Tatami Fightwear Estilo Premier Gi

Introduction

Tatami Fightwear is a UK brand that produces a variety of MMA fightwear, including rashguards, fight shorts, and of course, BJJ gis. Top of their line is their Estilo Premier gi, which is looks good and performs well too.

Official Specs:

• 500gsm Single Piece Pearl Weave Jacket
• Canvas rubberised collar
• Constrast stitching
• Triple stitched across all stress points
• Heavy 14oz canvas pants
• Double reinforced knee padding, triple stitched with overlapped seams
• 4 drawstring loops with rope drawstring
• Mix and match pants size

Aesthetics

The Estilo gi looks great with its constrast stitching, the bright red standing out quite nicely against the black. It even comes with a colour matched gi bag that indicates the size so you don't get mixed up.

The gi comes with a Tatami patch across the chest, 2 more shoulder patches, and one at the back, which may be a bit much for those who like cleaner designs. Not to mention having 5 flags on the patch itself might be a little overkill. The shoulder sleeve also features an embroidered Tatami logo, which looks like a Yin Yang symbol and adds a little distinctive flavour.

That said, the patches are still fairly toned down, with the back patch placed right at the bottom of the skirt. The rest of back has been kept relatively simple, with just the words Tatami Fightwear in bright red. Lovely touch, if I may say so - striking without being loud. There's still plenty of room for your own patches.

The gi pants itself is features the same contrast stitching, with a red drawstring and red loops. This time, there's only one patch on the left pant leg, and the Tatami logo embroidered on the bottom of the right pant leg.

The Estilo comes in 3 colours, black with red stitching, blue with white stitching, and white with black stitching.

For a black gi, I'm pretty impressed with its colour retainment. Despite numerous washes and not soaking it in vinegar or colour locking it in any way, the gi remains a deep black, and none of it has rubbed off onto my belt or my training partner's gis. Now, if only more coloured gis were made like this.

Form & Fit

The Tatami website provides a size chart with some measurements of their gis, although oddly, the measurements are only up to A3. Here's a quick look at the sizing chart.

Height	Weight	Gi Size
5'2-5'6 (~158-168cm)	55-70kg	A1
5'7-5'9 (~170-175cm)	71-86kg	A2
5'10-6'0 (~178-183cm)	87-102kg	A3
6'1-6'3 (~185-191cm)	103-120kg	A4
> 6'4 (~>193cm)	> 120kg	A5

Based off the chart, I'm a borderline A1 for height at 169cm, but right in the middle of A1 for weight at 61kg. Tatami offers a a mix-and-match option for their gis, meaning you can choose an A1 top and A2 bottom should you so desire. A nice touch for those in between sizes. (Note that this only applies to their Estilo range and not the rest.) However, I stuck to A1 for both top and bottom, and the fitting was spot on.

Right out of the bag, the gi was the perfect length for me, both at the sleeves and the pants. The cut is snug at the armpits and hugs the body well. Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed. After several cold washes and dry hanging, the gi barely shrank, maintaining its great fit.

Here's a quick pre and post wash comparison chart.

Gi Top
Sleeve to Sleeve	158cm	156cm
Chest width	53cm	53cm
Gi length (collar to skirt)	77cm	77cm
Arm width (at armpits)	27cm	26cm
Cuff width (at sleeves)	16cm	15cm
Gi Pants
Pant width	50cm	48cm
Pant length	93cm	92cm
Cuff width (at leg)	21cm	20cm

My only gripe would be how the back appears to be longer than the front when worn. Somehow it comes of baggier at the back, and I can't seem to flatten it out no matter how much I try to tuck it past my belt. Not a big deal on the mats, just feels odd when trying to take a photo.

Functionality

Being a Pearl weave, I couldn't help but mentally compare it against my Gameness. The grain feels similar, and has the slight stiffness that the pearls seem to have compared to doubles and singles. It also feels slightly heavier than the Gameness.

The gi pants is made of 14oz canvas, and this can be good or bad depending on your preferences. Personally, I prefer a lighter weight 10oz pants to make it less warm, but the 14oz will hold up for a long while against regular abuse on the mats.

It also comes with 4 loops and a rope drawstring, ensuring easy and secure tightening of the pants.

With the great fit, I have virtually no complains about the gi in terms of cut, especially when rolling. It could be a little softer and less coarse, but I'm grasping for straws here. A comparison of the collar thickness shows it to be similar to the Storm Typhoon and slightly thicker than the Gameness 2010.

The gi holds up great during the month of use. No visible fuzzing or loose threads, and is properly reinforced at the seams, cuffs, and knees. Perhaps the only thing to be said here is that being a black gi, it will pick up some white lint from training partner's gis that makes it look a little faded.

Affordability

Costing GBP 82 (SGD $165) for the blue and the black colours, and GBP 77 (SGD $155) for the white Estilo on the official site, these gis are a bang for buck, until you factor in the shipping cost that is. Shipping to this side of the world costs around GBP 45 (SGD $70), which is more than half the price of the gi itself.

The saving grace though, is that the prices here include VAT, which means that prices are lower for those outside of EU. You can view the difference by creating an account and entering an international address. The price will be updated to GBP 68.33 and GBP 64.17 respectively.

Factoring these in, the gi pricing remains fairly competitive against other brands from the States, and would be a must-buy gi for the top-notch quality, if not for the shipping costs. If you can find a way to circumvent that, be it through a shipping agent or a friend, this is definitely worth getting.

Conclusion

The Estilo Premier BJJ gi is a great fitting gi that looks nice as well, and offers quality at a good price. Depending on where you live, this can be a great alternative to other brand name gis.

Update
I've just discovered a new local site that sells the Tatami at a very reasonable price. Check them out! They will also offer a 5% discount if you email them with the SEAMMA5 discount code.

Disclaimer

All comments in the review are my own personal opinion. Prices provided in brackets are merely for reference and are based on exchange rates at the time of writing. 

If you like this review and found it helpful, please post a comment or let the company or retailer know too. Should you decide to purchase them online, you might want to consult the online buying guide for advice.