GiReviews Presents: Best of 2011
Below, GiReviews.Net humbly presents the best BJJ gear events, designs, giveaways, company owners, signature gis, BJJ blogs, and more of 2011. Enjoy!
Most hyped gi that wasn’t a Shoyoroll
Scramble’s 1chiban Gi - The 1chiban really came out with a bang this year and should be arriving in people’s homes relatively soon. With all of the hype, Budovideos sold out of my size, A3, in less than 3 minutes!
Best BJJ Show – Tie
Real Rio Show + BJJ Hacks - This show is really amazing and documents people training at Connection Rio / Gordo Jiu Jitsu as well as some awesome things going on in Rio. BJJ Hacks has also done an amazing highlight recently on the Miyao Bros. that has gotten a lot of coverage. Perfect for fans of the old Arte Suave videos.
Best Gi Reviews – various
Black Eagle Raptor Gi Review by Meerkatsu
Break Point Ultra Light Gi Review by JiuJitsuSweep
Shoyoroll White Mamba Gi Review by GrapplingAddict
Gal’s Gis by Georgette Oden
X-Guard Tsunami Gi Review by BjjGearJunkie
Gameness Air Gi Review by WhiteBeltAcademy
Submission Light Gi Review by SkinnyD
Best Signature Gi
Tatami Fightwear’s Terere Gi - The Terere gi from Tatami was a pretty spectacular signature gi released this year. Tatami really made a very spectacular gi for the 6-time world champion, Fernando ‘Terere’ Augusto. A very impressive gi for an equally impressive BJJ Black Belt.
Most Controversial Gi Release
Shoyoroll Guma Reserve Membership – A $400 price tag combined with further exclusivity made this release very controversial. What made it the most controversial release of 2011 was the fact that it was released on Christmas Eve. Don’t worry, whether you love the idea or hate it, you’ll get full coverage of it for all of 2012 here on GiReviews.Net.
Best company owners – various
Steve Turner (Predator BJJ), Doug Lee (Ronin Brand), Nick Mitria (Subculture), Matt Benyon (Scramble), Bruno Munduruca (Kingz), Bear Quitugua (Shoyoroll), Jonathan Greek (Kauai), Aaron Rubin (BjjHQ), Chris Odell (Datsusara), and Blayne Barlow (CTRL Industries).
In 2011, these company owners displayed exceptional customer service. Reviews aside, should you ever need to get any information about gis, all of these guys are easily accessible and are very communicative. If you have had an awesome experience with any of these company owners, or any others, please post them below!
Best Gear Bag
Datsusara Light Battlepack – This backpack is really the best gear back on the market for the on-the-go BJJ player. It holds everything and its amazing hemp construction is incredible. Once you own one, you won’t buy another brand again. It has been used and tested extensively and it is not surprise that Datsusara continues to provide the top quality gear bags when it comes to BJJ.
Best Gi
I’m not even biting on this one. There are far too many fantastic gis that came out in 2011. For a mind-blowing analysis of what the best gis were in 2011, check out Aesopian’s BJJ Gi Survey.
Best Instructional Website
MGinAction – The way the videos are strung together, plus the amazing coverage given just never ceases to amaze me. I could watch these videos all day.
Best Blog – Tied
BJJ Globetrotter – Words can’t do justice to how epic Christian Graugart’s Around-the-World BJJ Trip was. Can’t wait to read the book!
JiuJitsu Lab – Amazing technique analysis. If you ever want to learn a move, don’t YouTube it. Go here first. They’ve already done the work for you
DstryrSG - Great videos, cool graphics, and hilarious commentary. Love it.
Lapel Choke – Great techniques, with videos being constantly updated. Great event coverage as well.
Best fightwear design (not a gi) – Tied
Scramble (Rainbow Spats), OSS + Meerkatsu (Miyao Miyao Shirt), CTRL Industries (Born to Roll Shirt) - Fightwear that features bold, clean images are starting to make themselves more know than the Tapout / Affilication gear that was taking hold in past years. These brands put out some amazing designs for shorts and shirts in 2011.
Best Gear Contest
Jason Scully (BJJforLife) – There are a ton of contests every year, but Jason gave away a Koral and a Shoyoroll gi for this contest. In addition, he has done a ton of contests to build up his YouTube and Facebook following. What makes the giveaway the best is that he really gives out high quality information so you’re really winning twice when you join his pages.
Most Inventive Marketing Scheme
Honey Badger Fightwear - People either loved it or hated it (for the record, we loved it!), but the Honey Badger rashguard came out not give a f___. Definitely something we hadn’t seen before in BJJ.
Well there you have it folks. The GiReviews.Net Best of 2011. With all that 2012 promises, the next year-in-review should prove to be both fun, and a total nightmare ^_^
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, thanks for including the Jiu Jitsu Lab in your review! Look forward to seeing more great reviews in 2012.
For sure! Thanks for providing such great content in the Lab!
Yeah i agree with the whole list, very nicely put together . You are a gentleman and a scholar kind sir . Thank you once again for the mention
This is quite the extensive list. Great review, I personally want to pick up that Datsusara Light Battlepack. The style is sleek and sophisticated. First time on your site, I’m impressed thanks for stopping by my site. Hit me up on twitter some time. @Fighter_Style
Any time! Glad you liked the list! Let me know if there’s anything you want to see on the site.
Maybe in 2012 you guys will consider this website BJJDoc.com. Great information about injuries, traumas and the medical/anatomical aspect of BJJ.
Jiu-Jitsu lab is a great website for BJJ techniques.
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