Another Dobak Question

[K31]

Seeing all these dobak questions reminded me...

I saw a new student last night and looking a him and myself in the mirror his dobak was crisp looking and mine was kind of, I don't want to say thread bare because it is not shabby or in need of repair but after a couple of years of use it looks kind of thin.

I was thinking of buying a heavier weight one for testing but it would not have the school logo on it since they only sell one style, the typical 8oz. ones. I don't know if the school would find this offensive though. They've never said anything about someone wearing a non-school dobak before but during testing of course is when everyone brings their cameras. What do you think?

 

[dancingalone]

If they use Century or Tigerclaw uniforms that are silkscreened on the back with the school's logo, it's likely that Century or Tigerclaw is doing it as a custom order. If so, you can just have your instructor order you a heavier uniform with the silkscreen logo on it easily enough.

Just ask. It might be no big deal at all.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

My son uses a heavier Tigerclaw dobok with the WTF patch on it; he asked GM Kim before using it, and was told that it was fine. I wear an Addidas dobok and a Dynamics White Tiger dobok, both of which have a WTF patch, but no school logo. I also wear the official school dobok as well; my doboks go into the hamper after each class, so I wear whichever one is the next up in the 'clean and pressed' dobok rotation.

Some schools are very picky about what the students wear, some let you show up in a T shirt and jeans, so it kind of depends on the school.

Daniel

 

[MBuzzy]

I would be sure first that your studio will allow you to wear a uniform without the logos and such. If no, then there are plenty of options. As dancingalone said, you may be able to get the supply company to do it for you or your instructor just to order you one.

If not, there is always custom embroidery or sewing patches of the logo on.

 

[exile]

Maybe I'm weird, but I still use the dobok I started with, six years ago. I wash it with bleach regularly (and still can't get the cuff stains out), but I can bear to think of retiring it....dumb, eh? But there it is. Like yours, it's thin and worn, but my whole MA life is tied up in it, is what it feels like.

 

[MBuzzy]

I'm still using my original one, but the trim fades if I bleach it and it is getting pretty yellow. Plus, it is a Korean special, so its made of a kind of strange material. Its getting pretty thin, so I'm about to retire it.

 

[granfire]

get a new regular one and only use it for testings and tournaments.


We have a couple of girls in our school that each had about 6 uniforms, and considering we are talking extras in forms of stripes and patches added to them, quiet an investment, but it guaranteed them to look really crisp for special occasions.

I was wearing my 'old' one, a couple of years old, and with a million washes and really icky lighting, it made me want to hurl looking at it in the mirror.

 

[CDKJudoka]

I have four dobaks that I use for various reasons. We use Dynamic V-Necks for normal training and belt tests. I have a lightweight student uniform (with silkscreen of the Kwan on the back) that I use when my V-Neck is in the wash. I have a 14 oz Heavyweight Karate Gi, when I want to really sweat during a workout. It already had the Kwan silkscreen on the back, I just had to add school patches and black lapel trim. (Any of the Dan belts have to have a black collar/lapel). And the last dobak I use is a white Hapkido Black Belt dobak for when we are doing self-defence drills, and grappling.

Swapping out Dobaks shouldn't be a concern for anyone as it is just workout clothing. The only thing that shouldn't be replaced is your belt. I wear the same BB that I was awarded 14 years ago when I am in tourneys and I have my new BB that I got at this school.

 

[terryl965]

Well I have some that are 20 years old and they are thin but the story's they carry mean something to me.

 

[Traditionalist]

I'm in hapkido and we don't worry to much about our doboks. As long as they are clean and white or natural then nothing is said. We don't iron ours or starch ours. I've never been graded on how my dobok looks during a test just what I have done during that test. I do where a trimmed one if we are invited to a tournament and I mainly just make sure that is clean no stains. The only thing that I have ever gotten on to about was once I crossed the right lapel over the left. We're suppose to do it the other way. I don't mind if people iron or starch their uniforms it just seams silly to me.

 

[exile]

Well I have some that are 20 years old and they are thin but the story's they carry mean something to me.

Exactly, Terry... we keep the faith, eh?

Adrian is a chip off the old block, I suppose. He can't bear to get rid of his favorite sweater or whatever from when he was six. The result is that at 11 years old, he has one of the best-dressed collections of stuffed animals ever seen. He's outgrown the animals as he has the clothes, of course... but if you want to hear a heartrending howl that would melt a heart of stone, suggest to him that he might want to give away some of his stuffed dragons, wolves, bats and lynxes... I guess he comes by it honestly!

 

[MasterWright]

Could be worse...Imagine if you had someone that looked like me wearing it.

 

[IcemanSK]

I have my original Choi Brothers (Sun) black v-neck when I got my 1st Dan in 1985. I still wear it occassionally. I have a few others that are 20 years old. They hold memories. I can't just get rid of them. I'm a pack rat too.

 

[Kacey]

I have several - as they get old/worn out/stained, they become work out doboks, and I buy a new one for tournaments/testings/seminars. But in the end, it's not the uniform that matters.

 

[TKDHermit]

i have only 1, from mudoin. When i reach 1st dan ill be getting a new one with blackcollar, probably adidas champion/fighter.