Walk into most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies today and you’ll see practitioners wearing heavy, competition-regulation gis with long sleeves and pants. BJJ Gis typically range from 350 Grams per Square Meter (GSM) to 950. But step into a Valente Brothers academy and you might do a double-take – their students train in shorter-cut uniforms that look more like traditional karate gis. This isn’t a mistake or a fashion statement. It’s a deliberate choice that cuts to the heart of how they view martial arts.
The Valente Brothers aren’t interested in sport jiu-jitsu. They claim they’re preserving something older, something that traces back to 17th century Japan when samurai warriors had to adapt their battlefield skills for civilian life. Back then, warriors didn’t train in special uniforms – they practiced in what they wore every day: the kimono.
“We don’t train jiujitsu as a sport,”
the Valente Brothers claim in a video, and their choice of training wear reflects this philosophy. Their kimonos wouldn’t pass inspection at IBJJF tournaments, but that’s not what they’re designed for. These uniforms are cut shorter, move differently, and feel more like regular clothes – because that’s exactly the point.
The Valente Brothers claim they’re maintaining the tradition they inherited from their teachers in Brazil, where the focus was always on practical self-defense rather than competition points. Their kimonos need to be tough enough to survive daily training while still behaving like the clothes you’d wear out and about.
The word “gi” actually comes from the Japanese character “ki.” When it appears at the end of words like “judogi,” it transforms to “gi.” But at the start of words, as in “kimono,” it keeps that “k” sound. This linguistic quirk mirrors the evolution of the training uniform itself – from everyday clothing to specialized gear and, in the Valente Brothers‘ case, back to something closer to its origins.
The brothers have built their entire teaching methodology around this return to fundamentals. Their uniforms are designed to be
“resistant enough so it’s not ripping every class”
while still serving as realistic training tools that can
“be used as a weapon as we would in a real situation.”
It’s a careful balance between durability and authenticity.
They also claim this approach relates to mindset. When you train in a uniform that moves and feels more like regular clothing, you’re constantly reminded that jiu-jitsu was developed for real-world self-defense. You learn to work with fabric that behaves like what an attacker might actually be wearing, not the specialized competition gis that have become standard in modern BJJ.
Their shorter, karate-style uniforms might look different from what you see in most BJJ schools today, but they claim they are actually closer to what the old masters wore when they first developed these techniques for life outside the battlefield.
In a martial arts landscape increasingly dominated by sport-specific gear and competition-focused training, the Valente Brothers are swimming against the current. Their commitment to traditional kimonos isn’t just about being old-fashioned – it’s about branding their self-defense-oriented school.
