Gi Cuts and Such

[mattys]

How do you prefer your gi to be cut, as in sleave lengths and pant legs. I personally roll my gi. My sleaves are usually just below my elbow, and my pant legs lower calf. Also, for those who wear traditional gi, where do you wear your pants? At the bellybutton? At the hips? Just curious. I'm not sure how it is traditionally worn or how it's currently worn in Japan. I'm asking this because it would be great to get some insight as to where the gi is MEANT to be worn, not just where I wear it.

[SanShou]

my pants are above my ankles so i don't trip on them, and my sleeves i cut and hemmed to be a couple inches above my wrist. i wear my pants... at my waist and tie em tight so they don't get pulled/fall down.

[Mr. Mike]

I actually wear Starter excercise pants/black of course to match the uniform...when I started, they were all I could find to fit me, now I just kind of stick with it because they are so comfy.

as for my top, it's a traditional lightweight top that I usually wear with sleeves down, but yesterday we were giving a Nunchaku seminar so I rolled the sleeves to jsut below the elbow to keep them out of the way of the goofy foam chuks that I was using.

[papaschtroumpf]

pants above the ankles, sleeves just below the elbow. That seems to be the "traditionnal" cut for Shotokan (I have the kata books for the "Best Karate" series and my gi is cut like the ones from the pictures in the book).

If your style has more grappling I'd say wear longer sleeves to save wear and tear on the arms.

Don't roll your sleeves on the outside or someone could catch a finger (thumb especially) in the cuff during sparring and get hurt (our dojo will not allow cuffs on the outside).

AS far as the waist, I wear a size 6 when my body length is really more like a 5 so I tend to pull it pretty high up, but I'd prefer it lower.

[aefibird]

Don't roll your sleeves on the outside or someone could catch a finger (thumb especially) in the cuff during sparring and get hurt (our dojo will not allow cuffs on the outside).

Yes, don't!!

I got my toe caught in someone's rolled-up gi sleeve at a competiton once. It ended up breaking (my toe, that is, not the gi) and was stuck out at a funny angle. I would have thought that the competition organisers would have told competitors that rolled up sleeves were not allowed, but still...

If you want your gi sleeves to be shorter, then roll them under and press them in place with a hot iron, or get them taken up.

I tend to have two lengths of gi. I wear shorter sleeves and legs (above the ankle and just below the elbow) usually, but if I know we're gonna be doing a lot of grappling or ground work then I wear a gi with full-length sleeves and trouser (pant) legs.

[solar_kid]

I pretty have to pull my gi trousers to up to my belly button for them to fit right. I hate that... never feels right. I'd love to find a gi that felt more like regular pants.

[June1]

My gi top is always fine, but the pants are a teeny bit too long, so I just roll it up once at the waist. Problem solved.