The Fushida Way - a gi pre-review

When I asked my BJJ mate James Carey to write an essay for this blog about his gi-addiction (Part one and Part two), I did not expect his tale to conclude with a happy ending - namely that he had found his perfect fitting gi: The Fushida Mantis. James raved about the awesome level of service he encountered from Fushida and the very exacting fitting requirements. The result was a gi that fitted him absolutely perfectly - a feat that no other gi (in his 20 or so previous purchases) had ever managed to achieve. They even removed the chest patch for him as James liked his gis plain and simple.

The revelation of a perfect fitting gi with awesome customer service was too much for me to resist so I embarked on the same journey that James did of ordering a BJJ gi from Fushida. Would the hype live up to the expectations I wondered? There was only one way to find out...





To buy a product from Fushida is to be whisked away from the noisy, tacky online malls of most other fightwear websites, and enter into the peaceful and comforting confines where elite customer service and high quality products go hand-in-hand. I can imagine Fushida, a Canadian firm, to base their operations out of a log pine chalet nestled amid giant pine trees with babbling waterfalls and tweeting birds outside...ahem...

This is more than just a gi review, pre-review. It’s the story of how the world should be - before profit and materialism got in the way of ensuring that you, me and everyone - the customer - was the person that counted the most.



Ordering and Customer Service
In all my previous reviews, I usually write the same thing: the website was fine, ordering was simple, the goods came within a few days. Not so with Fushida. You have to work for your perfect gi.

Model selection is simple enough - there are only two, either the pearl weave Komodo in three colours or the lightweight Mantis in white only. But ordering your size relies on filling in a form that requires no less than 26 size measurements. These include your entire body dimensions and those of your best fitting current gi. It is clear from the very start, that Fushida want to make your gi the very best fitting gi possible (either that or they have a fetish for stats LOL!)

The website is careful to state that you must not measure your own dimensions by yourself as this is less accurate. So I roped in my wife to size me up - arms, legs, height, wrists, ankles, waists, hips etc etc. Then I sized up my fave Vulkan Pro Light in black. The whole measuring process took about 20 minutes give or take breaks where we fell about giggling and laughingsince my wife couldn't resist tickling me, hmmm.

Anyway, entering the details into the Fushida website was a simple operation, the online descriptions and instructions were very easy to follow. Then, the next day I got an email from Fushida’s owner Christo offering his comments on my measurements.


Me, my size and I
Now here's a revelation. According to Christo, I had been wearing a gi that was way too wide for me (my Vulkans). Damn! I thought the Vulkans were perfect. He was actually surprised I did not mention the looseness of the fitting in my form (there is a box for you to write fitting notes). To be honest, I never really thought about it, I just assumed all gis were loose and flappy around my chest and the only important parts were the arm lengths. But I put on the gi again and suddenly I could see in fact that the A2 body size of the Vulkan gi was indeed pretty wide. Christo siad I had very long arms.

I always thought my arms were a little longer than average - my ‘wingspan’ measures 167cm wrist to wrist across, yet my height is only 167cm tall. That’s a ratio of exactly 1:1 (wingspan to height). Try it for yourself - hold your hands out like a robot and measure from wrist, around the back of your shoulders right the way round to the back of your other wrist. Then measure your height. What’s your ratio? do you have ape-like arms too? Well anyway, my own experience suggests that I do because a typical A2 gi fits me perfect in the arm lengths but are usually too baggy and long on my torso.


More data!
Christo suggested I measure up another gi, one that was smaller for me so he could have an additional set of measurements in which to base his recommendation. So I picked up my new Tatami Fightwear Zero G A1. This is a great gi, the body size is a tiny bit tight and the arms are just a tiny bit too short for me but I can live with it since Tatami tends to make their gis big.

After measuring it I realised that if the arms were a tad longer and the body a tad wider, the Zero G A1 would actually be perfect. The A1 has a significantly narrower torso - or lean body cavity as Christo put it - compared to the A2, something I had never noticed before, but of course seems obvious now.

So I passed on the details and Christo came back the next day.

He confirmed to me that yes, it does seem that the perfect gi for me would be one that would take into account my slim torso, long arms and average legs. Just call me monkey boy! He suggested the A1X. I love this. I get an 'X' rated gi hahah!


Going Postal
And so the gi was duly despatched. Although based in Canada, Christo said he found sending via the US Postal Service was actually quicker, and he supplied me with a tracking number too. Now that is service. I was able to follow the parcel as it traversed across depots and across the Atlantic and into the hands of our beloved department of HM Customs and Excise.

Standard cost for a Komodo Blue gi: $CAN 145 (£90 GBP or $140 USD)
Cost for shipping is: $CAN 48 (£30)
Cost for customs VAT tax and release fee: £22
Total: £142

The gi was sent to me on the 16th July and I finally got it into my hands on the 6th August - a total of 16 working days.

Would the Fushida fit me any better than my previous gis? Would it shrink too much? Would I find something wrong with it? What if it sucked??

I will reveal all in Part Two of this gi review, coming soon...





.