The consensus chart
| Size | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| A0 | 5'0" – 5'5" | 90 – 130 lb |
| A1 | 5'3" – 5'7" | 125 – 155 lb |
| A2 | 5'6" – 5'11" | 150 – 185 lb |
| A3 | 5'10" – 6'2" | 180 – 215 lb |
| A4 | 6'1" – 6'4" | 210 – 245 lb |
| A5 | 6'3"+ | 240+ lb |
L (long) variants add sleeve and pant length at the same width; H (husky) adds width at the same length. Brands cut differently — a competition-cut A2 and a traditional A2 fit like different sizes — so treat this as the map, and the brand's own chart as the terrain.
Brand quirks worth knowing
The A-scale is a convention, not a standard, and brands interpret it with personality. Patterns widely reported across the community (verify against each brand's current chart, cuts change):
- Competition-cut brands (the modern athletic labels) run slim and tapered: if you sit between sizes with any muscle on you, their charts push you up a size or into H territory.
- Traditional-cut brands run boxy and generous: between-sizes people usually take the smaller size and let the first hot wash do the tailoring.
- Sleeve-length spread is real: two different A2s can differ by several centimeters at the cuff, which matters at competitions where sleeve length is checked. When in doubt, the brand's own measurement table (wingspan, not just height) beats every generic chart including ours.
- Pants shrink first and most. If a brand's reviews all say "pants ran short after wash," believe them and consider the L variant.
Fabric weights, decoded
The GSM number (grams per square meter) on every product page is the density of the weave, and it changes how the gi trains:
| Weight | GSM | Lived reality |
|---|---|---|
| Lightweight | ~300-400 | Cool, dries fast, packs small; competitors cutting weight love it; grips punch through it easily |
| Mid-weight | ~450-550 | The default answer: durable, trains year-round, survives years of washing. Buy this first |
| Heavyweight | ~650+ | Tank armor: miserable in summer, hard to grip, lasts a decade. A preference, not a starting point |
Women's and kids sizing
Women's gis run F sizes (F1-F5 typically) with proportions cut for hips and chest rather than shrunken men's patterns; many brands also fit W-tall variants. A woman between a unisex A1 and A2 almost always fits an F-size better than either. Kids gis run M000 (toddler) through M4 (big kid) primarily on height. Children outgrow length first: buy on height, roll the sleeves, and plan on roughly a size a year through growth spurts. Oversized "room to grow" gis are a snag hazard in live training, cheaper is buying twice.
Making it last (and fit) for years
- Cold wash, hang dry, always — this is the whole preservation protocol. Hot cycles are a one-way ratchet.
- Shrink deliberately or not at all: if it arrived long, one short hot cycle, re-try, repeat. You cannot un-shrink.
- Wash after every session, no exceptions — the mat-skin guide explains what lives in a gi that "aired out."
- Rotate two gis once you train 3+ days: each lasts more than twice as long, and neither is ever damp at 6 am.
First gi advice, briefly
Buy ONE mid-weight (~450 GSM) gi in a legal competition color, white, blue or black, fitted with the chart above, and spend the savings on mat time. IBJJF color rules only bite when you compete, but buying a legal color first means never buying twice. The rest of the first-day kit is in what to wear to your first class.
