I was interested to hear about a project being launched on Kickstarter this week aimed at the grappling community. The RollTec ‘smart’ rashguard contains a motion sensor which analyses your movement while you train. It sends this information to a mobile app (iOS or Android), which then gives you breakdowns on how much time you are spending in different grappling positions.
The sensor is embedded in a padded “pouch” inside the rashguard. Before training, you connect to the sensor (via Bluetooth) using your smartphone and start streaming the data. Once you have finished training, you can get your session analysis.For those grapplers looking to make their training more effective, having access to a detailed record of their habits is a great way to monitor progress. The app has some other useful features, such as suggesting technique videos based on where you are spending the most time.
The project comes from Roger Gracie blackbelt Nic Gregoriades and some of his students. Their view is that wearable technology is readily available and is being used in many other industries and sports, but so far it has been never been used to help grapplers. RollTec aims to change this.
The team is quick to mention that they know the rashguard needs to be tough, and maintain the safety of the user and their training partners.
The rashguard is available for $99 on Kickstarter, and the campaign will run until July 5th . You can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1489178162/1443184206?token=4b0ee89b