I have indeed been looking for a light weight gi after reading how quickly Christian Graugart's ultra light ones dried when he was travelling and how they made traveling the globe with gi(s) that much easier. A few of us from The BJJ Labs in Manchester are planning a weekend BJJ trip to London (and I'm travelling to Cape Town in September, where I will visit a few South African BJJ academies) and I'd rather pack less than more so it was only fortunate that Jimmy gave me this awesome gi (to buy, visit this link: Live Love Fight), and awesome it is:
Gi Jacket
- One piece jacket with no back seam, perfectly suitable for back patches.
- Lightweight 450g pre shrunk
- EVA Foam Collar
- Contrasting colour stitch
- Heavy reinforced Seams
- Tailored Fit - it made me look very skinny!
Gi Pants
- 12oz Ripstop cotton pants with pearl weave flexible groin panel
- Red cotton drawstring
- Multiloop system (there must be 37 loops or something like that!)
- Contrasting color stitch
- Heavy reinforced Seams
- Double reinforced knees
- Tailored Fit
Check out their website on Live Love Fight for more details.
Appearance:
This is one sexy mofo of a gi, and it comes in white, blue and black. It's very simple, which is why I love it. The decorative embroidery is very selective (the lion on one arm and cross on the other) and, along with the contrast stitching, makes it a very classy martial arts uniform for BJJ.
As I mentioned above, the gi jacket back is left blank with plenty of room for gym or BJJ team patches. The inner tapings of the sleeve and leg cuffs, as well as the bottom of the jacket skirt are adorned with minimalistic art.
Is the combination of a lion with the big flaming cross everybody's cup of tea? Probably not, but as I said, I found it to be selective and very beautiful.
Fit:
I wore the A2 size – I'm 175 cm tall and way 84kg. I have shortish arms and legs (not like a frikkin T-rex but you get the idea!). I haven't washed and hang-dried the gi yet but I have no plans to shrink it.
It is a very comfortable gi, if you look at the previous post you will see me showing side control escapes wearing the gi. I don't think my friends down at The Labs quite appreciated me constantly remarking that the gi was so light it felt like I was grappling naked but it's true! I weighed myself with and without the gi and the difference was exactly 1.7kg!! I have books heavier than that!
Price:
As I mentioned, I got the gi thru a friend, but when I checked their website and did some quick currency calculation (US$89.99 offer currently on), I realized that it's absolutely great value for money gi. Please do, however, keep in mind that if buying from the USA shipping and custom tax adds to the cost. Live Love Fight is a new brand and not many retailers stock it at the moment.
Check out Live Love Fight for more details.
So, out of 10 what would I give it? I would definitely give it a 9! The only thing I can say against it is potential shipping and taxes and that the embroidery might not be for everyone. I and a few others down at The BJJ Labs love it, but my coach Martyn had more than one or two comments to make :)
One more chance to take advantage of the sale at: Live Love Fight
Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi
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13 comments:
I love your poses :)
Dang, $90 for a gi, that's not bad. One of my training partners has their white one, with the embroidery in kelly green, and it looks and feels SHARP. Thanks for the review!
Thanks Georgette. It's an art for really and it helps that I have a black belt in Silly-do! At one point I was actually taking requests.
I was very happy with James' generousity in the first place and blown away by how light and great-fitting the gi was.
I'm hangin up my boots!
Nice gi, their last one with all theinside printing I think suffered a little unfairly from criticsm on Sherdog.
Very nice. I like the artwork, very UK. Which is a GOOD thing. Sounds like a very nice light weight gi. Gonna have to tell the guys at the gym to check out your review. WHY did you make me wait so long? Just kidding, very nice job, thanks.
Haha many thanks Seymour. I haven't seen the previous one but I can imagine. I think when it comes to decor you can't please everyone. I really liked how the symbols were sparse yet big. Martyn, however, kept remarking the whole evening on my "Crusade-gi" :)
Thank you for the kind words Jodi. As for the design being very UK, that's VERY VERY interesting as I was just the other day talking to the Layout designer of a big UK Martial Arts magazine and I said how UK design to my foreign eyes is very....busy!
To me the whole big cross thing and lion and general Grrr Macho thing is Polish, not necessarily UK, but then again crosses and lions have featured in English designs for years. Anywho, I'm pretty sure they are an American company (associated with World Martial Arts - the video peeps).
Thanks again for re-posting with your peeps at the gym. Next time I do a review, I promise to make the wait longer. I quite enjoyed teasing you :)
Whew - Liam didn't notice that I still haven't posted any pictures of myself... SHHhhh don't tell him...
@Jodi
Hahaha I got distracted indeed :)
not much of a gi expert but I am looking into getting one and this review (and the price) may be swaying me towards this one. I am currently rocking my old black trad jj blitz gi that is faded badly to a sort of pale grey.
I dont want to pay much more than £60 for a gi and am not sure how much shippin tax etc.. will be whacked on top of this if i bought one. You got any idea?
Have also looked at the tatami nova basic and the tatami zero g. You got any experience with either of these? Any recommendations which is best?
thanks Graham. you are indeed talking about three different gi's here:
Nova: Good beginner gi. It's not the toughest, lightest or fanciest, but they are good solid beginner gis. They are what we sell as standard beginner gis down at Fighting Fit
Zero: Fantastic light gi. beautiful and well made. http://meerkat69.blogspot.com/2010/02/great-british-gi-review-black-eagle-v.html meerkatsu will tell you more. I do like the weave of the garment.
Black Diamond: This is one sexy mofo. Not to mention it's made with Rip-Stop pants. weighs 1.7kg which means my training bag is lighter to and from the gym. Shlepping that bag 3-4 times per week does become a chore.
To me the Nova/Zero/Diamond are like Ford Fiesta / Honda Civic / Harley Davidson!
I've sent an email to LiveLoveFight to ask about estimated costs and delivery time. We'll say what they say buddy.
I know what you mean about old skool gi's though. If you find my picture standing with Professor Roy Harris, you'll notice I'm wearing my good ol' paper thin karate gi :)
Oh how we evolve :)
Thanks for that Liam
As I am training in the gi a bit more regularly now I figured it was time to bid a fond farewell to my trusty old blitz :)
Interesting that you compare the nova and zero g to cars and the diamond to a motor bike ;) hahaha.
I looked on the livelovefight website and they dont actually sell the gi themselves, groundfighter.com / worldmartialarts do that. I will fire off a mail to them and post back there response.
As I am a complete bjj beginner and only training once a week in the gi, maybe I would be best off with the nova for now??
Hi Graham, yes please do update us.
I compared it to a Harley coz it's that cool :)
If you're going with Tatami, check out their 4 day summer sale
http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/716993/0dcd0bb5cd/ARCHIVE
LEt us know what you end up buying :)
From looking into this I found that International shipping via ups comes in at a fairly hefty $59.30. They ship it as a gift so it may be exempt from customs duty on that basis, but im not sure. So with current sale price of $89.99 you are still looking at $149.29 (£91ish)
At its normal price of $199.99 that gi with shipping to uk comes in at $259.29 (£160ish)
So despite this excellent review... I think I'll look into the Tatami gi's ;)
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