Honestly.... is the gi really a good idea ?

[lechien]

If you ever get mugged, keep it simple. O-soto-gari can be done on a shirtless guy.

Edit:

I'm not an expert in grappling, though. The extent of my knowledge comes from traditional karate grappling and a couple of years in Japanese jujitsu.

I think ts is discussing the usage of of the GI and it effectiveness for self defense.

Let say isoto gari is the technique. But you only trained, learned and sparred using this technique with GI grips.

Suddenly when attacked in the street, you could find it hard to use it because you are over relying in the gi grips.

 

[lechien]

You should be able to train Bjj nogi once in a while so you can adjust your skills.

I think we do like 50% nogi training in summer and spring which coincide with nogi competition season.

It is nice to give a rest to the sore fingers.

But nothing too crazy like man bun and man wearing spats and rash guard only type of bs.

 

[freakroor]

I'm speaking in a self defense situation...im training so much in the gi that basically all my passes and sweeps and sub setups rely on the gi. The one day we train no gi I completely and utterly suck

I know instructions say that people in real life wear jackets or even just shirts which can sub for a gi in a real fight but is even that accurate? I feel like if I pull on the lapel of a jacket it will slide right off his arm haha.

More experienced grapples than me what are you honest thoughts without any ego or toeing the line ? Just your own honest and anonymous opinions?

most people in a real life altercation will be wearing a shirt or jacket. and dont forget there are chokes you can do with your own jacket as well.

also you're forgetting pants. in a real fight people wear pants. in no-gi you cant grab the shorts/pants or belt/waistband so it is in that sense much less realistic.

anyway you should train gi and no-gi ... why limit yourself?

 

[hutchdavidson]

I wonder if Fencers debate if their art is worth carrying around their sword for self defense

 

[kamalayka]

Theoretically sure, but it's increadbly unlikely. Only about 5 in every 100,000 people are murdered, only a fraction of those murders could even theoretically be prevented through martial arts and only a fraction of those would have been stoped if the the victim had known martial arts.

That being said this subject was interesting the first dozen times it was discussed, but at this point everything to be said on this subject has been repeated many times just on this forum.

You know what technique you should practice the most if you really want to make yourself safer? Break falls. People hurt themselves, and even die, in short falls all the time. I actually saved myself from serious injury just by knowing how to fall. I was crossing the street on my bicycle and someone late for work made a left without looking; they hit the front wheel of my bike going about 30 thr owing me to the ground. I probably would have bashed my head on the concrete pretty good, but I did a break fall and walked away with nothing but scratches and bruises.

I'm not talking about murderer, necessarily. If you're at the ATM and some twerp grabs your wrist as you're pulling out your cash, he's probably not looking to kill you and there are many simple techniques that will take him off his feet.

 

[jack36767]

So while I’ll be the first to advocate nogi over gi.. well except when I’m tired, then gi all day lol.bu I’m kinda confused at the logic.. Barely training nogi in the less than a year you have been training at all.. and not being good at the aspect (nogi) you barely train.. makes the gi potentially useless or not really worth it?
I’m actually genuinely asking about the logic not being mean

The other problem is that you’re probably doing the noob habit of clinging onto the gi for dear sweet life. And you aren’t experienced enough to realize how much you do it

 

[Foxflechette57]

gi or no gi learn a few takedowns

 

[Brofessor]

These days all the fuck-boys are wearing skinny jeans and tight tees. There's nothing to grab on to anymore. The whole "gi techniques work in street fights because everyone wears clothes" argument goes out the window.

Overhooks and underhooks will never fail you.

 

[BlazinSkunk]

If everyone walked around naked, I guess no gi only would be good. But they dont. Plus i like the chokes in a gi.

 

[trustdoesntrust]

most people in a real life altercation will be wearing a shirt or jacket. and dont forget there are chokes you can do with your own jacket as well.

also you're forgetting pants. in a real fight people wear pants. in no-gi you cant grab the shorts/pants or belt/waistband so it is in that sense much less realistic.

anyway you should train gi and no-gi ... why limit yourself?

I love the gi, but this argument about people in real life wearing clothes is one I've never bought. The gi trains you to expect a specific set of grips, and a specific kind of friction that you're not going to find with typical t-shirt and jeans attire. Whenever I roll no-gi with gi-only people, especially lower belts, they often seem lost not being able to clutch and control like they're used to.

 

[Ryo]

I love the gi, but this argument about people in real life wearing clothes is one I've never bought. The gi trains you to expect a specific set of grips, and a specific kind of friction that you're not going to find with typical t-shirt and jeans attire. Whenever I roll no-gi with gi-only people, especially lower belts, they often seem lost not being able to clutch and control like they're used to.

This is mostly nonsense...

Rash guard and board shorts is quite different from most people's everyday attire.

 

[Jack Handy jr]

Don't like Gi most former wrestlers dont if they're being honest

That said everything you can do in NOGI you can do in the GI

everything you can do in the GI you can't do in NOGI

 

[jr jr]

Don't like Gi most former wrestlers dont if they're being honest

That said everything you can do in NOGI you can do in the GI

everything you can do in the GI you can't do in NOGI

I am a former wrestler who likes the Gi. I also like nogi. I like judo. I like BJJ . I would probably like Sambo or Catch if given the chance. I stopped identifying as "a wrestler" a long time ago. More often than not I now say "I am a grappler". Whatever style you want.

 

[fanboysareevil]

Making this topic for the 8000th time should be a bannable offensse.

 

[mataleaos]

Frankly I think it's not that big of a deal either way in regards to self defense. People will tell you gi is good because people wear clothing. others will say nogi helps regardless of hot or cold weather. Both have pros and cons. Self defense is a large philosophy that is more about mindset than it is about specific techniques.

There's not as big a difference between gi and nogi IMHO. At least I don't think there has to be.

I learned jiu-jitsu first without the gi from a Royce Gracie brown belt. I could only go on the nogi days and frankly I didn't even think much about the gi either way. No one told me that the gi was more important. No one taught and said "If this were gi then you would grab here." I just didn't even know the gi was considered such an important tool, and I learned all the basics without it, and then put a gi on maybe 18 months later because I wanted to start getting ranked and to learn collar chokes.

I had seen Gracie In Action tapes where Royce was wearing a t shirt and gi pants. I'd seen Rickson and Royler and Renzo in PRIDE fighting in just shorts. I'd seen old vale tudo fights on the beach in speedos. I had seen Renzo and Ryan rolling in t shirts and shorts. The first BJJ books I owned were Renzo's Mastering JiuJitsu which was no-gi and the Royler and Renzo book with the belt color coded pages. Even though it showed techniques in the gi, there were tons of ADCC pics in there that were without the gi.

TL;DR - Self defense is a mindset. No one emphasized gi and no-gi were different things to me when I started training so I didn't think of them being so far apart, and I think that helped my understanding of jiu-jitsu. I love both and I think people should train what they want.

 

[The Thrill]

Theoretically sure, but it's increadbly unlikely. Only about 5 in every 100,000 people are murdered, only a fraction of those murders could even theoretically be prevented through martial arts and only a fraction of those would have been stoped if the the victim had known martial arts.

That being said this subject was interesting the first dozen times it was discussed, but at this point everything to be said on this subject has been repeated many times just on this forum.

You know what technique you should practice the most if you really want to make yourself safer? Break falls. People hurt themselves, and even die, in short falls all the time. I actually saved myself from serious injury just by knowing how to fall. I was crossing the street on my bicycle and someone late for work made a left without looking; they hit the front wheel of my bike going about 30 thr owing me to the ground. I probably would have bashed my head on the concrete pretty good, but I did a break fall and walked away with nothing but scratches and bruises.

im simply quoting this because i think people will skim it and not get the important part, which is to learn breakfalls...theyve saved me multiple times, if not my life than from serious injury at the very least

 

[mataleaos]

you might not be able to pass the guard in no gi at your gym now... but if you ever did get into a requirement to use it for self defense, you probably wouldn't have to pass guard at all. And if you did, it would very likely be against someone who had no idea how to prevent it....Also you could punch them in the face when your doing it.

The part of BJJ that deals with learning how to fight people who don't do BJJ is realistically only the first 30-40 classes. After those, you're learning how to deal with people who know BJJ.

If you get into a bar fight, fancy sweeps and stuff will just get you punched in the kisser and potentially bottled. Just train cause its fun.

Also learn some damn nogi passes n00b

Great post.

And personally I would be bored as all fuck if I had to keep training for self defense regularly. What makes BJJ fun is learning to improve yours to use it to beat other people that are doing the same.

Learn the self defense stuff. Train it occasionally. Always keep self defense in mind as a philosophy. But on the mats train what you enjoy.

 

[mataleaos]

im simply quoting this because i think people will skim it and not get the important part, which is to learn breakfalls...theyve saved me multiple times, if not my life than from serious injury at the very least

Breakfalls, forwards rolls, and other ukemi (falling techniques) are the most effective self defense technique ever. They're the only self defense techniques I've ever had to use, but they've saved my ass over the years.

And I've had people tell me, "Falling isn't a self defense technique, what are you talking about?" Fuck that. Self defense is keeping yourself safe. Self defense includes stuff like locking your doors at night, having your keys in your hand well before you get to your door, as well as keeping your body safe when it takes a bad spill.

So I'll forever argue that falling skills are the most used and most useful self defense.

 

[Jack Handy jr]

I am a former wrestler who likes the Gi. I also like nogi. I like judo. I like BJJ . I would probably like Sambo or Catch if given the chance. I stopped identifying as "a wrestler" a long time ago. More often than not I now say "I am a grappler". Whatever style you want.

Never said I self identify or greet people with “hi I use to wrestle In high school” all I said was most former wrestlers probably prefer NOGI.

Nowadays when people ask me what I do I too refer to my athletic hobby as Mongolian skinless oil judo or “I am a grappler”

 

[trustdoesntrust]

This is mostly nonsense...

Rash guard and board shorts is quite different from most people's everyday attire.

So are double-reinforced kimonos