Unorthodox

Unorthodox

Sunday 9 February 2014

Hey Guys,

With summer now firmly here and with most of us training in sweat boxes with no windows (easily the best gyms), it's the time that most of us look towards a short sleeved rash guard. With that in mind, I decided to give you my review of the Tatami X Gawakoto Verses Rash guard!



Design

I'll be honest, I absolutely love the deign of this! I've always had a soft spot for Samurai and this image of a face off between modern and traditional is superb. As it is a hand drawn design, one of the things that can sometimes be lost is the detail and quality when printed. This is absolutely not the case here.

With the main design being on the front with artist logos on the back, the sleeves are a basic black with yellow stitching and Tatami Fightwear logos on the sleeves.

Construction and quality.

When it comes to rash guards for No-Gi, you need a tough one. They get pulled, twisted, rubbed and get washed a million times (I hope, don't be THAT guy at the gym). Because of this the quality needs to be brilliant. Things like fading of the design, loose stitching, tears and stretching are all common with cheaper rash guards.

I'm pleased to say that there are non of these issues with the Tatami rash guard. I must have washed this hundreds of times over the last few months as this has been my 'go to' rash guard when training in the Gi due to thew light weight material and short sleeves (duh!). Non of the design has faded at all and not a stitch is out of place. It also has not shrank despite me tumble drying it on a few occasions so that it is ready for training. Top marks!

Rolling Performance

This is where the rash guard falls down. It did not improve my performance when rolling at all...
Ok, so that probably not the rash guards fault. 

The rash guard was just fine when rolling and drilling. However I will say that because of the stretchy nature of the guard it sometimes got caught in hands and feet. I bought a medium (I'm normally a medium or a small depending on brand), but if I was to get another I would get a small. The guard was also slightly baggy for me, however that may be my bad size choice and not the fit of the rash guard.

Even with this stretch, the rash guard always returned back to its size and didn't warp at all. The design also stayed in one piece due to the design being printed IN the material rather than on top of it (again a sign of a good rash guard).

Over view

I would buy this rash guard. It is one of the better rash guards I own. However I would pay more attention to the measurement guide on the site or possibly have tried on a friends first. Since most grapplers are a weird shape (broad shoulders and thick necks, slim waists), it pays to make sure you get the right size.

I'm sure that the guys at Tatami would have swapped it if I had asked, I just didn't.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

If you would like an unbiased product review then please drop me a line via the contact form on the WEBSITE or drop me a line HERE

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