There’s no question that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can get rough. To maintain good physical condition, there are a few items you should bring with you to class to remain well protected. You want to bring the right gear so you can continue to practice and improve unhindered by nuisances and more serious injuries. Here is some essential Jiu-Jitsu gear to keep in your bag.
Mouth Guard
Since Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a sport that calls for a lot of physical contact, you need to carry a mouth guard with you. Be sure to bring it to any training sessions you participate in. If someone hits you hard with a flying limb, you don’t want them to cause serious harm. If an opponent strikes you on the face and you’re without a defense, this can bring your grappling to an abrupt halt. It also has the potential to lead you to need expensive dental work. By putting on a mouth guard, you can protect your teeth and mouth area from unforeseen impacts.
Rash Guard
Although a rash guard is not always a necessity when you are wearing your gi, it can come in handy for several reasons. For one, you can avoid friction mat burns when you are rolling. Your gi will smoothly slide on the surface of the rash guard instead of scraping against your bare skin. For hygienic reasons, a rash guard is also useful. It will wick away sweat as you exert yourself and cover up your chest area as your gi becomes more open during training. This can lower the transfer of bacteria between you and your opponent.
There are also times where your instructor may teach grips that you can use without the gi. You may need to take off your gi at those times. As such, if you have a rash guard ready in your bag, it will prevent you from having to resort to your normal t-shirt.
Athletic Tape
Gripping is a foundational part of how you execute your techniques in Jiu-Jitsu. Due to the constant pressure put on your fingers as you grip your opponent’s gi, however, the cartilage can wear down over time. This will result in chronic arthritic pain which will only become more aggravated as you continue to use them—especially without taking preventative measures.
You can use athletic tape to stop grave finger injury and help fingers recover from overuse by stabilizing the muscles in the region you wrap. It does this by adding a layer of support to the ligaments; it restricts the fingers from moving in odd positions that put excessive strain on them. If you feel that your fingers are coming close to their breaking point, athletic tape is an indispensable item that you should carry in your bag.
Now that you know what to bring, you should put all your gear to good use by joining a class. Northwest fighting arts offers classes for Jiu-Jitsu in Portland, Oregon, where you can begin learning or continue to hone your abilities in the art.