Showing posts with label Koral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Koral. Show all posts

Monday, October 26, 2009

Koral

Elyse's Koral

I bought my Koral right after getting home from Switzerland. I realized I would need more than one gi if I wanted it to be clean for practice everyday (no longer with the ridiculously unhygienic habit of not washing it). This is when I did most of my research on gis and in the end decided to go for two -- one Koral, one Keiko.

My Koral is size A1, classic weave.
The jacket shrunk slightly, and the pants shrunk alot. The pants fit extremely well now with plenty of room for movement, but still fairly close fitting. They've faded, but are still pretty rough fabric. I love the Koral string -- very easy to pull and stays tied pretty well. The collar of the Koral is really stiff and hard to grab, also good for defending chokes. Still, the Koral is very large across the shoulders and back. The jacket is thus pretty baggy and doesn't stay on very well despite the jacket flaps closing all the way across. When you let the Koral air dry, it becomes extremely stiff and rough; however, if you put it in the dryer, it comes out nice and soft.

Shipping from Koral was pretty fast! Score!

Pros: decently sized after shrinking, nice color, patches, light weight, stiff collar
Cons: rough, still too baggy, pants fading


Overall Fit: pretty good, baggy in the chest/shoulder area
Color: white, blue, black, dark blue, dark green, red, etc.
Patches: pay more for more patches, classic Brazil competition style
Stitching: excellent
Fabric: soft, took about 1.5 years to break in
Pants: short fit, shrunk length-wise; Drawstring: fabric style (as opposed to rope), slightly difficult to pull after washing, easily straightened to fix
Jacket: mediocre fit, too baggy in shoulders/chest, long lapels close entirely hip-to-hip

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

leslie said...

leslie said...
Hey Elyse,

I'm 5'2", ~125 lbs. I have a Koral A0 (MKM Competition blue) and an Atama F2 (white). Both of these gis fit me fabulously. I'm not swimming in fabric, especially width-wise, as you mentioned.

I haven't figured out what exactly it is, yet -- maybe the "women's specific" styling -- but I adore the Atama.

The Koral saw a teensy bit of the dryer when I first got it so that it would be dry for class. Both gis get washed cold and line dryed now.

I did notice on the sizing charts for both Koral and Atama that I have a better fit from the height chart than from the weight chart. (In the weight charts for both, I'd be up a size, which would be too big.) I don't know if anyone else has noticed any such trend when sizing gis to buy, but I know that was one thing that frustrates when I'm looking for gis.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Koral gi: how they fit a woman

Koral gi are some of my favourite. A couple of folks, men and women, have asked my opinion on how Koral wear and hold-up. I have found my Koral to be hard-wearing and comfortable, and I would pass on a few tips regarding how the different lines (Classic versus MKM) fit and how to reinvigorate a worn gi.



Koral features
I have four Koral gi: two blue Classic (A1); a red MKM (A1); and a white MKM (A0). The Classic gi are tough and good for everyday training, however, as they have a slightly heavier weave than the MKM they can be difficult to dry. I prefer the slightly lighter weave of the MKM series, and while the gi top's fabric is slightly lighter than for the Classic, the collar is equivalently robust. The MKM's weave is a bit softer and more pleasant to wear and it dries much more quickly.

Read the full review after the jump! http://www.megjitsu.com/koral-gi-how-they-fit-a-woman/