Gi or No-Gi: a few thoughts on the subject

Should one train with or without the gi many ask. I would like to give some of my thoughts on the subject in this article.

Gracie Magazine had a good page with all the experts giving their opinions on the subject a couple of months back. The traditional view is that one should train with the gi and then once he has absorbed the fundamentals of jiu jitsu he can transition to no-gi while continuing to train in the gi.

This traditional view is no often debated as jiu jitsu continues to evolve and new techniques are developed like the Rubber Guard for example. Guys like Eddie Bravo will tell you that it worth starting your jiu jitsu training without the gi. There are certainly fewer moves and if you are training in mixed martial arts, you don't have the gi to work with.

Training with the gi is no doubt more technical. There are far more techniques available here and in a way you get used to relying on the opponents gi which can be a bad habit. For both it is a little strange to transition from one style to the other.

Some also argue that no-gi is more effective in real life for self-defense purposes. You or your opponent may not have a gi and for this reason it is worthwhile training without it. The same argument also works the other way as well and I would argue that from standing the argument is especially strong. During the colder seasons of the year everyone has a coat or something to grab. Here judo players would no doubt be at a great advantage performing throws that could be very effective especially if you land on concrete. With the gi you have so much more control and you have many more options. You can use the spider-guard, you can use chokes, you can use the additional control to carryout effective sweeps.

The central issue is that everyone has his own opinion on this and that is mainly based on the background of the person. Wrestlers prefer no-gi while judo and often jiu jitsu guys like the gi.

The other issue is how exciting to watch each of the sports are. Many opinions here also. No-gi grappling is much more dynamic, much faster but less technical. Gi jiu jitsu like the BJJ World Championships are a great display of highly technical ground game and judo from stand up. I think that both are great as long as the opponents really look for the submission and do not focus on defense and stalling.

ADCC 2009 will be a very exciting event and I will be there to enjoy it:)