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Marcus_1
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Randori in a light weight dogi

Hi everyone

I have recently purchased a new dogi as I am now training at a new club and needed one with the club kanji on it. I have ordered a Samuraj 100% cotton gi which arrived today.  It is a lovely feelign gi HOWEVER, I in my karate club, we do a lot of randori and I am worried that the gi top won't hold up to the randori aspects of the training. 

I do not want to break to new gi, but do not want to have to give the randori a miss either. Is there an answer to this? I did have the option to buy a heavier weight gi however, that was an Isami gi which cost over twice the price of the one I did buy and I just can not warrant that expense at the moment.

Any suggestions on how to get around the potential problem would be appreciated, could it be that I am worrying over nothing and the gi is more durabe than I initially think?

The other potential issue is that my old gi (Tokaido) used to have a lovely "snap" to it that made my techniques sound great, this one, being much more light weight, I fear won't have that same snap.

Iain Abernethy
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Marcus_1 wrote:
I do not want to break to new gi, but do not want to have to give the randori a miss either. Is there an answer to this?

I don’t think there is a perfect answer. The gi is not fit for the purpose it is required for. All I can suggest is you making an agreement with your partners that the gi is off limits because it’s new and you feel it’s likely to rip. Effectively you’ll be doing “no gi” grappling in a gi.

It’s good to practise with and “without” a gi so clothing is neither totally relied on or totally overlooked; both offensively and defensively. So your “no gi” ranori will have value, but you’ll be missing the “gi component”.

At my club most wear relatively cheap gis and they hold up to the abuse we give them pretty well. You maybe need to look at alternative manufactures too. There’s lots of “middle of the road” gis that are neither cheap and flimsy cotton nor high-end expensive heavyweight items.

One tip is to cut off the ties so the belt keeps the gi closed (as they do in Judo). That way if it is pulled it will move and you won’t get tears at the ties. I’ve done that will all my training gis.

Marcus_1 wrote:
I have recently purchased a new dogi as I am now training at a new club and needed one with the club kanji on it.

I think the answer in the long term will lie with the club. If club kanji is a must, then maybe the club can supply gis that will have that kanji and be fit for purpose. Clubs can get trade discounts, and if they are buying in “bunk” they will also get a cheaper rate. They can then pass on those savings to the students so they get a gi that’s perfect for training at a better price. It’s probably worth raising this with the instructors as they are obviously keen on a certain look and type and this will be the best option for them too.

Marcus_1 wrote:
The other potential issue is that my old gi (Tokaido) used to have a lovely "snap" to it that made my techniques sound great, this one, being much more light weight, I fear won't have that same snap.

I do the vast majority of my kata training in regular clothing (t-shirt, shorts, etc) and have done for a long time. If you are used to the gi, then it can seem “different” to do the kata without a gi. However, in my case both feel fine as my “datum” is my own body rather than the clothing. The “snap” is a total irrelevance. Instructors should not care about it and the switch of gi will help you get past that too. The snap is not a meaningful measure of anything nor is in important.

The karate being done does not get better it you place it in heavily-starched, crisply-ironed, heavyweight cotton. Likewise, it does not get worse when you move to a lighter gi.

No “magic bullet” but I hope there’s something of use in the above.

All the best,

Iain

Marcus_1
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Many thanks for the advice Iain. Unfortunately I have not been able to train this week in the dojo due to my shifts at work, but I will be training on Friday and I will put the new dogi through it's paces and see how it goes.

One major benefit I think it is going to have is that, being much much lighter than my old Tokaido dogi, it should hopefully stop me feeling as tired out by the end of the 90 minutes!