What is BJJ Streetwear? (And Why Most of It Sucks)
You train jiu jitsu. You want a shirt that says that without saying "I DO JIU JITSU" in huge letters across your chest like a bumper sticker.
That's BJJ streetwear. Clothes that come from the culture without beating you over the head with it.
The Problem With Most BJJ Brands
Walk into any gym pro shop and it's the same stuff. Samurai graphics. "Warrior spirit" slogans. Tribal patterns that look like they were designed in 2006. Or worse — the ultra-premium brands charging $200 for a gi that people buy to display on a shelf instead of actually training in.
BJJ clothing has been stuck in two lanes for years:
Lane 1: The Tapout Era Holdovers. Skulls, eagles, barbed wire, "submit or die" energy. These brands never evolved past 2009 and they're still selling the same stuff at tournaments.
Lane 2: The Hypebeast Gis. Limited edition everything, $300 gis that resell for $500, and a community more focused on collecting than competing. Cool branding, but somewhere along the way the clothes became more important than the training.
There's nothing in between for normal people who just train.
What BJJ Streetwear Should Be
Streetwear works when it comes from a real place. Supreme started because James Jebbia wanted to make clothes for skaters in downtown Manhattan. Stussy started because Shawn Stussy shaped surfboards and scrawled his name on them. The best brands aren't built from market research — they're built because someone couldn't find what they wanted and made it themselves.
BJJ streetwear should work the same way. Clothes made by people who actually train, for people who actually train. Not by a marketing team trying to sell "warrior lifestyle" to guys who started training six months ago.
Good BJJ streetwear:
- Looks good outside the gym, not just inside it
- Doesn't scream "I TRAIN" to strangers
- Is made with the same toughness you'd expect from anything in this sport
- Comes from someone who actually gets choked on a regular basis
The Brands Getting It Right
A few brands understand this. Scramble out of the UK has always had a clean, understated vibe. VHTS in New York brings skate culture energy. Shoyoroll pioneered the limited-drop model that gave BJJ gear actual streetwear credibility.
But there's a lane that's still completely empty: the raw, counterculture side. The hardcore and punk-influenced, scrappy, "I don't give a fuck" energy that a huge chunk of the BJJ community actually lives. The people who train because it keeps them sane, not because it's trendy.
That's the lane we're in.
Why We Started Mat Rats
We couldn't find clothes we liked. The aggressive stuff was too corny. The clean stuff was too expensive and too precious. We wanted something that felt like a hardcore show flyer on a heavyweight tee — something you'd wear to the gym, to the bar, and to bed because you fell asleep in it.
So we made it. Heavyweight garment dye blanks from Los Angeles. DTF printed by hand. Art by the same person who drew for Power Trip. Limited runs because we're small and we like it that way.
No samurai quotes. No warrior mindset. No $500 resale market. Just shirts for people who train.
If that's you, you already know.
Mat Rats is a BJJ streetwear brand based in Oceanside, California. Every piece is designed, printed, and made in the USA.