Frequent readers will recall that I have been waiting with baited breath for the delivery of my new Meijin Tropical Weight Karate Gis.
The advertising at the Dragon-Tsunami Website, where you can order them, indicated that they had improved the material used in the tropical weight karate gis, moving from a 9 ounce cotton twill to a 10 ounce cotton canvas.
The improvement in material, in conjunction with the well-thought out and sophisticated design of the Meijin Tropical Weight Karate Gis, has given me my favorite karate gi. Ever.
After the first washing, there was some shrinkage, which is fine. I abuse the heck out of my gis, and want them to get used to it early. So I use hot water, bleach, detergent, and nitroglycerin (well, not nitroglycerin) on ‘em to see what happens. And the answer was easy.
They survived with flying colors. The shrinkage was about what I usually expect from a gi, and moved the gi into a perfect size range for me (I figured out that I want a size 5 in a Meijin gi, and I currently weigh 160 pounds at 5’9″).
Durability may be a factor, but frankly, I almost don’t care. I bought five of them, because I already knew I liked the design a lot (Meijin keeps costs down to the bone for a world-class gi by keeping their product line down to one. There’s only one design. That’s it, for those of you wondering.) The reason that Meijin does just fine with only one design is that it’s a very, very good design.
It’s essentially the design of my favorite childhood gi, my 1968 Tokaido traditional fit karate gi.
But Meijin improved it by adding longer ties and providing a little extra room under the armpits so your gi doesn’t pull out of your belt when you’re doing rising blocks or the “sky punch” in the kata Jion.
These reached me just in time for Monsoon Season in Phoenix, Arizona, where I get to study Shotokan Karate with Sensei Shojiro Koyama, 8th Dan, JKA.
And since the dojo is a little warm during the summer, the wicking effect of 100% cotton makes more sense to me than an ultra-lightweight karate gi made with polyester, which, in my experience, doesn’t wick worth a darn.
And in Monsoon Season, training in Shotokan in a dojo (clean, well-lighted though it is) with swamp coolers, you want wicking. Wicking good, not wicking bad.
If these things disintegrate like my buddy’s new, sad Chinese-made “Tokaido” gis, I’ll let you know. I do not expect it, but I beat up my gis in the washer and dryer like a madman, so if they start to scream, I’ll blog about it.
Also, note that nothing in this or any other post I’ve written is designed to suggest that the Japanese-made Tokaido Karate Gis made with the famous blue-white 100 per cent cotton no. 10 canvas are anything but magnificent. But the recent production from China….well, you would probably do better to hold out for Japanese-produced Tokaido karate gis. At least, based on the famous disintegrating Chinese-made karate gis my buddies bought and discarded recently.
p.s. the other reason I bought five of them is that Meijin gives a huge price break for a five-gi order. And I already knew I liked the design, and I’d figured out the best size for me.
p.p.s. did I mention the insanely good customer service when ordering from Dragon-Tsunami? They’ve always gotten my order right the first time, which makes me so happy. And they’re as nice as can be on the phone. I wish they’d give customer service classes to everybody.
p.p.p.s. I wore the new gi last night for training. Humidity was about 119%. Temperature was about 300 degrees. The gi fit, moved, and wicked like a CHARM! I moved like an old guy in white pajamas, but that’s a different story.
This is one nifty gi, and the replacement of the 9 ounce twill with the 10 ounce canvas was a huge improvement.
Update: actual temperature was 108 degrees on my way to the dojo tonight; and actual factual humidity was 21 per cent.
And the gi wicked like a champ, and there was a lot to wick. I LOVE THIS GI!
