Gi versus No-Gi training
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I believe GI training is more realistic for self defense in your typical self defense situation.
Lets first define what your typical situation is. Typical means, you are both wearing clothes, or at least one of you is. When was the last time you got into a fight with a half naked sweaty man? This is climate dependent, but unless you work and live on a beach, 99% of situations will involve people who are fully clothed. Every fight i've been in, we were both clothed, and I expect that to stay true in the future.
I would like to take a moment to state that whether or not you take only GI, or no-GI jiu jitsu, you are going to mop the floor with someone who is untrained, so we are somewhat splitting hairs even discussing this. But lets begin...
The evidence for GI training
Contents |
POINT A
When attempting to determine the truth of a complex subject, we usually turn to a pool of experts in the field, and get their general consensus. If this were a question of science, like the current global warming debate, we would defer to our top scientists, in this case, the National Academy of Sciences in the USA. On any given topic, you will never have total agreement, but when there is a clear majority among the experts, its very difficult to logically take the other side. In this case, who are the experts in GI/NO-GI grappling??? World Champions in BJJ and ADCC world champions. ADCC specifically being a no-gi competition. What does the evidence tell us? A clear majority of ADCC champions train in the GI and explicitly recommend GI training for your no-gi game. Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, Royler, etc, the obvious exception being Eddie Bravo who has never won a single ADCC. Take a look at this thread about my conversation with Odie Neto a no-gi NAGA world champ about his experiment of teaching GI and no-gi to his students. He completely dropped no-gi training because the GI training was clearly having the beneficial effect. He actually described no-gi training (while doing gi training) as worthless, which I think is taking it too far, but anyway... http://www.jiujitsuforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2822
I should stop here because I find it hard to believe anyone would argue against such expert authority, without having a few ADCC gold medals on a shelf of their own, but let me continue with a few more points
POINT B
Point B is about realism. I remember reading an interesting thread on another forum long ago about the GI/NO-GI debate and a member who was also a bouncer for many years made a very interesting point. He hated training with the GI and therefore only did no-gi training. But what he found was that every weekend when he got into a scuffle with drunk assholes, they would almost always grab onto his clothes and pull and yank, which made things very difficult for him. He simply was not used to being controlled by his own clothing and getting yanked around. He took up GI training which taught him to deal with this very real scenario, and although he still didn't like GI training, he admitted it had a big effect for him in his real life scenarios dealing with people who decide to fight the bouncer.
POINT C
Rebuttal to the no-gi guys assertion that: "The only reason all the mundial and ADCC champs are gi guys, is because thats the culture in brazil. They win only because they have been doing BJJ all their life, and it has nothing to do with the GI. Sport specificity states that to get good in no-gi, you should train in no-gi, and thats it"
This sounds like a great argument on the surface. But it quickly falls apart with some closer inspection. If it were true that sport specificity applies to jiu jitsu in this way, then there should be a clear edge between schools that practice no-gi only and schools that practice gi only, especially in no-gi comps right? A no-gi school going to a no-gi competition, should easily clobber a school that practices almost 100% GI. At the lower levels, white, blue purple, no-gi guys cannot use the excuse that "these brazillians have been doing BJJ since birth and thats the real reason they win". So what do the actual comp results show??? If we check the last two years of Pan Am results, the no-gi division was won by Gracie Barra, a 99% GI school. There is a ton of no-gi schools in southern california where the PanAms are held and grapplers come from all over the country to compete, its the top event in North America. In other words, this excuse holds no water. It has been proven that GI training, does in fact allow you to compete perfectly well in no-gi competitions and even win. Going from GI to no-gi has always been an easier transition than from no-gi to gi, and that speaks volumes.
POINT D
No-gi guys who eventually take up GI training, almost unanimously declare it was a great thing to do. Our own member Zending, has seen the light of GI training and its been improving his no-gi grappling 10 fold. Ive never seen a single person go from no-gi to gi, and complain that it had a negative effect.
POINT E
GI training is a super set of no-gi training. There is nothing to stop you from not using GI grips while training gi. It contains all the holds of no-gi as well as the additional grips of the GI. So for a given situation, you at least have both choices. When in a fight, if the person you are fighting is wearing clothes (highly likely), then you know all the techniques to further control him with his/her clothing, and if they have any kind of collar, we all know how deadly those collar chokes can be :wink: A no-gi guy only has a subset of the techniques, although like I said before is going to win anyway against an untrained joe. [color=green] People are who concerned that they will develop a dependency on GI grips can simply choose a day where they dont allow themselves to use any grips. Problem solved, and good practice.
POINT F
The GI as a training tool. In many sports, additional tools are used as resistance to assist an athlete in developing superior technique. Look at Sean Sherk with his resistance bands when he practices his wrestling shot. Look at judo, how they practice half a throw a thousand times before actually completing the throw, in slow motion to solidify the technique. Look at your own BJJ drills that you start slooowly to learn them before you try it at full speed while rolling. In the same way, the GI changes the game in a way that allows the student to more fully learn techniques by slowing everything down. Imagine trying to learn how to play piano, if you had to play everything at 4X the speed from day one. Impossible? No, but much more difficult. Now slow down the playing to 1/4th the speed and you can easily learn the techniques. This is what the GI gives you. Its a tool that slows things down enough so you can think, and execute slower so you can properly learn all the technques. Further, because of the grips which can be used to throw you off base, you will develop a stronger base, so that when you take the GI off, sweeping you becomes much more difficult.
POINT G
GI forces proper technique. The additional friction of the GI makes it very difficult to escapes subs. As you have seen in MMA, many fighters without an in depth knowledge of BJJ, simply rely on their sweat and explosive power to pull out of submissions. Great when youre naked and sweaty, but wont work when fully clothed. Granted, the odds of coming up against another grappler during a street fight is low, but anyway, the point is, you should learn the proper escape techniques. David Camarillo, BJJ and Judo black belt who teaches at American Kick boxing Academy in San Jose stated in an interview that his mma fighters who took up GI training were the ones who improved. Why? Because with the GI on, they could not rely on escaping via slipperyness and power, and were forced to learn the proper BJJ technical escape instead. (Which is far more efficient anyway). He had mma fighters who were frustrated because his blue belt weekend GI warriors were tapping them out/ The guys who bit the bullet and put the GI on, were the guys who really improved their no-gi game. Guys like Josh Koscheck.
POINT H
If the above doesnt convince you, then maybe taking the word of the worlds greatest pound for pound no gi grappler, Marcelo Garcia will help. Who are you going to listen to, the legend with the best no-gi competition record of all time, or someone who has never won a world championship like Eddie Bravo?
Marcelo Gracia says: "I train every day with the GI. And once a week with no-gi. Its CRUCIAL to train with the GI to have the finest technique. An athlete who wants to be good in no-gi, must also train with the GI. "
