Review: Muaewear Vital Batch #003 Gunshin (in white)

Summary
Popular Korean gear company releases another artfully decorated BJJ kimono. This gi fitted me very well and the screen printed interior design withstood a half dozen washes.

Details
Available on the Muaewear website here.
Price: WHITE U$169 / BLACK U$179

Disclosures: I have no business or personal connection with Muaewear. I was sent this gi for review and all comments are my own personal opinions.

Introduction
Korean brand Muaewear have built a reputation as a maker of very well decorated BJJ kimonos - check out this review of one of their earlier models. Muaewear appear to specialise in creating kimonos heavily decorated with interior screen printed artwork. From my own knowledge of gi production, I know that screen printing on gis is a very expensive and difficult process and in fact some interior printed gis I have owned in the past tended to fade rapidly. I was keen to see if this happened with the Gunshin's interior print as well as how well their gi fitted me.

Shrinkage, Measurements & Weight for an A1 model
Wingspan brand new: 161cm / 151 after 6 washes
Jacket length: 74cm / 71cm
Jacket width: 53cm / 53cm
Sleeve cuff: 16cm / 15cm
Trouser waist: 52cm / 50cm
Trouser outside leg: 97cm / 89cm
Jacket weight: 1kg
Trouser weight: 550g

Details
The jacket is made from 550g/sqm Pearl weave cotton. It's reasonably light, flexible and comfy to wear.

Muaewear Vital #003 Gunshin jacket in white. This gi is also available in black. 

GUNSHIN(軍神) means "God of the War" This gi is motivated from Yi Sun-sin(April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) who was a Korean naval commander famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty, who became an exemplar of conduct to both the Koreans and Japanese.

The Chinese characters (一揮掃蕩 血染山河) on the sleeve are the same as were engraved in the General's sword and translate as: "One Sweep stains the mountains and rivers in blood"

The screen-printed artwork feels a little like rubber. It seems to have bonded very well with the fabric and did not flake or peel off after 6 washes. There were however a couple of areas where friction might have contributed to a tiny bit of fade.

The jacket embroidery is pin sharp in detail and very well applied.

The jacket, while quite fully decorated with graphics, overall the effect is tasteful and balanced nicely in my opinion. It also appears to fully conform with IBJJF rules on patch and logo placement.

Sleeve cuffs are lined with cotton tape which means it is very comfortable on the skin.

This gi has a very deep cut along the side vent, measuring 15cm long.

The black ink of the screen printed design does show through the fabric slightly.

PANTS : 10oz/sqm cotton

Nice thick and chunky rope drawstring.

Good reinforcement within the trouser seams.

Rolling Thoughts and Conclusions
This is a very attractive gi. I am very much drawn to the Chinese characters decorating the sleeves and the excellent interior artwork. I personally think that it is Muaewear's best gi design to date. What's interesting and perhaps indicative of the strength of the Korean BJJ scene is that they have the confidence to move away from the more commercially popular Japanese themed designs (such as their Koi, dragon, samurai past models) and offer a design inspired by a national hero from the Korean 16th Century. For customers outside of Korea I guess the symbolic significance of the themes matter less compared to the simple fact that it's a very pretty gi design. I am interested in seeing if future Muaewear models continue with designs inspired by Korean history and folklore.

I had great fun wearing the gi in class. It did shrink a bit more than I would like however. The sleeves ended up a bit short and I wouldn't wear this gi to competition in case I fell foul of the gi checker. Bear in mind however I do have long arms for my height. But both jacket and trousers were light and super comfortable to roll in.

I'm very impressed with the quality of workmanship. The embroidery is tight and the gi is adequately reinforced in stress prone areas. The screen printed artwork only faded a small amount, I suspect that was mainly due to friction whilst wearing the gi rather than ink separation from washing. It's only a mild effect and perhaps will continue the more I wear it, but I consider it similar to general ageing and wear n tear of other parts of gi.

My student Jason with the black version of this gi. I'm wearing he white version.

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