Gi Review - adidas 'Response'

Short Review: The budget offering from adidas is impressive, functioning both as a high quality entry-level gi and an ideal addition to your holiday packing if you want to train abroad. It is unusual for a budget gi to be 100% ripstop, meaning that not only is this great for training trips, it dries super-fast and works perfectly for hot weather.

It's plainer than the already fairly plain adidas 'Contest', lacking the three stripes down the arm. Be aware that this doesn't really shrink at all, so pick your size carefully. Available to buy here for £57 in blue/black or £55 in white, meaning it matches the Tatami Nova on price. US customers can go here. Black is $115, blue is $110, white is $100.

Update Dec 2016: The adidas Response looks to be even cheaper now, at £47.

Full Review: When I think of a budget BJJ gi, up until now the one that has immediately sprung to mind is the Tatami Nova. That's the BJJ gi against which I judge most others: it's cheap, it fits well (on my 5'7 and 66kg frame, at least), it's light, it's plain and it's also durable. It is therefore the gi I always end up recommending to beginners, if they don't want to go with a basic judogi (at around £20 to £30, that's probably always going to be the cheapest option).

Thanks to adidas, there is now another contender for the prize of best budget BJJ gi. The adidas Response gi is the same price as the Tatami Nova (£55 in white, a few quid more in black or blue). With the new Tatami Minimo, there isn't too much difference in terms of design, as both are equally plain. What marks the Response out is that it's a full ripstop gi, so the jacket can boast a mere 265gsm compared to the Nova's heftier (at least by comparison) 425gsm.

That means as well as an entry level gi, the Response also fits into the travel gi category. Previously there was not a lot of choice in the UK. My own travel gi wardrobe consisted of the Gimono from New Zealand and the Gorilla 'Hitman' from Canada. Cimac sent me the adidas Response in December: Birmingham is rather closer than NZL or North America. Fellow keen BJJ travellers in the UK will be pleased to hear that they can get hold of a 'Hitman' equivalent from a local reseller rather than paying shipping and tax costs for the alternatives.

Comparing the two, the Response is slightly heavier at 265gsm rather than the Hitman's 250gsm, but that's a very minor difference. The Hitman also appears to crease a lot more than the Response, but it's possible the creases are less noticeable on the adidas gi because I have a black one. Like the Gorilla 'Hitman', the collar on the Response feels beefy. I'd rate the Gimono as my best travel gi, but given it's far more expensive than the adidas, that's possibly an unfair comparison.

For a beginner looking for a budget gi, I would say the Nova still edges ahead as the best choice, because on top of its quality and low price, you also get a free white belt. There's also the plus of both women's and men's sizes. To be fair to the Response, it comes in kids sizes too, so also has a decent range. The Response also has a few advantages over the Nova, such as additional belt loops: the Response includes four, as opposed to the Nova's two.

The Response gi is much lighter due to the ripstop, ideal for both travel and hot weather training, as well as drying very fast. With the ripstop weave allowing the gi to be so thin, I can fit the adidas Response on both sides of a radiator, decreasing the drying time even further. Of course, do be careful of dust if you do that, especially on a black gi. Easy enough to brush off, but it goes without saying that you'll want to check the cleanliness of the back of your radiator before you follow my example. ;)

In terms of shrinkage, the gi is advertised as pre-shrunk: I didn't notice any significant shrinkage, after over of month of regular use and weekly washes at either 30 or 40 degrees celsius. From the reviews on the adidas Combat Sports site, there are several people complaining about the lack of shrinkage, which is odd (given it says quite clearly that it's pre-shrunk), but does confirm that my experience of no shrinkage isn't unusual. A more valid criticism, at least of the web copy, would be that the size for A3 is listed as suitable for those from 5'8 to 6'0. That's a massive variance, perhaps a mistake. A1 and A2 have a more reasonable 3 inch difference. On the Cimac site, the Brummies are more sensible, with 10cm height difference as you go up each size, starting at 160cm for an A1.

For some reason, the trousers on my gi did not come with a stretchy drawstring rope, as it proclaims on the site, but a standard drawstring. The included string is supposed to be the same bungee cord as the Contest, from what I gather. Presuming that to be the case, it is also probably just as long as the Contest drawstring, which for me is too long. However, it is easy enough to chop a cord to your desired length then singe the ends with a candle (I'm speaking from experience here, as I do that with all my bungee cord drawstrings). The extra padding on the knees extends to the shins. When I kneel down, that's just enough to cover my kneecap, same as on the Contest.

The sleeves with three stripes, a striking part of the Contest gi's design, have gone from the Response. That means there is no potential abrasion from wiping your face (although with ripstop, it's less likely you'd do that given how thin and therefore less absorbent it is). Another change is no inner seam tape. The embroidered adidas logos on the shoulder and trouser legs are much the same, as is the array of reinforcements on the usual stress points: according to the website, these are also all triple-stitched.

Like many other gi companies, adidas have plumped for a rubber collar, repeating the common (and I assume reasonable) claim about reducing bacteria as a result. You also get the same satin carry bag as with the Contest (this one was a different colour, as I got a black gi this time rather than blue). The smooth material inside the yoke of the Contest gi, with the same print as the satin bag, is not present in the Response. I would guess that is down to both the reduced cost and in the interests of reducing weight.

The Response is almost the best budget BJJ gi I've tried so far, beaten (just) by only one other gi, the Tatami Nova. For a travel gi, the Response is a particularly excellent option, especially if you're in the UK and your choice is therefore limited. If you are looking for something that works both as a beginner gi and a travel gi, then the Response is a must-have decision. Also, wearing a plain black gi makes you look like a ninja, so there's that. ;p

Available to buy here for £57 in blue/black or £55 in white. US customers can go here. Black is $115, blue is $110, white is $100. For reference, I'm wearing an A1, a good fit on my 5'7" and 145lbs frame.

Gi Review - Tatami Nova (Tatami Fightwear)

Short Review: Several BJJ companies now have budget gis available for the beginner. The Nova is Tatami Fightwear's contribution to that market and it's a good one. Lightweight, slim-cut and soft, the Tatami Nova is a strong contender. I'd still recommend a judogi as a first option due to the cheaper price, but as the Nova is £52.50, there isn't a huge difference in the strain on your wallet. Even the shoulder patches come off without leaving much of a trace, which is excellent news for plain-gi obsessives like me. It comes in either white or blue, available to buy from here for a little under $90 (or just over £50 in the UK, from the Tatami website).

Update Dec 2016: The equivalent Tatami gi now looks to be their Fundamental option, available here for £58.

Full Review: I often have beginners ask me what gi they should buy. My first recommendation is always a basic judogi, such as my £20 Blitz Kokuba (currently about £30), followed by two budget gis: the Black Eagle Basico and the Tatami Nova. However, up until now, I’ve always had to add the proviso that I haven’t personally tried the Nova. So, I’m pleased to have the opportunity to review Tatami Fightwear’s budget offering, as that means I can give a more informed opinion to those beginners in future.

The Nova currently retails at £52.50, making it roughly £10 cheaper than the Basico. Gi companies love giving their weaves new names: Tatami have dubbed the method used for the Nova a 'unique High Tech Weave'. Neologising aside, I like the softer feel of this weave. The 8oz cotton twill trousers also seemed less bulky than normal, but also more comfortable as a result, almost as if I was wearing ripstop. The Basico is possibly a little thicker and coarser, but there isn't much in it. Either way, the thinner construction is a point in the Nova’s favour. I have a preference for lighter gis: less damp in my house, reduced sweat when I'm training and more room in my travel bag. However, I can’t yet vouch for its durability. I’ll update the review a few months down the line if I notice any problems.

Update Dec 2012: I've been training in the Nova regularly for seven months now and have not noticed any significant wear and tear.

In keeping with other Tatami gis, the trousers are tied with a bungee cord rather than a flat drawstring. I'm still coming round to the idea of a bungee cord, but having used it for some time now with other gis, it's growing on me (though I still prefer the flat drawstring, like on the Basico). There are only two belt loops, which may bother some, though personally I'm not all that bothered by loop quantity as long as there are at least two. In terms of negatives, the bungee cord is excessively long, but you can always cut it to size.

With regards to reinforcement, all the usual places are triple-stitched, with double-reinforced knee padding on the trousers (or at least that's what it says on the website: as far as I can tell, that means an extra layer of fabric has been sewn into the trousers from just above the knee down to the lower shin).

The collar looks to be much the same thickness as the Basico. In common with many other lightweight gis, that collar is made of rubber rather than foam, which means that the website can tout its resistance to bacteria and quick-drying properties. I can't vouch for the former without being a microbiologist, but the latter is true. The Nova dried fast, taking about 12 hours to go from soaking wet to completely dry. That's while hanging off a clothes horse in a cold English kitchen, with a few hours in the sunshine the next morning.


At 425gsm, the weight is comparable to my Kingz Ripstop, though the Nova weave is smoother. I was surprised to see that my Padilla Ultra Light is apparently a bit thinner at 400gsm, according to the website, but the Nova nevertheless feels lighter (possibly also because the skirt on Padilla & Sons products tends to be longer). In fact, it feels so light that this is the third best travel gi I currently own, after my Gimono and Gorilla ripstop. The Nova has been perfect for the intro sessions I’ve been teaching at Aro Ling, as that involves about an hour of cycling.

When I first started BJJ, I always bought A2, but since then I’ve realised that I prefer a tighter gi. A1 has therefore been my size of choice for the last couple of years. Like the Basico and Predator, the Nova has a form-fitting cut, without lots of fabric left flapping around. Helpfully, Tatami have a swish gi size calculator on their site, which makes it easy to get the right size. Of course, I’ve only tested this for my own frame, but at least in my case it seems to be accurate.


Before washing, the Nova jacket was 160cm cuff to cuff. The trousers were slightly longer than I expected, at 97cm long: I had hoped they would be closer to 90cm, as my preference is for gi trousers to stop just above the ankle (probably higher than most people like). After one 30 degrees Celsius wash, the jacket shrank to 157cm cuff to cuff, while the trousers went down to 95cm. That's where it stayed after a second wash. Assuming it doesn’t shrink much more than that, the Nova A1 is a very good fit on my 5'7" and 145lbs/65kg frame.

Anybody who has read my gi reviews in the past will know I don’t like patches. The Tatami Nova is fairly clean, with no embroidery and nothing on the trousers except a small patch. The main bling is in the two shoulder patches, which are also sewn under the collar. There are two rows of stitching, so they are slightly tougher to remove than those on the old Zero G. Having said that, the stubborn sliver of patch which is normally left clinging on under the collar was much smaller than normal. I was able to remove the vast majority of that patch residue with a bit of fiddling.

For those who don’t share my strange obsession with eradicating gi ornamentation, in an effort to be objective, I would say the design of the patches is tasteful, the bold blue contrasting well with the white and black. Naturally that comes down to a matter of taste, but this will appeal to more minimalist gi buyers, rather than somebody who wants a head-turning piece of kit. For fashionistas, Tatami have numerous other offerings, with as many patches as you could want. ;)

The Nova also comes with a white belt, which isn't always the case with gis. Admittedly, it is a pretty thin belt, so lower quality than the white belt that comes with the Gorilla ripstop, but still better than the Gracie Barra belts (which are the flimsiest I've seen to date). Regardless, it is more than capable of holding your gi closed for a couple of years, which is all you need from a white belt. Bought on their own, the average belt can range from anywhere between £5 to £20 (top of the range belts, like Kataaro and Eosin, are of course much more). If you're a beginner buying your first gi, it is therefore worth factoring that into your price considerations.

This looks to be an excellent choice for a beginner. It is slightly more expensive than the judogi I would normally recommend, but only slightly. For that extra £20, you get a better fit, smoother fabric and lighter weight. It's also a potentially good option if you're looking for a travel gi, but can't afford a ripstop gi (I'm only aware of Grab & Pull who do that in the UK, which costs something between £70-80). It comes in either white or blue, available to buy from here for a little under $90 (or just over £50 in the UK, from the Tatami website).

Gi Review - Black Eagle 'Basico'

Short Review: Just like the Predator, this gi is both light and comfortable (though not quite as light as the Predator, as the trousers are cotton rather than ripstop). It is also similarly treated to prevent shrinkage, which again means the white is especially bright. The main point of difference is the almost total lack of embroidery, apart from the two eagle logos on both shoulders. There are unfortunately still patches on the leg, which are a bit awkward to remove, though they are at least partially obscured when wearing the jacket. Available to buy here in the UK, for a reasonable £64.99.

Full Review: One of Black Eagle's best features is that they listen to their customers. In the course of producing their BJJ gis, Black Eagle frequently has extended consultations with various figures in BJJ. For example, Meg Smitley provided plenty of input on their female cut gis. Black Eagle are also sponsoring fellow blogger, Liam Wandi, for his writing rather than competing (AFAIK). There is even a blogger-designed Black Eagle gi, in the form of the swish Raptor by gi reviewing champion, Meerkatsu.

Flashy gis have been popular for several years now. With the advent of brands like Shoyoroll, the gi has become a fashion item. I'm sure this was true in the years before I started BJJ as well, but the clever marketing strategy of Shoyoroll (tense pre-sales, limited edition runs, 'rebel' sloganeering, etc) has accelerated that perception. On BJJ forums, gi threads often run into multiple pages: everybody has their favourite.

Yet there are also those who don't want a fashion item. They simply desire a piece of reliable, practical equipment, without any bells or whistles (as I discussed in my article on the topic). For that market, Black Eagle have produced the 'Basico' plain gi. I've mentioned numerous times that my ideal gi design is basically the same as on the Black Eagle judogi: two small logos, nothing else.


I was hoping for something similar after I heard about the Basico. For many years, my favourite gi has been the Padilla & Sons gold weave. That was partly due to the price and the quality, but also the relative lack of embroidery and patches. I've been wanting to get something even plainer, but until now the only option was either a judogi or to go overseas, where American companies like Killer Bee offer a completely blank gi. Therefore I had high hopes for this new, plain option from Black Eagle.

As far as I'm aware, Black Eagle is the longest running UK BJJ brand. The company was founded on the 1st June 2005 in Hampshire, starting as a general martial arts supplier before it made a major move into the BJJ market. Black Eagle dipped its toes into BJJ as a reseller for Atama and Kwon back in early 2006 (possibly earlier, as I'm just going off the Internet Archive) Eventually, the company would produce its own Black Eagle branded gi. A year or two after I started BJJ in November 2006, the Black Eagle standard issue gi became ubiquitous at the Roger Gracie Academy.

I was never fond of that design, which IIRC was launched in September 2007. The eagle logo was coloured by the Brazilian flag, which I thought made it look like a bird of prey wearing a t-shirt. I've also never liked large text written on a gi, which on that first offering was along the shoulders (a common practice, so once again, it's an entirely subjective matter of taste). The next incarnation, on the Mundial, shifted to a more stylish logo, but still plenty of text. That was followed by the popular Predator (which I reviewed last week), where for some reason the logo tilted, joined a few months ago by the blingy Raptor.

The Basico is a very similar gi to the Predator, being cut from the same pattern, except that it thankfully lacks the large wedges of text along the shoulders, next to the collar and across the jacket skirt. The eagle on each shoulder remains: I prefer the logo placement from the Black Eagle judogi, where they are on the arm and leg instead, but this works too. In a slightly unusual design choice (which looking again I now see is the same on the Predator), these eagles aren't arranged to face each other when you have your arms at your sides, as you might expect. Instead, they look in the same direction, which I found a little odd. However, that's not a flaw, just something I wasn't expecting. ;)

There are a few minor design shifts in the jacket, restricted as far as I can tell to the choice of patches on the lapel and inside the collar. Rather than the monochrome eagle logo used by the equivalent patches on the Predator, the Basico is a bit more colourful, taking the Brazilian flag as a template. The main distinction is that the jacket weave is also different: the Predator was a pearl weave, while the Basico uses a gold weave. The length from cuff to cuff was the same, at 153.5cm, staying there after a wash at 30 degrees Celsius. There was some slight shrinkage elsewhere though, as the jacket feels a bit tighter across the chest after washing.

If you're wondering how exactly all these gi weaves differ, in simple terms, there are three: single, double and gold, with ripstop being a recent fourth addition (for more on that, see my review of the Gorilla Fight Gear all-ripstop gi, here). Single is the thinnest and lightest, while double is much thicker, meaning that it is stronger but retains heat. Gold is a combination of the two. All other names are essentially used by companies to differentiate their gi, but there often isn't all that much specifically different. For some more discussion on that, check out Seymour's brilliant post on buying a gi, then scroll down to 'weave'. In Black Eagle's case, their use of 'pearl weave' refers to their usage of a softer, tougher yarn, getting the 'pearl' name from that shiny white resulting from the anti-shrinking techniques applied to the material.

Black Eagle has the uncommon feature that their gis not only come pre-shrunk, but they guarantee it won't shrink more than 1% or 2% further, as I discussed at length in my Predator review. Normally I would get an A2, but due to that lack of shrinkage, I decided that the Black Eagle size chart indicated an A1 would be more sensible. Prior to these two Black Eagle gis, I've never owned an A1, so I was interested to see if that would fit me better (as I'm a pretty small guy, at 5'7" and about 65kg). Thankfully, it did: the cut is apparently competition legal, but it is definitely tighter than I'm used to, which I like.

The trousers for the Basico are almost exactly the same as the Predator, with two exceptions. First, that they are regular cotton rather than ripstop. Secondly, at 95cm my A1 Basico trousers are 4.5cm longer than the A1 Predator, without any noticeable change after washing at 30 degrees. I would have preferred that there was a third exception, but that similarity extends to the two large patches on the upper legs (except that they say 'Black Eagle' rather than 'Predator'). As with the embroidery on the Predator, it is possible to remove them if you're willing to put in the time.

I used a pair of cuticle scissors to gradually chop my way through the threads. The scissors broke almost immediately, but I only needed a blade to slide underneath the stitching. You then have to pull out the loose stitches, along with the adhesive fluff on the back of the patch. If you aren't careful when removing, the sticky residue from the back of the patch will stick to the trousers, rather than coming off attached to the patch.

If that adhesive remains on the trousers, when you roll with somebody wearing a blue gi, it will pick it up (though the adhesive seems to go after a wash or two). The needle holes left behind aren't too noticeable on the Basico cotton trousers, but they can be clearly seen if you remove the patches on the much thinner Predator ripstop. I'll update the Predator review if those holes cause a rip (though that wouldn't be Black Eagle's fault: after all, they aren't expecting you to remove the patches ;p).

Available to buy here in the UK, for a reasonable £64.99. The Predator is £79.99, for which you get lots more embroidery, ripstop trousers and a pearl weave rather than gold weave jacket. Either way, the Basico would be my choice, though hopefully in future they'll get rid of the trouser patches, perhaps also shorten them slightly.

Update August 2014: Sadly, the company no longer exists, as per this status update on their Facebook page. To quote the founder, "Due to the incompetence of the people we effectively sold our business to, and from which we still earn a living through a percentage of sales, Black Eagle has now ceased trading. Those concerned still owe us £20K, plus earnings, and have left us completely penniless. So, if you see cheap Black Eagle gear being sold, please don't buy it, we get nothing for it, and you will just be lining the pockets of the liquidator."

Gi Review - Blitz Kokuba Judo Gi

Five years ago, I ordered a Blitz Kokuba gi through the Warwick Judo club. It cost me £20. I got injured before I actually had a chance to wear it, but it did finally get some use the following year. By then I'd sufficiently recovered for my first experience with BJJ, an introductory session with Oli Geddes. That gi has served me extremely well: in over four years of training, the only damage has been a small rip on the knee, sustained towards the end of 2009.

Those trousers are without any doubt the softest and therefore most comfortable of all my gis. I never got round to patching up the knee, though as the jacket hasn't shown any significant signs of wear and tear, I've continued to wear it with one of the other four pairs of gi trousers I have. However, as you can see from the picture, the rip by the knee is pretty small, so I'm sure if I had the inclination, it wouldn't be difficult to fix. [Update Feb 2011: Now sewn up, so the trousers are back in rotation with my other gis.]

I really like the fit, so until the trousers developed that rip, this was my second favourite gi after the Padilla & Sons Gold Weave. My Blitz Kokuba has 4/170 written on the inside label, which seems to be roughly equivalent to an A2, if like me you're used to BJJ sizes: for reference, I'm 5'7 and 65kg. It comes with a white belt, although if you're buying this for BJJ, I'd note that there is no rank strip (judo does not not use stripes in the promotion process). There is a black logo on the end, but it is too small to use as a substitute.

As this is a judo gi, that means the skirt is longer than you would find in a specifically BJJ gi, and possibly a bit baggier. However, I've spent four years training BJJ in the Kokuba, and I can't say I've noticed much difference between this and any of my 'BJJ' gis (I've got two Padilla & Sons and a Tatami Zero G, along with another judogi, from Black Eagle). The Black Eagle is a bit baggier, but that could be because I think I washed my Kokuba more harshly: I wasn't as careful about avoiding the spin dryer until I got my Padilla, which has some helpful washing instructions included.

There is some discolouration on the seams inside, where the bleach has faded, but that is also true of my Padilla & Sons Gold Weave, which is my next oldest gi. The Kokuba is comparable in weight to my Zero G, and it is clearly sturdy, given how long the jacket has lasted and the minor damage to the trousers. Having trained in both judogi and 'BJJ' gi since 2006, I can happily recommend beginners pick up a judogi as their first purchase, because they tend to be much cheaper than their flashier BJJ counterparts. It is also a good option if you're looking for some more gis to cycle through while you're washing and drying the others.

Another advantage of a judogi is that it doesn't suffer from the BJJ billboard effect. There are only two small patches on the Blitz Kokuba, at the bottom of the lapel and by the right hip. I much prefer the look of a plain, white gi (which I've talked about before), which is why I own two judogi.

If you're about to start judo rather than BJJ and are looking for a gi, then I've got less classes on which to base a judgement. However, I have worn it to judo training, and there is some coverage of takedowns in BJJ (though of course not to the same extent: despite being closely related, there are a number of differences between judo and BJJ), and not noticed any problems.

For some reason it is rarely listed as a Kokuba: when I see it sold, it has the rather more faceless title of 'Blitz Sport Adult Student Judo Gi'. Either way, you can buy one here. If you're a student at Warwick Uni, the judo club no longer sells the Kokuba, as I believe they have a wholesale deal with a different supplier now.

Update May 2016: This gi is still going strong, or at least the jacket is (as I didn't want to pass down the trousers, due to that small rip). My student Kate has dyed it a delightful shade of pink and uses it as her main gi. :)