Disclaimer:�A representative from Elite Sports sent me a gi for free to try it out in exchange for the post. I�ve been training BJJ for just over 6 years. In August of 2012 I bought a white gi and...
Disclaimer:�A representative from Elite Sports sent me a gi for free to try it out in exchange for the post.
I�ve been training BJJ for just over 6 years. In August of 2012 I bought a white gi and that was my only gi for about 4 months. I�d wear it to class on Monday, wash it on Tuesday and wear it on Wednesday. Eventually, I bought a new gi so that I could train more than 2 times a week.� I liked those gis, they were nothing special, just what my gym sold.� About 2 months ago, the pants of the first gi and the jacket of the second both got ripped.� Then a few weeks ago, the first gi jacket finally developed a hole that made it unsafe for my training partners.� So I was in the market for a new gi. (By the way, in the intervening 6 years I�d bought several more gis, so I had more than just the two.)
So I was pretty excited to get to try out the Elite gi, because 1) I needed a new gi and 2) their prices are seriously low. I think they�re around $55 which is about 1/2 of what I normally pay.
My new gi showed up on Monday night which was perfect timing as I had a sparring class the next day. I got the navy blue as I had never had a navy blue gi before.
Right away, I noticed the tie on the pants. I like gis that have multiple oops and this style of cord. I�m not sure why, but it�s the little things that make me happy.
It sure looked nice, but how would it fit? I�m right at 6�0? and about 195lbs. Looking at their chart I decided to pick an A3 as I thought if & when it shrinks it will be a good fit.
I put the gi on that night and it seemed like it was a perfect fit.
The next day I wore it to our �Noon-high ninjas class� because that�s always a series of tough rolls. As I walked into the gym that morning, I noticed one of our whitebelts was wearing a white version of the same gi. So I talked to him for a few minutes. He liked it, and in fact, he�d just ordered the gi I was wearing. He said he originally paid $80 for the gi, and was pleased. When he saw the price dropped by more than $20, he added a second gi.
After an hour of sparring, I grabbed a training partner to grab some pics. You can see it fit me perfectly. And it held up to all the various grips that my teammates were throwing on me.
After I got home, I threw the gi in the washer with my rashguard and towel from training that day. And then I did something that you�re never supposed to do to a gi, I put it in the dryer. I didn�t even read the label because while you�re supposed to hang dry your gi, I never do. Largely because my wife is not a fan of our laundry room being full of damp gis.
The other reason I dried it was that I was sure I wasn�t the only one to dry their gi and I wanted to tell you how much in shrank. In reality, if it shrank, it was imperceivable. I tried it on once it was out of the dryer and it fit just as well as the pictures above.
When I need a new gi, I�ll be hitting up�https://www.elitesports.com/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-bjj-gis for another gi. (or if you�re in the UK:�https://uk.elitesports.com or�https://au.elitesports.com for Australia)� It�s a good gi and completely worth the cost.
