'Victory' Fuji Women's Pink BJJ Gi

Fuji embroidery

Fuji Sports’ ‘Victory’ women’s pink BJJ gi is a comfortable, well-cut and stylish gi, perfect for everyday training. The Victory kimono is pre-shrunk with a single weave jacket, reinforced seams and slightly heavier weight canvas trousers which are reinforced at the knees. While the colour is pretty strong – a ‘bubblegum pink’ rather than a 'powder puff' pink – it is rather understated in other respects as the embroidery is minimal but very nicely done in white and grey and, for my proportions, this is one of the top two best-fitting women’s gi I’ve ever worn.

Read the full review and watch the video

Lucky Gi review-- the bamboo fabric (new) version

I'm just going to link to the full review, since there's a bunch of pictures and comments there... but the short version:

I'm 5'2" and the size A1 was WAY TOO BIG, and it didn't shrink a stitch. Fabric felt heavenly. Quality control issues very apparent but probably don't affect the durability of the gi. But they were offensive, in a $300 gi.

Black Eagle Raptor Limited Edition Women's Gi

Raptor embroidery to shoulder and back

I have the good fortune to collaborate with a number of BJJ gi brands, including UK-based company Predator BJJ. Predator BJJ is the newly born, dedicated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu apparel wing of established UK martial arts brand, Black Eagle. Black Eagle/Predator BJJ is including a women's gi range as it launches its brand with earnest this autumn, including the lightweight competition gi, the Predadora, and the special edition Raptor which I'll discuss here.

The Raptor may be purchased by pre-order only and orders can be placed throughout August 2011 for a November 2011 delivery; the gi is priced at £99.99. Jacket and trouser sizes may be chosen separately and the gi is available in white/purple, black/red and white/black and with or without back patch. This pre-review is based on the white/purple F3 (top and bottoms).

The Look

Leoni Munslow & Meg Smitley in their Raptors

The Raptor is a heavier weight training gi, as compared to the lightweight competition gi Predadora, and includes a pearl weave jacket with 'rash guard' inner lining and heavier weight cotton canvas trousers. The women's Raptor boasts a lot of embroidery and detailing, which makes a strong impact. The purple is a more pastel shade on the red end (versus the blue end) of the 'purple spectrum', think 'a lavender mauve' versus 'an indigo purple'. The stitching, embroidered patches, drawstring and the piping along the hem of the jacket are all in this shade of purple. Ornate patches are included at the shoulders, the bottom of the right trouser leg and a 'mega patch' on the back. Cursive script with the words 'Special Edition Kimono' appears on the front over-lap and back skirt; here I might make a slight modification and ditch the writing from the back of the gi, but overall I think Seymour Yang aka Meerkatsu did a superb job designing the Raptor patches. Inside the jacket are further details, such as a sublimated version of the back patch on the inner lining and a bright 'royal purple' ribbon to hide the seam connecting the lining to the jacket.

Read the full review and watch the video

Datsusara Hemp Gi

Sorry ladies, but I'm tight on a deadline at work. Wanted to share a review I just wrote though, of the 100% hemp gi made by Datsusara MMA. So I'm just linking to my review and photos, found here.

Predator BJJ Clothing: Women's Predadora BJJ Gi (Pre-) Review

Predadora Front

Over the past few months I've had the pleasure of working with Predator BJJ Clothing, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu apparel wing of trusted UK martial arts brand Black Eagle, in the development of their women's BJJ kimono. Black Eagle has been creating quality BJJ gi for some years now and sponsors male and female UK athletes (not to mention our Q1 London BJJ Women's Open Mat); the development of the Predator BJJ wing of Black Eagle's business represents a renewed and dedicated effort to create a wide range of men's and women's gi and no gi clothing. The Predadora women's BJJ gi is the first step in this process as far as kit for the ladies goes. In collaboration with Predator BJJ and the readers of MegJitsu on Facebook, we've developed the Predadora, a lightweight competition gi tailored for women. I've had an opportunity to road test a sample of the Predadora and offer you this pre-review of the gi; a fuller examination of the wherewithal and cut of the gi will follow once we've got access to production quality versions (a sample gi gives an insight into the final product but by its nature isn't fully representative of the tailoring).

Predadora: Who Is She?

Shoulder Embroidery

The Predadora, named using the feminine form of 'predator' in Portuguese, is a lightweight women's cut gi and will be offered in three colour options:

• white with turquoise lettering and silver eagles
• blue with pink lettering and silver eagles
• black with electric blue lettering and grey eagles

My sample gi is the blue version and you can check out Predator BJJ's Facebook Page for mocks of the three colour combos. Predator BJJ made a huge effort to get the colours right with the option of the much-loved turquoise, a wee bit of pink and a poppin' blue on white, blue or black backgrounds, respectively. The idea is to provide alternatives to pink that are feminine and fun to wear. The Predadora will be offered in women's 'F' sizes with the option of buying jackets and trousers as separates. Expected retail price is £74.99 (white) and £84.99 (blue and black) and expected availability is September from the Black Eagle shop.

Read the full review

Fenom Lotus A1/A2

UPDATE: So Triin offered to send me a once-washed A2 for free, as a replacement (I would only have to pay for shipping). Can you say awesome!?!? It just arrived today, and it seems to fit much much better. I'll do a full review (see below) once I roll in it a few times and wash it. But regardless of how it fits, she totally made a customer for life (I'm definitely going to be rocking a Fenom t-shirt soon if the gis don't fit).

So as a welcome back present from summer break at home, my boyfriend (in Tennessee, where I go to school) got me a Fenom Lotus A1. SQUEEEEEEEEE!!! I had only wanted it for months, and I was excited to finally get one. Since my second gi didn't really fit me so well, I was hoping this one would.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. I'm ~110 lb, 5"4', with long limbs and a short torso. The pants were rather short, as were the sleeves. Asides from that, though, the gi was very nice. The material was light and yet felt strong, and I loved the F design. I wore it (and competed in it once) for about four months, but I just sold gave it last week to a 14-year old girl, who fit into it better than I did. This will give you an idea of why:

I e-mailed Triin about any difference in pant sizes for the black and the white gi, since I really like Fenom but can't get another gi that fits this short on me. She responded promptly (less than an hour), telling me that the first batch of Lotus gis were inconsistent in shrinkage--some shrank a lot while other didn't shrink at all. The Classic (black) gis are cut longer to begin with, so I'm waiting to hear back from her about the return policy. If all goes well, I'll likely get the Fenom Classic and post here when I do!

Updated review: The A2 fits much, much better. The length is just about right, although it is a tiny bit...busty for me (I can totally deal with that). It came washed once, so I don't know the original lengths, but I washed it in cold water and hang dried it and it didn't shrink any more (if at all).  Rolling in it was wonderful--it was as light as the A1, the drawstring was actually better (I really like this one!), and it will probably be my go-to gi, especially now that spring is coming.
Measurements:
Pant length: 33.5"
Inseam: 23.5"
Waist: 40"
Jacket length (as measured down the midline of the back): 28.5"
Sleeve length from collar to cuff: 25.5"

And pictures:

The sleeves are just about the perfect length for me.  Pants are a tad on the short side, but that's probably better just as long as they're tournament-legal.  I would definitely recommend this gi to anyone who is thinking about it.

Buy Women's BJJ Gi as Separates

Fenom Lotus at the
WJJ Championships 2010

Fenom Kimonos is the latest manufacturer to offer jackets and trousers as separates. In my review of the OTM Supa Star I suggested the wisdom of this approach as a means of allowing women of all shapes and sizes to get the best fit; I noted in my review of the Atama Leticia Ribeiro Limited Edition that being able to chose the F3 top and F2 bottoms allowed me to get a much better fit than women's gi normally provide for my shape. Fenom was listening. You can now order a gi as separates through their site. Hope this helps some of you find a better fitting kimono.

Read more BJJ gi reviews