Most judoplayers don’t know it yet, but the International Judo Federation (IJF) issued new judogi guidelines at the end of 2009. For now, these guidelines directly affect only players who participate in the premier international events, i.e. Grand Slams, World Cups, World Championships, and Olympics. Sooner or later, these guidelines may affect all players. This is both good and bad depending on how you look at the issue.
The IJF has recognized for a small fee of $50,000 per year certain manufacturers (as I write this Mizuno, Adidas, Noris, Green Hill) as official IJF suppliers of gis. Current competitors who participate in premier international events are safe if they have a gi from an official supplier. However, starting in 2011, each piece of the Judo uniform (jacket, pants, belt) must sport a new “IJF Approved” label, because the structure of the Judo uniform is being changed by IJF fiat. Thus, all gis that are acceptable in 2010, won’t be acceptable in 2011, because they were made under the old standards.
Each manufacturer will pay the IJF $1 for each label that it affixes to the judogis it sells. That’s on top of the initial buy-in to become an official supplier. Unfortunately, not all models of gis made by a manufacturer will carry the IJF approved label. That’s because the cost to get the model approved is significant. Manufacturers may only opt to get one or two models approved since they must submit to a testing laboratory a gi of each color, samples of jacket fabric, and belts. Bottom line: players will have fewer choices of gi models to wear, and whatever they do buy will cost them more than before. I fear national governing bodies like USA Judo might follow suit down the road and require, God forbid, USA Judo labels on gis!
I think it’s safe to say that the IJF has found a great way to make money. It even made $350,000 off Green Hill, a Pakistani company that at present doesn’t even make judogis. According to a contact in the textile industry, this company has failed to find a factory to make their new judogis since it inked the agreement with the IJF back in February.
Another source told me that the agreement called for the IJF to buy back $350,000 worth of gis from this company. I guess the IJF can then give the gis to Third World countries, and buy their support and votes for future projects. From a business standpoint, you have to ask yourself how Green Hill expects to make back even a small portion of its purported annual investment of $350,000. That’s a lot of gis. Smells fishy to me.
In spite of all the negative, there may be some good to come from the new gi standards. Apparently, the new gis might be lighter and stronger with a more supple collar. That’s good news, especially if the new standards lead to a collar that’s easier to grip.
I encourage you to read the IJF document regarding the new gi standards to get an appreciation for the hoops manufacturers have to jump through to play the game. Ultimately, I hope the new standards don’t push smaller providers out the door. Lack of competition is never a good thing for the millions of end users who just want to play Judo and be left alone.
Tags: judogi guidelines
Any thoughts on the announcement…
“Green Hill gis are now the official gi of USA Judo – they were already the official gi of the International Judo Federation”?
(http://judo.teamusa.org/marketing-news)
I don’t know you or Charlie Daniels personally but y’all both seem to be prescient re: goings on in Georgia this past weekend!
Fire on the mountain, run boys, run, indeed.
Well, well… Let’s see what USA Judo does with the sponsorship and how far it will go to dictate to us.
I had to dig to google Green Hill and found that they now make a single Judo uniform, and it’s a single weight. I have no idea how that helps Judo, USA Judo, or the IJF.
In boxing, this system has been used for years. The good thing is that the gear (headguard and gloves) are safer (now, boxing has another injury-problem than judo). The bad thing is as you mention that the 3 ackredited brands are too few. The products are very expensive and the quality is actually poor, maybe due to little competition? It also makes it hard for the smaller not ackredited brands to survive…not good.
Yes, they just now started making Judo gis. I am hoping to have more info on this subject since I may be meeting the Green Hill people at the World Championships in Tokyo.