Why We Still Train BJJ in the Gi

Living in Central Florida, it would be pretty easy to decide that the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program should just be no-gi.

No-gi has exploded in popularity, and for good reason. I enjoy training and teaching no-gi. Modern no-gi BJJ has developed into a very interesting grappling sport, and I think the influence of wrestling, scrambling, and modern leg attacks has made it a much broader game than it was when I first started training.

But at BLAST, our BJJ program still trains in the gi twice a week and no-gi twice a week. That isn't because I think no-gi is somehow less legitimate, or because I'm opposed to the direction modern BJJ has taken. It's actually much simpler than that:

I love both sports, and I think there are things worth learning in each one.

I came up in BJJ at a time when there really wasn't much of a question about whether you were going to train in the gi. No-gi existed, of course, but it wasn't the dominant part of the sport that it has become today. My own background also includes both wrestling and judo, so I've spent a lot of time looking at grappling through very different rule sets and training environments.

That experience has made me pretty comfortable with the idea that two grappling sports can be closely related without needing one to exist solely to make the other better.

Wrestling doesn't need a jacket to make someone a better wrestler. Putting a wrestler in a gi and making them do judo isn't going to somehow improve their wrestling. They're both excellent grappling sports, but they're different sports. I feel the same way about gi and no-gi BJJ.

I'm not keeping the gi because I believe every no-gi skill is somehow incomplete without it. I'm keeping it because gi BJJ is worth learning on its own.

The Gi Creates Different Problems

The most obvious difference is the clothing itself. The gi gives you grips that simply don't exist in no-gi. You have sleeves, collars, lapels, pants, and the ability to manipulate the jacket in ways that change how you control another person. The friction of the material changes movement and creates possibilities that aren't available when both people are wearing rash guards and shorts. That changes the sport. And I think that's a good thing.

One of the things I particularly like about gi training is that the friction of the gi, combined with the grips your opponent can establish, can force you to make your escapes more technically sound. You can't always rely on simply exploding out of a position or using athleticism to create separation. If someone has a good grip and good control, you have to understand the mechanics of the escape.

That doesn't make gi training “more technical” than no-gi. No-gi has plenty of extremely technical problems of its own. It simply means the two sports create different problems, and solving different problems makes you a more experienced grappler.

The same thing applies to the open guard. No-gi has developed some incredible open-guard systems, but the gi gives you another entire set of grips and control possibilities. If you only ever train no-gi, there are positions, grips, and problems that you simply won't encounter.

I don't think that's a deficiency in no-gi. It's just a consequence of playing a different sport.

Judo Is a Big Part of This for Me

My judo background is probably the biggest reason I'm unwilling to completely abandon gi training.

I've always thought that BJJ and judo make up an incredibly complete gi grappling system. At some point over the years, the two arts became increasingly separated. We ended up with people who specialize almost entirely in one or the other, even though there is an obvious historical and technical relationship between them.

I like teaching them together.

I'm comfortable teaching takedowns from both my wrestling and judo background, and I want that to remain part of what BLAST BJJ is. We do a lot of stand-up grappling because I don't think BJJ should begin when someone falls to the ground. And there are things I would hate for a BJJ student to never experience simply because they decided they only wanted to train no-gi. They should know what it feels like to throw someone with a judo throw. They should understand what a collar grip can do. They should learn collar chokes. They should experience the different ways that a jacket can be used to control posture, movement, and position.

Those are valuable grappling skills regardless of whether someone eventually prefers gi or no-gi.

No-Gi Is Changing Too

At the same time, I'm not interested in pretending that modern no-gi is somehow inferior because it moved away from the gi. Quite the opposite.

As no-gi has become more popular, it has developed its own identity. Modern no-gi has increasingly incorporated wrestling-style takedowns, scrambling, leg attacks, and different approaches to positional exchanges. I enjoy watching that development, and I enjoy teaching and training it.

In some ways, that's exactly what I would expect to happen when a sport develops independently. The mistake, in my opinion, is thinking that because one version of grappling is becoming more popular, we need to eliminate the other one. We don't.

What About the Belt?

There is another reason I still like the gi, and this one is admittedly less scientific.

I like the tradition.

I've spent a long time thinking about the belt and what it represents. People care about rank. They care about earning a blue belt, a purple belt, a brown belt, and eventually a black belt. I certainly do. Someday I want to have black belts that I promoted under me.

But I've always had a funny thought about that.

How would I award rank if I took away the gi?

If someone is a “no-gi black belt,” what exactly does that mean?

Could that person perform the basic collar chokes? Could they execute fundamental judo throws? Do they understand gi grips and the positional problems created by them? If they couldn't, would I really feel comfortable putting a black belt around their waist?

I'm not saying there is one correct answer to that question. No-gi has developed enough that it is absolutely a legitimate sport with its own highly sophisticated skill set.

But it is a question worth asking.

For me, the belt represents more than proficiency in a narrow competitive ruleset. It represents a long education in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the grappling traditions that produced it. I don't want to strip away entire areas of that education simply because no-gi happens to be more popular right now.

You Don't Have to Choose

This isn't an argument that everyone needs to prefer the gi. If someone loves no-gi, great. Train no-gi. There is an enormous amount to learn, and modern no-gi BJJ is an incredible sport. But I don't think we need to turn gi versus no-gi into an either/or decision.

At BLAST, we train both because I think both are worth knowing. The gi gives us a different set of grips, controls, escapes, throws, chokes, and positional problems. No-gi gives us a different set of problems involving movement, scrambling, wrestling, and control without clothing. Neither needs to apologize for being different.

I came up in BJJ when the gi was simply part of the sport. I also came up wrestling and later developed a deep appreciation for judo. Those experiences shaped the way I look at grappling, and I want to pass that heritage on to the people training at BLAST.

Maybe someday no-gi will become even more dominant. That's fine with me.

I'll still put on the gi twice a week.