Gi

 

Finding a Successor to My 30-Year-Old Okinawan Gi

For more than thirty years I have trained in a heavy-duty gi I brought home from Okinawa. The label reads “Budo OMA Brand,” a name that has all but disappeared today, yet the uniform itself has survived decades of classes, sweat, and washing. It finally began to fray at the collar and crotch, and I realized that if I want to preserve it as a memory, I need to retire it before it falls apart completely.

Finding a proper replacement proved more difficult than I expected. Many modern gis are lighter, made for competition, or designed for convenience rather than longevity. I wanted something that matched the old Okinawan spirit: thick cotton, reinforced stitching, and durability measured in decades, not months.

I looked at several options. Tokaido and Shureido remain the gold standard for traditional karate craftsmanship, with precise tailoring and high-end materials. Their heavyweight models are excellent, but they also come with premium pricing. Other brands, like Wacoku, offer solid heavy cotton gis suitable for hard training, though with more variation in quality.

In the end, I found a good balance. The Ronin Brand Super Heavyweight 16oz Gi stood out as a true heavyweight uniform with the old-school feel I prefer. It has the thickness, structure, and durability I was looking for without drifting into boutique pricing. This should be a worthy successor to my old OMA Brand heirloom while I preserve the original as a reminder of where my training began.