Summary

If you follow BJJHQ you know that Ground Game is a brand that has a very wide product offering.  I had an opportunity to review the Ground Game Balance Gi and it is an amazing product.

Oh, and it comes with two pairs of pants.

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Introduction

Ground Game is a European gear company that became very popular with their no gi offering.  A couple of years back they started releasing products on BJJhq and the quality and look of their products had wide appeal.

The gi that Ground Game sent me to review is of very high quality.  It fits well and is aesthetically pleasing.  They clearly pay attention to detail and made certain apt choices with this gi that I haven’t seen from many other companies including but not limited to providing two different pairs of pants: one twill and one rip stop.  I’ll touch more on this later.

It came in a nice drawstring bag.

Over a 6 month testing period this gi showed little to no wear, so it’s a superb product.

Fit

I’m 6’1, 195.  The best fit for me is an A2L.  This gi is an A3, and it fit just like an A3 should, a touch baggy but still comfortable.  Certainly not a tailored gi.  The twill pants shrank a bit more over the course of the 6 month test period.

A:  6.25

B:  28.75

C:  32

D: 23

E: Rip stop: 21 Twill: 20

F: Rip stop: 12.5 Twill: 12

G: Rip stop: 9.75 Twill: 10

H: Rip stop: 39.5 Twill: 36.25

Design

This black gi with light blue contrast stitching is definitely branded tastefully, especially considering the prevalence of skulls in its designs.  Normally when I see any martial arts related product featuring skull motifs I roll my eyes and dismiss the product as being too “hardcore” for me.  The skulls on this gi are relatively subtle and at times don’t even really look like skulls.

The jacket has the company name and the name of the gi on each shoulder, an embroidered logo on the left pec and a ground game symbol in between the shoulder blades.  Also they put 2 skulls forming a sort of yin yang on the right arm.

The most prominent feature of this gi is the yoke panel and skirt slit reinforcements which are made of a sublimated mesh.  Really beautiful stuff.  The design seems to center around heat and cold.  Also on the inside of the gi is a little ground game patch sewn in.  Kind of a cool little addition.

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The pants are simple but functional.  They have some of the same embroidered patches as the jacket, full length knee covering and an unusual single sleeve for the stretchy rope instead of loops.

Jacket

The jacket reminds me a lot of my Tatami Estilo 3.0 in its specific 550 GSM pearl weave as well as its cut.  That’s a good thing.

The mesh lining that I mentioned earlier is super soft and comfortable, it definitely makes certain types of guard more comfortable.

The lapel on this gi is a good thickness and has an EVA foam liner; it’s not an easy gi to choke me with.  Ground game used a simple unbranded twill seam tape.

The embroideries on this gi are very high quality and didn’t fray even a bit throughout the course of the test period.

Trousers

So yeah… Two pairs of pants.  Why?  Because twill and rip stop are very different fabrics.

The twill Ground Game chose is heavy duty high quality twill.  They shrunk a bit but they still fit fine.

The rip stop that Ground Game chose is lightweight and durable.  Much better for hot days than the twill pants.

Both pairs are of extremely high quality, and are very comfortable.

The trousers have full length knee covering which is good but Ground Game went with what I think was an ill contrived move with the stretchy rope system.  They went with a single sleeve.  Ever get your stretchy rope stuck inside the waist of your gi pants?  With these I had that joy on a regular basis, anytime I had to try to get the rope back through the sleeve it was always a bit of an ordeal.  This is a very small issue to be honest, and the sleeve did secure the stretchy rope nicely.

Rolling Performance

This gi was a pleasure to roll in.  The lapel was perfect thickness, the double material on the knees made pant grips more difficult to attain, definitely a great gi to roll in.

The presence of 2 options for the pants was nice, on warmer days I’d go with rip stop and cooler days got the twill treatment.

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Conclusion

The Ground Game Balance Gi is a fantastic product especially given the two pairs of pants.  Options are nice, and ground game does a good job of offering their customers options.  I highly recommend this product.  For more information about ground game’s product offering check out their website.

Disclosure: This Gi was submitted to me free of charge (by way of gireviews.net) for review.  I have never done any work with or for Ground Game.