Gi Color Origins - a 20th century invention, Asian sweat suit.

During the 70s and 80s, it became fashionable for some Kempo instructors to propagate the myth of white and black gis. Prior to judo, there were no gis. With the wide spread interest in Karate-do, the bleached white karate-gi became very common.

The Hawaiians developed use of the black gi to distinguish them from karateka. One of the primary arts using the black gi was Kosho Ryu Kempo. The karate-gi has no relation to the robes of Shaolin monks.

If you take the TV series "Kung Fu" as a credible source, the young boys wore black clothes. The older initiates wore white and black clothes. Once they passed the 108 Chamber Room, they could wear the orange robes of the monk.

The modern Kempo myth says the first few ranks are representative of being outside the temple walls trying to earn membership. Once they enter into the "temple", they can don the "black" gi. It's quite a cute tale, but it's not accurate.

The school's chief instructor gets to choose what color uniform the students wear. In fact, they can choose what kind of uniform to wear. Some prefer the "gung fu" uniform with turtle buttons. Most prefer karate-gi colored black. A few enterprising schools use army battle dress uniforms.

Why Do We Wear Black

We use black gi to show our heritage from Hawai'i and it shows less dirt. Black gis have a mystique. They look "cool". They're handy to use in class. They're more durable than sweats. Not as confining as "biker shorts". And they distinguish us as martial artist.

It also has a little to do with the Chuck Norris movie, "Good Guys Wear Black". I'm one of his fans. In short, don't get worked up over false traditions.

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