The Hirota Pinack for Kata is a fantastic Japanese made gi that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Hirota are known for their world class kata gis, which are worn by many champions, such as Antonio Diaz, Rika Usami and Issei Shimbaba (just to name a few).

In Japan, and across the world, Hirota is a symbol for quality, as they put time and effort into every uniform they make. This is why they are such a popular choice.

The Pinack for Kata is my own personal kata gi. I have owned it for nearly six months, where I have worn it (and been successful) in two major tournaments, and it has been the best karategi I have owned by far!

My previous kata gi was an Arawaza Crystal, so the Pinack was a big step up (in price and quality).

The Pinack comes fully tailor made, which means you will have to provide your own measurements.

Big thanks to Hamid Abassalty from Kuroobiya, as I received a lot of help from him regarding the measurements (https://www.kuroobiya.com/shop/)

Because of the gi being tailor made, I can’t comment on the fit of the gi, but I can say how the material effects the fit.

When you first put on the gi, it is really stiff and may not look the best on your body. However, you will find that once you have warmed up, the gi will not be as stiff and look much better.

“The gi is so stiff after a wash (the Takumi is even worse). Once warmed up and body-heat ironed, it does the job it is designed to do.” – Hamid Abassalty

With this in mind, I make sure that I warm up properly in the gi before competing, but not too much that it gets soggy. I warm up normally in my clothes, then put my gi on and go through my kata’s.

Now, the material itself is very smooth on the skin, making the uniform comfortable to wear, but not as smooth in comparison to the Shureido New Wave Three.

The Pinack does not provide as much snap as the Hirota Takumi or #163 (which have much louder snaps), which may be more preferable if you are using the gi for training purposes.

The material is a 13oz pure cotton and polyester blend, which based upon this post – http://jesbromley.com/different-karategi-weights/ – puts it in the category of a heavyweight gi, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. The Pinack feels very light, but still holds its shape like a normal heavyweight, and allows for ease of movement (which is ideal if you are performing dynamic katas).

The only fault I found in this gi, was the draw string system at the waist. I am still searching for a karategi that

has a good drawstring system, and to be honest, I don’t even know if they exist!

I find that whenever I pull tight on the strings (and tighten the waist), when I let go it just goes back to where it was before, not becoming any tighter.

I find this very annoying.

This may be because I wear my pants high, to make it easier to drop into low stances.

My ideal drawstring system is simple… when you pull the strings, the waist becomes tighter and stays there when you let go. If you have found a gi like this, please comment down below.

Overall, I loved the Hirota Pinack for Kata. The fact that it is high quality, Japanese made, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing makes up for its one little error (regarding the drawstring waist).

It is definitely the best gi I have ever had.

I give five stars!

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Cheers!

-Jesi Boy