Battle dress or fancy dress?

Sawatdee Khrup!
Been a while since I posted some of my articles so here's one for starters:

BATTLE DRESS OR FANCY DRESS?
By Kru Shaun Boland

The white uniforms of the karate-ka looked like the first fall of snow carpeting the dojo. The crisp ‘crack’ sounding and echoing through the hall was when, in unison, the students executed their gyaku- tsuki (rear punch). With such a plethora of martial arts throughout the world there is equally a vast array of different uniforms or training clothes. Are these practical for their chosen art or are they just feeding the fashion conscious student ever wanting to remain cool and chic and forever honing their narcistic beliefs?

A look into where the ‘style’ of martial uniform came from will perhaps enlighten us as to why, when practicing Korean and Japanese arts, the practitioners are accused of wearing ‘pyjamas’ by the less knowledgeable. Why the Thai boxer while wearing their ceremonial head-dress, are accused by the ignoramus as wearing nothing more than a squash racket stuck on the fighter’s head!

The surprising thing is that you would not be too far off when you see the Japanese ‘Keikogi’ and Korean ‘Do Bak’ as pyjamas.

If you look at any of the older, pre-world war 2 martial arts books you will see that the uniforms had shorter legs and arms. What you are actually seeing is the under wear which was worn under the silk kimonos.

When practicing, the Samurai removed their silken outer garments and stripped to their underwear. This may have been the influence for the current uniforms of today, the white colour being a natural result of heavily cleaned undergarments that had no need for colours that would not stand up to harsh washing. The sleeves and legs no doubt lengthened due to Western influence.

Another point to note is that the Samurai’s short sleeved Kimono or ‘Armour robe’ was both symbolic and highly functional. This garment was multi-purpose; symbolically the white kimono represented ‘purity and beauty in death’ however this silk undergarment was also a vast technological improvement over medieval European armour.

The majority of fatal wounds received in battle were caused from the artillery from the archers. Arrows are flared outwards to two points from the tip this is so that when the wounded combatant attempts to remove the arrow from their body it literally rips at the surrounding tissue and organs. So therefore the majority of times the major damage did not come from the initial piercing but from the subsequent removal.

If you were to be pierced by an arrow head when wearing silk it would become entangled within the tiny threads of the undergarment and thus ‘dulling’ the points of the arrow during removal making it less harsh.

So from this we can see the symbolism of the karateka’s uniform and the wearing of the flowing Hakama as used in Aikido and Iaido etc.

Uniforms were adapted, as in judo where the material of the Judo-gi is made of canvas and is much stronger around the lapels allowing for better grips in preparation for throws and strangles in addition to increasing the life of the uniform from wear and tear.

The Korean ‘Do Bok’ seems to come from similar influences and the modern uniform is now adorned with black ‘piping’ to signify rank and status. The more elaborate uniform of the Korean Kuk Sool Kwon practitioner is certainly up their in the gregarious heights of fashion, but again practicality and symbolism are major influences. Kook Sool Kwon involves throws, kicks, punches and wrist locks within its vast repertoire and therefore the uniform requires to be loose fitting but equally strong allowing for movement and durability.

The Chinese uniform of mandarin tops with ‘frog’ button fastening and trousers with elasticated bottoms was (and still is) simply their regular day to day clothes. Influenced by Bruce Lee through his movies these were the height of fashion in the 70’s. More elaborate Chinese uniforms can be seen in a variety of styles in Wu Shu and the many ‘animal’ styles of Gung Fu. The Shaolin monks wear their adapted orange uniform as a symbolic representation of their Buddhist belief in addition to being practical for their elaborate performances.

As in Western boxing, the Thai’s wear boxing shorts. However they also wear the ‘mongkon’ (ceremonial head-dress) when entering the boxing ring. This is symbolic as the Thais believe that the spirit enters and leaves the top of the head (this is why it is deemed as impolite and rude to touch the top of a Thai’s head).

These days the modern warrior can be seen in a variety of different uniforms dependant upon their chosen style. Within the semi-contact circuit uniforms come in an array of colours, some even half one colour and half another! The full contact pants are just larger versions of the boxers’ shorts with club or fighters’ names emblazoned down their respective legs. Looking at some Ju-jitsu gi there is even an element of advertising from the variety of sponsors that support the art. The mixed martial arts boys tend to wear the tight pants that seem to be making an alleged fashion come back since 007 actor Daniel Craig stepped out of the ocean ‘Ursula Andress styli’ in ‘Casino Royale’

From historical symbolism and practicality, to modern day flare, fashion and ‘billboard’, we have to ask ourselves the question - does your uniform fit you in preparation for training and competition or is it just fancy dress that one day may adorn the catwalks of the Armani’s and Dolce Gabbana’s?

Again. This time in layman's terms. I'm not sure if I'm following you on this one, so can you please explain.