Buying a belt for BJJ is exciting. It generally signifies a step forward in your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey. You could be starting out in…
Buying a belt for BJJ is exciting. It generally signifies a step forward in your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey. You could be starting out in BJJ, or ready to jump up to a new belt level.
Whatever the reason, your belt is going to be with you for a while, so you want one that can hold up. You don’t want to be stuck for years with a crappy belt that falls apart before you can level up again.
Whether you’re looking for your first white belt or a flash new color, we’ve got you covered. This guide will give you the best options to buy a BJJ belt online that will last – even if you end up spending 15 years at white belt.
Related: How long does it take to get a BJJ Blue Belt?
7 Best Jiu Jitsu Belts & Brands
Here are the best choices out there for your new BJJ belt:
Fuji Premium Pearl Weave
Fuji is the gold standard for BJJ gear. Their gear is super high-quality, long-lasting, and comes with clean branding that doesn’t intrude. Their BJJ belts are premium pearl weave fabric, 100% cotton, 1.5 inches thick. The belt is a little thicker and longer than average. Sturdy, lightweight, and won’t give you any problems with coming undone easily during class/rolls.
Ideal belt for competition, as Fuji BJJ belts are IBJJF, NABJJF, and UAEJJ approved.
If you need a kids belt, they also have belts in each kids’ belt color.
Hayabusa Adult Belt
You can never go wrong with Hayabusa gear. These belts are the typical top quality you get from Hayabusa, and come in at a fair price for BJJ belts. Made from 550 GSM gold weave cotton, with reinforced double stitching to make sure it will last, even if it takes you ten years to reach the next belt level. The dye used for coloring is excellent – you shouldn’t have any problems with fading colors.
The sizing runs a little big, but be aware that due the fabric, it will shrink a bit (if you choose to wash your belt).
Tatami Deluxe BJJ Belt
The Tatami BJJ Belt is 100% cotton, made from strong double folded pearl weave fabric. This is a high-quality belt. There shouldn’t be any issues with color fade or the belt breaking down before its time.
These belts are just about the perfect combination of width and thickness. At 42mm wide (a little over 1.5in) they tie really easily, and stay tied throughout your roll.
Sanabul BJJ Pro Belt
Sanabul belts are strong and durable, and come at a great price. For this reason, they make great belts for beginners, since you might not want to dish out a lot of money for a belt when you’re just starting out.
This belt, like Sanabul Gis, is pre-shrunk, so the size shouldn’t change much should you choose to wash it. On sizing, be aware these belts are quite thick, and shorter than average. You probably want to choose a size one size higher than your Gi size (so get an A2 belt if you wear an A1 Gi). Also, if you prefer a thinner belt, maybe look for another one from this list.
Gold BJJ Jiu Jitsu Belt
These belts are made from strong, high-quality, heavyweight weave, which is perfect for belts. Lightweight Gis are very popular these days, but you want something sturdier from your belt. Gold BJJ delivers that – they’re run by real BJJ athletes, so they know what fellow Jiujiteros need.
Belts are double stitched for durability, made from 100% cotton, and best of all, IBJJF-legal.
Gameness BJJ Belt
Gameness’ 100% cotton belts are great quality and tie well. This is a great belt for people who prefer a more narrow belt (compared to a thicker belt like the belt from Sanabul). The colors are slightly on the dark side. Great for those who prefer a deeper blue or purple shade. Over time, the colors may fade a little, but it should be fine since you’re starting with a darker shade.
As for sizing, these belts are quite long. Keep that in mind when picking a size. Great for people with a shorter, wider body shape.
Elite Sports BJJ Belt
There’s nothing flashy about Elite Sports belts. Just a well-made belt, easy to tie, and durable. These belts will last as long as you need them to (and then some).
The sizing is a little short, so take that into account when choosing your size. As for color, their brown/purple/blue colors are a little on the darker side, unlike some that are a more vivid shade of each color.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Belt FAQs: BJJ Belts In a Nutshell
What do belts mean for BJJ?
There’s a famous quote from Bruce Lee: “Belts are only good for holding up your pants.”
Actually, in BJJ, your belt doesn’t even do that. You’ll have a drawstring in your pants that does this job. So what purpose does your belt serve?
Realistically, your belt doesn’t serve any practical purpose. The idea is to show different skill levels in Jiu Jitsu. It’s also a motivating factor for people to keep training and improving, to earn the carrot that is the next colored belt.
BJJ belt rankings
In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the different colored belts are ranked as such:
White belt Blue belt Purple belt Brown belt Black beltYou’ll start out as a white belt. After a while, once you’ve passed the beginner stage, you’ll usually progress to blue belt, which signifies you’re starting to learn more advanced techniques.
At purple and brown belt, you generally become one of the more senior members at your school (of course, depending on the size of your team and the ranking of the other members). These belts may start teaching, beginners or kids classes for example.
Brown belts are considered very advanced, and often just lack a slight bit of polish needed to advance to black belt, which is very much the pinnacle of a BJJ athlete’s journey.
Special belts
After earning a black belt, degrees (additional stripes on the black belt) are given based primarily on the time one has held their black belt.
There are several levels above black belt as well, mostly reserved for revered or important figures in the history of BJJ.
A coral belt, a belt that is interchangeably red and black, is given to seventh-degree black belts. Above this, eighth-degree black belts earn a red and white belt. Above this is the solid red belt, the very highest level of belt in BJJ.
Kids belts
Youths (under 16 years old) have additional belts, between white and blue belt levels:
White Grey Yellow Orange GreenSome schools may only use solid colors like these. Others (most common for larger academies with dedicated youth classes) may have more belts in between, with white or black stripes through the solid color. The full list of youth belt colors are:
White Grey-white Grey Grey-black Yellow-white Yellow Yellow-black Orange-white Orange Orange-black Green-white Green Green-black
Youth belts are used up until 16 years old, at which time students will graduate to the adult belt ranking system. It’s common for youths to be automatically promoted to blue or purple belt if they have a green belt when they turn 16.
You can check out youth belts of all levels here.
How to get a belt promotion
There’s no standard way to progress to the next belt level. The IBJJF does have a recommended graduation system, which has a minimum recommended time at each belt, as well as rules on who can and can’t give a belt promotion.
However, it should be noted that not all gyms follow IBJJF rules to the letter, and the standard for promotions vary from professor to professor. Your own school likely has their own guidelines for getting promoted, and at the end of the day it’s up to your professor’s discretion.
How to tie your belt
Sick of people making fun of your belt-tying skills? Fine. Here’s 9 minutes of Rener Gracie teaching you how to tie your belt perfectly.
Should you wash your belt?
This is the biggest question in BJJ, without a doubt. Wars have been fought over this, and will continue to be fought for some time.
Some people say you should always wash your belt, some never. At the end of the day it’s up to you – however, considering that your belt is going to pick up a certain amount of bacteria during training (not as much as your Gi, but still enough to be significant), it makes sense to wash it to avoid infections or nasty smells.
Best BJJ Belts – In Summary
The list above is a definitive list of the best BJJ belts you can get online today. You might not think there’s much to buying a belt, until you get one that falls apart halfway through your progression to the next level.
A quality belt equals quality of training in the Gi. While a poor belt is going to come untied, look bad, and make you feel crappy on the mats.