How do I wear Aikido Gi Pants?

Hi. This will also be my first post. As you can guess im new to Aikido and also wearing a gi.

I got my Aikido gi from e-bogu.com and the pants are the kind that have two loops at the waist, one on left side and one on right. I think i have concluded that these loops go in front, but how do i tie these pants?

Everyone I know has always tied them with a basic shoelace bow, Me included... suppose you could double knot them if ya want to be trapped . Not really something to be too worried about, not compared to the different styles of wearing and tying a hakama.

I know the feeling about the whole pance thing. It took me 10 minuts to figure it out.
You put the loops in front. Put one string through each loop and pull. Then tye in a boe, i double knot mine, I have seen to many people's pance come untyed and fall off.
If you want the trueth it took me longer to figure out how to tye the belt, that took months for me to figure out.

i figured i would be wondering about the belt for a long time, so i just asked fello students. Hmm my pant's straps are kinda long. I am a 5 and i bought a 6 online to be safe. I shrunk it down to a 5 but the string is still a bit long. I guess i will just wrap them around once then double knot it.

I would reccomend that if someone knows their size, they should order in that size. Yea a gi can be shrunk, but not all the places shrink equally. On my jacket the arms shrunk but the length of the torso did not shrink much. So its maybe an inch or two longer than what i see on most people.

I have a pair where the pants didn't shrink much but the drawstring did! It looks really stupid, but fortunately it's under my gi jacket.... I think I will take that drawstring out and put in elastic.

My only advice is, tie the pants adequately tight while you are in the dressing room as it can be difficult to adjust them when you're on the mat, and having your pants fall off in mid-ukemi is to be avoided.

Oh, another piece of advice: don't put your gi in the wash with anything that's not colorfast, because pale-pink gi are really embarrassing. They soak up dye very well and it is hard to remove.

Bu Jin sells elastic-waist gi pants if you decide the whole drawstring thing is not for you. I love them but they are a bit expensive.

Mary Kaye

Tie some knots in the end of the drawstring, and it will help prevent the drawsting from 'disappearing' into the pants.

Larry Feldman wrote: Tie some knots in the end of the drawstring, and it will help prevent the drawsting from 'disappearing' into the pants.

Another tactic is to sew through the drawstring at the front of the pants so that the drawstring won't move.

I can't say I've worn a drawstring-based pair of dogi pants in quite some time. I very much prefer the clasp-based pair of dogi pants that I get from Bu Jin Design. I've had too many drawstring-based pants stay knotted at the worst possible times (eg need to go to the bathroom!) due to the drawstrings being drenched with sweat. They're quite a bit more expensive, but they last for years (especially under a hakama).

-- Jun