BJJ gi review: NVM: Non Violent Movement - Order & Progress and Death of the ego

NVMJJ or Non Violent Movement Jiujitsu - A Gi review.

I met Nathan, the man behind NVM at a seminar by my friend and EGJJF co-founder Mr Michel Verhoeven down in Kent. He came across very genuine and passionate about Jiujitsu so when the opportunity presented itself to interview him and share his story plus review a couple of their products I welcomed it. As it is often the case with Jiujitsu, when a gi brand is founded by a practitioner of the art, you see models of that gi all around the founder's parent academy and so was the case down at Fluxo BJJ. I liked the general look and feel of the gis and was excited to get started. 

I've always been far more attracted to the simple, slick designs when it comes to gis. White is the preferred colour but I'm not completely averse to black and some shades of blue. Nathan was kind enough to forward two models for me to review, one in white (Death of the Ego) and one in navy blue (Order & Progress) and while there are outwardly stylistic differences, these weren't enough to warrant two separate reviews as I'd be repeating myself a lot. I thought it'd be more interesting to compare and contrast the two models in one, more thorough, piece so here we go. 

First, a little reminder about me: the reviewer:

I am 177cm or thereabouts (5ft10) and my weight hovers around 81kg (178-179lb). Training Jiujitsu is, by far, my main form of exercise so while I have good tone all round, I'm not really on the "hench" side for my frame. 

Why am I saying all this? Because I've never, ever owned or even bothered to try on an A1 size gi. What's the point? You look in the size charts for the various gi brands and my height and weight automatically slot me in as right in the centre of the size spectrum for an A2 gi. With that in mind, I asked Nathan for two A2 gis to review.

Here is a breakdown of the measurements of the two gis fresh out of the bag(s):

Order & progress

Jacket:

Cuff: 18cm 7inch

Height: 85cm 33.5inch

Width: 56cm 22inch

Span: 165cm 65inch

Trousers:

Waist: 53cm 21inch

Outside: 95cm 37.5inch

Inside: 74cm 29inch

Cuff: 22cm 9inch

Death of the ego

Jacket:

Cuff: 18cm 7inch

Height: 84cm 33inch

Width: 55cm 21.5inch

Span: 165cm 65inch

Trousers:

Waist: 53cm 21inch

Outside: 98cm 38.5inch

Inside: 72cm 28.5inch

Cuff: 22cm 9inch

I don't think the pictures convey how beautiful these two gis are. Death of the Ego (white) is a bright, shiny kind of white with a few tiny details of colour that allude towards the more colourful and flashy interior adornments. 

A red line here, a branded hem there. Very elegant. 

The two centre-pieces are:

1. The huge, bright, beautifully designed rash guard lining occupying the inside centre of the gi jacket. 

2. The branded hand-grenades embroidered both high up on the pants near the right hip, more or less hidden by the wrap-over of the gi jacket, and over the left deltoid. 

Other than a soft-curvature to the outer edge of the gi skirt and a tiny "nvm" embroidered on the calf of the pant leg and one of the sleeves, this gi is as slick, simple and traditionally white as they come. 10 out of 10 for aesthetic appeal.

"Death of the Ego"

"Order & Progress"

Aesthetic beauty, elegant design, durable and super soft weave. My only gripe with these two beauties is the cut. I feel they are cut quite generously, or maybe I just need to hit the gym and build rounder shoulders.

With that said, I took Death of the Ego with me on my most recent trip to LA to train at the Gracie Academy. Staying at a hostel, I made sure I only packed the necessities, which meant no more than 2 white gis. I trained a total of 20 hours of jiujitsu in the week I stayed in LA. This lead to Death of the Ego getting washed and, I shudder to even say it, tumble-dried a couple of times or I wouldn't have had a clean, dry gi to take to training. As you can see from the photo above with the awesome Jake Ellenberger, it shrank beautifully and quite a bit of the excess material around the shoulders and the arms disappeared.

These two gis are now amongst my favourite teaching / seminar / grading gis. The softness of the fabric and exquisite, yet discretely placed, artwork is just that good. However, due to the generous cut and the extra handles it would afford the opponent, I wouldn't use them yet to compete.

My thanks goes to Nathan and the team at NVMJJ. Definitely a company to watch and I can't wait for what they will release next!
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