Gi/Dobok patches!

[Dobbersky]

Most of us have patches on our 'uniforms' but how many is too much?

In many Okinawan Ryu its just the name of the school in Kanji on the left side of the Gi, but as times have come on its like the more the merrier!

My school has 2 patches the school patch on the left breast and the Dan grades have the association patch on the bottom right of the left side of th Gi (next to the brand tag).

I see some with patches all over the place, reminds me a little of the Scouts etc. Also, when the maker/manufacturer sticks their patches advertisements patches, surely this should make it cheaper as advertising should have a "royalty" payment.

What's your take on patches, do you have them, yes or no?

Or if you do, how many and why?

[sensei8]

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/sensei8_2008/089.jpg

Btw, I'm the handsome one on the left. Yeah...Brian's handsome too.

I've 6 patches on my Gi top, no patches on my Gi pants.

Patch on my right shoulder is a America/Japan crossed at their poles

Patch on my right chest is an oval Okinawan Karate; for our Kobudo

Patch on my right bottom is our Karate-do patch

Patch on my left chest is our style patch; Shindokan

Patch on my left shoulder top is a Okinawa Country patch

Patch on my left shoulder lower is a Okinawan shield

For the longest, only the style patch was approved. One by one, our Soke would approve the remaining patches as you see in the photo above. I kind of got a kick out of when our patches made it into our By-Laws, down to the exact placement/location and the like, but I suppose that it meant something to our Soke to have [it] included so formally.

PS...I forgot how to place the pic w/o the link for easier reference, sorry.

[Wastelander]

We have two patches--a dojo patch and a style patch. Some people just do one or the other, but if you want to have both then you are supposed to put the style patch on the left breast and the dojo patch on the left upper sleeve. In Shuri-Ryu, however, the dojo patch went on the left breast and the style patch went on the left lower sleeve, and in that dojo we also got patches for passing tests in weapons and the instructors and assistant instructors had patches designating them as such, and those patches went on the right upper sleeve. Oh, and if you passed the tests for all 6 weapons in the system you earned the "Tasshi" title in kobudo, which got you an additional patch for the right lower sleeve.

Everybody has different ways of doing things with their uniforms. Personally, I have been going toward the "less is more" side of things lately, but I don't fault people who use a lot of patches as long as they actually designate something. I don't like the BJJ uniforms covered in all kinds of patches that serve no purpose, for example.

[evergrey]

We just have the kanji of our style on the left breast of our dogi.

Back in the 70s, they had an AAU patch (cheap insurance! heh) and the Kyokushin kanku as well. Full contact fighters in the dojo my Sensei went to also got a dragon... not typical Kyokushin, but it was a cute dragon, hehe!

There is one local school, known to be a cultlike place that takes people for all the money they have, where their dogi look like... like NASCAR gis. Like, 20 patches!

I kind of like just having the kanji.

[tallgeese]

My base art had a school patch and an organization patch, each on one of the lapels.

In BJJ, things are much more free form and there is really no specific way to do things in any of the gyms I've been in. Typically, there's a school patch and maybe an organization patch. One will usually be smaller and the other larger.

As to location, the back is popular for large logos, as is the upper leg. Smaller logos can go about anywhere, off the lapels, legs, shoulders, ect.

[DWx]

ITF TKD so we have the tree right across the back and the ITF logo on the left breast. You can have the school's logo on the right breast (and we do) and/or on the shoulder. "ITF" written down the leg at knee level or "Taekwon-Do" in Korean. Can also have your country's flag on the shoulder or a sponsor logo. Underneath the tree on the back, above where the belt sits, you can have your country's name too if you're a competitor. Black edging around the bottom for blackbelts and if you're a 4th dan and above and have international instructor certification, you can wear the stripes down the arms and legs. If you're an instructor, master or grandmaster, you have the shoulder stripe patches, kinda similar to service stripes which denote which level you are.

I don't mind patches tbh, as long as they are carefully chosen and have a meaning to them, rather than emblazing a tiger across your back because it looks cool.

[FangPwnsAll7]

This is the patch at C.S. Kim karate tang soo do. Yeah, I covered my face up. I'm not that attractive, so... It's the red and blue patch on the do bok.

http://oi45.tinypic.com/2edo507.jpg

[bushido_man96]

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/sensei8_2008/089.jpg

Btw, I'm the handsome one on the left. Yeah...Brian's handsome too.

That's a great pic!

We have two patches; a Sun Yi's Academy patch, and a Traditional Taekwondo Association patch on each chest side. That particular uniform has stitching down the sleeves that say Sun Yi's Academy on one side, and Korean on the other. I also have a uniform that has an Instructor patch under the left breast patch.

That seems about right to me. In the ATA, we had a school patch on one side, an ATA patch on the other, then on the sleeve you had judge patches for black belt, between 1 and 3 depending on the certification you held. I think they have more depending on what they do, now.

[Shizentai]

nothing on my gi... that's how I roll.

[darksoul]

I have 3 patches. One from my original dojo on my left breast (man-boob?), one from my dojo where I got my black belt on my right breast (man-boob?), and the Canadian flag on my arm, which was put on to represent where I'm from in open competitions. I'm also a very proud Canadian