Jussi Häkkinen

My club: 150€ (approximately 190 USD) + 20€ (appr. 25 USD) association fee per year. No grading fees since I feel that gradings are a natural part of training. Shodan grading in our association is 10€ (13 USD) + certification fee. One may buy any belt he wishes to (or gets it from his club as a gift).

That is not true. Truth is that the current holder of the "Kamikaze" -brand name in North-America used to be a business associate of European Kamikaze. Then, the business relationship ended and the North-American brand continued to live its own life - its holder decided to produce its own, lower quality copies of Kamikaze uniforms (Arawaza is also one of their brands). Real Kamikaze is now known as Tokon in North-America, as the Kamikaze-brand is taken by the former business associate. So, if you're in Europe, buy Kamikaze. In North-America, get Tokon if you want real stuff.

I've never heard Kusanku to be called as "Kung Song Kun" etc., although I'm quite familiar with Okinawan styles. My guess would be that it's a new kata, named as Kung Song Kun by someone who wanted to add some mystical elements and historical claims to his karate.

I haven't seen NW-1 yet. NW-2 is reasonably light already. Personally, I sweat a lot and wear the NW-3 for my everyday training - it wicks the moisture right away from my skin and dries very fast, feeling cool and nice all the time. It's lighter than most "heavyweight" cotton uniforms by weight, still keeping the same appearance. ...or Shureido Mugen?

Shureido NW-2. Mid-weight, blended but very stiff fabric (i.e. stays away the skin, blended material - polyester/cotton - dries fast). Won't turn into a see-through uniform. The fabric keeps its stiffness when you sweat - it won't turn into a sticky "spiderman suit". If you wish to get something heavier, NW-3 is also a possibility. NW-line is seriously a big upgrade when compared to 100% cotton do-gi. Best you can get.

Akido? Not Aikido? Aikido is not karate. It's a whole different martial art. However, if we limit the discussion to Okinawan/Japanese karate and its spinoffs, we're talking about a couple of hundred (hmm, maybe 200) styles. Belt and rank systems vary a lot and are very hard to compare.

Yes. I also think that if it's possible to get up safely (well, relatively safely), it should be done. I teach both stand-up and groundfighting and the ways of getting up.

...and Tokaido's "Extra Wide" is 1 3/4" wide. Interesting phenomenon, though. I've never had problems with having a belt to hang down properly. Pretty much every belt settles with the first wash. Of course, if one is in the "never wash the belt" -club, he could moisten only the knot area.

Tokon is a name for Kamikaze products in North American market. The reason for the new name is that the owner of https://www.kamikaze.com took hold of the Kamikaze brand in North American area and begun producing the lower quality copies of the original European Kamikaze uniforms (as well as launched the "Arawaza" brand). So, if you're in Europe, Kamikaze is the real deal. If in North America, Tokon is the real deal. If you're searching for a good quality "value" do-gi, get a Tokon America.

Tokaido and Shureido (etc.) have a 1 3/4" wide belt as their default "wide" belt. Their "normal" belt is 1 1/2". You would get a 2" one only from a special order (and even still it'd be unsure if they'd be willing to make it for you). So, if you have a Tokaido "XW" belt (extra wide) or Shureido "BST" (black special thick), they're both 1 3/4" wide, not 2" wide. So, get a 1 3/4" wide. 2" wide is just tacky.

If it's To shin do (or toshin-do, toshindo), it's Stephen K. Hayes' organization. Hayes was originally a Bujinkan student under Masaaki Hatsumi and then decided to create his own organization - to shin do. It's one type of "ninjutsu" (a commonly used genre for Bujinkan, although not true - Bujinkan is much more than ninjutsu originally).

Do you own a pair? I kind of want to get some but I don't know, they can be expensive. They are - especially the thicker models (such as Twins GGL-1 with a 4cm padding) - the best combination of protection and free grabbing possibilities. Not for competition karate sparring etc., but if you search for good gloves for training that includes grappling, striking etc. (such as traditional Okinawan karate styles), they're about the best you can get.

MMA gloves.

It depends on the manufacturer. Some cheaper belts have a low quality, unwashed "core" material that may be pretty much any colour. Kwon, for example, has used brown-ish core material that, indeed, will dye the outer layer of belt brown when washed. Their coloured belts also loose colour rather heavily - the fabrics haven't been prewashed (or preshrunk, either) before assembly. Generally, if you pay $5-$10 or some other minimal sum, you should expect that your belt will loose colour in the wash. If you get a good quality colour belt (these exist, too - some are for competition purposes and some firms just have decided to put some effort to colour belts as well), you should expect to pay similar sums of money as you would for a good quality black belt.

Shureido, at least. NW-3 is pretty much an exact match to a 12oz canvas (Perhaps a little heavier), being (well, at least feeling) more durable than 15oz canvas (and looking similar to a heavier canvas). If you're asking about the fabric itself, well, that I don't know.