Summary
For their first foray into the gi market, Ground Fighter decided to go all out and make a real splash with their Northern Lights gi. This gi is one of the nicest I’ve had the privilege of reviewing!
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Introduction
I first became aware of the brand Ground Fighter when I saw pictures floating around of their no gi gear, and thought “Wow, this is some cool stuff!” When I heard they were entering the gi market I was intrigued.
The Northern Lights gi is an example of a well developed product. They put a lot of thought into the gi, from the fabrics to the design to the cut, and thus produced a fantastic product!
The gi arrived to me in August. It came in a nice drawstring bag along with some stickers. I tested the gi over a period of about 5 months.
As a side note, the few gis I’ve come across that are made in China are of amazingly high quality, the Ground Fighter Northern Lights is one of them.
Fit
This gi is an A3. As I always mention the very best size for my build is A2L but I can wear A3. This gi is a very fitted A3 fitting more like my preferred A2L. If you normally wear an A3 you may want to check the sizing of the Northern Lights gi as it may be off. In my case it was PERFECT!
A: 6.5
B: 28.5
C: 30.5
D: 23.5
E: 21.5
F: 12.5
G: 9
H: 39.5
Design
Ground fighter chose awesome materials and an appealing color scheme for this gi.
The gi top is made of 420gsm pearl weave and the pants are made of nice dense 10oz twill with a pearl weave gusset.
The color scheme of the gi is as attractive as it is unusual: they went with bright green contrast stitching and stretchy rope, and purple piping and loops. I love it.
Throughout the gi and the pants Ground Fighter has featured a sublimated mesh lining made to look like a Northern Lights landscape.
On the outside of the gi, the styling is simple: the Ground Fighter logo in purple on each shoulder, a special “Northern Lights” logo in purple and green between the shoulder blades and a branded patch near the left hip.
The pants are just as clean only featuring a single patch on the left thigh.
All patchwork and embroidery on this gi is phenomenal, it all held up great throughout the test period.
All of the seam tape is plain twill with the exception of the bottom of the gi top’s skirt, which is branded.
Jacket
Ground Fighter set the bar high with the gi material they chose for this jacket. It’s slated at 420 GSM but it is the softest and lightest normal pearl weave I’ve ever felt. It feels like some 350 GSM gis I’ve tried out but the weave is coarser and softer.
The twill covered EVA foam lapel is among the thickest of all of the gis I’ve ever worn. It is a beefy stiff lapel, which I particularly liked!
Probably the most prominent feature of the gi is the presence of sublimated mesh lining in the yoke panel and around the skirt slit.
The only branded seam tape on the gi is at the bottom of the skirt and it says “Ground Fighter” and “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.”
Trousers
The pants of this gi are lightweight yet very substantial twill. I really enjoyed wearing them.
The design of the pants is relatively simple: white with green stitching and purple trim/loops. There is an attractive patch on the left hip with the Ground Fighter and Northern Lights motifs, and at the piping at the hips they put sublimated mesh like on the top.
The gusset is made of pearl weave which is always a plus, this aids in submissions from guard.
Something very unusual happened during the test period, the drawstring seemed to rupture at a single point with the inner strings working their way out. This was a bit of a nuisance but chances are it got caught on something, I can’t fault Ground Fighter for it but it was perhaps the ONLY thing I didn’t love about the gi.
Rolling Performance
Holy moly this gi was fun to roll in.
The soft top was a delight, and it was easy to strip grips from the thick collar. I’m a huge fan of the pants; the dense twill is a pain to grab while the pearl weave gusset makes cinching submissions just a bit easier.
Once I’ve reviewed a gi I take it out of my rotation, there are some gis that I’ll still roll in from time to time because they’re so awesome, and this is going to be one them.
Check out the latest gis from Scramble, Bad Boy, Tatami & more
Conclusion
If this gi is an indication of what we can expect from Ground Fighter’s gi offerings, then the jiu jitsu community is in for a treat. I can’t say enough good things about the Ground Fighter Northern Lights gi.
This specific gi has sold out, but Ground Fighter will surely put out more gis in the future. Check them out at check them out at www.groundfighter.net
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 Fighter.
