Blue and White Gi questions

[John Lindsey]

How widespread is the requirement to have both gi now? I was just wondering if this was just for high level matches or if it has filtered down to the youth levels as well.

So, does every judoka have to have both kinds of gi? How is it decided who wears what?

Lastly, are we going to see the Blue vs. the White in the Summer Games?

[Osoto2000]

Hi John,
Blue Judo Gi's are becoming very popular over here in the UK, however it is not yet compulsory.
The ruling that is applied over here is that the person called first to the mat, that would ordinarily fight with a red belt or tag can wear blue. However if you are called second you must wear white. So you can have two whites one with a white belt/tag and one with a red belt/tag, but not two blues. Personally I have a reversible just in case :smokin:

[MarkF]

John,
Ray just answered the question. There are reversible dogi now, and most I've seen are heavy as hell. In shiai, one usually wears the lighter weight dogi.

Most of the time, you will see the blue dogi in international competition, as it is an IJF rule, not all national arms require blue, and I like it better. People wh do not play judo, but like to attend, to a one, have told me it makes it much easier to watch, especially on TV, as that was the originla reason, but the major effect was on shimban error. It went down by thirty-five percent by 1999. Out here, no shiai requires blue, and that goes for the state tournaments, the AAU, etc. Also rare is the point scoring shiai.

[John Lindsey]

Thanks for the info. In many ways, judo gi have stayed traditional over the years. Remember back in the 70's when Karate had all kinds of wild colors and combinations? I remember one based on the American flag...oh, and lets not forget those infamous bell bottom pants!

[Joseph Svinth]

As far back as 1909, there was a guy by the name of Eddie Robinson (from California, as you might expect) who wore a red-white-and-blue belt with his judogi. Tokugoro Ito was offended, but the sportswriters just thought it funny.

The satin keikogi was a fad popularized by Elvis, who didn't like the plain cotton look. See Shane Peterson's "Elvis and the Martial Arts" at http://www.uga.edu/cuda/tigerman.html . The most requested photo at the National Archives, by the way, shows Elvis giving a firearm to President Nixon.

[MarkF]

The guy who I remember who wore a red, white, and blue dogi was Richie Berathy(sp). He was on the Tonight Show twice that I remember, once as an assistent to his teacher, I assume his teacher, anyway, and a while later, with his own students doing stunts such as setting world records in breaking bricks, one time while the bricks were on fire with lighter fluid. While he did break all the bricks, his dogi caught fire, and he was severly burned, sending him to St. Joseph's ER which is across the street from NBC television studios. That part of the show was left in.

He had also developed his one brand of kata, I believe called combat kata, and suggested to his students they get into fights to bring information as to whether they worked, which techniques, and how to improve if the loser. Kent Bergstrom was a student of his in the seventies, I believe, so if any of these statements are incorrect, he can correct me. And no, this is not really off topic.:)

As to tradition, by the early 1920s, judogi were being manufactured in several sizes with the same cut. Also, the obi was then about the same as today. Tradtion says white, and with a few exceptions, judogi are still white, except in competition and some demonstrations. The rule concerning the blue dogi was passed, with vociferous objection by Japan, by the IJF in 1997. I don't know many who have the blude dogi unless serious competitors, as they have no particular use in the dojo.

John, you don't mean bell bottoms on the gi, do you? There were two things which made the seventies forgettable: Afros and bell bottoms, and disco. Eek! :saw:

(I guess that was not an appropriate smilie, but I had to try it):smilejapa: