jducusin

My hair is relatively thick and is a few inches past shoulder length.

I've been tempted (and in the past did try) to get it cut short, but it just doesn't suit me. I've also tried braiding it while wet (such as for seminars) but it's thick enough that everything just ends up loosening up on me as practice progresses.

So what usually works in my case is:

1) to start by pulling the top half back and securing it with one of those "ouchless" ponytail elastics you get at the drugstore (also called a half-updo)

2) I gather the remainder up and using a second "ouchless" elastic, loop the elastic with one twist around everything into a ponytail, making sure that the second elastic grabs onto the first (which acts as a kind of anchor)

3) while holding the elastic open with one hand, I use my other hand to loop the ponytail in half (almost like I'm folding it downwards once) and secure that with a couple more twists of the same (second) elastic.

4) with a third elastic, I loop over everything a few more times for extra security.

Hope that made sense - the result is a kind of half-bun/looped ponytail. I know it sounds elaborate but once you try it, you find it's actually pretty simple and (at least for me, even with my thick hair) it's been the best method I've found to keep everything together through all the breakfalling we do at my dojo.

I still get the few odd hairs torn out once in a blue moon (usually as part of the ponytail gets stepped on by some over-zealous nage just as I'm trying to get up from a fall), but I've given up on trying to make things foolproof.

The other advantage to this method is that if things do end up getting out of sorts while you're on the mats, fixing it/tightening things up again is really quick to do. And the less time taken out of practice, the better!

Good luck!