Equipment

Essentials for the Study of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

1. Gi. Most schools will sell you an entry level Gi, and some (like the school I go to) will give you a basic Gi when you sign on with the school. A Gi can range in price and quality like any other article of clothing. Materials and finishes vary, and sometimes limited availability can lead to exclusivity. Most of the professors roll in the school Gi, and I can tell you that as a new student most of the benefits of an expensive Gi will be lost on you. I am a firm believer that each student should have at least 2 Gi to alternate between. A GI MUST BE CLEANED after each session. Hygiene is a huge focus in schools, so there are no exceptions- WASH YOUR FUCKING GI. After washing, it is proper to hang-dry your Gi as you will not want to have it shrink too much and get young. As hang drying takes time, you will want to have that second Gi as the alternate while the other is drying. Again- WASH YOUR FUCKING GI- I cannot stress this enough. I purchased an Atama Gold Weave Gi as my alternate. It is a very nice Gi, but it has yet to turn me into a Jiu Jitsu super hero, so you should realize- the clothes don't make the man. Unless you have dirty clothes, in which case you are a pig, and you apparently can't read all caps- WASH YOUR FUCKING GI.

A gear bag: I use a duffle that has a top load, and also features a nice side load into an attached laundry bag. This means I can put my dirty gi into the side port and it won't touch my clean gear. This is key, because if you don't want ring-worm you will want to keep that dirty Gi separate until such time as you can WASH YOUR FUCKING GI

Mouthguard: as you get into rolling you will notice that you get kicked in the face sometimes. Its a good idea to have a mouthguard. I am using a shock doctor that i bought at Dicks Sporting goods for $9.95- it is a boil and bite fit, and it seems to work well.

A cup: I have 2, a hard cup, and a "spider" flex cup. The spider cup has more give. It protects less, but then no one should be trying to punch you in the jimmy anyway. The spider offers plenty of protection against incidental contact.

base layer: I am using Nike Dri Fit shirts as a base layer under the Gi- Some guys go bare chested, but I have found that the Gi jacket is rough, and tends to tear up my skin so the Dri Fit provides protection. You should also wash your base layer when you WASH YOUR FUCKING GI.


Why am I so militant about Hygiene? Because Ring-Worm is fucking gross that's why...