Abandoning No Gi divisons...

[the_Dark Knight]

So the past few tournaments I have been in have been dead in my weight class no gi divisons. The division is so small, its almost not worth signing up for. I've been thinking about my no gi training, or lack of, since my academy only has no gi 2ce a wk.. I dont go on the 1st day due to family responsiblites and on the 2nd day, Saturday mornings, it's usually dead. So my thinking right now is not even bothering w/ no gi untill I reach purple. Is this a smart idea or should I make an effort to incorporate no gi somewhere in the mix? Mind you, on Saturdays, the Judo guys have offered to help me and let me work in with them... Have you guys noticed any decline in your no gi divisons?

 

[Robschach13]

At my BJJ school we do 0 no gi classes a week (I get my no gi training in at my MMA school tho its not a big deal)

I havent really noticed too much a decline in no gi tournaments tho, maybe just your area?

 

[the_Dark Knight]

At my BJJ school we do 0 no gi classes a week (I get my no gi training in at my MMA school tho its not a big deal)

I havent really noticed too much a decline in no gi tournaments tho, maybe just your area?

Its Texas...I mean the BJJ community is pretty big down here...not sure what could be with the decline

 

[Lukthree]

Then compete in a higher division. You go to a tournament to test your skills right, not just take home some crappy ribbon to put on your refrigerator? Then go out there and truly test yourself. You don't have to add weight, just ask to fight in the higher division. After all, its not like you are getting punched in the face, its just grappling.

Also, I find nogi to come very naturally after having trained in the gi. Just work your natural handles in gi practice instead of gripping, let your opponent do whatever, you know how to break grips right?

 

[the_Dark Knight]

Then compete in a higher division. You go to a tournament to test your skills right, not just take home some crappy ribbon to put on your refrigerator? Then go out there and truly test yourself. You don't have to add weight, just ask to fight in the higher division. After all, its not like you are getting punched in the face, its just grappling.

Also, I find nogi to come very naturally after having trained in the gi. Just work your natural handles in gi practice instead of gripping, let your opponent do whatever, you know how to break grips right?

Yeah I know how to break grips and know how to fight no gi..my dilema is I compete at heavyweight.. But Im a small heavy weight (5'7 212).. the next divison is ultraheavy. The guys are humongous at that weight. I'll dude it for the heck of it, but I know what the results usually are....

 

[elbigsam]

I'm a super heavyweight, seems like at naga I can get some nogi matches, but I don't do anything "smaller" than naga or a ibjjf state level event. I'm considering doing some more nogi absolute stuff as there seems to be a decent amount of that here in texas.

 

[the_Dark Knight]

I'm a super heavyweight, seems like at naga I can get some nogi matches, but I don't do anything "smaller" than naga or a ibjjf state level event. I'm considering doing some more nogi absolute stuff as there seems to be a decent amount of that here in texas.

I did 2 pretty big events recently.. One here in Housotn and one in Austin.. and I swear my divison was DEAD.

 

[Jdonw]

Robson Moura has said he didn't start training no gi until after he was a black belt world champion, for what its worth.

Personally I only train in the gi because it is more important to me, but I do no gi at tournaments for extra experience, and why not, I'm already there. That said I think my timing is slightly of in no gi because I don't train it. It all depends where your priorities are.

 

[the_Dark Knight]

I'm like you, once the gi is off I feel weaker because I'm so used to the grips.

 

[elbigsam]

I'm figuring That doing absolute divisions will get more peeps, especially ones with cash prizes.

 

[the_Dark Knight]

I'm figuring That doing absolute divisions will get more peeps, especially ones with cash prizes.

Yeah I def would like to compete in mor eof the cash prize events. At the Atama open i did the gi absoulte, $500 was the prize... I lost in the 1st rd to a black belt by points..

 

[Freezing Winds**]

keep training nogi when you can.

a small class size is not necessarily bad as long as you do have an instructor there.

 

[NateTx4112]

I am in that division and at the last 2 nagas in begginner there were 17 and 14 people lol.

Intermediate they had 9 and I am in dfw. Not sure what's up with that down in h town.

 

[elbigsam]

The last naga I did was in 2008, there were maybe 8 guys in intermediate no gi adult super heavy. There were 4 in the bluebelt gi. The advanced division nogi had 3 guys. I did the ibjjf blue early this year and there were 5 or 6 guys, I had 2 matches. At the higher weights there are just less competitors. Its a issue for me as a purplebelt now there are even fewer competitions that have guys to match against. O well, nothing to be done about it.

Last small tournament they paired me with a whitebelt superheavy, we had fun with it, I just swept the guy around a bunch and then pulled him onto me and tapped at the very end. Didn't want the guy to have some purple belt in the whitebelt bracket horror story.

 

[AbbyBJJ]

You don't really need to train no-gi once you figure out how to modify the grips you use in gi. I compete in both gi and no-gi, but i never train no-gi anymore. For some reason i tend to do better in the no-gi divisions at tournaments than in my gi divisions. Unless you are preparing explicitly for a no-gi tournament just focus on your gi work.

 

[Commissar]

If you don't want to compete against ultra heavyweights, move up one skill level instead.

 

[Commissar]

You don't really need to train no-gi once you figure out how to modify the grips you use in gi. I compete in both gi and no-gi, but i never train no-gi anymore. For some reason i tend to do better in the no-gi divisions at tournaments than in my gi divisions. Unless you are preparing explicitly for a no-gi tournament just focus on your gi work.

This is horribly incorrect.

Yes, there's tons of natural grips that you'll use instead of the gi, and those often come naturally, but you still have to adapt to the fast-paced, slippery environment of a no-gi match. No-gi is still technical, but it can rely just as much on athleticism as it does on actual jiu jitsu technique.

 

[AbbyBJJ]

This is horribly incorrect.

Yes, there's tons of natural grips that you'll use instead of the gi, and those often come naturally, but you still have to adapt to the fast-paced, slippery environment of a no-gi match. No-gi is still technical, but it can rely just as much on athleticism as it does on actual jiu jitsu technique.

I stand corrected.

 

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

You don't really need to train no-gi once you figure out how to modify the grips you use in gi. I compete in both gi and no-gi, but i never train no-gi anymore. For some reason i tend to do better in the no-gi divisions at tournaments than in my gi divisions. Unless you are preparing explicitly for a no-gi tournament just focus on your gi work.

I kind of agree a bit here but not totally. I think for somebody who has a very gi grip reliant game and other areas of there game are lacking, then they might be in trouble when doing no gi. I compete in gi and no gi but I only train gi and I train 6 days a week of gi, even though I know a upcoming tournament is go and no gi. I do quite well in the no gi divisions and pull out a larger arsenal of submissions when I do no gi. I find my gi game is very different than my no gi game but then again, I don't train no gi, just use some common sense of what will and won't work. Even Marcelo Garcia said in an interview when he was preparing for ADCC (not the recent one) he trains with the gi every day of the week except for one day he does no gi. I prefer to train with the gi and I won't be lost without it