It was a sad day when I realized that being told by my live-in girlfriend that I, my head, our bedroom, my side of the bed, the laundry room, and our apartment in general “smelled like my gi” was not a compliment. I thought all of those hours on the mat and the resulting effervescence equated to universal acceptance by the female race. Apparently not.
Two things generally take a BJJ player off of the mat: injury or a skin issue. Although most gyms do their best to keep the mats sanitary and clean, you never know if your training partner puts the same attention on his/her personal hygiene that you do – especially if you’re a competitor at a tournament. Ringworm, staph, herpes, and all manner of other festering skin issues can get passed from training partner to training partner and will derail both your daily training and your social life.
Hawaiian born and raised, owner Chad Hospodar has been a part of the Brazilian jiu jitsu world for over a decade now. His company, the Arm Bar Soap Company, has created a great natural solution – the After Training Soap. Made with all natural ingredients including five essential oils – tea tree, eucalyptus, lemongrass, bergamot, and peppermint – their soap is sure to leave you smelling significantly better than your gi, and worry free about skin rashes. The oatmeal crumbs seal the deal with their exfoliating properties.
Tea tree oil alone has long been used by the practitioners of natural medicine like myself due to its extraordinary anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. In conjunction with eucalyptus oil, this one-two combination is a brilliant partnership for first cleansing any abrasions or cuts received in training and then reducing the inflammation and redness of the wound. With bergamot and lemongrass to give Armbar Soap’s After Training Bar a light, clean scent, you can’t go wrong with the ingredient combination that they’ve put together.
The only drawback is that as with all handmade products, availability is limited, especially for in-person retail purchase. The company has plans for expansion and the soap is currently being sold for local purchase in California, Hawaii, Texas, New York City, and Melbourne, Australia.
