Martial Arts Uniform

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Not everyone can kick this high. But someone with a Martial Arts Uniform can!

Sub-Trope of Costume Tropes

The East, a land of culture, of beauty, and of numerous Martial Arts. These forms of combat are well known throughout the world, and are respected by many. But we're not here just to talk about Martial Arts, no, we're here to discuss the uniforms the Martial Artists use, the clothes that make you say "That guy/girl knows ______".

This trope is about characters who are seen wearing these uniforms at one point or another at ANY point in series. Hell even background characters count. Keep in mind, the characters don't have to wear these uniforms at all times (although some do), they just have to wear them once to be an example.

This trope is often invoked when a show wants to bring generic Martial Arts enemies or when a writer wants to show how or why someone is so good at fighting.

Often identified as Keikogi, Karate Gi, Dobok, Judo Gi, etc.

NOTE: The uniform can be from a totally made-up (or even Alien) Martial Art, as long as the character is wearing the uniform and not his normal clothes. Another thing is that the people wearing these don't have to be Martial Artists. They could just be pretending, although this is uncommon.

Examples of Martial Arts Uniform include:

Advertising

• The new Fruit Loops commercial has Toucan Sam's nephews in Gis.

Anime and Manga

• Yawara and most other judo practioners in her series wear judogi when practicing or participating in tournaments. At one early point, Yawara forgets to wear an undershirt with her gi, causing some embarrasment.
• A few characters in Natsuki Crisis, mainly the titular character, wear Karategi even when outside the dojo.
• Ryu and Ken ^{[dead link]} from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
• ShuraNoMon
• Full Metal Panic! has this, when Sagara faces the Karate Club. With hilarious results.
• Kenichi and Miu from Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple. Kenichi's masters are a category of their own, since the Limited Wardrobe of some of them can be seen as both a custom-made MA uniform and a traditional "civilian" costume.
  • All of Miu's training/combat uniforms, of course, have to be with short tight pants. Also notable the fact that on field combat missions she actually usually wears something which resembles a mountain biking outfit (without helmet), instead of a MA uniform.
  • In the chapter 145, Kenichi gets a custom-made training uniform (replacing the standard one which he used to wear while training), and this is also the point at which he starts going on combat missions regularly. Of course, on these missions he always wears this new custom uniform.
• Momoko from Sumomomo Momomo
• Tatsuki from Bleach wears one in Volume 5 during her training. In fact, the general uniform characters in Bleach wear pretty much fits into this as well.
  • And child!Ichigo and child!Tatsuki in an early episode flashback, to when Ichigo's mother was still alive, were wearing them at their karate training. It was on the way home from said training that Ichigo's mother was killed.
• Akane from Ranma ½ wears one quite a bit.
  • Her father and Ranma's father (when he's not a panda anyway) wear these as everyday wear. Ranma at least owns one, or used to anyway since he's seen wearing it during flash backs to Jusenkyo.
  • Kuno ^{[dead link]} is also seen wearing the kendo version (with the wide, pleated trousers) more often than not. Also plays into the samurai image he has going since the style is based on day wear from Japan's past.
• Kaoru ^{[dead link]} and Misao (although hers is an altered "ninja-like" version) from Rurouni Kenshin
• A ton of characters in Dragonball Z. To name a few: Goku, Gohan, Tien and Piccolo ^{[dead link]} (without the turban and cape).
• Afro Samurai wears one.
• Tsubomi's grandmother Kaoruko wears one in her flashback episode of Heartcatch Pretty Cure.
• Futaba from Mitsudomoe.
• Seitokai Yakuindomo has Mitsumi and her GirlPosse ^{[dead link]} who formed their own judo club, practically made of this trope each time we see them train.
• Satsuki from Nanaka 6/17 also wears this when we are first introduced to her whacking her brother on the head.
• Sasameki Koto has Sumika train in her gi some chapters/episodes, as well Charlotte and Mayu after a while.
• Baki the Grappler has the titular character, as well as numerous others, in Gis at multiple points.
• Ouran High School Host Club has a few characters ^{[dead link]}.
• Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru, pretty ^{[dead link]} much every chapter.
• The Funny Judo Champion
• Judo Boy has the main character in one.
• Obi o Gyuttone! has the main characters starting a Judo club.
• Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu has Haruka in an Aikido uniform atleast once.
• Princess Army OVA had a few.
• Judo Sanka
• Dragon Crystal by Menda Masako demonstrates this trope in some chapters.
• In Kurenai episode 5 of the anime, when Shinkuro goes to train with Yuno they both wear this, intersetingly enough in the manga only Shinkuro wears this while Yuno wears something resembling a miko's outfit.
• Kimagure Orange Road episode 31 Madoka and Yūsaku are training wearing these.
• In Minami-Ke episode 8 the girls where this...to learn how to blow a bubble from bubblegum...

Comic Books

• In an Archie Comics story, Mr. Weatherbee opposes Archie's new school karate club. He changes his mind after Archie, as a result of the usual klutzy clothes-ruining mishap, lends him a Karate outfit in which to walk home, which ends up saving Weatherbee from a mugging because the crooks assume that if he's wearing the outfit, he must be able to kick their asses.
  • There's actually a decent ^{[dead link]} amount of examples from Archie Comics, although most are played for laughs, like the one where Archie is tossed by a much smaller girl. There was also a story where Betty was wearing a karate gi to make the kids she was baby-sitting think she was an expert.
• There's the Kung Fu Fighter comic series in which the titular character, among others, wears a karate gi for most of the series. Oddly enough, he started out as a thief trying to rob the school where he eventually trained!
• The DCU Karate Kid wears a slightly altered ^{[dead link]} version.
• Shang Chi, among others, from the Master Of Kung Fu comic series.
• Wonder Woman in this comic.

Fan Works

• Both averted and invoked in Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel. When Doug starts training Usagi Tsukino in martial arts, she wears just the traditional Japanese school gym outfit of T-shirt and bloomers. But because of his training she joins the martial arts club at her middle school and routinely wears a gi there.

Film

• The Karate Kid: Daniel wears one quite a bit among the three movies, as do the Kobra Kai fighters. In The Next Karate Kid, Julie wears one only in a flashback. In the remake, only the bullies wear them.
• The Man with the Golden Gun. James Bond and his opponents wear them when he fights the students at the martial arts school.
• The movie Kuro-Obi has most of the characters in Karategi for a good duration of the film. To add to that, the lead characters are played by some of Japan's leading black belt Karate experts.
  • Note: There is an older film from 1992 with the same English title (Black Belt). It also features one or two characters in Gis.
• The film High Kick Girl features lead star Rina Takeda in a Gi ^{[dead link]} at one point.
• The Danish film Fighter has the lead character, and a few others ^{[dead link]}, in a uniform for a good portion of the film. This Gi is unique in the style of belt that is used (initially anyways).
• Black Belt Jones.
• In the film Bloodsport there are a few characters who wear a Gi, or something similar to a Gi.
  • In the sequels there's another few characters who wear Gis.
• In the film Dragon Princess}, there's a few people who wear Gis as well.
• The movie Fighter in The Wind is based on the real-life Martial Artist, Mas Oyama, and follows the things he did when he went into the mountains to train in Karate. The movie follows him as he goes around the country, fighting masters of each martial art, and defeating them to show his skill.
• The Perfect Weapon
• The Street Fighter live adaptation had Ryu and Ken.
• In numerous Kung-Fu and Martial Arts movies, the hero will often enter a dojo full of fighters in Gis. The hero will often defeat them all, before challenging their master.
• In Enter the Dragon, almost every martial artist on the villain's island wore a Gi, and they did so for pretty much the whole movie.
  • Of course, Bruce Lee, since he is... well... Bruce Lee, insisted on wearing his Chinese-style clothes instead of a Gi.
• In the short film Room For Rapture (located on Sleeperkid's World, although it costs money) a female martial artist enters a room for training, only to find a ballerina is using the place. After some "negotiations", the ballerina sneak attacks. A fight ensues. (Continue clicking next image at the bottom)
  • There are actually one or two films there that feature Gis.
• This video has numerous unknown films for just such an occasion. (Identification would be helpful)
• In the Sonny Chiba Mas Oyama Collection (featuring Karate Bull Fighter ^{[dead link]}, Karate Bear Fighter ^{[dead link]} and Karate for Life ^{[dead link]}), Chiba dons a Gi for pretty much the whole series, as do many of his competitors.
• In Ip Man, the titular character faces a few enemies who are in Gis. At one point he faces 10 at once!
• One or two people in Kickboxing Academy (Also known as Teen Boxer)
• In the movie Pushed To The Limit, a young fighter is seen in Gi pants, pitted against a much larger opponent. Unfortunately, she fails, and has her leg violently broken.
• In The Matrix, there's Neo's infamous, "I Know Kung Fu Scene."

Literature

• In the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Book Series, there is a book called Tattoo Of Death in which the main characters are depicted in Gis.
  • There's also Ninja Cyborg, which has the main character in a Gi.
• A bit of an unnecessary example, but there's the actual books of Martial Arts which either detail their history and/or techniques.
• •Kirsty from Johnny Maxwell Trilogy.

Live Action TV

• There are a couple of sitcoms that briefly show a young girl with a gi and a yellow or orange belt under a jacket, generally to show how harried and busy the mom that drives them back and forth is, rather than any martial arts ability on the kid's part.
• Seinfeld: Kramer wore one while taking karate lessons. He dominated the class, because the other students were all 10 year olds. ("But we're at the same skill level.") Then they saw Elaine just push him down and they all ganged up on him in a Dark Alley.
• Katoya makes his students wear an alien version of these in an episode of Farscape. Except, of course, for Scorpius.
• In a Living Colour skit, Jim Carrey is performing as "martial arts master". When he asks his students to stab him, he fails at blocking and is stabbed repeatedly.
• The Babylon 5 episode "TKO" features an alien martial arts tournament in which the combatants wear gi-style uniforms.

New Media

• Ardeana, simply a favorite choice when Karate is typed into Deviant ART.

Video Games

• Ryu, Ken, Makoto, Dan, Juri (kind of, mostly in her concept art), Akuma, Sean and Abel from Street Fighter.
  • In SFIV, Sakura has a half gi as an alternate costume.
• Akira Yuki, and Goh from Virtua Fighter.
• Geese Howard is well-remembered for his distinctive aikidogi.
• Mortal Kombat: Deception has Kobra.
  • In the earlier Mortal Kombat titles, Kano appears to be wearing one.
• Ryo, Yuri and Kim from King of Fighters, just to name a few.
• The martial artists in the Evil Genius game wear orange Gis.
• In Path Of Neo the Videogame, during a training stage, Neo fights against enemies in Gis ^{[dead link]}. Also, there's the fight against Morpheus that plays out like the film.
• In the game Karate Champ, the main character (and enemies) wears a Gi.
• Jin and Kazuya ^{[dead link]} from Tekken both wear pants from a Gi. Meanwhile, Hwaorang, Baek Doo San, Paul and Heihachi wear full ones.
  • Asuka Kazama ^{[dead link]} also wears one as one of her costumes.
• Karateka the videogame.
• The game All Star Karate for the Wii allows you to do some rudimentary Karate.
• The Streets of Rage series has a few characters who wear Gis, although they're usually bosses.
• The Tsoo in City of Heroes, and of course it's a costume option for player characters as well.
• Hitomi and Hayate from Dead or Alive. Kasumi and Ayane wear modified variations of MA Uniforms.
• Most wrestling/fighting games with create a wrestler/fighter feature will have a martial arts uniform for your custom character. For example.
• Guy, and maybe a few bosses, from Final Fight wear them.
• TaeKwonDoWorldChampion
• The series of Lovely Fighter games from Martin X Manga has this as one of it's many Fetish Fuel. Every character wears one, and they're all just happen to be busty and beautiful.
• One scene in Plumbers Don't Wear Ties has the narrator being attacked by a woman in a gi who takes his place.
• And now, there are Pokémon who wear such uniforms.
  • Speaking of Pokémon, some of the characters in the martial arts themed club in the Trading Card Game Video Game wear these.
• "Karate-Man" from Street Smart.

Web Comics

• There's the Bullshido webcomic.
• Shizentai. 'Nuff said.
• This Amazing Super Powers strip.
• Snuggleninja can't go anywhere without his adorable little uniform

Web Games

• The games: Karate Kamil: Super Fighter: South Park Tokugawa: Any Street Fighter Flash Game: and The Pencak Silat Series.
• Obama, Edwards, Giulioni, and Sucobee(sp?) from Kung Fu Election
• The Stranger from Samurai-Warrior
• Tae Kwon Do the game has every character in one.
• Bushido Fighters has a few characters.
• The three main characters (and possibly some enemies) in The Kung Fu Statute
• Karate King
• Karate Game

Western Animation

• Jonny Quest TOS episode "The Dragons of Ashida": Race Bannon wears a white gi during his judo matches with Dr. Ashida and Sumi.
• Samurai Jack
• In Family Guy, the episode where Lois joins Jiu-Jitsu has her wearing one and going on a power-hungry rampage.
• Batman: The Animated Series had 2 episodes if i recall right, "Night of the Ninja" and "Day of the samurai"
• The New Adventures of Batman had the episode "Sins of the Father" where the new robin is training with bruce and barbara at the end of the episode.
• In the episode of South Park when the boys buy weapons and pretend to be ninjas, Stan's alter ego is wearing one.
• In Futurama, when Bender becomes a pro wrestler, Leela has flashbacks to when did Karate. She ends up facing her old master after a slight plost twist.
• In Kim Possible, when Ron is transferred to Japan, he ends up becoming a Ninja. The Ninja uniforms actually look a lot like Gi's here.
• There's a few instances in Johnny Bravo.