In case you hadn’t realized yet, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a pretty unique martial art. No, we’re not talking about butt-scooting or bizarre rules either. Instead, we’re talking about gi culture. Specifically, we’re looking at the reason why BJJ gis have so many patches.
So, why is this a thing? Generally speaking, there are a few reasons why gi patches are so common in BJJ. Interestingly, this isn’t the case with the likes of Judo or Karate, which have been around for much longer than BJJ and don’t really use patches. In fact, most martial arts that use kimonos don’t involve patches like BJJ. In this article, we shall be looking at why this is a thing.
Table of Contents
Why BJJ gis have so many patches
Representing a gym or team H3
Over the years, many large affiliations have put their own patches on gis which act as a walking advert, as well as a loyalty thing. Perhaps the biggest gym to do this so prominently is Gracie Barra. In fact, Gracie Barra was possibly the first school to implement a uniform policy which include wearing their own gis with Gracie Barra patches on the top and pants.
Generally, most Gracie Barra gyms take this quite seriously – to the point where you have to wear their gear to train at their gyms. It’s not just Gracie Barra either. Other gyms such as ATOS and Alliance have started doing similar things.
As said, there are two reasons behind this. The first is the idea of unity – that everyone is on the same side and represents their team. This is particularly the case when competing students are encouraged to wear their gis with pride. Obviously, the school patches will let other competitors know just how good said school is.
The second reason is more cynical – which is that gi patches act as a walking advert. For instance, if a person drops into an open mat wearing their gym’s gi patches and is superior to their opponents then it may spread the word about how good the gym is. This isn’t coming from a place of pride either – it serves as a literal advert whereby people may be attracted to join. Ultimately, gym patches can either be seen as team-building or a cynical marketing ploy.
Sponsorships
One of the first BJJ competitors to bring gi patches to the mainstream was Walid Ismail. In 1998, Ismail fought Royce Gracie and would eventually choke him unconscious with a clock choke. Ismail’s gi was filled with various patches and overall it looked quite ugly. However, Ismail was a smart guy and those patches weren’t being worn for sentimental reasons.
Instead, he wore them as sponsorships. In other words, companies and brands had literally paid him to wear their gi patches when competing. As the match was filmed and watched by a large crowd, this was a clever move by Ismail.
Obviously, we’re used to MMA fighters wearing lots of sponsors when fighting – so Ismail did the same with BJJ back in the day. Interestingly, Ismail would go on to found Jungle Fight, a successful MMA promotion in Brazil – proving his astute business knowledge.
These days, some competitors have followed suit. Although not gi patches, many ADCC competitors will sell advertising space on their shorts and rashguard tops. You can also wear sponsored patches when competing in the gi.
However, the reason why it’s not too common as years back is due to gi manufacturers sponsoring certain athletes. For instance, imagine Kingz sponsored Leandro Lo. They may give him free gis and money to compete in their gear. Obviously, this acts as an advert. However, a stipulation of their contract may be that Lo cannot put other sponsored patches on their gi.
In other words, these days most top competitors won’t plaster their gi in sponsored patches – instead they’ll have one large sponsor who provides the gi in the first place, such as Shoyoroll, Scramble, or Tatami.
Style and look
Unless you’re a gym owner and businessman or a top competitor, most ordinary BJJ practitioners will use patches for the style and look rather than anything financially motivated. For instance, some geekier BJJ practitioners may use the gi as a form of expression and sew custom patches onto their gi.
For example, if you were a fan of star wars then you could potentially buy a Yoda patch and stitch it on. For the most part, most people aren’t interested in doing this but it certainly goes on. Some people may even put lifestyle patches on their gi to show off their personality or rolling style. This sometimes means people may stitch on leg-lock themed patches too. As mentioned though, most of the time this doesn’t really happen too often.
Instead, most people will usually buy gis that they’re attracted to. For instance, if the patches look ugly then they may avoid them. However, if the patches look stylish then the customer is more likely to buy it and wear them. This means it’s important for gi brands to make sure their gis come out looking as good as possible.
Summary
So there we have it. Most of the time, gi patches are motivated by money. Whether this is done to advertize a gym or brand, this is why BJJ patches are so common. You could also correlate this with the commercialization of BJJ that has happened over the last few decades. Interestingly, as seen in the picture below – there are barely any patches being worn in the older days.
This shows that BJJ has changed and evolved with time. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. In conclusion, BJJ patches are very common and aren’t going away any time soon. For most regular people, they don’t really mean much but for others they can be taken quite seriously.
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