What dogi do you wear in Aikido class? (brand, weight)

Hello everyone! I've been doing aikido for a few months and I am really enjoying it. I have been reading everything on this forum for the past 6 months or so and I find it so helpful.

I have a dogi from Nine Circles and would like to try a few different brands. I would love to hear what your favorite brand and weight of dogi is. Thanks in advance!

Jay

I always had cheap dogis until recently, and the best one was a judo gi by Mitsuboshi. I just splashed out on a Miyabi dogi by Iwata and I love it. It is incredibly soft.

I always recommend getting two; depending if you can afford and how often you train. Its nice to spread-load the wear and tear, and alternate wear in case you aren't able to get a wash in.

I really don't like the super heavy double weave gi. I have a couple that just sit in my bin. I really like my Tokon Europa brushed cotton karate gi. Its really strong (I even wear it to judo sometimes), but lightweight. Minuzo is good, but expensive. I primarily use some relatively inexpensive Century single weave, my karate gi, and some $45 one I found at a martial arts surplus store in Manhattan (don't remember brand). I do have the gi spoken about in the previous thread in this category.

Hi Jay

I have the nine circles Tengu gi in the heaviest weight (750g) and the Shogun silver plus gi that I started with, now looking quite frayed in places. The Tengu jacket is comfortable and pretty robust but doesn't have the collar reinforcement that the judo-style Shogun does. It has a shorter apron that is easier to iron if you're the kind that likes the crisp rather than creased look. The trousers (pants) from Tengu are heavier with a larger reinforced area, I find they restrict ukemi a bit once I get sweaty (about 20mins in usually).

My preferred setup is the trousers from Shogun with the jacket from Tengu.

Jason Martin wrote: Hello everyone! I've been doing aikido for a few months and I am really enjoying it. I have been reading everything on this forum for the past 6 months or so and I find it so helpful. I have a dogi from Nine Circles and would like to try a few different brands. I would love to hear what your favorite brand and weight of dogi is. Thanks in advance! Jay

My favorite dogi is a 7 dollar pair of judo pants from Karate Depot and a top I found at Goodwill for 4 bucks. I dont go much for brands. I like the old Bujin hakama and the Iwata haks (cost too much for me), but the new Bujin haks are not as nice.

In my world, a gi is a consumable. I dont care about anything but it covering my boobs and fitting my capacious ass through a class. Well, okay, I also dont like how synthetic fabrics handle sweat, so I do try for natural fibers. I'm just gonna tear it up and wear it out, so cheap is mo bettah.

Now is the time for haunting the secondhand stores for gi parts, it's a halloween thing.

I have a bunch of Bujindesign ones that have been slowly deteriorating for 5-7 years. I have no idea what the Aikido24 stuff is like but I find that the LIGHT weight tops have held up better than the heavyweight ones. On the bottom side, the heavyweight drawstring pants are the best dogi bottoms ever.

I picked up a double-weave judo/aikido gi from e-bogu a couple months ago and it is TERRIBLE. It is way too heavy to be used in warm or hot weather, for one, and for two, it is just so damn bulky that it actually interferes with my movement.

I have a single-weave e-bogu judo/aikido gi from e-bogu, and it is pretty basic, a bit expensive for being so basic, and I'll be goshdarned if I know how to keep it soft. Just a very purposeful garment, the opposite of exciting. I tried to wear it for a long-duration gasshuku and wound up with most of my torso abraded.

I have to recommend Pirahna Gear for a nice clean and durabale gi. I use it for BJJ and have had no problems. I've had a really hard time finding a gi because I'm pretty tall but also pretty thin. This company sells in size tall and thin. I actually have another gi that is $50 bucks more money and might be a little more durable, but I like the pirahna gear much more for its fit and comfort. ~$70 450g single weave.

I've also heard good things about the Fuji gi, which has minimal patches. No tall and thin sizing though. ~$80 but probably much more durable (double weave).

Hayashi from TigerClaw.com. Been using their light weight judo uniforms since 2000 and they have always held up very well. My oldest one is going on 5 years and is holding up well. Just bought two Tozando uniforms based on feed back from one of my students who order from them. We'll see how well they hold up.

I'm not very familiar with the company because I order through my dojo, but mine is an "HSU Kodokan" gi. They seem to hold up pretty well. Not sure about the weight, but it seems a bit on the heavier side from what I've seen. I'd reckon I got a solid 5 years worth of use out of it (I wore it for almost 15 years but the last decade of that was with very sporadic training). I just replaced it last year when it ripped around the floating ribs area. It took a lot of washings.

I wear Biesu double-weave gi exclusively. They are heavy and pretty pricey, but they last forever. I have a couple that are getting to be around 8 years of service and they are still in good shape. When I travel I carry a cheap karate gi and a lightweight hakama. My regular gi would fill my overnight bag and are just too bulky for airline travel.

A DanRho Dojo-Line Judo Gi (425g/qm). I think it's perfect for Aikido - not too heavy, not too expensive and it lasts.

I started in Judo and purchased a Bold judogi. The school also taught Tomiki Aikido which I switched to after a month. I have had that Gi for over seven years and has done well for me. I recently switched to a lighter weight karate Gi made by the same company, Bold. I went to a lighter weight gi because down here in Florida it is getting hot and it is just the beginning. Besides it is good to have a back-up gi.