Comme Des Grappler (CDG) Fall T-shirt release

I really like streetwear. To me, streetwear was skateboarding companies back in the late 90s and early 2000s doing things different. Companies like eS, Lakai, Baker, Enjoi, Fallen and even big power house names like DC, Etnies and Vans contributed to the streetwear scene. Big, loud, in your face designs that mainly consisted of their own logo, but in a fashionable, clean, way……

Because of my like for skateboarding brands and streetwear, I have taken a severe liking to all things CDG. Their designs are super clean and provide a fresh new face for the BJJ scene.

There isn’t much I can say about t-shirts in general that can inspire someone to pick one up, but here’s all you need to know: They look awesome, they feel awesome and the print is of excellent quality.

Moar pictures!

This is probably my second favorite T-shirt by CDG, next to their Arabic T.

Do or Die’s Hyperfly Pro Gear Bag review!

Gear bags are more of a luxury than a necessity, but they are something I love having, and once you’ve had a good one, you just can’t go without. Knowing I have my tape, nail clippers, deodorant,  etc etc in one location is a nicety. I pack up my things neatly and go and I’m not carrying nasty, dripping with sweat, Gis in my hands or laying it on my nice clean car seats on the ride home.

Well designed gear bags are important to me. One of the key features I look for in a BJJ bag is a separate bag or compartment that keeps the funky after class BJJ gear away from the clean inside of the bag.  I’ve seen this done in multiple ways but DoorDie does this in a very clever way that’s new to me and is now my favorite design for a nasty bag.

Instead of having a bag within a bag that is removable, they offer a bag that is within the bag that comes through the bottom of the back pack. You put your clean clothes in the top of the bag like normal, but after practice you shove those now funky Gis into the bottom of the bag. The bag is basically reversible. Below is a picture of the space on the bottom of the bag where you shove the funky gear after class.

Another important thing to think about is strap support. Some back packs SUCK to carry around if you carry anything heavy in them because they aren’t designed ergonomically correct. No problems here, and that’s important if you want to use the bag for anything else.

Now, truth be told, I already have a gear bag, the Datsusara Light Gear Bag, which is a great bag in itself. My only current issue with it is that it’s HUGE. I’ve only been taking a Gi and the before mentioned accessories, and it can be a bit cumbersome. So the DoorDie bag has really filled a void for me. (My first world problems void). The picture below shows the main compartment with the funky bag unfilled resting inside of it. It gets mushed nicely to the bottom when not in use.

It’s tough, it’s got awesome little DoorDie hits throughout the bag, including a velcro “shooter” inspired patch on the bag and does everything I need it to. It even has a compartment for your iPod or phone and a hole for headphones to come out of so you can jog or walk around listening to music without having to take your music player out of the bag. A nice feature for sure.

Bottom Line:

With tons of cool features, compartments and good ergonomics, the Pro Gear Bag from DoorDie is a winner and a must have for people who can afford the cheddar for a $99 bag. I didn’t even notice the hidden compartment (good name for it I ‘spose) until yesterday. Would be a great spot for a laptop or paperwork. (Ha, paperwork).

From their site:

Built with ballistic high impact weather coated nylon to withstand all elements and designed for all gear and travel needs

Backside panel cushion support mesh fabric for ventilation and comfort

Bottom dirty gear compartment separates dry from wet lined with breathable mesh

Hidden back panel laptop compartment isolated from main compartment

Removable velcro patch can be replaced with Mil Spec identification

Multi gear double zip pull compartments to meet all your travel essentials

 Roll Jiu Jitsu

Roll Jiu Jitsu is a BJJ apparel brand out of Ireland. They contacted us about doing a review and we are super glad we got our hands on their stuff. Since I recently moved to Wisconsin the delivery of sweatshirts in their care package was extremely welcome.

We got Two sweatshirts, a t-shirt, some stickers and a patch, seen below.

My favorite piece of apparel I was sent was their dark-gray crew neck sweat shirt. I have a ton of BJJ inspired hoodies so a sweatshirt was a welcome change. The first thing that pops out at you is the ROLL logo. If you’re familiar with Obey you’d recognize the style of the typography as it clearly gets it’s inspiration from current street wear. It’s nice seeing clean and crisp logos being used in BJJ. I’ve never had a problem with people getting inspiration from companies outside of BJJ and bringing it to our art, because frankly, I don’t Obey anyway. I roll. The sweatshirt is very comfortable and when you think of a sweatshirt in your mind, this is probably what you’re thinking of. I’m very much excited for winter/fall here in ‘Sconi now.

I’m not as big of a fan of their slap and bump design, as Mickey Mouse hands have never been my thing, but it’s nice seeing them doing something that incorporates a reference to what we actually do before we roll, and it’s different than other BJJ brands. The sweatshirt is the exact same type as their first offering, equally as soft and comfortable.

Rockin’ the same logo as the first sweatshirt is their T-shirt offering. This isn’t one of those ultra soft t’s that’s cut to the body, it’s as standard of a t-shirt as you’ll get, but it feels quite durable. I’d be reluctant to wear most of my BJJ themed t-shirts to do handy work around the house or wear in nogi, but not this shirt, this shirt is going to be able to take a beating. It’s still comfortable despite it’s durable, but don’t expect ultra-softness. Again, I really love the ROLL logo, so it’s only natural that I love the shirt.

I’ve been trying to get more out of the companies in regards to who they are and what they are about by doing some mini-question and answer sessions, so here you go, uncensored, unedited, direct from ROLL!

1. What is your personal background in the BJJ community?

I started training over 3 years ago at Next Generation Ireland with Dave Jones under Chris Brennan, it was mainly NoGi so coming from a rugby background muscling people out of it was my go to style as I was young and naive. I visited NY for 4 months but didnt train and when I got back, Next Gen had been taken over by Darragh O’Conaill and affiliated to Riberio and also moved to 90% Gi training which I really got into. I then moved to Long Island NY where I trained at Kioto under Ryan Saboe and GM Mansor for 3 months, then into Manhattan where I trained at Marcelo’s when I could with my longest stint being 2 solid months where I learnt alot. Since moving back to Ireland and back to the same Dublin gym which has now evolved into East Coast Jiu Jitus Academy I have been training hard and decided to start Roll Jiu Jitsu.

2. What made you start your own BJJ apparel company?

I got an office job and it has put a stint in my creativity so I needed an outlet. I have always liked graphic design and putting designs on apparel, so combining this with Jiu Jitsu I thought I would give it a go! I felt that there is definitely good BJJ apparel out there but not a whole lot of the more casual nature that doesnt scream ‘I train so I can beat you up!’

3. Do you get inspiration from any other major companies? I kind of get a “Supreme” vibe from your apparel, is that what you were shooting for?

I get inspiration from everywhere, and yes one of our designs which has turned out to me one of the more popular ones may have been inspired from Obey. People seem to like that gear these days and its a very clean and clear look I think.

4. What are your main goals as a company?

As a company, we would like to grow because with growth, we can start giving back to the sport; through sponsorship of upcoming or disadvantaged athletes and even by organizing events and comps to grow awareness of the art and ultimately get more people involved in the lifestyle. It has definitely had a positive effect on our lifes and one that we want to share with as many people as we can.

5. What do you feel will set you apart from other companies out there today?

Tough question, there are so many great brands both established and up and coming. Apart from our cool and fresh designs (which everyone company has these days) the brand name ‘Roll’ is said thousands of times a day by people training so once the link to our brand has been made, we might stand out from the rest and be in luck!

6. Do plan on extending your line into the Gi market?

Not right away, if we do it will be through collaborations with existing reputable companies. Seems like a new Gi company pops up every week with quality dropping fast. There are some new and innovative designs but we believe this shouldn’t be the selling point of a Gi. It has to stand up to the test of hard Rolling which is hard enough to come by in a manufacturer. 

7. What’s your personal favorite product that you sell? Why?

Personal Favorite is the grey Roll Crew Neck. Firstly the design is slick and 100% related to Jiu Jitsu. The other great thing is it can be worn for daily hanging out, working out, going out and even keeping warm under your Gi. Its 1-for-all really! With no hood, zips or pockets – nothing is going to get in the way during Rolling.

8. How is the BJJ scene in Ireland?

BJJ is growing big time in the Emerald Isle with great things on the Horizon. More and more clubs opening and memberships growing by the day. Ireland is making it’s name on the world stage with some of our top competitors getting recognition they deserve. Darragh O’Conaill getting on the Kumite, Chris Bowe bringing home some medals from Worlds and Coach John Kavanagh Taking Conor McGregor to the UFC.

The future is bright and filled with opportunity for Irish BJJ, So drop over and get involved!

Underoath BJJ

(Scroll to the bottom for an Update! 8/28/2014)

Underoath BJJ is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu apparel brand based out of Ontario, Canada. I saw an advert for one of their eye catching shirts and immediately contacted them trying to find out all of the details about them and their company. They clearly had some great designs but I wanted to find out more, so I sent some questions over to the owner Ryan to get the scoop and Underoath sent me two shirts to check out. Questions and Answers after the jump.

First, these awesome shirts. This isn’t your average t-shirt from cafepress that was thrown together with a crappy stock graphic and cheap level fruit of the loom t-shirt, it’s well thought out. My favorite aspect of the shirts is actually the material, it’s super soft but strong. I don’t have a single shirt that feels like it.

For those who don’t know, Creonte was a character from a Brazilian soap opera that constantly backstabbed people. Carlson Gracie Sr. started using that name for traitors, or so the story goes. Regardless, this shirts design is super clean. I haven’t seen any negative space font work done like this in our community and it really comes off as professional. I find the “100% Creonte Free” slogan actually kind of lighthearted and in reality just kind of saying “I’m a good dude who sticks with good people”.

On the side of the 100% Creonte Shirt a cool little phrase is screen printed on. “Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family”. It’s little additional stuff like this that makes apparel pop. It’s much appreciated.

Another little clever add-on is something I didn’t even notice at first, and that’s what it says on the tag. Specifically “tested on animals….didn’t fit”. Hilarious. Unique. I love it.

The second shirt I got was the “Kimura all day” shirt. Now, I didn’t ask if this was referencing the move or the man, but I took it for the move. The colors and typography are clean and go well together. The shirt is the same material and quality as the first and just as much of a delight to wear. In fact, I had a hard time getting these pictures because these two t-shirts were getting worn CONSTANTLY. They’d always be in my dirty clothes basket when I wanted to take pictures.

I am very excited to see what these guys offer up in the future as I am really impressed. I know it’s hard to believe but the shirt quality is really something to appreciate, I HIGHLY recommend you pick up one of their clean designs. Just from interacting with them the small amount I have I can honestly say that I get the impression these guys have their hearts and minds in the right places. They believe there’s enough room out there for all the companies in the BJJ market, and that says a lot.

Q & A time!

Q. What is UnderOath’s background?

A. In 2010, I started a small artistic BJJ lifestyle brand called AvantGuard, which was mainly an apparel brand, most notable for really shining a spotlight on the life and contributions of Mitsuyo Maeda, which was then adopted by a dozen or so other brands. It was doing rather well, however due to life in school and starting another career, I left it by the wayside after a year and a half. In mid 2012 I was approached by a friend who asked me to step in on a project that he had started piecing together, called UnderOath (UO). However, my partner would rather remain anonymous, so you could say I am the face of UnderOath. I provide the majority of the creative influence.

Q. Where did you come up with the name? UnderOath can have religious connotations, is your brand religious at all?

A. The name was chosen by my partner, and that may have been the focus, however, me being a very secular person, I was somewhat afraid that would be the perception, however the term more so relates to the relationship between teacher and student. We try to advocate for a culture of positivity and honour within BJJ.

Q. How did you start BJJ?

A. I personally have been doing submission grappling since 1996, starting in the fitness centre at my old high school. A few rough and tumble lads were very intrigued with the UFC and the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, like many people. I have been doing traditional BJJ since 2004, and am a brown belt. (Update: Now a  Black Belt! Congrats Ryan!)

Q. Why did you start a BJJ company?

A. When I first started AvantGuard Brand, it was to, in part, have an artistic outlet, but also because I was sick of the shirts I was seeing from day-to-day, as it was during the height of the Tap-Out/Affliction style skulls/chains/angels/gold leaf crap. Very few companies offered anything reasonable. This mindset continues today, where UO is an artistic outlet, and overall, a fun project.

Q. What are your main goals as a company?

A. Simply put, to continue to grow, and to eventually be in a position where we can support and sponsor up and coming athletes, helping them live their BJJ dream. We are just getting there now.

Q. How’s it being a Canadian company?

A. Much the same as anything else I suppose. The landscape in the Canadian BJJ market is only growing as the sport grows. Right now, besides us, there are three reasonably established brands, each providing their own bits of flare, but we feel there is still plenty of room for us and the style we (try to) bring.

Q. What makes UnderOath BJJ different than other brands?

A. That’s a hard question to answer. It gets harder and harder to differentiate yourself as a brand when you hear about a new brand surfacing almost daily. We don’t want to bash any brand in any way, but we find only 25-30% of the brands out there seem to offer anything to the culture. We find that there are dozens of brands all using the same artist (or two) to design their clothing. As far as differentiating ourselves, I can say the fact that we do our own art…is a start. We have tried artistically, to direct the brand towards being respectful and acknowledging BJJ’s roots, while also showing enthusiasm for innovation and the dynamics of styles that tomorrow brings. Quality and attention to detail is also constantly on our minds.

Q. How much do you love Poutine?

A. It makes one hell of a cheat meal!…You Yankees are truly missing out!

Q. Can you get me some?

A. LOL….I’m sure we’ll work something out.
(Note: If you don’t know what Poutine is, you’re life is less complete, French Fries + Gravy + Cheese Curds, amazing. A Canadian specialty, hence my 100% off topic question).

Update!

(Although I put the two new shirts in a Summer Gear round up post, I wanted to add them here to consolidate Underoath BJJs awesomeness)

One of my favorite BJJ brands is Underoath BJJ, I currently own 5 of their shirts. Two of those shirts I just got the other day and are equally as amazing as the original shirts I reviewed. One of the reasons I love their t-shirts in particular is the extremely durable printing method they use on the T’s. Paired with solid designs and a comfortable t-shirt, you’ve got a recipe for awesomeness. Their designs remind me of my skateboarding days. It’s quality streetwear stuff. Everyday I see someone with a new Fuzzy Angry animal t-shirt or rashguard at the gym but nothing like this. This is the kind of stuff we need more of in the BJJ community.

The PAPA, my favorite out of the new two I picked up:

The “Chix”:

Despite having been around for a little while now and coming out with some of the best T’s in the BJJ apparel market Underoath BJJ doesn’t have the notoriety as some other brands. THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE.

Buy their amazing stuff here: http://www.underoathbjj.bigcartel.com/
Like them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/UnderOathBJJ

Aaaaand I lost all my photos.

So this review has taken longer than most, but I really need to stress something: Muaewear is a brand that I feel really transcends just BJJ Kimonos. This thing is so pretty it deserves to be put behind glass and have people $10 a pop just to take a look. It’s gorgeous. The fit, finish, etc is amazing. In my dealings with this kimono there was only one flaw, the seam tape was a bit scratchy. I imagine after more washes it will continue to soften the seam tape up, so not too big of a deal. I’d give the Gi top a middle of the road score in regards to weight. I feel like it’s going to hold up quite well over time and be very durable.

Muaewear Furinkazan Gi Review Video:

Stats:

560gsm Single Weave

330gsm Cotton Twill

Pre Shrunk

Anti-Microbial

Anti-Odor

Size A2 Dimensions: (I am 5’10, 205lbs)

A. 6.5

B. 30

C. 19

D. 24

E. 20.5

F. 13

G. 8.5

H. 37

Pant length from crotch: 25.5

Chest: 23.5

The Top:

The 560gsm Single Weave top is decorated in multiple areas. The chest is littered with extravagant kanji which means “Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain”. There’s a little patch on the inside of the jacket the breaksdown the meaning of this kanji in detail. It’s pretty cool.

Obviously the star of the show is the beautifully detailed print on the inside of the jacket. Depicting a Samurai sitting down with cherry blossoms falling around him it really is stunning. Muaewear mentioned I may have issues with the ink bleeding a tiny bit initially, but luckily I didn’t have any issues, great success!

The cut of this top is great. It’s not as long as the skirt like a lot of Gis which I really liked, I can’t stand a long skirt. The sleeves and arm cut felt very tailored. The single weave is relatively difficult to grip and hold onto while still being comfortable.

The sleeves have a minimal opening at the wrists, good for defense, not as good for ezekiels and such, but none the less, skinny is in!

Inside the sleeves are lined with ripstop which is supposed to make the Gi harder to grab. Personally I don’t think it matters too much but it does make the material thicker, which I can see causing a bit of difference. It only takes one grain of rice to tip the scale right? (M F’n Mulan reference. BAM)

The collar is nice and thick. Not HCK thick, but thicker than most, which is a nice change of pace. I’m tired of these flimsy collars! Take notes people!

The Trousers:

These pants are great. No saggy ass syndrome going on here. They are much slimmer than a lot of gi companies out there and the fit is great.  I didn’t have any issues with being limited in regards to mobility.

One of the only complaints I have for the pants is the shortness in the knee reinforcement. Although not a deal breaker, I would have liked to have seen them extend a bit farther down the pant leg.

The belt loop system uses 4 belt loops and a stretchy rope drawstring. The drawstring is a bit smaller in circumference. Hopefully that’s because it’s of better quality, because I haven’t had much luck with these types of drawstrings lately. Regardless, they are my preferred type and I’m glad to see them in use here.

I really like their pants because they aren’t baggy and don’t limit my movement when rolling. You really can’t ask for much else. I can’t stand saggy bottom pants or pants with wide open ankles.

I lost virtually all of my graphic designs (ever), pictures, videos etc so I lost the ones I took of the Gi bag and have been unable to find it around the house. But it’s a nice little bag. I don’t really use Gi bags for carrying Gis, rather just for storing them and for storing other stuff.

For better or worse, I have always been a straight shooter. I have found that speaking my mind can be a curse but it can also be a gift. In the military i’d get bitched at all the time for speaking out of line and jumping the chain but I didn’t care, if someone needed help or a job needed done, I was going to do what I had to do to make it happen. If scumbag McGee wouldn’t tell our superiors what was up, then I’d leapfrog them and go right to who I knew would handle a situation. When everything is said and done I want to make sure I have at least one thing left, my integrity. No matter how I come across, no matter what I do, I do it with good intentions and do it openly and honestly. I am very opinionated and I’m very black and white in regards to what I believe. I’ll never pretend to like someone I don’t for the sake of anything. I will never play both sides of a coin, that is not how I am. I accept that my delivery isn’t always socially acceptable, but I believe people have a right to know the truth. Always the truth. If companies are doing something shady, it needs to come out. If a Gi brand is run by violent ex-felons, people should know. If a BJJ instructor is fostering a sick sexually exploitative environment, I’m going to scream it from my soap box. That is who I am.

I began working with Brendan from GiReviews.net after I did a guest review for him. He told me had too many Gis to review, some that had been sitting for months and could use help. I was super excited, I love BJJ, I was going 5-6 days a week for 4 hours a day when I first started (I train 4 days a week now) and loved Gis. At the beginning, I just wrote reviews. Brendan sent me a bunch he had been sitting on, then eventually had companies sending them to me directly. I usually wore a Gi for 3 weeks or so before I finished the review. I’d alternate between the Gis I was reviewing during the week. Then I would send everything I had in a word document to Brendan who would add it to the site. It was pretty badass from my perspective. I got a bunch of free Gis, what’s not to like about that?

Over time, I gradually started to become more of a part of GR than I was in the beginning. I became an admin of the facebook page, had admin rights to the site itself and added reviews all by my lonesome. It was around this time that we talked about taking GR to the next level. We wanted to blog about more than just Gis and even go to the big tournaments and make videos, we also started the podcast around this time. This was a big crossroads because it was here that we decided from there on out, everything would be 50/50. Not from our used Gi sales, but from any products we made, collabed with, ads etc.

One of the things that always kind of irked me was that people would always say things like “haha thanks Brendan!” on our facebook page, when generally speaking, it was me posting. People have this image of Brendan as this super friendly, integrity filled human being who can do no wrong and is there just to help people.

I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.

We made those 97% patches so people could express their stance on the Team Lloyd Irvin rape issues. We sold them as 5″ patches for $10 (I think it was $10 anyway) as pre-order. After sending everything to the company we used to make them (Carlos from the Handprint Store) Brendan messaged me saying that we could pocket an extra couple hundred of dollars  if we sent the people 3.5″ patches instead, even though they had already paid for 5″ patches. That was the first time I suspected Brendan of being a complete phony. Deep down I was thinking “who could do that to people and genuinely be a nice guy?”. I loved working with GR. The community interaction was awesome. I loved meeting all of the new people. Maybe that’s why I let this first instance slide and just chalked it up to momentary greed blinding him. I can tell you this though, no one has momentary greed like that. That’s something that’s rooted in you, the ability to screw people over that is. This took place on January 24th, well after we had started the pre-sale and decided on 5″ patches.

Around the same time we were coming out with our Hoth Gi with Strike Fightwear.  It was basically Strike and myself doing all of the work. I shipped all of the US orders out personally from my basement in 2 days. 160 something Gis. Being that we were 50/50 on everything, Brendan received half of GRs share of the profit. You may notice I didn’t actually do a review of the Hoth. Because I don’t think someone can sell their own product unbiased. Even if you use every effort not to, you don’t know what you’re going to do subconsciously. Brendan said that regardless of how much work I did, that the stuff he did couldn’t be attributed dollar amounts, podcasts, etc . So regardless if  was working on projects that earned us money or not and he wasn’t, it should still be 50/50. Ok, fair enough. But then I asked him why he was selling Gi patches and taking 100% of the profit and I got nothing. He said because he invested the money into ordering them. Which contradicts his whole point about us doing working that isn’t earning us money, but is bringing people/viewership to the brand. But let’s be honest, his podcasts were garbage and he only did I think 3 of them. When I started GR, it had around 1,500 fans. Now it has almost 6,000. To ignore the fact that I contributed to that number was extremely disrespectful. To be fair, I made a bunch of shitty memes with no real value that got a ton of people to like the page, but hey, I’m all about the giggles.

Then all of the sudden, literally out of nowhere, Brendan tells me is opening his own kids brand, Ok! Kimonos and things start to make sense. Brendan had zero intention of ever doing anything on a grand scale with GR. His whole intention of GR was to create a seemingly unbiased and community oriented website that he could gather fans and emails from. Within a week of launching Ok! Kimonos Brendan switched our GR instagram over to @OkKimonos (without telling me before doing it, and then telling me I should change my personal instagram to a GR one, it wasn’t something that was ever discussed). Thousands of followers of GR instantly became fans of a childrens brand they had never heard of before. His email lists? Well he got you there too. His posting dropped down to virtually nothing on our facebook page, unless it was of course to pump his brand in your face. I kept posting, but it was just me posting, unless of course you count his Ok! Kimonos advertisements that he was always posting.

He edited old GR articles and reposted them, for example, “The Best Gi for your body type”. Guess which Gi it is? Ok! Kimonos. “Holiday Gift Guide”? Ok! Kimonos. “Top Rated BJJ Gis”? Ok! Kimonos.

Brendan always talked about Gary Vaynerchuk and the Thank You Economy, Crush it and other big marketing names, and although people who aren’t douchebags treat people nice naturally, Brendan was actually using his nice guy persona as a marketing ploy. You may notice his over emphasis when he types anything having to do with thanking the community. What’s sad is that I loved our community, and to Brendan, they were just $ signs. He says he doesn’t wholesale his Ok! Kimonos products so he can “give you the BEST customer service”, that’s bullshit. He does it so he can set the price point.

He sent virtually all of the prominent BJJ bloggers free Ok! Kimonos gear and t-shirts. Not an attempt to be nice, but for marketing and as a shield for his brand. He loves the scratch my back mentality. His network was well thought out. He even admitted to me that he would be stupid not to use GR to promote his brand. Maybe so, but integrity comes first. If his intentions had been clear to everyone, no one would follow GR.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with affiliate links, especially if you provide good information. I do have an issue with sponsors paying you to run adverts and then not telling your partner. Then your partner finding out from a not deleted quickly enough facebook message, because you weren’t responding to your emails.

DoorDie Gi collab. This was a fucking nightmare. Communication was tough. It took forever for this to get started but once Pascal and I got on the phone and knocked down some ideas, we got stuff underway pretty quickly. I had never really heard anything negative about DoorDie other than a copyright dispute they had with someone, which seemed like bullshit, but it was months prior and I didn’t remember it at the time. Regardless, it didn’t seem like a big deal. During the middle of our collab Brendan lost his fucking mind because they didn’t send him a sample Gi. From the get go, we always talked about one sample. They got sent an A2, which is my size, so it got sent to me. The emails between Brendan and DoorDie reached  toddler level of hissy fit on his part. They were rude, unprofessional and it seemed like he was trying to piss them off enough to pull the plug. Accusing them of lying when they said their factory was on holiday…all sorts of stuff. I talked to them on the phone and told them to ignore him and that I had no idea why he was acting like that. We had a lot of people wanting the collab Gi, so I wanted to go through with it, plus as a freelance photog and designer who had just moved I needed the extra cash, plus I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t work with them. We had already made a commitment and I planned to see it all the way through. Brendan again contributed zero to the collab and even made it almost not happen.

Our next planned collab was with Tatami Fightwear. I was the sole point of contact for these collabs. Garreth from Tatami had sent a lot of design concepts that I didn’t feel were right, but kept suggesting to him to keep it subtle. He eventually sent an amazing design concept to me one day, and then asked if I wanted to have the kids in my kids class review his kids gi line. I thought this was super awesome on their part and mentioned both things to Brendan. Brendan said no because Tatami stole his brands design aesthetic. It was because they were his competitors. I really wanted to get those kids gis to review so the kids could get some new ones (they needed them) and worked it out through another company that I could review them through there, and accidentaly sent a message I had meant for someone else to Garreth before I had asked him if it had been ok, which was dicked on my part, to be fair. Brendan told me he wanted nothing to do with Tatami and was even not reviewing the Estilo 4.0 he had sent them because he hated them, and now magically is collabing with them again. It’s likely because the design Tatami came up with is awesome (his tone changed when I sent him the design) and he knows it will sell well and he can make money off of it. That was the final straw. Saying the kids I teach who are in need of Gis can’t get them because they are his brands competitors.

He stole from me, he TRIED to steal from our fans, and his super uber nice guy persona is bullshit. He’s a master manipulator, I’ll give him that. It’s the sickest thing in the world to see someone play off peoples inner good to market themselves. Why did I write this? Because I choose to pick a side, always. Because I don’t believe in people not having as much information as they should to make decisions. And I can caveat all of this with these being my perceptions. The truth is the only thing we have that can help us make the correct decisions.

A lot of this is cold hard facts, another fair portion is my perception of things and how they unfolded, take it all for what you will. I quit GR despite it being a hugely fun time of my life. I met tons of couple people while doing it, and I thank them for being great people, fans and BJJers.