Forum: martialarts.stackexchange.com
Tags: <brazilian-jiu-jitsu>
Title: What are the advantage of wearing a rashguard under the Gi in BJJ?
Question: Rashguard are forbidden in IBJJF Gi competition.  What are the drawback and advantage of wearing a rashguard under the Gi?

Answers:
sents: text: I just wanted to chime in with one answer which the others here have already stated but without specifically mentioning this particular aspect... Nipples.
text: Don't giggle.
text: I know you're giggling.
text: Actually, nipple burn is a serious annoyance for anyone doing gi work.
text: And I'm talking about guys.
text: I assume women have some kind of athletic bra and t-shirt underneath, so they're protected, more or less.
text: If you've ever worn a grappling gi (Judo / BJJ), then you know those things are like cardboard.
text: They're thick and heavy.
text: And when you have an opponent who constantly grabs your gi, that thing will slide up and down, side to side.
text: The effect is that your nipples will feel like someone took a cheese grater to them.
text: I used to train in judo in high school, and we didn't use rash guards under our gi tops.
text: I wouldn't even realize that my nipples were getting scraped by my gi until I went home and hit the shower.
text: Once the water hits, it's like some kind of bizarre form of torture.
text: Either that or you can think of it as a kind of masochistic badge of honor.
text: If they don't permit rash guards, I wonder if they allow you to tape your nipples in IBJFF competition?
text: Or maybe you could claim to be transgendered, and they'll allow you to wear an athletic bra underneath.
text: Hehe.
text: Just kidding.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/1555/Steve Weigand
score: 7
sents: text: Pros Prevents chest hair falling off into partner's mouths.
text: Lessens the chance of skin infections.
text: Reduces incidence of gi burn and mat burn.
text: (These are wimpy reasons.)
text: Increases modesty, for instance, hiding fat and reducing skin-to-skin contact that makes some people feel weird.
text: Warmer for winter months.
text: Increases friction when the gi is not between you and your partner, for instance, increasing control when chest-to-chest in side control.
text: Cons
text: More laundry.
text: Prevents display of muscular physique.
text: Notifies people that you're a big wimp about pinches and scrapes.
text: Hotter in summer months.
text: Increases friction, making some escapes more difficult.
text: This can also give your opponent control over you, for instance, giving them a tackier surface to play guard against.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/347/Dave Liepmann
score: 6
sents: text: I and some of my friends wear rashguards or even just T-shirts under our Gi's during class simply to lessen the amount of exposed skin and the amount of skin-to-skin contact.
text: So far as I know, there are no other advantages.
text: As for the drawback, I am not aware of any other than having a rashguard that will need to be washed along with the GI after class.
text: If it is a looser T-shirt, I have seen hands caught in its collar when going for a gi collar grab, but I have yet to see that provide either a meaningful advantage or a disadvantage in the actual round and a tight-fitting rashguard should not have that issue.
text: I believe that the reason they are banned in gi-competitions is simply tradition and it has not been strictly enforced in the competitions I have attended.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/1253/TimothyAWiseman
score: 2
sents: text: I wear a rash guard basically to avoid Skin to Skin contact.
text: Skin to mat contact.
text: Sweat contact.
text: Unintentional body hair ripping.
text: Since my dojo also have different MA sessions sharing the mat at different times, I am abit cautious about the mat.
text: I have heard tons of stories from the web about viruses contracted from dirty mats.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/1650/nigelhanzo
score: 2
sents: text: Although not your question directly, you did mention in your post
text: "
text: Rashguard are forbidden in IBJJF Gi competition.
text: "
text: IBJJF bans rashguards because they get in the way while doing collar chokes.
text: Oftentimes the choker will get a hand full of rashguard when trying to attack the opponent's neck, which makes the choke harder to finish.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/8917/C Henry
score: 2
sents: text: I wore a heavy gi doing Hapkido 3 years and judo another 2, I never noticed any nipple problem.
text: That is until I started distance running last year, my sweaty shirt rubbed them raw, so I taped them - doing that for judo practice could be dangerous to chest hair during randori.
text: one difference between then and now (20 year gap) is, where I was about 160 lbs, now I am 180 and have developed some man boobs :(
text: maybe that's a factor with regards to the gi.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/5498/Haggisbreath
score: 0
sents: text: Other people have told you the pros and cons.
text: All I can add is that they are banned for the same reason other martial arts (or even schools) ban items of clothing: they're not part of the prescribed uniform.
text: e.g. I almost got disqualified from the 1997 South African Taekwondo championships because I wore sneakers during the breaking event.
text: Luckily I was in the grandmaster's good books back then, so he just gave me a warning.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/1200/Captain Kenpachi
score: 0
sents: text: I would add that a well-fitted, cotton t-shirt might be preferable to a rashguard, given that the t-shirt traps less heat, while still offering rash and burn protection.
answer_details: author: martialarts.stackexchange.com/users/7401/jacefarm
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
A rashguard lessens the chance of skin infections, and reduces the incidence of gi burn and mat burn. A rash guard generally reduces skin to skin, skin to mat and sweat contact.
Drawbacka and advantages of wearing a rashguard under the GI include preventing the ripping of body hair,with  less chance of skin infections, as well as  avoiding skin to skin and sweat contact.