This isn’t really a review as such, at least not yet, but I’m excited because last week I bought my first BJJ gi which duly arrived yesterday. I had been scouring eBay for the last couple of weeks hoping to pick up a 2nd hand bargain but I couldn’t find one in my size (A4). However there are plenty to choose in the A1-A3 size bracket.
After realising that no one was selling a 2nd hand A4 I looked for a budget new gi and found Real Kimonos which were retailing for £35, which included postage and packing.
The Jacket is advertised as a 550 GSM pre-shrunk pearl weave. I do hope that those claims are true as straight out of the bag it fits me rather well. I can’t yet comment on the quality or comfort of the gi when rolling in it because I haven’t yet worn it to training but I’ll report back on that in the coming weeks.
The gi pants are made from a 100% cotton premium twill fabric and are reinforced from mid-thigh to ankle. There are white loops with thick drawstring system which gives a more secure fit. There is a choice of three colours, White, Black and Red. Being a bit of a traditionalist I plumped for white. I’m certainly not brave enough or good enough to wear a red gi to class but if they offered blue I may have given that some thought.
Looks wise it has enough patches to differentiate it from a Judo gi but is not too blingy as to make you stand out from the crowd. I’ll let you decide if you think that’s a good or bad thing but one of the reasons in me wanting to buy a BJJ gi is that I don’t want to always be “that Judo guy” and therefore this will help me just blend in.
