If you do any type of martial arts, either armed or unarmed, usually you are not supposed to strike at the groin. But as we all know sometimes accidents happen, a thrust/cut can go too low, or a kick can miss the belly by a few inch, even a padded sword can put someone out of action for quite some time (please note the double entendre 🙂 ) … In these cases it’s really important, to have some protection for these parts.
There are lots of different options out on the market, I personally bought a PBT made protective cup and it served me well during the years, there are lots of different options, different manufacturers. It’s not a huge investment, but it is very much recommended to any type of training. Also it’s not only for men, women need this protection too, and there are specific products for them.
There are a few things to keep in mind:
– size doesn’t mean the size of the “package”, it’s about the size of the butt and thighs so don’t feel the need to buy an XXL Cup 🙂
– whenever you are training or sparring put the cup on before training, under the pants/protective gear for your lower body
-usually cups are NOT designed to be worn over other parts of clothing and equipment, they look silly and doesn’t really protect that well
-clean the cloth part of the cup regularly (just think about it, when you throw your dirty cup into your equipment bag where you’re gonna wear it soon)
-check the plastic insert, especially the sides, if the rubber coat protecting the edge of the plastic comes off the sharp edges can cause nasty wounds
Some more great advice about cups:
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-and-Wear-a-Protective-Cup-for-Sports
Some places to get your cup, if you want to support HEMA related shops (but you can get protective cups in any kind of sports equipment store really):
http://pbthistoricalfencing.com/products/hema-protectors/#groin-protector
http://histfenc.com/productcart/groin-protector
http://www.absolutefencinggear.com/shopping/product_info.php/products_id/1263/cPath/111
HEMA EQUIPMENT 