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Kevin Meisner
17th September 2001, 05:32
Does anyone here have any idea why a blue judo uniform is being used as of late? A person in another thread also mentioned other colors as well. Any ideas? Thanks.

JimmyCrow
17th September 2001, 05:47
Blue Judo gis are used in competition to differentiate between the players. In International competition I have seen matches with Blue gi vs. White gi and White gi vs. White gi but never both players wearing Blue. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I have never seen it. I also saw that thread where someone mentioned European players wearing different color gis, but I have never seen that.

I belong to a college Judo club where they check out gis to students who are members. I would find it hard myself to wear someone else's gi that has been worn to practice but not all of them can afford $50-$100 for a decent gi. Those that do buy their own usually buy the reversible kind ( I have one of each).

There are some very well known Judoka that post here, I'm sure they will give you a better explanation than I have.:smilejapa

Don Cunningham
17th September 2001, 07:02
not all of them can afford $50-$100 for a decent gi
Where can you get a "decent gi" for $50? Some of my Olympic quality judogi have cost more than $200. They do last longer, though, which makes them worth it if you plan to keep practicing for awhile. My only problem is that they are making them smaller than they used to. Mostly I wore size 5, but now I am finding the size 6 are sometimes a bit tight... :laugh:

Okay, seriously, the reason for the blue judogi was supposedly for better television coverage. With one in a traditional white judogi and the other in a contrasting blue judogi, the players are more easily distinguished on the small screen. I don't know if it's true or not, since the stations here in the U.S. rarely if ever cover judo even in the Olympics. I've heard that it also helps the referees to award calls to the right player.

MarkF
17th September 2001, 08:06
Don,
Mizuno has a single weave and without an extra belt (black, for example) the wholesale or cost to a dojo is around 48.00 US. The belt, on the other hand was 17.50, but since it comes with a 1 1/2" white dogi, you can save by dying the obi the color you need (as was done in the old days. Remember?).

It is a high quality dogi for dojo use, but if you compete a lot the double weave is a must. Teachers can wear a single Mizuno forever.

The single is almost as thick as the dogi I used in the sixties and seventies (they shrunk, too, over time).

Yes, television and simply to watch a match from the stands greatly improved a person's enjoyment of watching the matches, but the side-effects were also beneficial. It lowered, on average, shinban error enough to re-tell the story of the blue judogi.

In IJF sanctioned events, as of 1997, they were mandatory in most international events, anyway. The reversible dogi came out a bit later, but not much. Most local or state tournaments do not have to use white v blue, and while some do wear blue dogi, both cannot wear blue according to rules. In most, white v. white is still pretty much the norm, especially in the small, loca events.

While the IJF can't get judo on television here (US) simply because in the Olympics, or world championships, we don't have any winners (one in the worlds and none in the Olympics). It isn't that the IJF hasn't been trying, though.

But TV is not just in the US, though the big bucks are. The CBC broadcasts judo events, but they have the same problem as the US. Sponsors have this thing about winners. I hate it, too, but until the US gets over the "it's an honor just to make the team" way of thinking, it may be that way for a while.

That said, I did catch some pre-olympic programs here. What I need is a way to catch the signal into Mexico. They are/were not opposed to stealing signals, and showed hours of coverage in the 1972 games, and the world championships later on.

The Japanese judo Federation raised a stink about the blue judogi, but the IJF is in Korea.;)

Mark

Aaron Fields
17th September 2001, 15:10
Speaking of dogi..

Mark how is that Mizuno working out?

I always thought that they used blue because it is pretty.....:D

A local company sells black judo-gi.:confused:

Ben Reinhardt
18th September 2001, 06:40
Originally posted by Kevin Meisner
Does anyone here have any idea why a blue judo uniform is being used as of late? A person in another thread also mentioned other colors as well. Any ideas? Thanks.

Blue shows up well on TV in contrast to white. Using two different colors also makes the refereeing a bit more accurate, as it is easier to differentiate body parts.

Blue judogi are requied in most international comps. sanctioned by the IJF.

For the European Team competitions, some teams have custom colored judogi. These judogi are used only for those European Team Cup competitions.

Ben Reinhardt