This is a great, informative kendo video. I can say that I’ve worn the Kachi set for many nice events, including shinsa, and it’s been great, so I highly recommend it (even if you already have a nice cotton set).

wouldve been cool if you couldve linked the hakamas? i wanted to order the lightweight/left one but im not sure if i found the right one in the store.

Hi Fisher sensei: could you please speak to the pleat "depths" of hakama? I have 2 #7000 hakama: one from Japan 20 years ago, and the other a Kurenai. And that's one difference I notice. The Kurenai hakama's front pleats (especially the left and right outer most pleats in the front) are shallower. I don't know how else to describe it, since I never see anyone ever talking about it online. I can see the shallow pleats will save fabric materials, and therefore costs. It is what it is, and I'm ok with it. But I do think the hakama with deeper pleats look a little better. So I would like to know in the future, when I choose to buy an expensive hakakma for high level grading, how do I communicate with the vendor (aka KendoStar) to make sure the hakama is what I'm looking for? Thank you.

Call I can say is that the stiff cotton is fine(beginner set type). But after you got something nicer it will have a new home in the backs of the closet 😂