David the Gnome

I've been looking forward to this one. I grew up idolizing Jackie Chan as a kid. He's largely responsible for my getting into martial arts in the first place.

Perhaps a stupid question, but does the embroidery weaken the gi? Seido honbu sells embroidered gis. I really like the embroidered look, but I don’t like the gis they use; I’m pretty sure they’re KI 14 oz. heavyweight. I owned one (not embroidered) and it never fit me right. I’d love to get a Shureido K-11 embroidered. I've never had any problem with it. It's got to be better than sewing on a patch that can get pulled on and potentially cause rips on down the line.

I am looking for advice on some stretches or exercises I can do to help restore flexibility to my abductors (the muscles that run up the inside of your thighs). I've torn my right abductor a couple times in the past and it has resulted in losing almost all my flexibility in those muscles. In everyday life this normally isn't an issue, but now that I'm getting back into martial arts I'm really feeling the lack, especially on my mawashi geri. If I'm not careful I can cause myself a lot of pain doing a mawashi geri with my right leg and I've found I have to be extremely careful stretching so as not to aggravate it. Does anyone else share this issue or does anyone have advice on ways to help restore some flexibility?

That was what I was going to suggest, maybe find some extra thick paracord. Back in the old days they just used rope so maybe you could find something like that at a home depot or something?

I had one of my Shureido gi's embroidered at a local shop. I just brought in one of our patches, they scanned it and created the pattern for the embroidery machine, then they were able to print it on anything I wanted. It definitely gives your gi a nice custom look and you don't have to worry about a patch getting ripped off and possibly damaging your gi.

The logo on the back is indeed embroidered. The only part of the gi that is silk screened is the label inside the jacket. As I said in my review before, it's a good looking gi from a distance, it's not until you get up close and see the fine details that you can tell it's cheaply made. It's like having an expensive luxury car but it's been assembled by a high school shop class. I do intend to keep the gi, I paid too much for it to get rid of it. I have restitched the label where the thread busted and I can live with the rest. It's just a real disappointment to pay that much money and get a product that feels like it should have cost $100 less. As far as the price difference. Based on my research the price has been steadily increasing on this gi, which would explain why someone might have stock of these for less than the current retail. Seishin was also selling these for a reduced price when purchasing multiple gi's so it's possible a bulk order would net you a lower than retail price.

I was in the market for a new gi recently and kept seeing a lot about these new Seishin gi's. Unfortunately, most all of the reviews I could find were from people who were given their gi for free by Seishin and subsequently gave a glowing review. I decided to take these with a grain of salt and give the gi a chance. The price as of this review on Sieshin's website is $269.99. I was able to find one on Amazon for $240 and free 2-day shipping, which was good because I needed a new gi quickly and didn't want to waste money on a cheap gi just because I needed it quickly. First the Pro's: Materials: They use pretty high quality cotton to make these gi's and on first impression it looks like a high dollar gi. Aesthetics: Aesthetically these gi's are very attractive (as long as you don't look at the small details, more on that later). The Okinawan style emblem on the back is very sharp and looks really good. The gi is lightweight and has a good snap to it. Comfort: The lightweight material did make the gi cooler than my heavyweight Shureido gi's, a plus here in Texas. The gussets in the crotch and armpits do actually help air flow a little better. I find the pocket sewn into the gi jacket to be gimmicky, but maybe some people have a use for it (it doesn't close so I wouldn't keep anything valuable in there like a wedding ring or something). The Con's: Price: The price is the number one con of this gi, and maybe not for the reason you think. The price of this gi puts it in some lofty company. At this price range you expect a certain level of fit an finish that this gi simply does not deliver on. Craftsmanship: This is a very cheaply put together gi. You can see the cost cutting in the stitching and the finish throughout the gi. You do not see this in other gi's costing $200+. I have added examples below of the various quality control issues on my gi. The label on the gi jacket was already coming off when I took it out of the package for the first time. Fit: While the material of the gi makes it very comfortable temperature-wise, there are some odd design choices here. The fit is much smaller than most other gi's I've owned. The way the gusset in the crotch is designed makes it feel like the gi pants are riding up your backside the whole time. This was mentally distracting and uncomfortable. Also, the high waist, while initially very comfortable, inevitably began to slide down as the class went on and eventually folded over itself and felt like it was trying to tug my pants down the whole class. Honesty: This one gets at me more than all the other cons I think (except maybe the price). I will quote directly from the owner's Indigogo page where they first financed this new line of Karate gi's: I looked long and hard on their website but nowhere on the site do they say where the gi is actually made (as of writing this on 10/24/17). Below is a picture of the label on the inside of the jacket. Notice that the country on the "Made in" is written in Japanese. Well, I decided to translate the kanji and surprise, it's made in Pakistan. This is obviously an attempt to hide the location where these gi's are made and based on the quote above I can see why they would want to hide that. Now, I personally don't care where my gi is made so long as it is made well and of good quality materials. However, I do take exception when a company attempts to fool its customers into thinking their product is something it isn't. If you can't read Kanji (or don't know how to use your smart phone to translate the text) you would be completely forgiven for thinking this gi was made in Japan based on this label. Conclusion: This is a good looking gi and if you are the right build (very athletic) the potential is there for it to be very comfortable also. However, the attempt to conceal where the gi is being made, the lack of quality control in the finish of the gi, and the premium price they are charging for it makes me absolutely not recommend this gi. If this gi was in the $150-$170 range and they were up front about where it was being made, I would recommend it, assuming of course you have the right build to be able to comfortably wear it. In the gi's current state I say stay away. You're much better spending that $270 on a high quality Shureido or Tokaido gi from Japan. The Photos: Here is the label where they write Pakistan in Japanese. http://i64.tinypic.com/ilc7zr.jpg The label on the gi jacket had a busted thread and was already coming off. For the $269.99 price I certainly expected better than this. http://i66.tinypic.com/b4evzo.jpg The back of the busted label. You can see the holes where it was stitched at one point in time. If it's already busted it calls into question the quality of the thread. http://i68.tinypic.com/k99zsm.jpg Poor stitching, there are many examples of this throughout the gi but this was the worst. http://i63.tinypic.com/2mo8lrp.jpg Runs where stitching was just jumped over to the next row with no thought to appearance. This is all facing out as well, these aren't the backs of the hems where it would be hidden. http://i68.tinypic.com/2q09kbd.jpg

This pretty much sums up my experience using the Seishin gi last night. I will add the link to my review shortly. Link to the full review: https://www.karateforums.com/seishin-gi-review-vt51156.html

Just wanted to make a quick correction on this. Seishin gi's are made in Pakistan, not Sweden. They are not very forthright with this information. It's not anywhere on their website that I can find beyond saying that they are not made in Okinawa on their FAQ page. They conceal this fact one step further by writing on the jacket of the gi "Made in Pakistan" in Japanese. It certainly looks like they are trying to imply to western customers that these gi's are made in Japan/Okinawa when they are not. I will try to get a picture tonight if I can remember to do so. I just bought one of these gi's, I will post a quick initial thoughts and a review later. I intend to wear it to class tonight and see how it goes. Looking forward to your review. I bought a Ronin gi almost 1 year ago, it also is made in Pakistan. I have found the workmanship and material to be excellent quality. I guess that I don't care that a Gi is not made in Japan, as long as it is well made and with quality materials. "The proof is on the floor" to quote Sensei8, if the gi is comfortable and works for you then surely it doesn't matter where it's made. I totally agree, I don't care where the gi is made as long as it is a quality product, and I will reserve final judgement until I have had a chance to try the gi out. What I do have reservations about is how open they have been regarding where their gi is made, especially given the $269.99 price.

Just wanted to make a quick correction on this. Seishin gi's are made in Pakistan, not Sweden. They are not very forthright with this information. It's not anywhere on their website that I can find beyond saying that they are not made in Okinawa on their FAQ page. They conceal this fact one step further by writing on the jacket of the gi "Made in Pakistan" in Japanese. It certainly looks like they are trying to imply to western customers that these gi's are made in Japan/Okinawa when they are not. I will try to get a picture tonight if I can remember to do so. I just bought one of these gi's, I will post a quick initial thoughts and a review later. I intend to wear it to class tonight and see how it goes.

As Dobbersky says, the heavy bag would probably be a much better use of your training time and a lot less detrimental to your joints.

All the top guys in Uechi seem to wear Shureido, of course with it being an Okinawan brand they may be a bit biased (Uechi being an Okinawan style). When I advanced far enough in Uechi to warrant the purchase of a "real" gi, that was the gi my sensei told me to get. I had no idea how much a nice gi can change the way you feel when you are doing a kata. I finally figured out how the advanced students got such a resounding snap on their techniques . I have tried a few other brands and I haven't personally found anything else that feels as good as a Shureido gi to me. I actually just purchased my third Shureido gi today. I have yet to wear one out but I needed a second traditional cut Gi (my third is tournament cut). As others have said before, I highly suggest purchasing a half-size smaller than you normally might get from other manufacturers. Shureido sizes are much larger than other brands. I am 6'2" and about 220lbs and I find the 5.5 to be the perfect size for me. On the traditional cut you will probably have to have the pants hemmed, I did anyways, but on the tournament cut I didn't need any alterations at all. The perfect combo for me is the tournament cut pants with the traditional cut jacket in a size 5 1/2.