[beatdownvictim]

ISAMI Red Gi Review

The first thing that I liked about the Gi was the relatively low cost of the Gi. For $30 on ebay, it’s a good deal. Of course they’ll have to rape you on shipping, so they tack on $50. Nevertheless, to my knowledge, for $80, I haven’t seen any red gi’s for $80. What you gotta do is keep in mind that there's VERY few red gis out there, and usually you pay a hefty premium on the red dye, so taking that into account, this was a crazy deal Shipping was quick. 2 days after auction, my tournament gi was in my hands (I'm in Hong Kong, it cost them 3500 Yen to send it). Packaging was nothing fancy, two plastic bags labeled ISAMI and that’s about it. When I opened it, there is this smell to the gi. It is most likely the smell of the dye or just good old JDM goodness. The gi is soft. I like that. I still prefer the softness of women, but as for a gi, this is great. The ends of the sleeves are reinforced and slightly thicker than an old Adidas Judo (model: Club gi). The ends of the Adidas gi appear to be just folded in and stitched, whereas the sleeve ends of the ISAMI gi appear to have extra material tacked on. The collar is very thick. If you look at an ordinary writing pen (BIC pen), it is about 1.5 times the thickness of the pen. Also, there's a vertical line running through the back of the gi, so no, unfortunately it isn't a one piece design. The gi is good for guys with wide shoulders and long arms. I have a body builders type build and it fits great. There are only two negative aspect of the gi. One is that there are a few loose threads and buds here and there. These can be easily cleaned up of course. The other thing is, even though it is good for guys with wide shoulders and long arms, I found there to be bunching by the front of the shoulders. It bunches up so it appears to be two flaps for grips. I think this is partially due to the fact that body types similar to mine, don’t fill up the gi completely when we are so wide. Maybe I’m wrong, feel free to chime in. I haven't washed it yet, so I don't know if it's gonna bleed. I'm gonna take the precaution of soaking it with vinegar before washing it just to lock in the dye. I'm happy to report that the gi is completely in the “Shashiko” weave, so there's no diamond skirt here.

Pants: These pants are thin. Some people may not like that, but I overheat easily and for me, I prefer everything thin. The pants are similar to the Adidas gi pants, except I found it slightly softer. It uses a drawstring instead of rope. The bottom of the pant leg seems to be reinforced so it’s slightly thicker and stronger there. It is tapered to the knees and is more form fitting than my Adidas pants. Since I have only this and the Adidas gi for comparison, I found them both relatively similar. The only major difference is the ISAMI gi pants are more tapered; the softness issue could be a mental thing.

Conclusion: I needed another gi for tournament purposes. This ISAMI gi meets my needs. It is light, appears to be strong and durable, and it’s a cool color. The jacket was an improvement over my Adidas gi while the pants left me indifferent. So it is an upgrade. =) I think if you are looking for a nice red gi, this ISAMI gi is a cool one. It comes with only one embroidered ISAMI logo on the left sleeve and that’s all. It’s ready for your school or team patches. Overall, I’m one happy camper.

I would like to throw in a little insert and take the time to thank my homeboy on the west coast for giving me yet another gi. Thanks yo. I’ll be training hard till we roll. Come November 2007, I’d like to dedicate my victory to you n the rest of the homeboyz in the West. Watch for the video and the walk. Yet, I’m still not swayed, I’ll consider owing u a purple, but let me get my blue first. Peace


*edit: if there's something i missed, let me know. i'll be glad to help out. This forum helped me out bigtime, so heres my way of helpin out. Thanks.