Karate Gis & Fit

[Shotokan Seishin]

I might get my fingers slapped for posting this in two forums, but I'd really like to get a broad opinion base.

I'm looking for a new karate gi that is going to FIT me. Being a woman though this has turned out to be a bit harder than anticipated.

Is there a karate go out there that is tailored to the female figure and actually does a good job of fitting? My biggest issue is that I tend to fall between sizes. Because of this I select the larger size to account for shrinkage. When I didn't select a size up the gi was fit great when I got it but shrunk too much even after it was washed in cold water and hung to dry.

The jackets tends to be the biggest problem child of my uniforms. They tend to be way to wide across the shoulders. This causes the shoulder seam to sit down my arms at the midpoint to my biceps. When I raise my arms the gi jackets yanks out of my belt and subsequently bunches up and has to constantly be yanked back down.

Can anyone recommend a gi that fits women well and can speak from experience?

 

[Blindside]

Male, cannot speak from experience, but I suspect most gi fits are going to be individual rather than just male/female. a 4/11 100 pounder is going to have different fit issues than a 5'6" 170 pounder.

That said there are certainly gis designed for females:
Juka Diamond: JUKA Uniforms

 

[dancingalone]

The reality of it is if you want a uniform with the best possible fit and look, you have to buy a quality uniform and then get it tailored to suit your individual measurements. A few of my serious female students do this and I know a top level WKF competitor who does the same.

I'm told by my student that she uses a bridal shop for her alterations and that the modifications she requests are fairly easy for these people. They charge her $80 and she considers this a bargain given the quality of the work, the personal fitting and measurement service, and finally that her uniform can be expected to last through years of hard service, so the cost over time becomes negligible.

Your own mileage may vary.

 

[JR 137]

I'm a guy, so take it as you will...

In addition to Juka, Century makes a women's fit gi.

I have problems getting any clothes to fit me right, and gis are no exception. The jacket is usually too short, the front opens up, and the pants are too wide and round.

The only brand that fits right that I've tried is Shureido. If you're in the States, call Shureido USA. Over the phone, they'll have you measure yourself and your current gi. They'll ask you how much longer or shorter you want things, etc. Then they'll suggest a size that accounts for shrinking. They know how much the gi will shrink in different directions.

Shureido isn't cheap. I ordered their middleweight gi, the K-11. Cost me $185 (no tax and shipping charge). I could have ordered it elsewhere for about $20 cheaper, but I'd pay about that in shipping and would have ordered the wrong size.

When it arrived, it was HUGE on me. The jacket went to my knee caps. Washed warm and dried 4 times, and it's a little bigger than they said it would be. It'll slowly shrink the rest of the way.

Sorry for the long post. If you're willing to spend the money, Shureido is as good as it gets. They last forever, and the material is fantastic. Whenever people ask what the best karate gis are, Tokaido and Shureido get more mentions than probably everything else combined. And for good reason.

 

[Shotokan Seishin]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

After a much research and cost comparisons I ordered up a custom fit gi from Satori Uniforms. I went to a seamstress who took my measurements which I then sent to the company. Even with my measurements they called me up on the phone and we talked a bit about fit and what I was looking for, I was very impressed with the individual attention my order received.

I've had the gi for a couple of weeks now and so far so good, I really like it and it actually FITS. I'll definitely be getting another one.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I might get my fingers slapped for posting this in two forums, but I'd really like to get a broad opinion base.

I'm looking for a new karate gi that is going to FIT me. Being a woman though this has turned out to be a bit harder than anticipated.

Is there a karate go out there that is tailored to the female figure and actually does a good job of fitting? My biggest issue is that I tend to fall between sizes. Because of this I select the larger size to account for shrinkage. When I didn't select a size up the gi was fit great when I got it but shrunk too much even after it was washed in cold water and hung to dry.

The jackets tends to be the biggest problem child of my uniforms. They tend to be way to wide across the shoulders. This causes the shoulder seam to sit down my arms at the midpoint to my biceps. When I raise my arms the gi jackets yanks out of my belt and subsequently bunches up and has to constantly be yanked back down.

Can anyone recommend a gi that fits women well and can speak from experience?

I seem to recall Bujin Design having a dogi top designed for women. It would probably be designed for Aikido, but should still serve well for Karate. I'll check with the distributor I use to see if they have any female-specific dogis.

As an aside, all the women I've trained with or taught used a generic gi without specific issues, so it may be more an issue of the brand you are using. If your chest is...um...prominent, this will obviously alter the fit dramatically, but my first wife was "prominent" as is my second, and both got by just fine with standard cheap Karate dogis. We usually wear them pretty loose (the seam being well past the shoulder sounds normal) unless and until we buy something more expensive late in our training.

 

[Shotokan Seishin]

LOL. No gpseymour, I don't fall into the 'prominent' category. It was more of a shoulder width thing that was causing the most trouble. The gi tops would be too broad across the shoulders. Because the shoulder seam sat so far down my arms when I did any techniques that required my arms to lift above shoulder height it caused the gi jacket to pull up too much.....hard to describe, but if you saw it you'd understand in a second. The jacket arms weren't positioned where they were supposed to be.

I've had generic karate gis all my time training.....I've gotten to the point where after a couple of decades I wanted something that fit properly.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

LOL. No gpseymour, I don't fall into the 'prominent' category. It was more of a shoulder width thing that was causing the most trouble. The gi tops would be too broad across the shoulders. Because the shoulder seam sat so far down my arms when I did any techniques that required my arms to lift above shoulder height it caused the gi jacket to pull up too much.....hard to describe, but if you saw it you'd understand in a second. The jacket arms weren't positioned where they were supposed to be.

I've had generic karate gis all my time training.....I've gotten to the point where after a couple of decades I wanted something that fit properly.

Interesting - I wonder if some karate dogis are shorter. I'm glad you found a great fit - a gi that feels good is a joy, isn't it?

 

[Shotokan Seishin]

A gi that fits is definitely nice! I'll more than likely get another one from this company.