First no gi session

[JR 137]

I prefer no gi In some ways as there's less to defend with collar chokes etc. that's why when I watch the old ufc events I don't know why some insisted on wearing a gi especially knowing they'd be fighting Gracie its just giving him more weapon and he did actually win some by collar choke

When the UFC was new, I remember reading that they wanted people to wear their style’s traditional uniform. They didn’t require it, but they wanted that visual to reinforce the style vs style thing.

They asked a wrestler to wear a singlet, but he refused. He said he didn’t want to give Gracie an easy weapon where he could wrap the shoulder strap from it around his throat.

I could be wrong, but doesn’t wearing your own gi give you a bit of an advantage in that you can grab your own sleeve during some chokes and the like for a little extra leverage? I’m quite sure that advantage is easily outweighed by the fact that your opponent can grab it too though.

Regardless, in the earliest days, they were selling the style he style aspect of the event. What better way to reinforce that than having gis, wrestling singlets/trunks, boxing shorts, etc.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

When the UFC was new, I remember reading that they wanted people to wear their style’s traditional uniform. They didn’t require it, but they wanted that visual to reinforce the style vs style thing.

They asked a wrestler to wear a singlet, but he refused. He said he didn’t want to give Gracie an easy weapon where he could wrap the shoulder strap from it around his throat.

I could be wrong, but doesn’t wearing your own gi give you a bit of an advantage in that you can grab your own sleeve during some chokes and the like for a little extra leverage? I’m quite sure that advantage is easily outweighed by the fact that your opponent can grab it too though.

Regardless, in the earliest days, they were selling the style he style aspect of the event. What better way to reinforce that than having gis, wrestling singlets/trunks, boxing shorts, etc.

There is some advantage to the gi - there were things I learned in Judo that used your own gi as a grip point. But there are far more that use your opponent's gi. Even for folks not trained to it, a gi is much easier to grab than a sweaty upper arm or forearm.

 

[Charlemagne]

I prefer no gi In some ways as there's less to defend with collar chokes etc. that's why when I watch the old ufc events I don't know why some insisted on wearing a gi especially knowing they'd be fighting Gracie its just giving him more weapon and he did actually win some by collar choke

In the first one, they had simply never seen it done that way, and after that, they were simply unable or unwilling to believe that they could be dominated in that way by someone with only rudimentary striking skills. They honestly believed that they could control the distance and prevent themselves from ending up on the ground. Heck, for many years after that, people still believed it, as evidenced by the many such articles in rags such as BB mag, etc. Double heck, some people still believe it today.

 

[Charlemagne]

I could be wrong, but doesn’t wearing your own gi give you a bit of an advantage in that you can grab your own sleeve during some chokes and the like for a little extra leverage? I’m quite sure that advantage is easily outweighed by the fact that your opponent can grab it too though.

It can, and it works both ways as you noted. I would suggest that it is even more so today than back then, given the way that that the gi game has evolved in recent years.