Dr. D

I actually had a very good experience with the two Meijin gis I purchased from Dragon Associates. Quick and efficient service, and I am very pleased with the fit and quality of the gis. I purchased two of the Meijin pro gis: one for my daughter (black-belt) and one for me (red-belt). My only warning: these gis shrink! Advertised as traditional cut, but after a few washings, they become a tourney cut. Fine with me as I actually prefer a tourney cut, BUT do beware of this if you buy a Meijin. Other than this, an excellent gi. I am happy. Sorry to hear that others did not share a positive experience.

I think the issue here is not whether an overweight instructor is capable of being an effective teacher, but rather to what extent that overweight instructor, who is supposed to be a karate "model" to his/her students, is an admirable overall example. Conditioning, diet, self-discipline, respect for others and oneself, are some of the many principles repeatedly taught through karate, but a grossly overweight instructor, regardless of the myriad of excuses I have heard over the years for their plumpness, are not optimally effective in teaching karate as a whole. Yes, an overweight instructor might be a great fighter "on the floor" (as one posts here), but the inability to control one's physical fitness (e.g., weight) diminishes your students' respect as well as your own credibility, no matter how awesome a fighter you are. This is where the big problem exists with overweight instructors. Ninanjurse hits the nail on the head in this thread. I could not agree with Ninanjurse more...

I have purchased two of the Meijin Pro karate gis this year (2012), one for myself and one for my daughter (a black-belt), and we could not be happier with the quality, the fit, and the embroidery. Excellent service overall. I am no expert at all on the heavy weight gis as the Meijin was my first (I trained for 3 1/2 years with Tiger Claw's light weight, $20 gis, and they have held up quite well for the price), but so far I am very pleased. I would highly recommend it. I am also looking seriously at Karate International for an alternate heavy weight gi: http://www.kiintl.com/. Prices are very competitive, and reviews I have found are very solid. I am not convinced that anyone should pay more than $150 for a top-quality gi, regardless of the claimed quality. Has any one purchased a gi from https://www.kiintl.com? If so, I would like to know your experience.