• southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      It’s neither beneficial nor an inherent detriment.

      It doesn’t provide enough padding to matter for anything, and the dangers of it bring grabbed are vastly exaggerated (been doing martial arts and grappling in one form or another since jr high, if you count a little wresting then, so over thirty years with breaks here and there, and bearded the entire adult time).

      At best, blows will slide more and cut less, but not enough to really matter. At worst, having it grabbed hurts, which can be a bad distraction, but it isn’t so sturdy as to not be easy to escape. It either pulls loose if their grip is bad, pulls out if their grip is good enough, or makes sure their hands are easy to reach, and allows you an easy access inside their reach.

      Every little pro has a con, and vice versa, with none of it being a deciding factor.

      A ponytail is worse, and a braid worse than that.

      Besides, anyone with a beard that isn’t just full mountain man is going to be oiling or otherwise treating their beard. This makes bare handed grips next to useless on them. And if you’re in a full contact sparring session, you’ll have other options to keep it from being a horrible thing.

      Seriously. I have never once been tapped out because of my beard. I’ve never had any idiot during my years as a bouncer be successful in using it against me. Now, I have had to trim or shave it back because of having wads of it snatched out, but that’s still a very minor issue compared to the other things that can happen in a fight.

      If anything, the fact that people tend to have this weird reaction to a big, bearded guy compared to just a big guy, you get in less fights in my experience outside of training or a job. Going places with a full beard, even drunks wouldn’t fuck with me the way they would other big guys. There’s a bit of some kind of reaction where people think a beard = tough sometimes. No clue why, just that it’s often enough to have noticed.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      As in a signal of how manly a man truly is, comparative to still being a boy.

      Edit: also, hair is counter productive in a fight, because it gives your opponent something to grab a hold of and use against you.

      • Donkter@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        But you ask anyone who knows anything about fighting and the first thing they tell you to do is to cut your hair short because it’s just an easy handle to grab on to.

        • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          When you’re fighting human, sure, but our mane probably evolved before we were our own greatest predator.

          • PythagreousTitties@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            I like how people downvoted you on this. As if facial hair somehow evolved after recorded history.