Comments on: Plain White Gis

By: Theodore Kruczek

Theodore Kruczek — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Just to be clear Tess, if you don’t have a problem with the patches, then wear them proudly. I think you understood I was talking about schools that charge $120 for their patch, require it to train there, and then teach watered down karate to make money. That is very different from a good school encouraging students to support it by wearing their patch. Glad to see we have some more flavors of Shorin-ryu karateka on the site.

By: Tess

Tess — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:55:00 +0000

The school I train at practices Shorin-ryu Shidokan, and we go with the plain white gi for adults and teens. We are strongly encouraged to have a patch with the Dojo name on it, and additional style specific patches are optional. I personally don’t have a problem with patches and embroidery as long as karate is the real emphasis.

By: Sensei Kruczek

Sensei Kruczek — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:38:25 +0000

I wouldn’t be too opposed to a national flag on your shoulder – probably the military showing through. Does your school (or you personally) have a stance on the embroidered belts?

By: Charles Van Winkle

Charles Van Winkle — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Our school requires a white gi. Patches are optional. There’s a couple guys that have an American flag on a shoulder and the Isshinryu logo on the left chest area. I like everything plain and simple. A colored belt is all the color I need.

By: Theodore Kruczek

Theodore Kruczek — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 06:42:00 +0000

Nice to have you on the blog Susan. Interesting perspective, perhaps you are right – it is juvenile, but that can be a good thing in certain cases. I personally have a tough time teaching kids. I can do it, and think I do it well, but I always have that desire to push them into more adult oriented Karate and need someone standing over my shoulder telling me to just relax and have fun letting them be kids while they learn Karate.

I agree though with your last statement, “I’m all for anything that makes him put more into his karate!” I would much rather young kids doing real karate with excessive patches and belts than have them dress in a plain gi and do overly watered down karate.

Thanks again for your thoughts and please let me know if you have any others.

By: HedgeMage

HedgeMage — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:41:00 +0000

I have mixed feelings on this one, to be honest. I’m not a big fan of having “stuff” all over my gi, nor do I really care what color my belt is or if I look different than someone of lower rank. I just care that I am learning and growing in my study. (Enjoying it is a nice bonus, too.)

On the other hand, I think Mr. Wilson hit it on the mark when he called such things “juvenile”. I have, for the past couple of years, trained with my now-7yo son. My experience has been that while an adult can generally tell if we are getting better, little ones don’t really “get” what their little day-by-day improvements add up to without these.

Our current Shorei Goju-Ryu karate dojo even adds tape stripes to the ends of the little ones’ obis when they reach intermediate goals on the way to their next rank. We grown-ups and most of the teens don’t bother with that sort of thing, but for the under-10 crowd those stripes seem to really help their focus and motivation. So, it may be juvenile, but I don’t expect my little guy to be totally grown-up just yet. I’m all for anything that makes him put more into his karate!

By: Theodore Kruczek

Theodore Kruczek — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:16:00 +0000

I am sure there is some bias on my part, being in the military. We wear something practical and simple when we are “getting dirty” and something far more elaborate when we are dressing up.

By: Noah Legel

Noah Legel — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:56:00 +0000

At my Shuri-Ryu dojo back in Illinois we wore only white gis and had regular, solid-color belts except for iikyu which was brown with a black stripe down the center, but we did have a dojo patch and a style patch, and achievement patches were an optional thing except for Assistant Instructors (like me) who needed that particular patch so new people knew who to ask questions if the black belts were busy. At my Shorin-Ryu dojo here in Arizona we wear only white gis and adults have regular, solid-color belts while the kids have a few extras to keep them engaged, and we have a dojo patch although it isn’t required. I remember reading that same article from Goodin Sensei, and I both agree and disagree with some of it. I like the humble austerity of the plain white gi and plain belt with no patches, and I get where he is coming from as far as the money thing. That said, I don’t see anything wrong with patches denoting your dojo and your style, particularly for tournaments and seminars so that people can look at you and see what style you practice and who your sensei is without having to ask. In addition, a patch denoting kyu-ranked Assistant Instructors as such are helpful for the new students, I find, because otherwise they don’t know who to look to for help if they are shy about asking any higher ranked student. Children are a completely different story, and while adults should not need achievement patches or special belts to stay engaged, children may, and that’s just part of how children are