Grappling shorts, Air Conrad

No-gi shorts under Flashback licence

The Air Conrad grappling shorts carry the world of Flashback under official licence. This is not a print loosely inspired by the game: the character and the artwork come from the source. Under the design, it is a fight short cut for no-gi, grappling and MMA.

What sets them apart from ordinary sports shorts

Gym shorts do not survive three rounds of no-gi. Pockets catch fingers and toes, seams split under a leg lock, the waistband slides at the first scramble. The Air Conrad drops the pockets, moves the seams away from the inner thigh and adds stretch panels at the leg opening to free the hip.

[TO BE COMPLETED: fabric composition, weight, waistband type, length in centimetres, inner drawstring or not]

The story behind the model

Flashback was released in November 1992 on the Amiga. Delphine Software, a French studio, handed the project to Paul Cuisset. You play Conrad B. Hart, an amnesiac agent who wakes up on Titan and works his way back through his own memory.

What stayed with players was the movement. The team worked in rotoscoping: film an actor, then trace his motion frame by frame. Conrad runs, crouches, jumps and catches a ledge with a weight and an inertia no platform game had at the time. Thirty years on, those animations still hold up.

Flashback entered the Guinness World Records as the best-selling French video game of all time. That mix of craft and style is what we wanted on a pair of grappling shorts.

Wearing them

Many grapplers pull on a pair of compression shorts underneath. It settles the chafing on the inner thigh and the question of shorts riding up during a guard pass. Nothing compulsory, but across a run of rounds you feel the difference from the first session.

The print stands out, the cut is that of a normal sports short. They work in the weight room as well as on the mat.

Choosing your size

Grappling shorts are cut close. The size you wear in town will often be too tight here. Measure your waist and use the size chart. If you are between two sizes, take the larger one: a short you cannot squat in properly is a short that stays in your bag.

For competition

Check the uniform rules of your federation before ordering. Colour, closure and pocket requirements differ from one organisation to another, and a short that is perfect in training can be turned away at the check-in table.

Care

Wash cold, inside out, drawstring tied so it does not disappear into the waistband. Air dry. A tumble dryer destroys the elastane in the stretch panels long before the fabric wears out. The print lasts longer if you skip fabric softener.