I am about to put a kids program in at my school and I am looking for a good source for childrens judo gi's online. I want to get them as cheap as possible.
Thanks!
cheapest i can think of is to become a wholesaler for something like century. if i remember corectly all you have to do is purchase $200 worth of product to qualify.
otherwise you are left to call gi companies and try to bargain with them, but youd be better off in the long-run and have a lot less hassle in beocming a wholesaler.
Thanks JoshuaResnick,
Thats what I was planning on doing, I just didn't know if anyone else had done this and could point me in the direction of the best deals. I am already a wholesaler for Atama, but I want a cheaper gi to give to kids when they sign up.
In addition to Century....
Hatashita (www.hatashita.com) - best to call and talk to one of them. Their economy line is Fuji, and there is a minimum order to get wholesale pricing. Fuji gis go down to size 000000 small enough for a 2 year old. Also makes Mizuno available at wholesale prices to you.
HSUJudo.com - sizes 000 - 8 HSU gis, and Adidas.
Fuji and HSU gis are comparable to one another in my opinion - starter gis (good for kids).
Ron
Thanks Ron!
truth be told, judogi's for beginners are judogi's. they are all single-weaves, all have the same cut, same seam-lines, etc.. whichever gives you the best price is a decent way to go.
my personal preference is century becuase they make gi's for mike swain who is one of my coaches here at SJSU and becuase they actually fit me better than the others.
their competition gi's are very well made and are by far the best priced gi's on the market-- wholesale or otherwise.
josh how much is the swain gi like a euro gi when it comes to cut. i am thinking about using century for my school (grappling school). thank you.
For kids gis the biggest issue should be drawstring pants vs. elastic. Unless you want to spend a lot of time tying kids pants, only use elastic waistbands for kids. It's bad enough tying all the belts.
Fuji does not make elastic waistbands so you are stuck with Mizuno if you use Hatashita. Mizuno's are better/thicker than the fuji or kwons but they are also about $5 more wholesale. I've been getting my kids gis from Kwon and didn't have to place a minimum order to get the wholesale account. HSU wanted a minimum order.
Lia at Hatashita has nothing but the best customer service. I recommend them highly and think Mizuno gis fit better than Kwons. Kwons probably fit better if you are shaped like a barrel with really long legs. I've never had a bad experience with Kwon either.
I don't have experience with the Century gis. I bought a couple of Swains when Mike used to sell them direct but stopped when Century marked them up so much. I've never checked out getting a wholesale acount with them though. The quality and fit of the Swains were great.
Another thing to consider with a kids program is the belts. Kwon offers colored belts with stripes on them. If you use the standard judo ranks for kids, they have 2 each of yellow, orange, etc. It seems a ripoff for the kids to get a promo and keep the same belt. I've done the electrical tape thing and think the striped belts at Kwon are a much better alternative.
thanks PD. the elastic pants is a great idea that i never thought of.
i did the electrical tape on my belt as a kid.. it never bothered me one bit. fact, i kind of enjoyed putting it on myself.. i remember keeping elctrical tape in my drawer just waiting for the day that my next promotion would come. special times.
the century/swain gi's are made with a european cut, but then again just about every gi is now. the last few gi's ive owned have all been century since Swain switched over to this new line instead of the kuzakuras..
before that i wore Toraki's, but i kept splitting the pants in the croth (like 5 times i had pants replaced) and then i noticed that the firmness/thickness of the gi's varied a lot eachtime id order a new one.
before that it was SFJAM/NORIS gi's.. boy, i loved those gi's, but they were so damn expensive that i couldnt continually afford them.
another cheap line you might want to consider is the JUDO STAR.. i can find out how to order them if you want.
we get all of ours from kwon. they're inexpensive and they ship quickly
Spiff,
Are you shaped like a barrel? How does your bumblebee Abensburg gi fit? Mine's a little big.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
you are on the right forum my judo friend
Speaking of barrel bodies... Those SFJAM's/Norris Sport gi's made anyone look like they had a barrel chest. It was like wearing plate mail! I only had one of those but it was a great gi.
Another thing to consider about "cheap" gis is that many of them look like tents. The skirt can hang down to the knees on some of them. I'd stick to good names like Mizuno, Swain, Kwon, Fuji, HSU, Tiger Claw.
Ha! Actually I like the way it fits and it looks slick as all get out.
I wore it once in a BJJ tourney just so i could actually compete in it. I won the match with ude then when i stood up off of the guy the pants fell to my ankles!
Thank god i was wearing shorts under it and than god it happened on a match that i won. :)
"in a BJJ tourney ... i stood up off of the guy the pants fell to my ankles!"
Is that legal! ;)