Best Cup Ever!: How I Survived A Low Kick To The Groin

Executive Summary:
I was watching Sport Science on some random day and they were setting up a demonstration of all the groin protection used in sports. They wanted to see how the cups would stand up to a 90mph fastball. The damage was clear, they all either broke or shattered into pieces. The few that didn’t still would not have protected the “boys” in anyway. That is until they brought out the Nutty Buddy . Cheesy name, I know, but it does what it says. It protects the nuts, like a good friend should. To demonstrate, the inventor and former MLB pitcher Mark Littell redesigned the way the cup was shaped, thus affecting the way it absorbs impact. As he puts it, when you take a shot to the pills, even if the cup doesn’t bend or break on impact, the twig and berries have no where to go, so end up getting hitting the cup itself. Not cool at all. So he demonstrated taking a 90mph without flinching. This guy means business.

Video of Nutty Buddy Inventor taking a 90mph shot to the pills.


My Results
I have never worn a cup, and by shear luck have never really taken any accidental shots to the junk. Now practicing Muay Thai, and after watching the demo, I had to have one. So I went to the website to order. They recommend that you first wear a pair of compression shorts, then put the jock strap on, and place the nutty buddy in between the two. Their website also allows you to build a package and order all the items needed to protect the family jewels. Very convenient for someone like me who likes the one-stop-shop.

Key Issues:
1. Mark Littell will be thanked for saving many babies
2. The redesign of the cup is a stroke of genius

Details:
1. Go to the website and buy the package, nuff said

My Experience with the diet
Pros:
- Pros its only costs $20 for the nutty buddy
- With the set of shorts, strap and shipping it came to about $60, a price I am willing to pay

Cons:
- As soon as I received it, I put it on and tested it. It will definitely take a shot head on. And that’s the key. The shot must be head on, problem is that in muay thai, boxing and mma, sometimes upper-cuts and low kicks come up from under. If this happens you are probably not going to survive.

Overall

Funny story.
The day after I ordered it I went to Sitan Gym for the advanced class for sparring.
Feeling good that the nutty buddy is on its way.
We finish the warm up and start sparring.
I partner up with a nice guy, he catches me with a stiff jab, my head snaps back.
I get upset.
I rush in with a 1-2 combo followed by a low kick.
I didn’t feel a cup.
I felt awful.
All the consolation in the world means nothing when you have that sinking feeling in your stomach.
We then switch partners, I get a taller guy, whom I have never sparred with.
I eat a jab, then take a low kick.
I guess that’s fighter’s karma.
What goes around comes around. Oh yeah did I mention, the nutty buddy was on its way. Dang, how it hurts.

Today’s class was different.
Teamed up with a jerky-motioned partner, the kind you have to watch out for weird twitchy movements.
Low and behold, I took a low kick right in the tackle box.
After an awkward flinch, I took the damn kick to the groin!!!!
Wahoo!
Insert sigh of relief.
Only thing I had to do was slightly readjust to ensure it was seated properly.
Success.
Funny how the low kick just came in at the right angle and so it was perfectly deflected into my hips instead of the groin.
Thank you Mark Littell and thank you Nutty Buddy.
This marks the end of this post as I am fresh out of groin euphemisms.

First Fighter Post Wahoo!

I've been dying to start this blog since about November when I first got a taste of Muay Thai. I practiced Shotokan Karate for about 10 years, and through high school sadly, I just got kind of sick of it. I put hanging out and playing handball before Karate. Needless to say I lost so much by not practicing, everything from fight timing, to flexibility, all the things I thought I would have forever, just disappeared.

No more splits, six-pack or evasiveness. I lost it. I started working out in college, enjoyed it, but didn't get the fullness that I would get from martial arts. About a year ago my younger, but bigger brother started taking Muay Thai at Ultimate Gym New York with Kru Nestor Marte Link to Ultimate and he started to show me some of the exercises, techniques and needless to say, I loved it.

I started working out at home, I was in 'piece of crap' shape and wanted to learn techniques and not waste my money or the gym's time.
Physical Stats Before I started working out at home:
5'7", 157 lbs, and could barely do 20 push ups. Sorry for the crudeness but I didn't take any measurements or body fat content tests. I will try to improve on my reporting.
I do, however, still remember my training regiment. I worked out on a yoga mat. No weights to start off.
Exercises:
- Squats, not regular squats. I did some research and needed to transform my muscles into rubber bands for quick reaction. I wasn't looking to build mass or look good. I was looking to be fit for quickness and endurance. I would start with 70 quick squats, then count down from 70, then from 60, and so on until I hit 30 with no rest. I couldn't do this from the onset of my working out. I had to build up to that. I first started at 50 and counted down to zero.
- Crunches, straight from the 50 squats with no rest, I would start with 50 crunches. After I got used to this I would start timing them, to 2 minutes of straight crunches. Crunches worked really well because, from what I've heard and believe to be true, is that it forces you to learn how to breathe properly when working out. I also didn't do sit ups because of the same reason I didn't do slow squats. I needed rubber band abs.
- Pushups, this was the hardest part so at first did this first, but as I progressed, I began to push it to the back of the set. I would do as many push ups as possible in 60 seconds. Two minutes was just way too long, still is. Once I got to about 60 in a minute I started to level off, never getting to more than 75 consecutive, not in a minute.

I would try to repeat this set of workouts, but for the second and third sets I kept pushing until I reached muscle failure.

After about a month I lost 15 lbs. and was in far better shape to begin my Muay Thai journey.