Best Secret Santa Gifts for Your Jiu Jitsu Team in 2026
Your Gym Is Doing Secret Santa. Now What?
It happens every December. Someone at the gym suggests a Secret Santa, everyone agrees it sounds fun, and then you spend two weeks trying to figure out what to buy the purple belt you only know by his first name and his weird guard.
BJJ Secret Santa is its own special challenge. You're shopping for someone who regularly sweats on you but whose shoe size is a total mystery. The budget is small, and whatever you pick gets opened in front of the whole team, so there's a little performance pressure baked in whether you like it or not.
The good news is that grapplers are easy to shop for once you know the categories. Here are the best Secret Santa gifts for your jiu jitsu team, sorted by budget. For even more cheap ideas, see our BJJ gifts under $25.
Best BJJ Secret Santa Gifts Under $20
Athletic Tape (a Lot of It)
Every grappler goes through finger tape like it's free. It is not free. A multipack of quality grappling tape is boring to unwrap and deeply appreciated by the following Tuesday. Hampton Adams and Monkey Tape both make tape built for grapplers.
A BJJ Christmas Ornament
A tiny gi or a miniature belt on the tree. BJJ ornaments from small Etsy makers are cheap and charming, and they work for any teammate no matter how well you know them.
A Grip Strengthener
Grip strength matters in jiu jitsu more than most people realize, especially in the gi. A grip trainer lives in a car or a desk drawer, and your teammate's collar grips will get noticeably meaner by February. (Sorry in advance to whoever rolls with them.)
A Lacrosse Ball
It costs less than lunch and it's one of the best recovery tools a grappler can own. It fits in any gym bag and gets used constantly on tight traps and angry hips.
Best BJJ Secret Santa Gifts: $20 to $40
A BJJ Christmas T-Shirt
This is the sweet spot for gym Secret Santa. A Holiday BJJ Christmas tee starts at $37, and it gets the biggest laugh when the whole team is watching.
Match the design to the person. The leg locker gets Jingle Bell Lock. The old-school grappler gets Santa Rear Naked Choke. The closed guard player who lives for a free arm gets Santa Armbar. The teammate with actual cauliflower ear gets the Reindeer, and the one with the dark sense of humor gets Grandma Got Armbarred. You know your team.
A BJJ Christmas Muscle Shirt
Same designs, no sleeves. The Jingle Bell Lock muscle shirt is for the teammate who considers every day a gun show. It's a solid pick for gyms in warm climates, or any gym where the heat is always cranked to eleven.
A BJJ Christmas Mug
A mug skips the size question entirely, which makes it one of the safest picks when you barely know the person. The Santa Armbar mug ($27) catches the most famous reindeer on the sleigh reaching a little too far, and Santa takes the arm. It ends up next to the gym's coffee maker or on your teammate's desk, where it starts a technique argument every morning.
A Grappling Mouth Guard
A slim mouth guard made for grappling punches above its weight as a Secret Santa gift. Most people are still rolling with a bulky one they've boiled and re-bitten a dozen times.
A Resistance Band Set
A set with a few resistance levels is useful for shoulder prehab and hip mobility, and it takes up almost no space. It's the gift that tells your teammate you've noticed them grabbing their shoulder after class.
Best BJJ Secret Santa Gifts: $40 to $60
A BJJ Christmas Hoodie
If your gym's budget stretches this far, a Christmas hoodie is how you win Secret Santa. The Jingle Bell Lock hoodie starts at $60. Hoodies are the unofficial post-training uniform, so it gets worn on the drive home that same night.
A $50 Holiday BJJ Gift Card
Drew the teammate you've traded maybe four words with? A Holiday BJJ gift card lets them pick their own design and size, so you don't have to guess whether they're a medium or a "medium, but I'm cutting."
$50 covers any Christmas tee with room to spare. It also arrives by email, which makes it the move if you remember the exchange the night before.
A Kids' Christmas Rash Guard
If your Secret Santa has a kid in the gym's youth program, a Santa Rear Naked Choke kids' rash guard ($58) is a curveball that makes you look incredibly thoughtful. Parents remember that kind of thing.
A BJJ Book
Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro is one of the most referenced technique books in the sport. Breathe by Rickson Gracie is the pick for the teammate who likes to get philosophical during water breaks.
How to Nail BJJ Secret Santa Without Overthinking It
When You Don't Know Their Size
Pick something that doesn't need sizing: tape, a book, a mug, a recovery tool, or a gift card. Clothing is a gamble unless you've seen the tag.
When You Don't Know Them Well
Go with consumables and universals. Tape, lacrosse balls, grip trainers, and ornaments work for every grappler, regardless of belt level or body type.
When You Want to Win Secret Santa
Go funny. The right Christmas tee or hoodie for the right person gets the biggest reaction in the room, and the photo of them holding it up ends up in the gym group chat for a week.
When You're Running Late
Holiday BJJ gear is printed to order, so it needs a few days to get made before it ships. If the exchange is the week before Christmas, order in early December. Already past that point? The gift card shows up by email instantly.
Final Thoughts
BJJ Secret Santa doesn't have to be stressful. The people you train with share a very specific set of experiences, and any gift that taps into those experiences is going to land.
When in doubt, go funny. The jiu jitsu community rewards the jokes that come from inside the gym.
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