Gi colors

[MatsuShinshii]

Shoot, I was one of the very first to show up at the Hombu in a completely blue gi...Soke and Dai-Soke just smiled, shrugged their shoulders, and shook their heads back and forth in dismay. Hehehehehehehehehehehe!! Kind of like the one I'm wearing here...

https://www.karateforums.com/shindokan-and-tkd-get-together-vt41438.html?highlight=tkd+shindokan+meet

Scroll down towards the bottom of that page.

I pictured you with more hair.

Lol...I just can't wear my hair long because whenever I try to, my hear curls upward, kind of like Bozo the Clown, really embarrassing. I've really curly hair, which the women in both sides of the family envy me...they can have it. So, I keep it short, like you see in that picture, to keep myself sane.

Same very short hair...still, but with now, I've a full long beard. At least I can grow my hair long somewhere.

At least you can grow hair Bob. What little I have left has gone by the gray side and since there's not much it doesn't make sense to grow it. Either way my wife tells me bald is beautiful. I choose to believe her.

[MatsuShinshii]

To answer JR137, from personal experience living and training in Okinawa and the Japanese mainland, it is neither a Japanese or Okinawan trend. the overwhelming majority use only white/natural dogi. For kobudo a few dojo use all black or, more rarely brown. Never seen colour combinations top/bottom or trims of any sort.

It could be because wearing a coloured dogi or any special combinations is considered by some to be overly “showy”.

Matayoshi Kobudo wear black tops and white bottoms on Okinawan.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Indeed he did, and that is the most “extravagant” dogi that could be seen. For some reason only the kobudo practitioners used black or brown. Probably to differentiate themselves from the karate dojos.

There are still a few rare schools that focus exclusively on kobudo instead of the more common karate instructors who also teach some kobudo. It makes sense, especially at cultural events where both are present. It makes it easy for judges and everyone else to know at a glance who is doing what as soon as they step up.