What to wear to your first no-gi class

The short answer, for a first class, is a T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, and you very likely have both. That is not our opinion. It is what academies say when they write it down. Crossover BJJ's FAQ tells a new student to "wear comfortable, workout style clothing, and bring something to drink", and says that in no-gi classes students "typically wear Shorts and a T-Shirt". Mile High Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, whose equipment page is otherwise detailed, notes twice that new students are not required to have all the equipment for their first few classes and can wear basic athletic attire. 10th Planet Airlock puts it most plainly: "No uniform. No special gear. Nothing to buy before you walk in." It adds that a regular cotton T-shirt is fine for day one.

We make rash guards, so it is worth being direct about this. You do not need one to find out whether you like grappling. A fitted top moves around less than a cotton T-shirt, and the third section of this piece says what that means, but a first class is a test of whether you want a second one. Buy nothing until you know.

We chose those academies, and the fourth one below, because their policies are published where anybody can read them and because they do not agree with each other. They are four rooms, not a survey, and nothing here says how common any of their rules is.

Where the published policies do agree is on hardware. Mile High's wording is "Absolutely NO clothing with zippers, rivets, buttons, or any hardware which may cause injury." Airlock asks for "athletic clothing without zippers, buttons, or pockets" and, for a first visit, reduces that to no zippers, no buttons and no drawstrings hanging loose. So the three things to check your shorts for are pockets, zips and anything that forms a loop.

The reasons given are the gyms' own and we report them as such. Airlock's page says fingers and toes get caught in pockets, and that zips and buttons can scratch a partner or damage the mats. It is also relaxed about pockets on day one: a beginner will turn up in shorts with pockets because they do not own any others, and its page says that is fine for a first class and should be fixed afterwards. Cargo shorts, basketball shorts with deep pockets and anything with a metal zip are the examples it names.

The convention did not start in gyms. The IBJJF's no-gi attire clause, 8.1.16, requires board shorts "without pockets or with the pockets stitched completely shut, without buttons, exposed drawstrings, zippers or any form of plastic or metal that could present a risk to the opponent". That is a competition rule, and a gym on a weeknight is not a competition. It is quoted here because it explains why grappling shorts are made the way they are, and why a gym's list tends to sound like it.

Two smaller items sit in the same category. Both Mile High and Airlock ask for jewellery to come off before class, and the IBJJF forbids it in competition under 8.3.7. The rule book also says finger and toenails should be trimmed and short, and Airlock warns that a coach will ask you to trim long nails before you train. Neither costs anything, and both are easier to deal with at home than at the edge of the mat.

Airlock's description of a suitable top is something "that fits reasonably close to your body". That is the right level of precision for a first class. A loose T-shirt does not break any rule; it moves around. It rides up when you are on your back, it gathers under the arms, and it is the first thing a beginner notices they would like to change.

The competition standard is far stricter and it helps to know it exists without mistaking it for a dress code. The IBJJF requires "a shirt of elastic material (skin tight) long enough to cover the torso all the way to the waistband of the shorts". Nobody will hold you to that in a trial class. It does tell you what fitted means when grapplers say it: close enough that there is no spare fabric to gather, and long enough that the hem stays at the waistband when your arms are overhead.

If you own a close-fitting sports top of any kind, wear that. If you own only loose T-shirts, wear one and tuck it in if it bothers you. Our piece on how a rash guard should fit has five checks you can do in a changing room, and they apply to any stretch top, including one you already have.

Spats are full-length compression leggings. Whether you can wear them on their own depends on the room, and this is one of the places the published policies split. Mile High's page says, in capitals, that males must wear shorts on top of spats or tights. City Jiu Jitsu Academy's no-gi uniform is black shorts with black compression pants underneath. Airlock lists shorts or leggings for a first class, and elsewhere on the page describes spats as worn under shorts. The IBJJF's competition clause is asymmetrical in the same way: compression shorts are permitted for men beneath the shorts, while women may wear shorts, compression pants or compression shorts. If you are unsure, wear shorts over whatever else you have on, because no policy we read objects to that.

On groin protection there is no general rule. The IBJJF forbids cups in competition: clause 8.3.7 bans "cups (genital protectors), or any other protector fashioned of hard material that may cause harm to an opponent or the athlete him/herself". The ADCC's published rules do not mention them at all. None of the four academy pages we read mentions them either. So this is a question for the gym, and a routine one.

On underwear the IBJJF is specific, requiring brief-type undergarments at all competitions under 8.3.10. For a first class the practical version is simply to wear something supportive under your shorts that you are comfortable moving in.

Everything above is a default, and a gym's own policy overrides it. The spread is wider than most guides admit. At one end, Crossover BJJ's FAQ says "We do not have any rules regarding uniforms". At the other, City Jiu Jitsu Academy requires members to train no-gi in the academy's own black rash guard with black shorts and black compression pants, and asks even visitors for a black rash guard, black shorts and black compression pants. Its FAQ still tells a first-timer to come in comfortable athletic clothing. Both are legitimate ways to run a room, and you cannot tell which kind you are walking into from the outside.

So ask, or read the gym's website, before the first session. Four questions cover it. Is there a uniform or a colour rule for no-gi, and does it apply to trial classes? Is a rash guard required or just preferred? Can spats be worn without shorts? Is there anything the gym lends to beginners? Most academies answer all four on a FAQ page, and the ones that do not will answer by message.

Competition rulesets are not gym rules, and we have quoted them only to show where the conventions come from. The ADCC's published rules contain no attire section at all beyond noting that wrestling shoes are optional and that holding the T-shirt or shorts is not allowed. If you ever compete, read that event's own rules in the version in force on the day.

If you are still training after a few weeks, the order in which things are worth buying follows from the objections above. First, a pair of shorts with no pockets, no zip and no external drawstring, because that is the item gym policies are most consistent about. Second, a fitted top, because the cotton T-shirt will by then have shown you what it does on the ground. Spats are a preference, and whether they are worth having depends on your room's rules as much as on you.

When you do buy a top, two of our other pieces are more use than a product page. One covers how a rash guard should fit, with checks that apply to any brand. The other covers whether to get long or short sleeves, which turns out not to be decided by either major ruleset. If your gym has a colour rule, check it before you choose a colour, because a policy like City Jiu Jitsu Academy's would make anything but black a second purchase.

Whatever you buy, wash it the way its care label says from the first wear. We have written separately about washing a rash guard, including how little of the usual advice could be sourced.

That is the whole list. A first no-gi class asks for clothes you can move in, with nothing hard or loose on them, and a quick look at the gym's own rules. The rest can wait until you know you are coming back.