We have all heard of the usual BJJ class rules such as wearing a clean gi, cutting your finger nails, and bowing when entering and leaving the mat. Some academies might even require certain gi colors and academy patches. Those are all fine and dandy, but there are also 5 additional etiquette and hygiene rules that academies should move from unwritten rules to clearly stated rules.
Here are the 5 additional rules BJJ schools
Bring Your Own Water: Usually a student brings just enough water to get through a long, hot, and sweaty class. It is up to each student to bring their own water and drinks to get through class. When you ask another student for a swig of their water, you are taking away water he or she might need to stay sufficiently hydrated for their training time, while also getting your hot, sweat drenched lips over the nozzle of the water bottle. Most training partners will just give up the water because they are cool or due to the social pressures of not wanting to look like a jerk who is unwilling to help somebody out. Please plan ahead and bring your own water bottle to class rather than ask to bum a swig of water from somebody.
Tie your hair back: A face-full of thick, sweaty hair brushing against a training partner’s teeth and tongue is just as brutal and painful of a neck crank. If you have long hair, please tie it back to reduce the chances of a training partner sucking on your sweaty strands on hair while stuck in your bottom side control.
Rash guards for guys with hairy chest: This is similar to tying your hair back, sweaty hair in the face is disgusting regardless of whether the hair is from the head or a hairy, sweaty chest. A sweaty, hairy chest in the face can be more suffocating then being trapped in a tight triangle choke with nowhere to go. If you are trying to be this generation’s Burt Reynold’s, please save your bear like chest for the beach and cover up with a rash guard or Under Armour shirt when you train.
Don’t smell like cigarettes: Its bad enough if you are poisoning yourself with cigarettes, it would suck if your gi and body also smelled like cigarettes while you trained. During drilling and rolling, your training partner will be breathing pretty hard and huffing in the stench of your cigarette smelling gear which can be both distracting and nauseating. Please don’t smoke by your gear and change into a fresh, clean set of clothes that hasn’t been exposed to cigarette smoke.
Don’t douse yourself with cologne: Along the lines of cigarettes, too much Old Spice or any type of cologne might be a bit overwhelming on the senses for your training partner. The powerful smell of a good cologne might be an aphrodisiac at the bars, but a major annoyance to a training partner. Rather than douse yourself with cologne, just take a shower an hour before training and come in feeling and smelling fresh for the training sesion.
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