A) How to treat your Karate-Gi [uniform]
B) Which Dogi?
C) How to purchase Japanese Dogi

A
The best way to keep your  Karate uniform   is...

1)  After the training, soak your uniform in Napisan/washing detergent. Leave it over night.
2)  Wash in normal  cycle. If you do not have a high quality dogi, use gentle cycle. Cold water. (if exceptionally dirty, use body temprature water)
3)  When it is washed, while it is still wet, rub in Baby Powder on the area where it gets dirty (such as collar and waist line)
3)  Dry it naturally. (If you use dryers, it will shrink often.)
4)  When it is dried, iron it throughly.

Remember - how you present yourself, influences your character.
Always come to dojo with clean ironed uniforms. If you are not a big fan of ironing, Shureido synthetic Dogi is recommended as they keep their shape even after washing. If your pants/sleeves are too long, please mend them. Over-sized uniform can be very dangerous if your legs/hands get caught during the movements.

B
Karyukai sells local brand karate-gi of a reasonable quality. Karyukai members can purchase them at the dojo.

There are many cheap beginners dogi, starting about A$ 35 but cheaper ones do not make you look good and they do not last long. If you want to train seriously, then buy good quality Karate-Gi. They make you feel good and you will be more committed to trainings.

There are many brands of Karate-Gi from all over the world. I personally like Japanese dogi because they last for a long time (minimum of 3 years using minimum of once a week.) They maintain the shape and have strong endurance.

There are Kumite Dogi and Kata Dogi. Kumite ones are lighter and looser. Kata Dogi are firmer and often heavier (some synthetic onces are very light). They are designed to make good sounds when you are making kime.

When buying your dogi, you must be very careful with what size you order. Each brand has different size system. For example, I am size 3.5 for Hirota but I am size 4 for Hisho, Shureido and Taisei. I am size 3 for the local Australian brand, Aussie Power. Japanese brands such as Hirota and Hisho have slim designed pants. When ordering those brands, it is better to write 2-3 cm wider than you normally order. Shureido [ants are very wide so you will never have knee problems.

Pure cotton ones shrink in size so please buy one or two sizes larger than your height matched size.
Usually, prices differ accordingly to your size and also with your name length.

If you want to buy a quality uniform, Japanese brands are highly recommended. You can buy Tokaido, Hirota and Tokyo International uniforms directly from the link: http://kuroobiya.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=178

 

My personal 4 favorites. -Hisho, Shureido, Taisei and Hirota.

 

In general, the more you pay, the better you will look.
They may look all the same pajama, but you will move better and look better with high quality dogi.
Pure cotton ones are heavy and require ironing but they absorb sweat well.
Synthetic ones [such as Hisho's Excel and Shureido's New Wave] do not shrink and easier maintenance but generally speaking, they do not absorb sweat as well as cotton ones. If you sweat a lot, then it is better to buy pure cotton materials.

Hisho- http://www.skif.jp/index-e.htm
The SKIF head quarter brand. Sensei Kanazawa's hand written embodiment available only from this bland.
High quality cotton A$120-170
High quality synthetic A$250-350 (EXCEL is very light and it is convenient for traveling. Official Japanese team uniform is this one. however, it does not absorb sweat very much.)
Can order via the head quarter. They only accept Japanese yen. No credit card accepted.
You can fill in the bi-lingual form here and send to the headquarter.
Kancho Dogi ordering form

Shureido- http://www.karatedo.co.jp/shureido/english/e_index.html
Great cut for stocky body figures. No need for ironing.
A$160-210
10% Discounts available for Karyukai members.
For further info about the materials and prices (without discount)
http://www.karatedo.co.jp/shureido/english/e-do-obi/e-do-ind.html
Credit cards accepted.
Order foam fro Dogi and Obi
http://www.karatedo.co.jp/shureido/english/e_order/faxdogi.html
http://www.karatedo.co.jp/shureido/english/e_order/faxobi.html

Check Your Size
http://www.karatedo.co.jp/shureido/english/e-do-obi/e_sizes/size.html

Taisei- economical but very good quality
High quality cotton A$ 100-150
No credit card accepted. Bank transfer only.
Reforming and custom making available for reasonable price.
If you have bought your dogi and it was too large or would like to modify the shape, (from any brand), Taisei does that for you! You cna also put elastic in your pants waist. 10% Discounts available for Karyukai members.
Order foam can be printed out from (in Japanese but you can fill out the size on the graph)
http://www.i-marunet.com/taisei/karategi2.htm

 

Hirota-http://www.karategi-hirota.co.jp/e-hirota/dogi.html
Great cut for slimmer figures.
High Quality cotton A$130-150
Custom made  A$250-350
Credit card accepted. 10% Discounts available for Karyukai members.

NB-postage for one DOGI is approximately A$25. It is still cheaper to order directly from Japan than buying from local shops.


C
1) Choose the brand you wish to purchase. Fill in the form. (Download from the sites above-print it out) Or order on your won vis Kuroobiya.
2) Make note of the fact that your Dogi will shrink in length vertically, but not very much horizontally. Write what you want exactly after shrinking but make a note of that. They will add extra length for you. Pure cotton ones shrink as much as 5-7cm. Synthetic materials will not shrink very much. So do not be surprised to receive dogi larger than what you have ordered.
3) Custom made ones will take up to 3 weeks. Others will take about 10 days delivery from Japan.
4) Each manufacture charge different price for name embodiments. You will need to pay the price with Credit Cards.