The 2011 BJJ Gi Survey is over!

We beat our goal of 1,500 responses. How’d we do?

So which gi is the best?

Sorry to be a tease, but we’re still crunching numbers (and it’s a ton of data to analyze.) Our goal is to release the gi rankings before the end of December.

To get the results sent to you, sign up near the top-right of this page.

What did we learn about BJJ?

We may not have the gi-vs-gi rankings yet, but we do have interesting stats for you. The survey asked questions to figure out demographics, which we can use to answer questions like…

What belt rank were these jiu-jiteiros?

Blue belts dominate, with white not far behind. Purple belts are represented, but brown and black belts combined don’t even make up 10%.

Are there really more blue belts than white belts in BJJ? Are brown and black belts so rare? I don’t know, but I doubt it. When looking at this data, it’s important to be aware of biases that could affect the results.

We did this survey online, not out in the real world. Blue belts could be more active online on blogs and forums than white belts or feel a stronger urge to state their opinion. Brown and black belts may not waste their time filling out surveys.

How many men and women?

Is there really only one women in BJJ for every nineteen men? We made an honest effort to get women to participate in this year’s survey, yet they still sit at about 5%. What can BJJ do to attract more women?

How old is the average jiu-jiteiro?

Thirty-one takes the title of “average age,” but you can see the twenties are denser than the “after thirty” crowd, which tapers down to a scattering of people over fifty.

Again, we need to view this through the lens of “How does the internet skew this?” In my unscientific opinion, the people talking about BJJ online tend to be twenty-to-thirty-somethings. Think of the core demographic of UFC and MMA fans. This could account for their numbers here.

But there’s the issue of “Isn’t it the UFC crowd who trains BJJ?” It could be that these stats are totally accurate, or at least an approximation of the truth.

You probably have your own opinion based on the crowd at your gym. Different gyms attract different markets. What’s the age range at your gym?

(For legal reasons, the survey didn’t let kids under thirteen participate, though they could have done it anyway and picked thirteen as their closest age.)

But wait, there’s more!

In addition to releasing the eagerly awaited BJJ gi brand rankings (be patient, they’re coming!), we’ll definitively answer the million dollar question on every white belt’s mind…

“How long till I get my blue belt?”

(Remember to sign up to get the gi rankings sent to you. Look for the big envelope icon near the top-right of this page.)