Gi Ritual!

[DoctorQui]

Following on from the 'wearing your Gi outside the dojo' thread what is your Gi ritual?

How many Gi's/Dobok's do you own, how often do you wash them and how do you store/fold/carry them.

I own 3 Gi's, 1 x 14oz 1 x 11.5 oz and a light 8 oz (for gradings only). I usually make one Gi last a couple of training sessions and after each session, I air dry them or give them a wash/dry, quick hot iron then fold them in the traditional way

(without the belt bit!) and put straight back in my training bag for the next training session.

[Shizentai]

Geez, I have to be honest, I have no idea how many I actually own. Probably about 8 to 10. Although most of them are in various states of distrpair and are used mostly for patching other gis, there are 5 that I still wear from time to time:

2 KI Intl. Mugens - for day-to-day training in the heat

1 Tokon Heavyweight - for training in the cold

1 Yamaga middleweight - my nicest "dress gi" for when I judge or test

1 KI economy line - for outdoor training, since it's already full of grass stains and is cheap as all get out to replace

Most of my gis are either American brands or are too large anyway, so after I wash them I don't mind tossing them in the drier. The one exception is the Yamaga. Because I bought it in Japan where fabrics are even less pre-shrunk than here, I hang-dry that one.

In terms of folding, I either favor judo-style or an adaptation I made up where instead of rolling I fold thrice and sinch tightly with a belt.

As for storage, I have a drawer just for tops and another drawer just for bottoms. I roll each article with the label facing up so that I can see which is which. I found this is the best way for me to make sure I don't show up to the dojo in a hurry with only half of my gi .

[tallgeese]

I have a couple of old karate gis that are pretty much in storage in my closet. I haven't worn a gi while actually training stand up in ages.

I have 4-5 jits gis that are always in rotation. I wash them after EVERY outing. Then they air dry. Outside if it's warm. Then, they get hung up until it's time to cram them into my duffel bag again and go to class. No special treatment.

[sensei8]

Nice topic, thanks for starting it.

I've 6 Gi's, all are either medium/heavy weight, as well as 4 Hakama's of different colors. I've 3 white, 1 black, and 2 blue. The white's are only used for formal occasions. The black and the blue's are used while on the floor teaching/training/exchanging. My favorite is my blue's...I feel in love with them when they first came out back in the 1970's.

The Hakama's are only wore during formal occasions...I've a blue, black, red and white. I always dry-clean them because they can usually care for the pleats.

The white's are always dry cleaned, with light starch and pressed, and 1 white will stay at my home, and the other 2 will always be at the Hombu; albeit, they're always hanging up. The black and the blue's are washed by my wife, I'm not allowed near her washer/dryer, and then I'll lightly iron them, I'm allowed to use my wife's iron and iron board, and I'll usually hang them up in my closet at home. Whenever I'm at the Hombu, my black and blue's will be dry-cleaned and then hung up in my office on a rotating basis. Btw, I only use plastic hangers because the metal ones can leave a stain for some reason.

When I was much younger, my mom use to wash my gi's, again I wasn't allowed near her washer/dryer either, then I'd roll them up: First I'd lay the top down, then the pants on top of them, then I'd simply roll them up before I'd roll the gi up, and then tie the obi around the gi...In short, I'd have a very neatly gi held by my obi that I could sling over my shoulder to carry. I don't do that anymore, I suppose I out grew it. However, I still will show my students how to do it.

Whenever I drive/fly, I'll use a suit bag to keep them neat and free from getting any dirt on them. I never check in my gi's at the airport because I don't want my gi's to end up in Florida when I'm going to California or vice versa.

All in all, just as soon as when I'm done for the class/day, I'll hang them up on a hanger to go to the house/Hombu/hotel, I no longer use any type of bag, I use to, but even then, I'd lightly fold them before I'd place it/them into the bag. This was during my weekend warrior days.

[DWx]

Dunno how many I actually own but I have 2 regular ones I alternate for training. They both get washed after every session then hung outside to dry so I usually get away without ironing. They then stay hung up until training where they get folded and put in my bag. I do have an extra one to put into the rotation if I need to but I don't like wearing it as much.

I then have 3 reserved for competition and one for more formal occasions. These are always ironed and put in the wardrobe then transported in a suit bag.

I have others which I sometimes wear but I don't like them as much.

[ShoriKid]

Officially gave up on my mid-90s Iron Man today when cleaning out the closet. Kept the pants to knock around the house in.

I've a black Iron Man my wife got me 7 or 8 years ago with the pro-pants (lace up front). It's faded to grey and the seams are warn through in the shoulders. Pants are showing signs of wear as well.

Piranha Gear tournament cut 14oz gi. Wife accidentally shrank the jacket a bit and the washer tried to eat the pants. Well sewn, but not pleased with the cut.

A Pro Force judo gi in black. Patched back into service with another of it's make. Now lives at the dojo as a spare gi when ever someone needs handles for a drill.

Pro-Force Gladiator jj gi in black. Has seen a lot of wear in the last few months as we're preping for a BJJ tourney next month.

I'll have a Break Point in blue in a couple of weeks.

Washing depends. Most of the time we're in gi pants and rash guards, so the pants can go several classes without a wash unless we are really putting in the work. A jacket gets washed at least once a week, even when training in cool weather. I believe in sweating when training and I don't enjoy trying not to tap to my own gi-funk. JJ gi gets washed every week. Air dried between classes since it takes nearly 2 days dry when washed and hung to dry unless it's just unbelievably hot out.

I haven't done a formal folding in forever and only iron the karate gis once in a blue moon. Normally I lay the jacket out, fold the pants up and drop them into the body of the jacket. Then the clean shorts and rash guard go in. Fold the sides of the jacket over, cross the sleeves and loop the belt around the whole thing to make a handle. Or if I'm having to pack a gear bag somewhere it's tossed into the top and packed down until I can zip the bag.

[evergrey]

I have one judo gi that was a gift from my former mentor. He is skinny as a bean pole and no way does it fit me. It might or might not ever, but I still treasure it.

I have one top from a set, my first dogi. Good medium weight gi, but the pants were not up to the task of containing my hips. I split them in class, heh. I also split a shodan's pants in class, lol. Well, he split them beating me to a pulp.

I have two pants, both inexpensive lightweight. One pair I bought to replace the nice ones that I split. I hemmed them myself. I am not good at sewing. These are now my backup emergency pants. The other pair go with my one jacket with the Kyokushin kanji on it, though it is printed on and half washed off, heh. The main pants and jacket were a gift from the head instructor at my dojo.

I need like three full pairs, but I'm poor, lol!

I think I'll use some fabric markers to color the kanji back in, for now...

[Wastelander]

I have two karate gi that I use, one I don't, and two for grappling:

KI Heavyweight Cotton Karate Gi

Custom-Made Middleweight Hemp Karate Gi

Ronin Heavyweight Cotton Karate Gi (too big to use)

Datsusara Hemp Jiu-Jitsu Gi

Chinese (Unknown Brand) Single Weave Judo Gi

I'm afraid I don't have any "ritual" that goes with them. I wash them and hang them up to dry, and then I fold the pants, belt and my UnderArmour up inside the jacket and take it to class, wear it, wad it up when finished with class to take home and repeat the cycle. I don't iron my gi unless I'm going to compete or something of that nature--it's a workout uniform, and I'm going to get sweaty and gross anyway so I'm not terribly concerned about looking good as long as it's clean.

[darksoul]

I have 2 - A really old 12oz black one from my USSD days and a Arawaza Emerald 14oz gi. I only use the jacket from the Arawaza and the pants from my old black one.

I wear an undershirt with my jacket to avoid getting it too badly soaked and after every class, I put it on the ground and fold it. Same way every time.

Lay it out on the floor, fold in the sleeves, fold it in half length wise, then fold it width wise 3 times. Then it goes into the duffel bag.

For washing, cold machine wash then hang to dry.

[bushido_man96]

I have one Aikido gi, and two TKD do boks, and I always wash after each workout. I just can't wear a sweaty uniform back to class.