So if you’re a fly by the seat of your pants kind of kid, you can show up at your first class in a t-shirt and old basketball shorts, and be just fine. If, on the other hand, you are the type of boy scout that enjoys being prepared for everything life will throw at them, then here’s a look at what you should have when you walk through the door for your first jiu-jitsu class.

For starters, and I know people will disagree with me; you should 100% get yourself a mouth guard. I know a ton of people, maybe like 50% of grapplers I have trained with, do not wear a mouth guard when they train jiu-jitsu. I will admit that I also did not wear a mouth guard when I started training jiu-jitsu. After about a month of training I chipped a tooth and decided it was a good idea to get a mouth guard. More than a decade later, and I will not step onto to mats, even for drilling, without a mouth guard.

I was at the dentist office the other day to get my teeth cleaned, and every person that I said hi to and asked how they were, responded by saying, “I’d be better if I weren’t here.” My point is, no one likes having dental work done. And as you get older, your teeth get worse, way worse. So do yourself a favor and get a mouth guard, make sure it fits well, and wear it every single time.

After a mouth guard there are a few more things you should get. A very important one is a gi. The gi is your uniform, your fancy fighting pajamas. There are a million and one gi brands out there. Most of the time the classic gi colors are white, black, and blue. Most gyms will let you wear these colors, although some gyms are even stricter and will only allow white gis. If you aren’t sure about the rules at the gym you are going to then I would play it safe and get a white gi. Gi’s are manufactured using different materials, so there are a lot of different options. For your first gi I recommend going with a traditional cotton jiu-jitsu gi, in 1.5 thickness, which is often referred to as gold weave. The one and a half thickness is a standard thickness, where as a 2 thickness is a really thick gi, and is akin to wearing a suit made out of industrial commercial wall to wall carpet, it’s a bit overkill, unless your competing in Judo competition that requires it. One the other end, a single thickness would be more of a summer lightweight gi. Whatever you get make sure it is a jiu-jitsu (or judo, or grappling of some sort) gi, and not a karate or tae-kwon-do gi which will rip the first time someone grabs it. And if you go with a cotton gi, wash it in cold water and hang dry. Washing in warm water or drying in a dryer will shrink your gi. Unless you bought it too big and you want to shrink it, always wash in cold water and hang dry.

And then there’s the belt. If you are just starting out with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, you want to buy a white belt. This sounds obvious, but I have seen people show up on their first day with a black belt, for real. Start with the white belt, and if you stick around long enough you may get a black belt. A jiu-jitsu white belt (unlike other martial arts) has a black section at one end, so make sure your belt has this. This black section is for stripes. As you progress through jiu-jitsu you will be awarded stripes to signify your progress. It’s a mini promotion, and nothing makes a person happier than getting a stripe (a stripe is white tape that goes around the belt). After you get four stripes on your belt, the next promotion is to the next belt up.

If you plan on training no-gi as well as gi (and why wouldn’t you?), then you should also get some no-gi gear. You can just wear any athletic shorts, but make sure they don’t have pockets or zippers on them. Pockets are easy for someone to get their fingers stuck in and broken, and zippers can rip the mats. There are many many types of grappling shorts for sale, so you can get some specific no-gi shorts if you fell like it. As for the top, I strongly advise a rash guard, which is a spandex type material that fits fairly tight, so that it doesn’t end up ripping like a loose t-shirt. Many people start just wearing a t-shirt, but a t-shirt will eventually get ripped and destroyed. You can go with a short sleeve or long sleeve rash guard. And then you can also get some spats if you are in to that sort of thing. What the heck are spats? Well they are just spandex tights really, although in jiu-jitsu we feel better about ourselves if we stick to calling them spats. Typically spats are worn under a pair of grappling shorts. You can go with just spats and no shorts. In general I find that wearing just spats is common in jiu-jitsu for women, but less common for men (it may be a bold choice, but do you bro).

That sums up the basic gear you should get before your first class. Keep in mind some gyms sell their own gis and you may want to wait and get one through the gym you are joining. If you stick with jiu-jitsu you will end up owning many gis, so don’t sweat it either way (a gi collection is a fun hobby). In the end I wouldn’t wait to get the right gear before I attended a class. Grab some shorts and a t-shirt and start training jiu-jitsu. The one thing I WOULD get first, is a mouth guard. Hope that helps, see you on the mats!