martialartsmart.com = good, cheap stuff

[bodhitree]

I recently ordered new sparring gear, it was cheaper than any other place I could find for shin guards, headgear, handwraps, and everything else. Good job guys.

[MasterKiller]

Gene,
How come TCMA stores don't carry "real" sparring equipment like leather headgear, various weight gloves, leather/vinyl shin guards, ect.

I buy as much as I can from you guys, but the foam-dipped gear is an injury waiting to happen, imo...

[GeneChing]

MK: MartialArtsMart.com is not a TCMA store. Kung Fu Tai Chi is a CMA magazine and both Kung Fu Tai Chi and MartialArtsMart are under our same company (TC Media, Intl., a division of Tiger Claw, but make no mistake. What funds MartialArtsMart is not CMA. Despite our heavy promotion through Kung Fu Tai Chi and KungFuMagazine.com, MartialArtsMart makes the bulk of its income from Tae Kwon Do. Never underestimate the economic power of TKD in the martial world. It dwarfs all of CMA. Personally, I've been trying to move us towards more high end gear, but I'll be frank, there isn't much profit in it for us. The market it pretty limited and there are a lot of vendors like Fairtex that already have it well cornered.

Thanks for your support, gentleman. We truly appreciate it.

[The Xia]

So the cat is out of the bag, all this great stuff like the magazine and forum are funded by TKD of all things!

[lunghushan]

So the cat is out of the bag, all this great stuff like the magazine and forum are funded by TKD of all things!

It makes sense. I was trying to figure out why most of their gear seemed to be TKD oriented.

I was trying to find all these kung fu schools that used padding, rebreakable boards and all that TKD stuff.

[GeneChing]

In America, TKD provides the bulk of the income for all of the large MA companies. If you've been thinking that CMA has a major purchase hold on the economy of American MA, wake up and smell the coffee...or tea...or whatever it is you drink to wake up. There are three main moneymakers in martial arts: TKD, nunchuks and ninjas. CMA is pretty far down on the list, sad to day. It's a difficult market. There are so many variations of CMA that it's hard to sell gear that meets everyone's needs. For example, just look at uniforms. MartialArtsMart offers a fair selection of CMA uniforms, but there are tons of different styles that we have yet to offer, or have discontinued. A classic example is the Shuai Chiao uniform - we were one of the first American companies to offer it, but we had to discontinue it because it wasn't selling enough to justify keeping it on our shelves. TKD, on the other hand, is standard and simple, so if anything, we're always trying to expand the line of TKD uniforms by making stuff up. Such is the nature of martial arts in America.

But contrast that with the fact that we used to have a TKD magazine called Dojang. It only ran 8 issues until it proved to be not viable. Then we merged it with our Japanese based mag, Dojo, to form World of Martial Arts. In 1999, we abandoned that and just focused on Kung Fu Tai Chi. Why? CMA has the richest history. KMA and JMA trace their lineage back to China. And China has one of the longest recorded histories and accordingly, one of the most complex cultures in the world. In eight issues, we pretty much tapped the sum of TKD history. In over 90 issues, we've barely even scratched the surface of CMA.

[lunghushan]

Well ... I have bought a uniform off of Martialartsmart.com. Just one of the basic KF ones, but I don't like it much because it's cotton and requires ironing.

I was trying to find a nicer quality one out of linen or silk or polyester or rayon or something (I would dry-clean it), but I couldn't find one. I even considered buying some traditional Chinese clothing, but I couldn't find that either. I found some modern versions on Ebay, but it seemed kindof iffy.

If I had to vote (I don't know if it would be popular), I would vote for a martial arts store for CMA stuff that is just a little bit higher quality than martialartsmart.com and WLE. I don't know if there would be a market or not.

Basically it seems like all the KF stuff from China is a bit, well, not 100% up to quality. I'd say it's about 80% of what I would expect.

[MasterKiller]

As a side note, every time I order something I put "masterkiller wants free stuff" in the notes field on the order form. Alas, my cries go unanswered.

[GeneChing]

...you just got to put up with my advertising.

[YiLiQuan1]

Since my very first day training in Yiliquan, I've worn Tiger Claw uniforms... At least, that is, until I found how much more durable a judogi was for the training we did. Back in 2002ish we changed from wearing the far less sturdy CMA outfit for either karate or judo uniforms as they are comparably priced and far more lasting. Lower maintenance, too.

I'll admit that the judogi I've had for the last seven years was not a Tiger Claw brand... Simply because back then they only had the white ones (which I did buy one of for the classes I was taking in Japan). Now that they've got the Cahill black jujutsu gi, I'll be purchasing one soon to replace my rather threadbare and "broken in" older one...

Bottom line, Tiger Claw products last. They're lower priced than nearly anything else on the market, and far more durable than their competitors' toys.

lunghushan-

If your training allows you to wear a linen or silk pajama set, you aren't training hard enough!!! They're pretty and all, but I've literally had the sleeves ripped off uniforms like that in the past... One of the reasons my Sifu, Pete Starr, had us wearing Tiger Claw gear was because the cheaper linen CMA outfit available at the time would rip, tear, or otherwise suffer horribly under normal wear and tear... They were disposable, to say the least.

Gene, keep up the good work. I refer everyone I know shopping for gear to your site. Whether they buy stuff or not I don't know, but I get the word out as best I can.

[lunghushan]

If your training allows you to wear a linen or silk pajama set, you aren't training hard enough!!! They're pretty and all, but I've literally had the sleeves ripped off uniforms like that in the past... One of the reasons my Sifu, Pete Starr, had us wearing Tiger Claw gear was because the cheaper linen CMA outfit available at the time would rip, tear, or otherwise suffer horribly under normal wear and tear... They were disposable, to say the least.

Honestly my first KF uniform was from Kim Pacific and it was all cotton and heavy and durable. The stuff they sell now is nowhere up to snuff.

As for the 'training hard' stuff, there's only one type of uniform that will hold up, which is a BJJ uniform. I don't recommend people do forms in one of those, though, because they're too heavy.

[YiLiQuan1]

Honestly my first KF uniform was from Kim Pacific and it was all cotton and heavy and durable. The stuff they sell now is nowhere up to snuff.

I still have 2 Tiger Claw uniforms, 100% cotton, and nearly grey they're so old and faded... BUT, they're still in great shape, have resisted wear and tear, and had I not married an incredible cook they'd still fit, too...

As for the 'training hard' stuff, there's only one type of uniform that will hold up, which is a BJJ uniform. I don't recommend people do forms in one of those, though, because they're too heavy.

I wear a double-thick judogi exclusively, and I do forms as well. It's all about washing the uniform enough to loosen it up... Mine fits like a glove, is nice and soft, and no longer wears like body armor.

[lunghushan]

I wear a double-thick judogi exclusively, and I do forms as well. It's all about washing the uniform enough to loosen it up... Mine fits like a glove, is nice and soft, and no longer wears like body armor.

It's not the heavy weight I'm talking about, I'm talking about the sweating part.

[YiLiQuan1]

It's not the heavy weight I'm talking about, I'm talking about the sweating part.

Ah, yes... The inbuilt dehydration aspect... The downside is that you sweat like a beast while wearing it, but the upside is that they soak up every drop!

[GeneChing]

On a good night, I'll sweat through the uniform so ironing is pointless. I only wind up looking scruffy for the warm ups. Our basic uniform is the black pants with the green trim interloop top.

Those black Cahill Jujitsu uniforms are pretty popular.