Have you ever wondered what the point of wearing a BJJ rashguard is? Apart from making No-Gi training more (or less) appealing to the eye, we often wear BJJ rashguards under the Gi as well. A BJJ rashguard by itself, or combined with spats, is far more than just (a misguided) attempt at a fashion statement – it also plays an important role in preserving hygiene and your overall health.
BJJ Rashguards and Hygiene
Personal hygiene is first and foremost a moral responsibility of everyone engaging in combat sports training. It doesn’t take more than common sense to know what to do. Stay at home if you have a cold, trim your nails, and make sure you shower regularly.
BJJ and grappling sports are unique in many aspects. One of those is the fact that the majority of the time you spend on the mats is quite literally on the mats. And it’s close and personal too!
There is hardly any other sport that brings every point of the body in touch with the floor surface and more than a few different people every time you train. Having your body grind down on the mats is definitely a trait that BJJ can (proudly) claim as unique.
So, hygiene becomes a very important factor in a grappler’s overall health. The trio of personal hygiene, gym hygiene, and the longevity of training apparel all have their contribution.
- A dirty gym is a cesspool of potential disease for everyone spending time there. Mold from the walls, dirt from the mats, ringworm or staph from the mat cracks, you name it. A place like that would turn even the healthiest person into something from a skin disease 101 manual.
- Washing your Gi for every session or having more than one Gi is also essential. Just like the mats, the Gi can easily turn into a very favorable surface for microorganisms that can cause trouble. Remember that the Gi is the main layer protecting you from a dirty gym or training partner.
- BJJ Rashguards. You should think of rashguards as an extra layer of skin that is there to take in all the damage instead of your actual skin. It helps with personal hygiene and gym hygiene and it helps your GI last longer.
There’s no need to be all perfumed up for every training session, but having a shower before practice, sticking to the general guidelines for personal hygiene, and training attire that helps maintain it, are great for both you and your training partners.
Key Reasons for Wearing BJJ Rashguards
A common excuse that people who train exclusively Gi Jiu-Jitsu tend to produce on the subject of avoiding BJJ rashguards is that they are not allowed in competitions (unless they are ranked and approved) so people feel they don’t need them.
Jiu-Jitsu rashguards might also feel restrictive under the Gi, but that is very rarely a case, and it is a force of habit more than anything else. A more realistic aspect is the price of rashguards, and the availability of models you might like, but that is not too difficult to work out with the right guide.
It’s not just about your training partner’s discomfort when you stick your hairy chest in their face. It’s better to sacrifice a bit of comfort and invest in your health by gearing up with a couple of rashguards. Let’s take a look at why a BJJ rash guard should be the first thing you pack in your bag for BJJ class:
Skin Protection
This one is a no-brainer, but I’m still going to mention it first. Wearing a rash guard protects your skin! And no, having just the Gi on is not enough!
Imagine regularly rolling in a gym like the one, out of all our worst nightmares, that we described above. If you think your Gi is enough of a barrier against all the nasty bugs lurking out there, you beer think again.
Everyone who has rolled at least once knows that by the end of a round your Gi is all over the place. Particularly if your partner likes to mess around with all the vermin-named lapel guards (pun not intended, but welcome) available nowadays.
The BJJ rashguard sticks to your skin, creating a layer of protection that is both breathable and impenetrable for microorganisms, dust, and other particles. As long as you wash your rashguard after every practice, you’ll be just fine. Unless there is mold all over the walls. Then, you might want to consider switching gyms.
Extended Life of Your Gis
BJJ Gis are not cheap and plenty of people can’t afford to have a huge collection of them. having a Gi last more than a couple of years requires diligence and a bit of work. Without going overboard with ways to keep your Gi shiny white, I’ll stick to the two easiest steps:
- Wash your Gi regularly! It’s not that hard and once you develop a habit you won’t even experience it as a chore.
- Wear a rashguard. And while you’re at it, put on some spats as well.
The layer that a rashguard creates works two ways – it doesn’t only prevent the sweat of others from getting on your skin, it prevents your sweat from destroying the Gi. Every time you roll, your Gi gets covered in your sweat from the inside and others’ sweat from the outside.
Such a large amount of liquids takes a big toll on the material, leading to quick deterioration. Having a rashguard beneath will prolong the longevity of your Gi by up to 50%, keeping you healthy and saving you some cash at the same time.
Barrier Against Mat Burns
Mat burn is a grapplers’ nuisance that can easily turn into a full-blown infection if left untreated. Mat burns are the original driving force behind the idea of using rashguards in BJJ to protect the body from developing a rash.
The friction between the mats and our bodies is high and it often leads to mat burn. These burns can in turn get infected with stuff like MRSA that’ll take you out of action for quite a while. Since rashguard is made up of special material that lowers the friction between skin and mat, they are crucial in preventing mat burns and other abrasions during training.
Improved Blood flow
Not really the main intended use of BJJ rashguards, compression of the muscles is an added benefit of wearing a Jiu-Jitsu trashguard. You’ve likely seen pro athletes wearing all kinds of compressive sleeves while recovering from a muscle injury.
This is where BJJ rashguards double as compression shirts, mostly depending on the type of rashguard material and the size of the rashguard. Rolling while fully suited up in a BJJ rashguard and spats will help prevent or even heal muscle injuries by helping with blood flow.
No Excuses – Grab a BJJ Rasguard Today!
There’s no Jiu-Jitsu training without hygiene. Many gyms have strict rules which they enforce or have up on the walls as a reminder. Mat hygiene is easy to maintain by keeping a strict cleaning schedule but for that, the academy needs to enforce their ground rules, rather than just displaying them on a wall somewhere.
At the end of the day, overall academy hygiene is a two-way street and every single person that puts on the Gi has the obligation to contribute towards it. So, to make things easy, just wear a rashguard when you step on the mats, regardless if it is a Gi or No-Gi session. Leave the bare-chested performances for the ADCC mats.
