Real kimonos – BJJ GI Review Part 1

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.

I’ll report back in shrinkage, comfort and wear and tear in the coming weeks so watch this space.