War Blue BJJ Belt Review

While I was getting closer and closer to getting my blue belt, I decided that rather than take a generic belt from my Instructor, I would purchase what I want, and give it to him to present when he felt it was time. When I handed it over, it felt sort of like I now had a clear goal - Get him to give it back to me!

When surfing the Interwebs for what belt to get, I was looking for something a little different. I had a few criteria:

• It had to be durable
• It had to be longer than the belt before it (which only had little "nubs" sticking out after I tied it)
• IT HAD TO STAY TIED FOR LONGER THAN 6 SECONDS    *cough*gameness*cough*cough*
• It had to have a certain amount of "bad ass-ery" to it.

I settled finally on a War belt. I had seen and heard glowing reviews about this fabled belt from Brazil that cost a zillion dollars to import (if you could find one) and was the softest, toughest, magic filled belt ever! Luckily, BudoVideos started to carry them, so getting one was fairly easy..

When the belt arrived (a month later...with no tracking number...yikes) I eagerly tore into the package, and pulled out....a disappointment. The stitching was coming undone, and the "black bar" for promotions was 3"  long, and 3" from the end. It looked nothing like the quality everyone had described. and certainly felt like a rip off.

The finished result of having a seamstress fix the promotion bar

I decided to make the best of a bad situation and get it fixed by a local seamstress. I had them remove the promotion bar and sew on a proper one (side note: the cotton twill remains that most seamstresses have after hemming black dress pants works amazing for this task. No need to buy fabric) I had them shorten the belt as War's A5  is sized like an A7 (if there is such a thing). Finally, I had them fix up the loose stitching and reenforce the ends and seems. What I ended up with is a beautiful belt, that fits all of my criteria. I also ordered a couple of small embroidered Brazilian flags to sew onto the belt as well. They are only 3/4 of an inch long so I think they will add a nice little accent.

I like the nice accents the little flags give the belt..

The tag on the right came with the belt. the flag on the left is the sew-on one..

After all was said and done, I think I could have paid for an Eosin Panther... and got a really nice Jiu Jitsu Belt



UPDATE New Pictures.... I decided to stop being lazy and take some quality shots of the belt. Keep in mind there is some wear now as it has been 7 months since I got it.

I had this small flag added by a seamstress, I thought it added a nice touch. I got them here

Close up to showcase the texture of the belt

The seamstress did an excellent job.

Ohhhh..how "artsy"

*THIS IS NOT MY BELT* I included this pic to highlight the wonky stitching of the promotional bar. I had the black bar on my belt ripped off and fixed by a seamstress. I expect that a freshly ordered belt would look very similar to this belt. (Original Photo Source)

UPDATE 2:  I did end up getting an Eosin panther and love every minute of it. The War belt is a good belt for most...it's just in my opinion, the Eosin is better.


UPDATE 3 There are other War belt review out there for further reading. Check these out

http://www.bjjgearjunkie.com/gear-reviews/post/war-kimonos-belt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iqfvTwT4b0

And a new Updated War Website


Mike.

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Like this Review?? Please Comment Below, And Click Here For My Other BJJ Product Reviews
 This review represents my own opinions. I am not an expert by any means in cotton, garment construction, or fabric stress. I am just a regular BJJ student who loves Jiu Jitsu. I consider myself as independent and impartial as one can get. I am not sponsored by WAR, and I paid for this belt out of my own hard earned money. If you have any questions about this review, please comment below or email me at lifevsjiujitsu@gmail(dot)com.  I hope you enjoyed the large detailed photos I included; it is something I think many reviews are lacking. Thanks for reading. 

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