Name: Is No-Gi Better For MMA?
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Is No-Gi Better For MMA?

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Skip to contentSharing is caring!Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a fighting technique that became popular among mixed martial arts (MMA) fans when Royce Gracie won the first UFC, and many MMA champions use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With this martial art, fighters learn to use their opponent’s weight against them by various holding techniques to successfully put the opponent into submission by bringing him to the ground. It’s now recognized as one of the most efficient martial arts you can use during an MMA fight.In MMA, almost every single fighter trains in Jiu-Jitsu; however, practitioners struggle to reach an agreement when discussing techniques to apply during training. These expert’s debates can be summed up in a single question: Is no Gi better for MMA, or should fighters practice with a Gi?We’ll explore the differences between the two styles, so keep reading to find out which style you should adopt for your practice.Table Of ContentsGi Vs. No-Gi Jiu-JitsuBenefits Of Training With Gi?Benefits Of Training With No-Gi?Is No-Gi Training Better For MMA?ConclusionIf you already practice another martial art, you’re probably already familiar with what a Gi is. For those who don’t know, it’s the official uniform for the practice of many Japanese martial arts. It resembles a kimono with a belt, and like in any dojo, and you train barefoot. However, no gloves or pads are needed in BJJ since you are not allowed to strike the opponent.The use of a Gi helped the martial art develop by making it more institutional with a rank shown by the belt you wear. It helped Jiu-Jitsu to get recognized as a respectable form of martial art at a time when all other disciplines were about punches and kicks. It was hard to grant BJJ an official reputation as it used techniques considered unsportsmanlike back then.&nbsp;This martial art is all about wrestling your opponent to the ground and incapacitating him until he gives up. So, contrary to many other martial arts, you can only win with a submission; there are no knockouts since striking isn’t allowed. Moreover, bringing an opponent to the ground first doesn’t mean you’re winning. There’s almost always a way to escape or reverse a BJJ technique if the fighter possesses the necessary skills.Later on, some people started to doubt the practicality of gi-based Jiu-Jitsu, which gave birth to the no-gi style. This style is more aggressive, with an emphasis put on speed and strength. It quickly became a staple of MMA, with the greatest UFC champions using BJJ to beat their opponent. However, both styles present some differences due to their very nature, and fighters develop unique techniques depending on whether they practice using a Gi or not. Here’s how they differ from one another.Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is all about using your opponent’s weight to bring him to the ground and submit him. With a Gi, the training relies more on technique and being able to place yourself right to hinder your opponent. You can use the collar, the sleeves, and any piece of clothing you’re wearing or that your opponent is wearing to achieve your goal.When practicing Gi BJJ, you’ll learn unique techniques. These techniques will develop your defensive and reversal skills. Here are a few techniques that are only possible when you have a Gi.When training without a Gi, your grabbing opportunities are reduced, so you must rely on your strength and speed to win. The absence of clothing you can grab means your techniques will focus on immobilizing the opponent’s limbs and often reaching for the neck for a quick submission.&nbsp;Moreover, you’ll fight shirtless, and this implies sweating. This makes the fight more challenging as you can slip while holding, or your opponent can escape your techniques more easily. This makes the combat more about adapting to the escapes and switching positions more often until you successfully trap your opponent.Without a Gi, your fighting style will be very different, and here are the best techniques you will learn.Gi practice offers a different way of approaching grappling with techniques relying on grabbing your opponent’s apparel in the most effective way to submit him. If you consider training with a Gi, here are the main beneficial aspects you can expect.Let’s not forget that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is first and foremost a self-defense art. If you get threatened in real life, you’ll know immediately how to defend yourself against someone by using his clothes. Belts, shirts, trousers, and vests become weapons you can use to submit someone who comes at you aggressively, and you can hold them down to get out of harm’s way.Gi practice will strengthen the tendons and ligaments of your hands and forearms. This is due to the constant tight gripping you exert on your opponent’s gi. You’ll also develop your shoulder and back muscles since a lot of pushing and pulling is used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.&nbsp;The friction of the Gi makes the fights slower, and you won’t slip as much as you do without the Gi. Less speed means you can’t rely on your explosiveness, and you need to be methodical in your way to grapple your opponent. That’s why you’ll get better results by training with both styles. Gi training will provide more advanced techniques, and you can combine them with the more strength-based no-gi training.Since you’re grappling by grabbing clothes, you work with strangulation by the collar and various holds with multiple possible angles. This means that if you want to escape a hold is much more complicated than with no-gi. You can’t use perspiration to slip through your opponent’s hold, and getting technical is crucial to getting out of tricky situations.Practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with no Gi means you won’t have anything to grab except for the body of your opponent. You’ll develop a different approach to your takedowns, and holding down an opponent implies more explosiveness and strength rather than technique.Since you can’t rely on your opponent’s gi to grab, you’ll develop techniques to grab body parts. The fight gets slippery fast because of perspiration which means it’s more challenging to hold the opponent down. The techniques you’ll learn will make you better at holding down any opponent.If you’re practicing to fight, the conditions with no-gi are closer to an octagon fight. In such fights, you’re only wearing shorts, so practicing without relying on a gi will prepare you better for an MMA exhibit.No-Gi BJJ will make you develop your explosiveness since the actions are executed at a much faster pace. Sometimes, because of the sweat, you can’t hold a position, and you need to be quick on your feet to change to a new position to submit your opponent successfully.Practicing without a Gi gives you fewer opportunities to grab your opponent, and you will have to change your approach to the fight. Your takedowns will rely more heavily on the limbs of your opponent, and you will need to adapt to his physical condition. For instance, if an opponent has more reach than you, maybe instead of grabbing his sleeve, you can use his wrist to reverse his grab with pure strength.When MMA became a legitimate sport, BJJ was introduced to mainstream audiences as one of the most efficient ways to beat an opponent no matter his fighting style. However, in MMA, to give each fighter the same chance, any official uniform has been removed.&nbsp;Fighters are wearing shorts, gloves, and nothing else. Naturally, Gi BJJ becomes inefficient in this setting as it relies on the opponent’s apparel. Then, claiming that practicing with no-gi seems like a logical conclusion if you intend to fight in an octagon since you’ll be in the same conditions.Yet, the two styles are different, and both bring something to your fighting style. Gi practice can help you develop some essential defensive skills and develop upper body strength. During the learning curve, it also provides slower-paced action allowing you to get technical and develop your takedown methods.&nbsp;Ideally, if you’re looking to strive as an MMA fighter, training using both styles will help you build a unique set of skills. You can conjugate the explosiveness and brute force of no Gi BJJ for your attacks with the methodical and technical approach of Gi BJJ to defend yourself and escape your opponent’s hold.So after this analysis, which is better for MMA? Gi or no Gi? The answer is both, kind of. Training without a Gi is essential to develop offensive techniques and be in the same conditions as a real MMA fight. However, you’ll develop defensive methods with Gi training, which can get you out of a tight choke hold or another submission technique.Both styles can help you learn valuable lessons and will give your fighting style more versatility. No-Gi training will still take the better part of your practice sessions since it will help you get as close to real conditions as possible. For more articles about martial arts and to improve your knowledge, don’t hesitate to come back to our site.Sharing is caring!This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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Skip to contentSharing is caring!Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a fighting technique that became popular among mixed martial arts (MMA) fans when Royce Gracie won the first UFC, and many MMA champions use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With this martial art, fighters learn to use their opponent’s weight against them by various holding techniques to successfully put the opponent into submission by bringing him to the ground. It’s now recognized as one of the most efficient martial arts you can use during an MMA fight.In MMA, almost every single fighter trains in Jiu-Jitsu; however, practitioners...

Is No-Gi Better For MMA?

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