Should you really train in both Gi and No-Gi grappling?

Isn't it better to pick one or the other? How can you really expect to master both? Also don't the techniques get confusing when one works for Gi and one doesn't?

Should you really train in both Gi and No-Gi grappling?
Both are necessary. For self defense it is important to train in street cloths sometimes. You need to feel the difference. Street cloths are more restrictive and are harder to grab than most Gi. There is also a psychological thing that goes on sometimes in the fighters mind. I have seen some of my students hold back a little in their street cloths. The mind is a funny thing sometimes.
Reply:Definitely both are necessary!! I will not extrapolate for Frank gave you a good answer.
Reply:When I originally started training in BJJ under Carlson, it was expected that you would train some session with gi, some without. At that time they talked about fighting in 'Speedo's' rather than fight shorts. Basically BJJ has now become heavily gi oriented which I find disappointing. It used to be far more reality based but now it seems that if you are not wearing a gi/kimono it is MMA. It used to be no-gi.





My honest opinion is much of what is taught at BJJ schools these days is competition BJJ rather than the method/style taught back in the late 80's and early 90's when it was designed for the street, beach, etc. In my view, the no gi training was essential in making BJJ the art it became.





As far as how you can master it, it was taught in duplex where the instructor would say 'grab the sleeve or collar here. If he isn't wearing a kimono, hold him here or grab his wrist'. It worked the same when we worked without gi. We would be told to do it one way and if the opponent was wearing a gi, we could hold this or that. Sure, some techniques were made for the gi alone but there weren't that many.





Sadly, BJJ has become a shadow of what it was.
Reply:Absolutely you should train in both.





The principles aren't that hard to master, and aside from a few Gi chokes, nearly everything done with a Gi can be done without one by some small and simple modifications. In fact it is imperative in my opinion for you to do both, No Gi more so.





But wearing a Gi greatly increases your grip strength, makes you much easier to control (therefore learning much better defenses for positions and better ways to get out) as well as helping provide some solid fundamentals. It is much more technical with a Gi.





I promise you if you can avoid an armbar wearing a gi, avoiding an armbar without a Gi is MUCH easier. And because of those nuances in the amount of control you have, No Gi is very important. As a practitioner of both I can tell you it has helped incredibly.





Your Gi work helps your No Gi work greatly, as you are much more cognicent of bad positions, control points, etc. Your No Gi work helps you Gi work in your ability to not be hampered by Gi grips, or submissions requiring use of Gi.





The same as wearing a Gi helps you with escapes, not wearing a Gi helps you with control. If you can place a person in an armbar when they are wet, slippery, and you have to just use hand a wrist control, putting that same armbar on someone with a Gi is much easier and tighter.





If you can control and pin a guy by controlling a shoulder, hip, or using your bodyweight correctly, and not having that ability to use the Gi to hold them down, again your pins and controls WITH a Gi are even better.





They both compliment each other greatly.





Your Gi work helps you with defense, grip strength, conditioning, and fundamentals. Also gives you some options street wise with how to use clothing against an opponent.





Your No Gi works helps with your offense, controlling, use of body weight. Not to mention practical applications for MMA, or the street against a shirtless moron.





Just my experience.
Reply:Many people find that they prefer one over the other, but you should definitely train in both...for a number of reasons.





I train with both to prepare for simple practical application of skill. If you train in no-gi all the time, you are going to miss a lot of important details and grips that are available in a grappling situation when someone has more than just a t-shirt on. Vice-versa holds true too...if you train only with a gi, then have to use your skills in a situation where no one is wearing a jacket or pants, then you are going to wonder where all your grips went. Royler Gracie wrote that he usually trains with a gi because he feels it improves his technique, but when prepping for something like ADCC, he switches back to no-gi for about a month to get his mind used to the different grips available. I think most of the Brazilians are like that and consider the gi training most useful in developing the technical details of the game (maybe because it's a bit slower because of all the grips and you have a better chance of pulling off a clean technique).





There really isn't that much of a difference in most techniques between gi and no gi other than the grips (and the fact that your choices are more limited in no-gi than in gi because you can't do any chokes with the gi), but it's good to know the differences. And no, it's not much harder to do both...lots of people do. :)
Reply:I always thought it was important to learn both. Actually, have you heard of a man named 'Marcelo Garcia'? He is regarded by many in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Submission Grappling community as the best pound for pound. He has a black belt in BJJ and Judo, and has won countless titles.





This is what he has to say about it, and I have proof with a link video down below.





"I train everyday with the gi, and once a week with no-gi. It's CRUCIAL to train with the gi, to have the finest technique. An athlete that wants to be good in no-gi, must train also with gi." - Marcelo Garcia
Reply:both are good to train by as you know street clothes will rip as the gi will not. you would have to refine the techniques just alittle bit to get the effect you want with a technique while in street clothes.and then alomst every takes there shirt off b4 getting into a fight. go as far as to train with out having a shirt on as well.
Reply:You are absolutely right, you should pick one or the other and once you have MASTERED the one then pick up the other. Only an advanced martial artist can differentiate between techniques in the heat of combat/competition, for this is an extremely difficult concept to learn. As a matter of principle my personal grappling training only involves non-gi or "plain clothes" grappling. I want to learn more street effective grappling techniques so I don't even bother with the Gi moves, I will learn them in class but then either adapt them for plain clothes or just not practise them at home. For instance, a collar choke is pretty effective with a lot of plain clothes items: t-shirt, dress shirt, jacket, etc. But a belt throw is rarely an effective move because regular belts rarely have enough grabbing room, and not a lot of men and very few women wear belts. So my personal suggestion would be to do the same thing, because the street defense aspect is the more important side of martial arts (IMO) and you can still compete without using Gi techniques if you so desire. By the way, I still learn Gi defensive techniques because they are important for both street and competition, (i've had guys grab my shirt, sleeve, or even pant legs, in fights before).


Happy Training!
Reply:For street, you need both. For sport, one or the other would be fine, but even then knowing both will you get you more points on either side.
Reply:Have you met many people who are good at No-Gi but suck at Gi? Probably, but have you ment many people that are good at Gi and suck at No-Gi? I bet the number is much fewer if not at all present