The Gracie family’s insistence on white gis has been a longstanding tradition in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and in a recent conversation, legendary UFC veteran Royce Gracie explained the practical reasoning behind this policy that continues to this day.
According to Royce, the white gi requirement stems directly from his father Helio Gracie‘s emphasis on hygiene and cleanliness. From the earliest days of the Gracie Academy, Helio operated a unique system for his private class students in downtown Rio de Janeiro. He would supply clean white kimonos and towels to all students, then collect the used items each weekend to take to the family farm in Petropolis. There, he would wash and dry everything in an industrial washing machine before returning them for the following week’s classes.
“On the white kimono, you can see—on the white gi—you can see if it’s clean or if it’s dirty,”
Royce explained.
“Sometimes black or blue kimonos hide the dirt.”
This practical concern about visible cleanliness became a cornerstone of Gracie training philosophy. The white gi policy ensures practitioners maintain proper hygiene standards as any dirt or stains are immediately visible and cannot be hidden. This transparency creates accountability among students to wash their gis regularly and thoroughly.
The conversation revealed an interesting medical perspective when Royce’s interviewer, an orthopedic surgeon, noted that he rarely sees skin infections in practitioners who train exclusively in white gis. The doctor explained that white kimonos encourage more frequent washing and the use of bleach (Clorox) which isn’t typically used on colored gis. He recounted discussions with athletes who admitted that darker colored gis allowed them to skip washing sessions since dirt wasn’t visible—a practice that can lead to skin infections.
Even today, Royce maintains this tradition. His seminar advertisements always specify “white kimono only,” carrying forward the hygiene standards established by his father and uncle Carlos Gracie decades ago. The policy represents more than just aesthetics; it embodies the Gracie family’s holistic approach to martial arts training, which has always emphasized not just technique but also lifestyle, diet and cleanliness.
