Gi or No Gi?

I like gi, but I wish my gym trained more no-gi.
 
I used to be one of those guys who complained about the gi when I first started because of all the grip fighting and only trained no gi like every wrestler.

Now it’s all Gi for me.
 
I liked nogi more as a complete noob because I had no idea what to do in the gi except get choked by my own lapels.

Now, as an incomplete noob, I like them both equally!

But I prefer nogi takedowns and scrambling. I guess because I like wrestling better than judo.
 
Alech33 said:
This is exactly the case where I see it. Every gym around me seems to be 5-6 days a week gi and 1-2 no gi. You really don't get the option to be exlusive or at least primarily no gi
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from what I understood, its because there are less injuries in gi than no gi. I somewhat agree with that even though the bumps that are more common in slippery no-gi are pretty minor still.

I guess its a business and the gi helps slow everyone down and not flail around too much.
 
Wrestler160 said:
I used to be one of those guys who complained about the gi when I first started because of all the grip fighting and only trained no gi like every wrestler.

Now it’s all Gi for me.
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What made you change your mind?
 
I'm really happy to be able to do both.

Because of my style, gi suits me better, but doing the no gi classes and open mats help me a lot to depend less on the grips to sweep and pass.

I go, most of the time, to 2 no gi classes and 2 gi classes a week and in the open mats I let my partners chose what we do.

That variety keep things more interesting for me, your partners also change their game a lot from gi to no gi. It's like rolling with different people.
 
Evenflow80 said:
from what I understood, its because there are less injuries in gi than no gi. I somewhat agree with that even though the bumps that are more common in slippery no-gi are pretty minor still.

I guess its a business and the gi helps slow everyone down and not flail around too much.
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Yeah whether I like it or not it does seem to be more popular. I fully understand why for older, smaller/weaker, and generally unathletic would perfer it. Imo there's a lot of false confidence when you rely on grabbing ppls clothes. If you're training for fun or gi competition though it's up to the individual. For fighting or self defense though it would be nice if no gi grapplers had more opportunities to train no gi
 
Use your no gi takedowns and techniques in gi jiu jitsu I feel it works better than vice versa. Double legs have diff setups for gi so does firemans carry etc. Wish the gis were like sambo jackets so you could get underhooks.
 
Former wrestler here so naturally I prefer no gi. I train much more in gi (5x a week vs. 1 in no gi) but I am much better in no gi. I struggle with the grips and I feel as though whomever can use grips more effectively wins. I also feel that gi is a much slower paced match where people use the gi to drag the pace down. It's frustrating.
 
Te Huna Matata said:
Former wrestler here so naturally I prefer no gi. I train much more in gi (5x a week vs. 1 in no gi) but I am much better in no gi. I struggle with the grips and I feel as though whomever can use grips more effectively wins. I also feel that gi is a much slower paced match where people use the gi to drag the pace down. It's frustrating.
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I couldn't agree more. I find that a lot of my training partners in gi can make it through a round just by having a good grip on their opponents gi. It's just not very natural IMO.
 
No-gi. Gi is a fun game but it's hard on your hands, less applicable to MMA, and the meta-game has become sporty enough that it's not as much fun as it used to be for me. The technical development going on in the no-gi space is more interesting to me too because it's more submission focused, whereas the innovations in the gi are more oriented towards tricky guard play focused on the sweep.
 
I like nogi more for a variety of reasons.
Only drawbacks of nogi are:
1. I eat more stray elbows/knees.
2. Sometimes I'd like another layer between myself and the smellier people.
3. North south chokes. I had 2 people get one at a weird angle where my mouth was forced slightly open enough to where the squeeze of their arms forced some of their own armpit sweat into my mouth.

My goal after black belt is to never put on another gi again.
 
If all you have is Gi training, how helpful is that in a street fight?
 
Evenflow80 said:
from what I understood, its because there are less injuries in gi than no gi. I somewhat agree with that even though the bumps that are more common in slippery no-gi are pretty minor still.

I guess its a business and the gi helps slow everyone down and not flail around too much.
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For what it's worth I see more injuries in the gi but I think no gi injuries are more surface level and maybe stand out more. I've seen way more knees popped from delariva or 50/50 guards where people use the lapels or other grips to sort of hold people in positions where their joints are unstable. Or getting caught up in omoplatas situations with lapel control too. Most of the injuries I've seen in no gi are from takedown scrambles especially after the floor gets slippery.
 
Adamant said:
If all you have is Gi training, how helpful is that in a street fight?
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You better hope they're wearing a heavy coat lol
That's one of the common argument I hear for it, that people are going to be wearing a jacket. It's very likely even in the cold someone who wants to start a fight will take it off first. As some of the earlier post suggested, if you train in the gi but using no gi grips (under and over hooks) and don't rely on gi chokes and grips. No gi is definitely the better way to get prepared for self defense in a street fight
 
Alech33 said:
You better hope they're wearing a heavy coat lol
That's one of the common argument I hear for it, that people are going to be wearing a jacket. It's very likely even in the cold someone who wants to start a fight will take it off first. As some of the earlier post suggested, if you train in the gi but using no gi grips (under and over hooks) and don't rely on gi chokes and grips. No gi is definitely the better way to get prepared for self defense in a street fight
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I usually hate self defense debates in general but I have always agreed with this point and I'm confused that a good chunk of people don't.
 
Adamant said:
If all you have is Gi training, how helpful is that in a street fight?
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I don't do bjj for fighting ability. It is a non-factor to me. I grapple because its fun.
 
mataleaos said:
For what it's worth I see more injuries in the gi but I think no gi injuries are more surface level and maybe stand out more. I've seen way more knees popped from delariva or 50/50 guards where people use the lapels or other grips to sort of hold people in positions where their joints are unstable. Or getting caught up in omoplatas situations with lapel control too. Most of the injuries I've seen in no gi are from takedown scrambles especially after the floor gets slippery.
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I agree. no-gi injuries seem to mostly be hitting someone's face with your feet or knees, etc, while gi injuries can be more serious due to the gi getting caught on a toe or a finger or even being used too hard in a sub attempt
 
Adamant said:
If all you have is Gi training, how helpful is that in a street fight?
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All I have ever done is Gi. If you go against any untrained person I know from personal experience that you will without a doubt dominate that person without any effort what so ever. It was shocking to me how easy it was to win a fight after 2 years of BJJ. I literally felt like I was wrestling with my kid brother. 12 years of weight lifting helped I'm sure but the control I had over the guy was unreal.

The funny part is I have no TD's at all. I don't train them, I hate training TD's, and I normally just pull guard. This guy I grabbed around the waist and had complete control of him and he was taller than me by a good foot.
 
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