What to buy for your kid's first month of jiu-jitsu

Parents ask us what to buy before the first class, and the answer is almost always nothing. It is a strange thing to say out loud in a building with a pro shop in it, but a kid who quits in week two in gear you bought in week zero is a worse outcome for everybody than a kid who trained a month in gym shorts.

So here is the real order of purchase.

Day one, out of the drawer

Athletic clothes. Shorts or leggings, and a t-shirt or a rash guard if you happen to own one. A water bottle. A towel.

That is the list. No uniform, no belt, no mouthguard, no bag.

One thing to check before you leave the house, because it is the only way the drawer version goes wrong: no zippers, buttons, or pockets. Our published rule says why, and it is the plain reason: they can catch and cause injury on the mats. A finger goes into a pocket, a drawstring wraps around something, and a drill that should have been nothing becomes a sore hand. If the only shorts you own have pockets, leggings work fine.

Then cut their fingernails and toenails. Short. We expect students to train with clean gear and trimmed nails, and a long nail on a seven-year-old scratches whoever they are training with.

The rules behind the rules

Two things drive everything on the list above.

The first is grip. Somebody has their hands on your child for most of the class, and loose clothing is what rides up and snags. In a gi class the partner is gripping the uniform; in No-Gi they are gripping your kid, which is why fitted beats baggy either way. A rash guard is the standard answer because it does not ride up over a kid's head when a partner drags them across the floor, which is exactly as undignified as it sounds and is the reason kids ask for one after two weeks.

The second is hygiene. Our mats are cleaned and sanitized daily, and we expect students to train with clean gear and trimmed nails. In practice that means two of everything, so you are not washing a rash guard at nine o'clock on a Wednesday for a Thursday class.

Week three, if they are still asking to go

By the third or fourth class you know. Now buy, in this order.

Two rash guards, fitted, short or long sleeve depending on how your kid feels about the cold. Two pairs of grappling shorts with no pockets. Write your last name in them, because a room of nine-year-olds produces a lost and found the size of a small clothing store.

For a No-Gi class that is the whole kit, and every jiu-jitsu class at our Ashburn academy is No-Gi. What it costs depends on brand, fabric, and whether you buy one of each or two, and we broke down the gear side of the sport in how much BJJ costs in Loudoun County.

Skip the mouthguard for the first month unless your child wants one. If you are unsure, ask the coach at the end of a class rather than buying blind.

The gi question

If the class your child is booked into is a gi class, a gi comes eventually. Not in week one. We lend one for the trial, and the academy will tell you what to bring after that. A uniform is the one genuinely expensive item in the sport, which is a lot to spend on a kid who has been to three classes.

When you do buy one, check the maker's size chart and washing instructions before you order, because sizing and shrinkage vary a lot between brands and a gi that fits wrong is unwearable rather than merely annoying. If you want the full comparison of what each style teaches, gi vs No-Gi covers it.

Do not buy a rank belt. A coach awards it when it has been earned, and promotions here run on technique, consistency, and mat time rather than a test date. A belt ordered online means nothing to the kid wearing it.

What parents buy early and regret

A gi before the first class, bought without checking whether the class they booked is a gi class.

Anything with a hood, a zipper, or a logo patch that will be ripped off in a month.

Headgear, for a jiu-jitsu beginner. It is a wrestling item far more than a jiu-jitsu one, and even in wrestling we tell families to wait: for a first class it is athletic clothes and a water bottle, no shoes, because we train barefoot on the mat. If a kid continues and starts training seriously, then we recommend wrestling shoes and headgear.

Knee pads for a healthy beginner, which mostly get left in the bag.

A large gear bag. The kit fits in a school backpack, and a big bag mainly gives a kid somewhere to lose things.

The one thing to do tonight

Go through the shorts drawer and pull out the pairs with no pockets and no drawstring. Put two of them in a backpack with a water bottle and a towel, by the door.

Leave it by the door and you are equipped for the month. If you want to know what the class will actually look like once they get there, we wrote a walkthrough for parents, and the parents' guide to kids jiu-jitsu covers the bigger questions about what the sport does for a kid.

Common questions

Does my child need a gi for their first jiu-jitsu class?

No. Every jiu-jitsu class at our Ashburn academy is No-Gi, so athletic clothes are all your child ever needs there. Our Sterling academy runs gi and No-Gi, and if the class you booked is a gi class we lend your child a gi for the trial. Either way there is nothing to buy before you decide.

What should a kid wear to jiu-jitsu if they do not have a rash guard?

A fitted t-shirt and athletic shorts or leggings. The only hard rules are no zippers, buttons, or pockets, because they can catch and cause injury on the mats. A loose t-shirt is fine for a first class; it will just end up over their head once or twice.

How much does kids jiu-jitsu gear cost?

That depends on the class and the brand. A No-Gi kit is a rash guard and shorts, which is the cheap end of martial arts gear, and a gi is the one genuinely expensive item, with price driven mostly by weave and brand. Nothing on either list is needed to try a class, and our breakdown of what BJJ costs in Loudoun County walks through the market ranges.

Do kids need a mouthguard for jiu-jitsu?

Not for the first month unless they want one. After that, ask the coach at the end of a class; somebody who has just watched your child train will give you a straighter answer than any list will.

Book a free class at Ashburn or at Sterling, bring the backpack by the door, and buy nothing until your kid asks you to.