Your gear will probably be exposed to sweat, bacteria, viruses and dirt every single training session. This can have a negative impact on the quality of your gear over time. But the long term effect is not the only concern here, because even after the practice when your gear is not given ample attention, it can develop bad odors, and as a result, become embarrassing and offensive to both you and your co-practitioners at the same time. This holds true for both taekwondo and karate sparring gear. For this reason, it is necessary that after the training session, you will take out the contents of your gear bag and begin cleaning. You need to let the gear dry in an area where there is good air circulation.

For cleaning individual pieces of the gear, the following techniques are helpful: the mouth guard is washed with soapy water, immersed in mouthwash for a few minutes and air-dried; foam protective equipment is cleaned by wiping with either antibacterial wipes or a moist cloth, together with the application of sanitizer specially for gym use; and cloth or fabric based equipment can either be hand washed or machine washed on a gentle cycle using soap and water, and then air dried. The gear bag should also be cleaned because no matter how well maintained your sparring gear set is, if they would be kept in a stinking bag, your attempts will be useless. You can also utilize antibacterial wipes to take away sweat and dirt from the bag. It should then be left open for air-drying and an air freshener can be kept inside the bag to further take out bad odor.

Stress feels like you are carrying a large burden on your shoulders. You have a lot of responsibilities that seem like it all falls toward you and no one else. You have feelings of anxiety and frustration.  Stress can contribute to health issues like gum disease.

There are times when you will get angry because so much has come upon you and it seems to be overwhelming. You feel overpowered to do anything so it’s easy for you to get into worrying about things that you can’t control.

It doesn’t have to be big things that will cause stress. It could be some of the smallest things that can set you off and make you tense.

There are different things and events that can cause you to be stressed. What may cause stress for one person may not be the same for someone else. It’s basically different strokes for different folks when it comes to stress.

Stress can be physical, internal, emotional and external. They can be caused by a loss you’ve experienced, overworking yourself, sickness, arguments and other problems that you face.

You can also experience stress from office politics. This is not something that you should get involved in. It is not good for you mentally, especially if you’re dealing with other problems. Office politics can be very brutal and you have to know how to deal with it. The last thing you want to do is to bring it home with you.

One of the worst things you can do is to turn to drugs or alcohol to relieve stress. You will be on a never ending loop and things can go further south from there. If you do develop that gum disease we talked about, try the hydrofloss or therabreath mouthwash for better oral hygiene.  So, therefore it is extremely important to watch over your dental health during times of stress. This would include pregnancy when the risk of getting gum disease rises. 

Getting rid of stress is important for many aspects of your life.  Stress levels vary, but if you learn could stress management techniques, you might live a happier, longer and more fulfilling life.