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The protocol

How We Test

Every MatBurner review has to have passed a minimum threshold of wear + wash cycles, and that number is published in the review. A First Look clears at least 10 cycles. A Long-Term review clears at least 30, across six months or more of ownership. In every review the apparel will have gone through testing in the form of training rounds and open mat rolls.

We buy our own gear

Unless a review explicitly discloses otherwise — gifted, loaned, or an affiliate sample — assume MatBurner purchased the product at retail with our own money. Every review’s Reviewer & Disclosure block states product source and affiliate relationship plainly, every time, whether or not there’s anything unusual to disclose.

The scoring model

Six weighted categories, scored 1–5 in half-point increments. Performance Score excludes Value and answers how well the apparel works; Overall Score includes Value and answers how good the purchase is for the money. Both are the weighted average of the category scores, shown to one decimal, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.

Design & Aesthetics is covered in every review but stays outside this score — taste is worth writing about, but it doesn’t move the number. Competition legality is reported as a ruleset-specific status (e.g. IBJJF legal, likely legal, verify with tournament), not a scored category. On a gi, how easily the collar, lapels and sleeves take grips is reported the same way: it depends on the opponent and the ruleset, so it doesn’t move the number.

What each category scores

Each category answers one question, and every observation belongs to exactly one of them, so nothing gets counted twice. The same six categories apply to rash guards, shorts, spats and gis. What changes by garment is the checks, not the weights, so a score means the same thing on every page. A gi is scored as one unit: the jacket and pants are sold and worn together, so they get one set of scores, not one per piece.

Fit & Security

25%

Does it stay where you put it?

Scores: ride-up, waistband shift, hem lift at inversion, collar gape, twisting, whether the size runs true, and coverage that stays put.

Not here: tightness that hurts (Comfort & Protection); fabric that restricts movement (Mobility); fit lost to shrinkage (Construction & Durability).

Evidence: front, side and back fit shots, and the before/after pairs from the movement battery.

Spats: waistband roll-down in inversions and bridges, the ankle cuff creeping up the calf, the leg twisting so the seams spiral, bunching behind the knee.

Gi: the jacket skirt pulling out from under the belt, lapels opening, sleeves riding up the forearm, and the pants sliding down or the drawstring loosening mid-round. Size is checked against the brand’s own chart (A1, A2 and so on), and fit is judged on the gi as it was at the start of testing.

Scale: 5 — no shift through any battery move or live round. 3 — rides up under stress and needs fixing between rounds. 1 — needs fixing mid-round, every round.

Mobility

15%

Does it hold you back?

Scores: binding across the shoulders or hips, resistance at end range, crotch and gusset restriction in a shot or sprawl, and stretch and recovery within a session.

Not here: stretch lost after washing (Construction & Durability).

Evidence: the sprawl, shot, bridge and technical stand-up checks, and named drills.

Spats: compression limiting a deep squat or butterfly guard, knee-bend resistance in a knee slice, the gusset in a split or sprawl.

Gi: a stiff or heavy weave binding across the shoulders and armpits when you frame or reach for grips, and the pants binding at the knee in a deep squat or butterfly guard.

Scale: 5 — you forget you’re wearing it. 3 — you notice resistance at end range. 1 — it changes how you move.

Moisture & Heat

15%

What happens when you sweat?

Scores: breathability, dry-down speed, wet cling, how heavy it gets when soaked, and how hot it runs.

Not here: odour that builds up over time (Construction & Durability).

Evidence: gym temperature and session length, sweat shots taken at a fixed point in the session, and the calendar span the test covered. A test that ran only through winter says so.

Spats: usually worn under shorts, so the review states what they were tested with. Layering changes the heat.

Gi: the weave and its weight decide most of this, so the review names both (in gsm, where the brand publishes it). It also reports how heavy the jacket is by the last round, and whether the gi air-dries before the next session.

Scale: 5 — runs cool and is dry by the next round. 3 — heavy or clingy by round three. 1 — soaked and clinging, and you want it off.

Comfort & Protection

15%

How does it treat your skin?

Scores two things. Feel: how the fabric feels on the skin, and whether it’s still comfortable after a full session. Damage: chafing the garment causes itself (seams, tags, gripper, waistband, drawstring, collar), and mat burn that gets through the fabric where it covers you.

Damage caps the score. Any chafing or mat burn on covered skin caps this category at 3, however soft the fabric is.

Covered skin only. Protection is judged on the skin the garment covers. Shorts aren’t marked down for bare knees; coverage belongs in the buying recommendation.

Not here: coverage that shifts and exposes skin (Fit & Security); wet cling or a sweat-soaked feel (Moisture & Heat).

Evidence: a post-session skin check for redness, rub marks and mat burn, and a macro shot of the inside seams. The written breakdown names both Feel and Damage.

Spats: mat burn on the knees and shins, waistband dig, calf and waist compression pressure, inner-thigh seam chafe.

Gi: the collar and lapel edges rubbing the neck, a rough weave on bare skin, waistband and drawstring dig, and mat burn through the knees and elbows. Gi burn from an opponent’s gi doesn’t count against the one being reviewed.

Scale: 5 — you’d sleep in it, and no marks after live rounds. 3 — one spot you notice by the end, or any chafing or mat burn on covered skin. 1 — it chafes or marks you every session.

Construction & Durability

20%

Is it well made, and does it last?

Scores: seams and stitching, pilling, print cracking, fade, stretch recovery after washing, elastic hardening, odour that builds up, and fabric turning see-through under stretch.

Floor: a First Look clears 10 wash cycles before it publishes; a Long-Term review clears 30 across at least six months.

Evidence: the wash count, the same macro shots re-shot at fixed wash intervals, and a dated photo of every defect.

Spats: the knees are the main wear point, then the inner-thigh and gusset seams. Sheerness is checked in the deep squat at the start of testing and again at the wash floor.

Gi: shrinkage is scored here. Sleeve length, jacket length, pant length and pant waist are measured new and again at the wash floor, washed as the care label says, and the review reports both sets next to the brand’s stated shrinkage. Every gi shrinks some, so shrinkage within the brand’s stated amount costs nothing and goes in the buying advice instead. Shrinkage well past the stated amount lowers the score. If the brand states no amount, shrinkage that moves the gi into a smaller size on its own chart counts as past it. The main wear points are the collar and lapel stitching, the knees, the armpit seams, the crotch and the drawstring loops.

Scale: 5 — no change at its wash count. 3 — visible wear that doesn’t affect how it works. 1 — structural failure.

Value

10% · Overall only

Is the price fair for what it does?

Scores: price against the Performance Score.

Not here: durability. It’s already counted in Construction & Durability, and scoring it again as cost per wear would count it twice.

Scale: 5 — beats gear that costs more. 3 — you get what you pay for. 1 — you’re mostly paying for the name.

The Burn Factor scale

The Burn Factor is the Overall Score drawn as flames — one flame per point, the last one filled to the tenth. It is the same number as the scorecard, not a second opinion about it.

Burn is mat time. Gear you reach for every session earns heat — friction, sweat, mat burn. Gear you stop reaching for goes cold. So the scale isn’t asking how much punishment a garment survived; it’s asking how much of your training it earns.

A score is a claim about a garment on a body doing jiu-jitsu, not a claim about the brand. The same brand can earn a 4.5 and a 2.0 in the same month, and has.

The movement battery

Every fit and mobility observation traces back to one of six named movements (plus a deep squat for spats and gi pants), each shot with a paired before/after photo so ride-up or binding is visible evidence, not a claim.

MovementWhat it checks for
ShrimpWaistband shift at the shirt/short interface during a full hip escape. Spats: waistband roll and seams twisting at the hip. Gi: pants waistband and drawstring loosening
BridgeHem ride-up at full torso extension. Spats: waistband roll-down. Gi: jacket skirt pulling out from under the belt
Technical stand-upFabric twist and collar behavior through the transition. Spats: leg twist and bunching behind the knee. Gi: lapels opening
InversionShirt riding up over the head/torso at peak inversion. Spats: waistband roll-down and the ankle cuff creeping up the calf. Gi: jacket flipping toward the head, pants sliding down
SprawlBinding across the shoulders and hips at full sprawl extension. Spats: gusset binding. Gi: binding across the shoulders and armpits
Shot / hip-rotation entryGive across the lower back at the point of deepest hip rotation. Spats: gusset and knee binding. Gi: pants binding at the knee and crotch
Deep squat (spats and gi pants)Knee binding at full flexion. Spats: whether the fabric turns see-through under stretch

Durability & the wash threshold

A review doesn’t run until Construction & Durability has cleared its floor — there’s no provisional score and no unfinished durability claim in a live article. Below the floor, a garment is still a testing candidate, not a review.

The floor depends on the claim the review is making, and the two are far apart on purpose:

  • First Look — a new-to-market garment tested just past the 10-cycle floor. The Test Log reports session counts, total mat time, wash count, and the test window in days.
  • Long-Term — apparel already in a reviewer’s rotation, at 30 cycles or more across at least six months of ownership. Thirty is three times the First Look floor for a reason: a garment in a real rotation only gets worn a fraction of the weeks’ sessions, so thirty cycles is the point where stretch recovery, gripper hardening and odour retention have had time to show. The Test Log reports ownership duration, the calendar span the test covered, and an estimated session and wash count over that period — a precise day-by-day log isn’t realistic at that timescale, so estimates are labeled as estimates.

Six months is a floor on the clock, not just the counter, because some of what a Long-Term review exists to catch is time-driven rather than cycle-driven — elastane ageing between wears, waistband elastic hardening, print adhesion after repeated heat. Thirty wash cycles run in a fortnight would not find any of it. Reporting the calendar span matters for the same reason: Moisture & Heat carries 15% of the score, and a test that ran only through winter hasn’t been near a hot gym in August.

Either way, the same macro fabric and seam-detail shots get re-shot at fixed wash-count intervals for a direct side-by-side comparison, and any defect — fraying, pilling, print cracking, fade — gets its own dated, wash-count-stamped photo the moment it’s noticed.

Reviewer & disclosure

Every review carries the same trust block: reviewer rank, years training, weekly training frequency, competition or coaching background, body measurements, garment size worn, product source, and affiliate relationship. No personality needed there — that section’s entire job is credibility.

For the full reasoning behind this protocol, see the Level Black AJJ V2 set review built against it.