Our friends at the Jiu Jitsu Times recently held an online survey asking female Jiu Jitsu athletes about what they wanted out of their Jiu Jitsu gear. Things like gis and rashguards were discussed polled and voted on.
Here are some of the findings:
- 73 percent of respondents said that they preferred rashguards sized specifically for women.
- 67 percent want their gis to be built with the female form in mind.
- 37 percent of the women who responded said their top struggle when shopping for spats or leggings was finding a pair that didn’t show off their underwear whenever they stretched the fabric.
- 9 percent of respondents had a problem with spats that felt too restrictive.
- 7 percent of respondents saying that they prefer “very feminine” gear (predominantly pink or floral)
- 42 percent of respondents like mostly unisex gear with subtle feminine accents, such as a single flower or pink lettering.
So what is the key takeaway? A one-size-fits-all approach to Jiu Jitsu gear is not cutting it for women. As the author of the original Averi Clements says, “We just want our performance gear to help, not hinder, our performance on the mats. Female BJJ practitioners are becoming a larger and larger part of the market, and it’s time for clothing manufacturers to adjust their styles and selection accordingly or lose customers to competitors who do put forth the effort.”
We couldn’t agree more!
If you want to see the full article, click here.
Andy Gonzalez is a coach at Aces Jiu Jitsu Club. He has earned his BJJ Brown Belt under 2nd Degree Black Belt, Professor Mikal Abdullah. Follow Andy on Twitter at @GoGoGonzilla
Andy lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Amanda and their 3 beautiful children. Andy is also the father of a Marine who is honorably serving in the United States Marine Corps.