Uniform, gi or do-boks

How many wear a full uniform, as in something that people outside martial arts would recognise as a martial arts uniform whether it be the standard tie-jacket and trousers, robes, or kung-fu suit?

If you do, how much care do you take care of it? Is it neatly washed and ironed before each class, or just chucked into the tumble-drier at the last minute?

 

I normally wear a Gi, it used to be washed, ironed and folded after every session. Then I became a student and moved into halls and my Gi's have now gained the ability to go two sessions without being washed, and sometimes they don't even need ironed (And no, my mum didn't do it for me!)

Thanx

 

Hi

I wear a nice fancy uniform for Eskrima - and it gets washed & ironed for every class. Although I sometimes ghet lazy & just wear the bottoms & a T-Shirt.

I also wear a BJJ Gi for grappling if we're working Gi grappling in our JKD/MMA class. That's a bugger to get dry - but it gets washed & dried every time. No point ironing it though - doesn't seem to make any difference.

 

You find the same with the really heavy Judo Gi's, I think everyone should just train in shorts and t-shirts!

Thanx

 

T-Shirts

Only problem with T-Shirts is applying collar chokes etc - you go through a T-Shirt every class LOL!

But seriously - wearing a Gi or any other jacket changes the game totally when grappling. So it's vital to do both.

 

I wear a standard karate gi and yes I usually wash and iron it after every workout. In my younger days, I use to wear it all the time until my gi started walking on it's own

 

I wear a heavy gi which takes three days to dry!! I tend to wash it during the week as I train on a Sunday (2 hours) and Tuesday (1 hour). Don't bother to iron it as, after spending 20 minutes ironing it one time, I realised that it made absolutely no difference!

Recently went to a course in Skenfrith in Wales with FluffyDoc, Tintin and FreeForm and had to wear the same gi for three straight days. Not only that but we got back late on the Monday night and had training on the Tuesday so I had to wear it four days in a row!! Not pleasant!! Must invest in a second gi!

I think that it would be good to do some training in clothes that you would wear when going out and about. Not many people in Edinburgh wear a gi out on a Saturday night! Maybe i should suggest this to my sensei...oh, I think I just did!

If anybody is interested to discover what we all look like then go to:

http://www10.brinkster.com/zephyr1/aikido/frame.asp?page=gallery.html

and click on the right hand picture of the Skenfrith photos.

I'm the fat bloke at the back left; the MWB (Midget With Beard) next to me is our honourable sensei, Tintin; Next to that is everybody's favourite alcoholic, FluffyDoc (not FloppyDog!); and last but by no means least is our very own FreeForm (aka Cuddles - but it was already taken on this forum!). The three blokes at the front are the instructors, going from left to right, Mike McCavish (4th Dan), Phil Newcombe (6th Dan) and Scott Albright (4th Dan).

 

I wear the standard TKD uniform. I wash mine everytime. I fold it as soon as it comes outta the dryer (trying to avoid wrinkles LOL). But since the TKD uniforms are thin, they wear out easy, and I need a new one already.

Ironing? Yea right. LOL Maybe when I get the BB uniform someday I'll start ironing.

In my last school, the uniforms were heavier. I wore them twice before washing them. Never had to iron those (they were the "wrap and tie" ones). I still have them. I wish I could wear them instead of the TKD ones (well I actually still wear the pants .... they can't tell the difference), because the older ones are thicker and last longer.

 

It depends on what I am doing. I have a uniform for demos that I almost never drag out that gets ironed and babied. my typical training uniforms mostly get balled up and washed lol.

Rob

 

Hmm - I wash my gi after training in Shotokan - its always very hard work. Hardly break out in sweat when I am doing self defence and we don't wear our Gi for Arnis, just normal clothes for that. I was always drip dry my Gi -apparently it gives it better longevity and I only iron my Gi when I enter competitions or some such thing. I have to admit I normally iron my Gi for gradings too -you never know it might make a difference?

Hey Rowlie? Now you have a Gi - what would you do?

 

I am a heavy sweater. My gi gets washed after every class and hung up. It is always neatly folded when placed in my bag. My good gi gets ironed for special occasions.

When I train on my own a wear a pair of gi pants ( I have extra pants just for this ) and a t-shirt.

 

I wear a medium weight gi. I prefer the pants that have the drawstring with an elastic waist. Nearly lost my pants once when the traditional drawstring loosened up during training. My gi gets washed after each use. As a matter a fact I have 3 of them and a couple of pair of extra pants that I wear with a T-shirt when training on my own

 

My gi gets washed on Tuesday nights (training Sun/Tues). I wear baggy trousers and tshirt for wing chun so tend to wear whatever's been sitting on the floor for the last few days...