappling goggles is to place these goggles over your glasses. This keeps them in place whilst also protecting them. More good news is that these are also relatively cheap and inexpensive.
Lastly, the reality is that most people with bad eyesight can continue to train regardless. This is because it’s grappling – which means that most of the time you will be in close contact with your training partners anyway. Even if they momentarily break contact, you should be able to see enough of them, even if they are standing at a slight distance.
Famously, World champion Mikey Musumeci also has infamously poor eyesight. He can often be seen wearing his glasses yet when he spars or competes, he removes them. Similarly, there are also a number of decent practitioners who are also fully blind. Once again, this is because in BJJ, there is often contact which means that having poor eyesight isn’t as bad a deal, compared to training something like Karate.
Conclusion
As mentioned, bad eyesight in BJJ isn’t a major issue for most people. Thankfully, there are many solutions to be found anyway. Still, the point remains that if you’re worried about eyesight when grappling then really, it’s not a big deal. Perhaps the best way to find out is by getting in there and trying it for yourself!
