Gi vs. No Gi

There are different thoughts on this subject and following is just mine. I don't hold to that one is right and one is wrong, the following is just my personal opinion based on my personal experiences and observations.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners usually say that training with a gi is a good foundation for MMA, and overall, sure, I agree. But they usually go on to add that there isn't much difference between the two. I disagree. If you are going to train for MMA, lose the Gi. Here's why:

The Differences

Contrary to what the BJJ folks say, there are major differences between Gi and No Gi training. First, self-defense, no one wears a Gi on the street, unless it is Halloween. In MMA, I haven't seen a Gi in the ring since 1993. I was told by a BJJ Black Belt that there are over 3500 hundred moves to learn in BJJ to get your black belt, at the time, I bought it. I know better now.

How many collar chokes are there in BJJ with a Gi? How many chokes using the lapel? How many chokes using your own Gi against your opponent? However many chokes you can think of or know, are gone with no Gi. How can you do a collar choke with no collar?

Control is also a main factor and a huge difference. In BJJ it is easy to control your opponent's arm by grabbing the sleeve of the Gi. This affects getting a triangle from the guard, setting up taking the back, chokes, tons of stuff. You can't do it without the Gi. No sleeve. In MMA sometimes the gloves help a little, but in straight grappling you can only grab a wrist. That is a big difference from grabbing the sleeve of a thick, double-weave Gi, especially when your opponent is sweaty.

The same holds true for controlling the legs. With a Gi you can grab the hem at the bottom of the Gi pants to control your opponents legs, or up by the knee. What is there to grab in the same situation with no Gi? Nothing. Try grabbing a guys sweaty kneecap.

The Training

I won't say that I have wasted my time training in BJJ with a Gi, I learned a lot and met a lot of great guys. But, with my school, I have tried to avoid things that I found to be unproductive and focus on what really works and will make you a better fighter.

We don't do a lot of cardio in the class. My feeling is that cardio is up to you, we simply don't have time and you don't need other people to do cardio. The same with strength training. It is more efficient for you to do your cardio and strength training on your own, then test them both when you come down and spar.

Typical BJJ Training

I used to train at a BJJ place out in Rancho Cucamonga. The training was typical BJJ, a lot of hoopla and not much productivity. It was a 40 min. drive from my house. We would have a 30 min. warmup, get shown 3 or 4 moves, drill the moves, then spar for about 30 min. Sometimes I would just roll twice in the whole class, 6 min. session for a total of 12 minutes. That is coming very close to a waste of my time.

It takes how long to get my Black Belt?

I don't have a black belt in BJJ. I wasn't patient enough. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools typically take forever to give you your black belt. This is because of a number of reasons. One is that it is legit. Most schools are very consistent with ranking, when you finally get your belt you have really earned it. I am not saying that a BJJ black belt or brown belt is not competent, what I am saying is that that person could have gotten that belt within a three or four year period, without being a "prodigy".

Think about it, every class you get shown 3 or 4 moves, you train 3 or 4 times a week, that's 12 moves a week, 48 new moves per month or 576 new moves per year. And you are given 15 minutes to master each move. Seems crazy doesn't it? It is. How can you get a really complicated submission from the mount if you can never get to the mount?

I watched many a brown belt wait for years before they got their black belt, why? Because when a BJJ student gets his purple belt, he pretty much knows what he needs to. Certainly enough to open his own school and compete with his former instructor. Students are spoon fed techniques. I was at one school where the purple belts got together and complained to the intructor that they were not getting enough new material.

Here's another odd observation. Let's say you are training at a BJJ school, and the instructor is a black belt. Where does he train? Some black belts continue training and some don't. If they guy isn't training anywhere, with other black belts what are you learning? If you have been there 3 years, you are learing what he knew 3 years ago...thanks for nothing! at $120.00 per month!

And why would anyone do a "drop-and-drag" exercise? What is the purpose in that? I suppose it would get you real good at dragging yourself off the mat if you were paralized. I say just do pull-ups on your own time.

That's my 2 cents on typical BJJ training. Don't even get me going on Gracie training. Maybe that will be my next article.