Aikidogi is the formal Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 name for the uniform used for Aikido

Aikido

is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...

 training. Most practitioners simply call it a gi or dogi. There are few if any rules regarding the Aikido uniform other than local or organizational guidelines, though for reasons of tradition most aikidoka

Aikidoka

Aikidoka is a Japanese term for a practitioner of the martial art Aikido. The term is rarely heard among native speakers of Japanese, in spite of its common use as a loanword in other countries.-Etymology:...

 wear an aikidogi that is made from bleached (or occasionally unbleached) cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 or sometimes cotton-poly blends.

Practically Aikido training sits somewhere between Judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

 and Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 in the nature of its practice and therefore it is very common to find both lightweight karategi

Karategi

Karategi is the Japanese name for the karate training uniform.A karategi is somewhat similar to a judogi as it shares a common origin, however the material and cut of the uniform is generally much lighter and looser fitting. The heaviest of Karategi are only 16 oz compared to some judogi at...

 and heavier judogi

Judogi

Judogi is the formal Japanese name for the traditional uniform used for Judo practice and competition. It is actually derived from traditional articles of Japanese clothing. Jigoro Kano derived the original judogi from the kimono and other Japanese garments around the turn of the 20th century, and...

 being used by aikidoka depending on preference. Both are more durable than typical Western clothing. A judogi is typically thick enough to support the weight of its wearer. Morihei Ueshiba

Morihei Ueshiba

was a famous martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher".-Early years:Morihei Ueshiba was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on December 14, 1883....

 seems to have used a traditional judogi with a dark coloured hakama

Hakama

are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. They were originally worn only by men, but today they are worn by both sexes. Hakama are tied at the waist and fall approximately to the ankles. Hakama are worn over a kimono ....

 most of the time, though there are numerous records of him wearing more traditional kimono

Kimono

The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

 and hakama combinations and to this day some variation is found even within an individual organization or dojo

Dojo

A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...

 depending on the instructor(s).

In addition to judogi and karategi used for Aikido practice there are also a small number of companies which manufacture keikogi

Keikogi

or dōgi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budō. . The prototype for the modern keikogi emerged in the late 19th century. The keikogi was developed by judo founder Kano Jigoro...

specifically for Aikido training. These tend to differ from other styles of keikogi in subtle ways reflecting some of the unique aspects of Aikido training, such as shorter sleeves reaching to just below the elbow. Unlike many other martial arts Aikido continues to emphasize defences from a seated position and therefore aikidogi often have heavily reinforced zubon or pants (especially kneepatches) and also tend to have slightly longer skirts around the waist of the uwagi or jacket to allow the aikidoka to tuck their uwagi in to their hakama without any trouble. Additionally Aikido uwagi tend to have slightly shorter sleeves to facilitate training from wrist grabs which is very common, especially at lower levels. Some aikidogi are derived from judogi and have a heavyweight tightly woven terrycloth style uwagi (such as the Tozando aikidogi), while others are made from a heavy canvas karategi style material (such as the AikidoStyle youshiki aikidogi) strong enough for regular grappling and throwing found in Aikido training.