What to wear to your first jiu-jitsu class

Short answer: a t-shirt and shorts without pockets. You do not need to buy anything for a trial class. Here is the slightly longer answer I wish I had read first.

For the trial class

Wear a fitted t-shirt or rash guard and athletic shorts or leggings with no pockets, no zippers, no belt loops. Fingers and toes catch in pockets; zippers scratch people. Most gyms loan you a gi for the trial if the class needs one. Just ask when you book. Bring water and flip-flops for walking off the mat.

What a gi actually is

The gi is the heavy cotton jacket, pants, and belt. It is not a costume, it is equipment: half the techniques in gi jiu-jitsu use the fabric as handles, yours and theirs. Classes labeled no-gi are the same art in rash guard and shorts, where you grip the body instead of cloth.

When to buy a gi, and which one

After you commit to a month, not before. Ask your gym first: some require specific colors (white is safe everywhere), and many sell their own. A plain, inexpensive white gi from any reputable brand is correct for years. There is no performance difference a beginner can feel between a budget gi and a luxury one. Spend the difference on more classes.

Sizing: gis shrink. Follow the brand's chart for your height and weight, and when in doubt go one size up and hot-wash it down.

What you genuinely need early

A mouthguard, sooner than you think. A cheap boil-and-bite one is fine. Everything else (rash guards, spats, a second gi, a gym bag that closes because gi sweat is real) can wait until the habit is real.

The art is the expensive part. The clothes are not.