Over the last few years I’ve observed more and more academies enacting a uniform policy for their members.
It’s nothing new in martial arts.
In traditional martial arts, they’ve had it for years.
The world’s largest Jiu Jitsu association, Gracie Barra, has always enforced a strict gi policy. Simply put, if you train at a Gracie Barra academy then you have to wear a Gracie Barra gi.
There’s different forms of uniform policy that I’m going to introduce today.
But I also want to touch on a few ways to make the transition easier for you and your students since a lot of academies seem to drop the ball at that step.
First, let’s look at some of the pros of a uniform policy.
1 Revenue source
The best reason to have a uniform is that it can serve as another source of revenue for your academy.
Gi’s, t-shirts, belts, hoodies, etc don’t seem like they will add to much to your academies coffers. But imagine students purchasing multiple items or a new student not having to shop around since you have everything they need.
2 More professional
No question here. When all of you students wear the same uniform it looks more professional and shows any visitors and new students that your academy is a well run business and not just a hobby or hodge podge.
3 Social media
This plays off my last point but in this age of social media it’s important how you present your business to the outside world. Matching uniforms look great in photos and videos.
Cons
Depending on how you set up your uniform and the time table you implement. It’s possible that some of your members will push back against this change.
In my old academy in Atlanta, we had a very similar situation occur. I won’t lie a few members complained and I knew of a a couple that decided to leave because of this change in policy.
As an instructor, a business owner, and a person you simply cannot please everyone.
If you make a decision you have to stick by it.
Implementing
I’ve observed two ways of implementing a uniform dress policy.
The easiest one to set into motion is to pick a color scheme for your academy. This means that you decide which color uniforms are allowed and which ones are not allowed.
Examples of this include the Art of Jiu Jitsu academy white gi policy, all black no gi, and Cobrinha’s white and blue gi policy.
With this policy, your students will be able to wear their favorite uniform. It will just have to conform.
The next step is a little bit harder so expect some push back from a few members. But could possibly generate even more revenue for your martial business if done properly.
At many of the top academies, there is a strict uniform policy where you have to wear the official academy uniform. Often this will be sourced in house. Meaning that the academy itself produces its own uniform or it goes through a third party gi manufacturer. These could be well known companies that many of you know and live, or some random startup out of Pakistan lol.
The uniform will usually contains patches with the academies logo on the pants and top as well as the manufactures logo.
Maybe I will go more into detail about gi production in a later post but for now I just wanted to introduce the topic of uniforms in Jiu Jitsu academies.
Ultimately, it is up to the owner/instructors on whether or not to set a uniform.
Of course, it looks great when an academy has a uniform. It’s no different than a sports team wearing the same uniform and looks great on social media. But implementing it can be tough. Old Members and students can become too accustomed to the way things have always been done that enacting change will ruffle some feathers.
My advice if you want to implement a uniform policy in your academy is to start slow. Offer your own academy branded apparel, gi, shorts, and rashguard. Don’t make it mandatory at first but just another option that your members can select.
Start slow, offer your gear to your beginning students and newer members and then on to the old members.
If you can, try to not go through any third parties manufacturers because that will cut into your profit and will often affect the pricing.
Maybe adding a uniform policy could be the right step to take your martial arts business to the next level.
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