The Conflict of Gi vs No Gi

[Gerry Seymour]

Wow...he doesn't really grasp the idea of the belt being a concept, sometimes. He needs to lay off the caffeine.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Wow...he doesn't really grasp the idea of the belt being a concept, sometimes. He needs to lay off the caffeine.

Brian is a smart guy (his day job is as a college professor), so I'm sure he must get the concept. As I said before, I suspect he was just trolling for clicks.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I hadn't heard of there being such a divide. It's a bit surprising to me. I prefer training in a gi. I sometimes wear one even when I attend seminars and am the only one in a gi. Like Tony said, I think there's value in working both. I own a full no-gi set (spats, shorts, rash guard), and I like training in it when I get a chance. More important to me is getting the opportunity to train against folks not wearing a gi. I don't train so much to depend upon the uniform (as you'd see in Judo, for instance), but it's interesting to see how much changes when there's a light t-shirt, rash guard, or no shirt.

Back to your question about why there is so much acrimony: ego. There's no other answer I can think of.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Brian is a smart guy (his day job is as a college professor), so I'm sure he must get the concept. As I said before, I suspect he was just trolling for clicks.

I hope so. Otherwise, that was a bit much.

 

[drop bear]

Brian is a smart guy (his day job is as a college professor), so I'm sure he must get the concept. As I said before, I suspect he was just trolling for clicks.

If that was the case he got what he wanted. That one really blew up at the time.

 

[drop bear]

Wow...he doesn't really grasp the idea of the belt being a concept, sometimes. He needs to lay off the caffeine.

Or ranked rash guards.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Or ranked rash guards.

I saw some of those. Kinda cool, actually. One set I saw actually had belts printed on them, as if to say, "See? It's a BELT!"

 

[drop bear]

I saw some of those. Kinda cool, actually. One set I saw actually had belts printed on them, as if to say, "See? It's a BELT!"

 

[GreatSayiaman]

Or ranked rash guards.

Thanks for the Opinions, However for Jiu Jitsu at the place I train at it is Primary No Gi, I have done Gi Jiu Jitsu in the Past and The Gym I am at started Gi Classes, For myself I'm an advocate of Jiu Jitsu (BJJ/GJJ)in General both Gi and No Gi love both Aspects of the Game. Like I stated I'm mostly a Muay Thai guy and in MT there are no Belt Ranks so for myself I could care less about Rank and I just want to Learn the Art of Jiu Jitsu (BJJ/GJJ) both the Self Defense Aspect and Sporting Aspect.

 

[drop bear]

Thanks for the Opinions, However for Jiu Jitsu at the place I train at it is Primary No Gi, I have done Gi Jiu Jitsu in the Past and The Gym I am at started Gi Classes, For myself I'm an advocate of Jiu Jitsu (BJJ/GJJ)in General both Gi and No Gi love both Aspects of the Game. Like I stated I'm mostly a Muay Thai guy and in MT there are no Belt Ranks so for myself I could care less about Rank and I just want to Learn the Art of Jiu Jitsu (BJJ/GJJ) both the Self Defense Aspect and Sporting Aspect.

Part of learning the art is competing though. And you need rank to compete fairly.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

As Tony mentioned from a martial perspective you need skill in both. If your opponent has heavy clothing or a coat that allows you to utilize hand holds to slow them down or for chokes then that skill in the Gi could really pay off. However if they are shirtless or a light t-shirt then No-Gi may be the skill that you need. One thing I feel that people some times miss on is that it is easier to move from Gi to No-Gi. Meaning, that if you train Gi it is an easier transition to No-Gi than vice versa. Train both and have the more complete skill set!

 

[Gerry Seymour]

As Tony mentioned from a martial perspective you need skill in both. If your opponent has heavy clothing or a coat that allows you to utilize hand holds to slow them down or for chokes then that skill in the Gi could really pay off. However if they are shirtless or a light t-shirt then No-Gi may be the skill that you need. One thing I feel that people some times miss on is that it is easier to move from Gi to No-Gi. Meaning, that if you train Gi it is an easier transition to No-Gi than vice versa. Train both and have the more complete skill set!

I'm curious why it is easier to transition from gi to no-gi. My training started with gi, so I agree that's a relatively easy transition, but I'd assumed the transition in the other direction was similar.

 

[drop bear]

As Tony mentioned from a martial perspective you need skill in both. If your opponent has heavy clothing or a coat that allows you to utilize hand holds to slow them down or for chokes then that skill in the Gi could really pay off. However if they are shirtless or a light t-shirt then No-Gi may be the skill that you need. One thing I feel that people some times miss on is that it is easier to move from Gi to No-Gi. Meaning, that if you train Gi it is an easier transition to No-Gi than vice versa. Train both and have the more complete skill set!

But easier from no GI to MMA?

 

[drop bear]

I'm curious why it is easier to transition from gi to no-gi. My training started with gi, so I agree that's a relatively easy transition, but I'd assumed the transition in the other direction was similar.

Because grips are a form of black voodo magic.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

The big reason it is easier is that the Gi game is a slower game with more grips, more options than No-Gi. Someone starting with No-Gi has a lot of extra things to learn with all the Gi chokes, etc.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

it is easier to move from Gi to No-Gi.

Have to disagree with you on this. The jacket will give you a good pulling. Without jacket, most of your pulling is gone. You can still pull with some contact points. But it's easy for your opponent to break away. Also your pulling contact point will not be the same as your pushing contact point. If you have to switch contact points, you will lose your timing advantage.

For example, you can't do this push, pull, sweep without jacket.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The big reason it is easier is that the Gi game is a slower game with more grips, more options than No-Gi. Someone starting with No-Gi has a lot of extra things to learn with all the Gi chokes, etc.

I can see that.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Have to disagree with you on this. The jacket will give you a good pulling. Without jacket, most of your pulling is gone. You can still pull with some contact points. But it's easy for your opponent to break away. Also your pulling contact point will not be the same as your pushing contact point. If you have to switch contact points, you will lose your timing advantage.

For example, you can't do this push, pull, sweep without jacket.

For BJJ, it's not as big a problem as it would be for Judo or SC, from what I can see. On the ground, there's less use of the uniform (and less dependency upon it), so the loss of those grip points isn't as troublesome.

 

[drop bear]

For BJJ, it's not as big a problem as it would be for Judo or SC, from what I can see. On the ground, there's less use of the uniform (and less dependency upon it), so the loss of those grip points isn't as troublesome.

Heaps of sweeps and preventive stuff.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Heaps of sweeps and preventive stuff.

Yeah, I didn't say it wasn't used. I'm comparing the use of clothing grabbing (and its impact on technique) to standing - so, comparing what you'd see in Judo comp to BJJ comp. Much more use of - and dependency upon - the cloth in Judo. I have wondered at times if some of that difference is because of the different cut of the BJJ gi.