Who makes the best gis?

[JAKEHE3078]

anyone tried tokon?

Tokon's are fantastic!!!. Marcus is also a stand up guy.

The only other brand I would recomend is Hirota, if you can get your hands on one.

[ryoanji.budo]

Hi guys, does anyone have a Hirota or used one in the past ??? It's about the only highly regarded make that I and my training colleagues have never used.

I've owned 3 Tokaido - ones a black one. The white SAW has lasted me the best and is still white? it's my favourite.

I've brought a Shureido NW3 for my next grading which feels nice and dried quick, although I could've probably done with the next size.

I also own a Kaiten EUROPE, red label, only cos it was half price. Doesn't iron that great though. Feels nice mind.

The cheapest and best quality medium weight ones would have to be the Blitz Diamond that you can pick up for about £45 and the Cimac 14 oz, also about £40.

TOKAIDO and SHUREIDO WOULD BE PERFECT IF THEY DID AN ELASTIC WAIST on the heavyweight designs.

[Vayupak]

I reccomnd fairtex items. They made many items that I think use for karate training.

[christoh]

I am looking for another gi and read this thread with great interest. I currently use a Tokaido Kata Master however have recently purchased two KO brand gi's (the kata super gold and the elegant) and am awaiting their arrival. I will let you know how they are when I get to use them.

In the meantime I am looking for another gi and am considering another Tokaido, a Shureido or an Hirota. One thing I notice is that the Hirota website is a mess and quite confusing.

Any advice regarding the three brands mentioned in the above paragraph? I am a stocky guy so fit is quite important. Are the Hirota gi's WKF approved?

- Chris

[isshinryu5toforever]

Check this out. I tried to put together some info I knew for a bit of a guide on a few brands.

http://www.karateforums.com/guide-to-finding-a-new-do-gi-vt39288.html

[JohnASE]

I am looking for another gi and read this thread with great interest. I currently use a Tokaido Kata Master however have recently purchased two KO brand gi's (the kata super gold and the elegant) and am awaiting their arrival. I will let you know how they are when I get to use them.

In the meantime I am looking for another gi and am considering another Tokaido, a Shureido or an Hirota. One thing I notice is that the Hirota website is a mess and quite confusing.

Any advice regarding the three brands mentioned in the above paragraph? I am a stocky guy so fit is quite important. Are the Hirota gi's WKF approved?

- Chris

Tokaido, Shureido, and Hirota are all excellent quality gis, but they should be at their pricepoints.

The Tokaido Ultimate runs a bit narrow, so it might not be the best fit for a stocky guy. It's much narrower than your Tokaido Kata Master and most other Tokaido models. Not sure which models are available to you in Australia. The Ultimate is not WKF approved, at least not in the US. It's available in standard cut and tournament cut.

I'm not very familiar with Shureido's newer lines (New Wave), but the K-10 and KC-10 were cut pretty full, so they might be a good fit for you. When new, they have a nice, light bluish tint to them, a bit more subtle than the Tokaido Kata Master. The K-10 and KC-10 were also both available in standard cut and tournament cut, although I think the numbers then become TK-10 and TKC-10.

I'm not that familiar with Hirota's line, and I haven't seen a Hirota gi up close in a while, but I think they ran small, so you'd probably have to order a larger size. I don't remember if they were proportionally narrow or not. I don't know if they have any models that were WKF approved, but I believe they used to sell some JKF approved items, so I suppose it's possible.

Hope this helps!

[christoh]

thanks for the reply, John!

- Chris

[senseikellam]

I really love Meijin uniforms. They are very well designed, fit great, they offer split sizes if needed, offer free Japanese embroidery, and just plan old feel GREAT! They have both white and black uniforms and the prices are far lower than most other of comparable quality. They offer different weight uniforms and my favorite uniform of all time is their Meijin TROPICAL which is a perfect weight for my work outs in the south as I live in Alabama. The Meijin TROPICAL provides me with the lighted weight but still has the snap, feel, and performance of a heavier uniform. I can not say enough good stuff about Meijin. Also they know how to get the kanji correct as they are native to the Japanese language. In case your wondering, NO I am not affiliated with them, I just plain old love their items. Their belts are great also. Cheack them out:

http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Products/Pages/Meijin.htm