Hairstyles That Don’t Work for Jiu-Jitsu

For some people hair is everything! If you train Brazilian jiu-jitsu here are some hairstyles that don’t work for training jiu-jitsu.

    If there is one thing that really puts your whole style and look together, it is hair. The topic of hair is a big thing in the black community, and it has been something that binds us together, with sharing hair care tips and products we like, going to the salon and giving our stylist all the tea, or having that one auntie in the store point out when your wig is slipping, and will help you fix it. 

When it comes to jiu-jitsu, hair is the last thing on your mind, but it can be the first thing for people who care about it.  Most of us look like mat monsters when we roll. But some of us want to look like humans with cute hair after we roll. Sometimes you have to find a balance between great training and great hair.

To avoid wasting money at the hair salon, just to go train jiu-jitsu, and have the style get ruined, here are some hairstyles that don’t work for jiu-jitsu.

  If you didn’t notice from the name of this blog, I am a black girl. I do jiu-jitsu and I am serious about it. But I am also very serious about my hair.  I am not as serious as some girls who get their hair done once a week or every other week but when I do spend money and time on my hair, I want to make sure that it looks great and that it lasts.  I have had my fair share of hairstyles that I’ve tried in jiu-jitsu that have worked and haven’t worked. There have been times when I do a specific hairstyle and figure out how to make it work for jiu-jitsu. The following hairstyles that I mentioned are things I’ve tried and things I’ve seen.

 Silk presses are terrible for jiu-jitsu especially if you have natural kinky, curly hair.  If you’re familiar with the process it takes to make your hair straight with a silk press, then you know about how sad it is when you sweat a little bit or if the humidity is higher than usual.  I wouldn’t do a jiu-jitsu on the same day as a silk press but after a week or so, I would try methods to prevent sweat from getting onto my strands.

  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: weaves/extensions and jiu-jitsu do not mix. The amount of pulling that can happen on your tracks can be damaging to your hair.  Sometimes you can even try to avoid someone grabbing the back of your head but with certain positions, pulling is unavoidable.  Everything that has been mentioned only talks about the track portion of a weave. If you do leave out and you straighten your hair often to have the leave out match the weave, then you’re going to be putting much more heat than anticipated. If you do something like a frontal or closure with your weave, you’re risking the frontal or the closure lifting or getting pulled off.  Lastly, if you plan to wash your hair often or if you sweat a lot, the water and sweat can get inside of the braids in your weave and build up mold. Yes, blow drying your hair can help with that but doing it often can damage your hair and be troublesome.

  I think this goes without saying but wigs are not a great idea for doing jiu-jitsu.  If you’re just putting it on and having it on to train and only keeping it down with glue, then you risk rolling one way and your wig going somewhere else. If you sew on your wigs, then the same thing with weaves applies where you are risking tugging and pulling on your natural hair.  This also creates tension in your scalp, and you risk traction alopecia.  If you’re going to step into your gym with a wig on, the best thing you can do for your hair and your sanity is to take the wig off before you roll.

  I’ve rolled with people with locs before and clean locs aren’t the problem. Locs can be great for jiu-jitsu and life because they are somewhat low maintenance until you need to wash and retwist (Nicole from Black Woman Black Belt talks about this briefly on our podcast episode here).  The big problem comes when people don’t know how to treat and clean their locs and they feel that if they wash their hair, the locs will lose form.  This is disgusting because you will be collecting dirt, germs, and sweat which means your locs will smell, carry dirt, and ultimately carry diseases if you don’t wash them. I understand that some people don’t like to wash their hair every day but find a method to keep your locs clean without them losing form.

   As a person who has never dyed her hair but has always wanted to, I get the desire to try to put different colors into my hair to achieve a new and funky look.  But temporary colors on days that you plan to do jiu-jitsu might not be best. Temporary color like hair wax comes out with water so if you sweat excessively or if the people you roll and train with sweat excessively, that color is going to go all over. You’ll find color all over your training clothes, your training partner’s clothes, on the mats, on your hands, on your face, etc. It will just be a mess. It is best to save those temporary colors on days that you don’t train.

   Braiding your hair is one of the best ways to protect your hair and prevent excess tugging on your tresses. Choose any style you’d like but keep in mind that if you do braid extensions like box braids or knotless braids, they might get in the way of your training as well.

  If you’re unable to braid, then utilizing hair ties or bands in the same fashion is a great way to keep your hair out of the way from being mopped against the floor.  You can use hair ties without the metal band or Ouchless ® rubber bands depending on the style you want to do.

   Covering your hair is also an option if you don’t want to do any of the previously mentioned styles and it still protects your hair. Consider a cloth swim cap for covering your head.

  Washing your hair well with a cleansing shampoo helps get rid of the sweat, stink, and oils that build up from working out.  If you’re a person who doesn’t like to wash your hair every day or you have hair that gets dry when it’s washed too often, consider just rinsing your hair or using a dry shampoo and conditioner.  I know that natural afro-textured hair has that tendency so I for sure do not wash my hair every single day.

Deep Conditioners, Leave-in Conditioners, Oils, and Pomades

  As much as you try to protect your hair, you’re still going to have it rubbing up against the mat or something else, so you need deep conditioners or leave-in conditioners to help you with that.  In addition, if you’re going to wash, condition, and style your hair and go train the next day, make sure that you don’t have excessive product in your hair. I have left grease spots on the mat because I had too much product in my hair. It’s embarrassing. Like always, make sure to get whatever works for your hair type and makes your hair feel lively.

Pick the Right Hairstyle to Train

  We all want to look and feel our best and hair can be one of the ways to do so.  But, if you’re involved in doing jiu-jitsu, you have to pick a style that works for both style and practicality for training on the BJJ mats. There are many options out there to help but the styles mentioned in this article are some that you should avoid.

Question: What are some of your hair don’ts for jiu-jitsu? Tell me in the comments or on my Instagram @blackgirlwhitegi_bjj