Honestly.... is the gi really a good idea ?

I've trained in boxing for 7 years and MT for 3 and I've seen plenty of decent guys do ok after a year of (good) training which includes a fair bit of sparring to the point where they could handle a non-trained adversary pretty well. But yes I have seen guys compete in their first interclub and look sloppy as hell.

I've been doing BJJ now for just over a year and I'm pretty certain I could pin a guy with no training pretty easily. I go through the newer white belts pretty easily, even the bigger ones. People haven't got a clue what to do on the ground when they have no training.


You're talking about a controlled sparring match where the agreed upon notion is to not hurt your partner. Most people are not going 100 percent, flight or flight, life or death. That changes things when a big strong guy is doing everything in his power to hurt you. A one year white belt, especially one who hasn't trained specifically to deal with someone trying to pound their face into the mat, is by no means guaranteed to dominate every untrained guy in a real fight. It's just not realistic.
 
i just think that pertains more to the top than the pants.

I'd agree with that, but still the argument is about gi preparing you better for street fights because people wear clothes on the street. Just seems like a lot could go wrong if you expect grips to translate as a control point when you've never drilled against that type of clothing. no gi grips are universal and don't require reaching.
 
Another variable is whether you are wearing clothing that can be manipulated. People grabbing your jacket/suit coat/whatever to stiff arm/snapdown/pull over your head. Something to work on given that people grab on naturally when it's there.

When people talk GI/NO-GI for fighting, they usually mean offense, but defense is also a consideration. Escapes that work perfectly for wrestling, NO-GI, and MMA can get you caught when your clothes can be grabbed to stop you from escaping pins, standing up, or breaking contact.
This is in part why I decided to train Judo finally.

Had my third class tonight.

Unless it's summer(which is only about 3 months out of the year if I'm lucky where I live) you're not going to fight a shirtless person, in fact, you're more than likely going up against someone wearing at the very least, a hoody, 9 months out of the year and you'll be wearing one aswell. It's too damn cold for anything else and too damn cold to take it off before you fight aswell.

Learning how to manipulate someones clothing and stopping someone from doing that too you can be very valuable skills to have.

I don't plan on only doing Judo, but I love it, it's fun as hell and my school does a good amount of Ne-Waza aswell, so it's better than doing a straight Wrestling class and better than doing a straight BJJ class, as you develop grappling tech aswell as high impact throws and I can still learn Morte Gari, Kata Guruma etc during class, just can't do it in actual competition.

Went over the arm triangle, a guard pass, Kesa Gatame and several throws tonight(Tai Otoshi being one of them! Very happy about that)
 
Why? Sharing self-defense knowledge may help save someone's life.
If you're worried about self def you're most likely a lower belt. This mean any altercation you're in will be a tough scenario. In the end during your early years it's a flip of the coin. Keep training, go hard, compete( gi and no go) ect ect. Through that you will gain the aggression and mental fortitude to take a mothafcka on. Lets be real here though... If bjj is used it's probably not life threatening. Dont be scared of the world homie.
 
You're talking about a controlled sparring match where the agreed upon notion is to not hurt your partner. Most people are not going 100 percent, flight or flight, life or death. That changes things when a big strong guy is doing everything in his power to hurt you. A one year white belt, especially one who hasn't trained specifically to deal with someone trying to pound their face into the mat, is by no means guaranteed to dominate every untrained guy in a real fight. It's just not realistic.

I did say someone roughly your same size. If the guy has 50lbs on you then no, a one year average white belt is not always going to overcome that. But I've rolled with newbie white belts who are trying to smash me with their size (50lbs bigger) and strength. Spazzing out with all they have. I know they are because they gas out in about a minute. But I'm able to sweep and pin them fairly comfortably. We don't train much self-defence though so I do concede to your point that it's different when strikes are thrown into the mix.
 
The kimono or gi you wear is both helpful and symbolic. When it comes to being helpful, kimonos or gis allow you to make grips, as grips are some of the most important aspects of nearly every BJJ technique. The symbolism behind gis and kimonos is also great. The centerpiece clothing item of many martial artists is the gi/kimono, which has been worn for generations by many martial artists. Not to mention it is more proper to wear a belt with a top and pants rather than wearing a belt over ordinary clothing. That is just my two cents.
 
I keep it really simple when it comes to Gi for "self defence":

1) Learn how to defend, break, and counter Gi grips, because as Crimson Glory said, IN TEH STREETZ people can grab your shirt/coat/hoodie, they can stiff arm you, they can pull it over your head, etc.
2) I do not rely on any kind of Gi grips for any other type of move.

I roll in the Gi all the time, and I literally do not grab my partner's Gi unless it's part of a grip break.
I love this combo of my offence being limited to NoGi techniques, and my defence being well rounded for anything.
 
mmm... yeah in fantasy land.

a solid year of striking? are fucking serious? dude, ever went to kickboxing ammy events? hobbiest training for one year are starting to look good hitting pads, but as soon as they get in the ring, head down and bombs flying everywhere, its horrible to watch.

I will take a rugby player every single day of my life vs some of those dudes. Violence agression and williness to fight, take you a long way. One year of striking is nothing, unless its one year spent training as a pro, thats different.

one year of grappling is white belt level shit, yes it can give you some toolds but probably not enough to counter the adrenaline and someone whos a natural fighter in a SF.

It seemed that the martial artas fantasy time was over a couple of years ago, now is full back in motion, guys martial arts are no magic, and fights are a chaotic scenario very far away than what the safety of a sparring is.

nah
 
The kimono or gi you wear is both helpful and symbolic. When it comes to being helpful, kimonos or gis allow you to make grips, as grips are some of the most important aspects of nearly every BJJ technique. The symbolism behind gis and kimonos is also great. The centerpiece clothing item of many martial artists is the gi/kimono, which has been worn for generations by many martial artists. Not to mention it is more proper to wear a belt with a top and pants rather than wearing a belt over ordinary clothing. That is just my two cents.
Ugh
 
I keep it really simple when it comes to Gi for "self defence":

1) Learn how to defend, break, and counter Gi grips, because as Crimson Glory said, IN TEH STREETZ people can grab your shirt/coat/hoodie, they can stiff arm you, they can pull it over your head, etc.
2) I do not rely on any kind of Gi grips for any other type of move.

I roll in the Gi all the time, and I literally do not grab my partner's Gi unless it's part of a grip break.
I love this combo of my offence being limited to NoGi techniques, and my defence being well rounded for anything.

You don't use the collar for chokes in the gi? Eh???
 
You know what technique you should practice the most if you really want to make yourself safer? Break falls. People hurt themselves, and even die, in short falls all the time. I actually saved myself from serious injury just by knowing how to fall. I was crossing the street on my bicycle and someone late for work made a left without looking; they hit the front wheel of my bike going about 30 thr owing me to the ground. I probably would have bashed my head on the concrete pretty good, but I did a break fall and walked away with nothing but scratches and bruises.

This. A breakfall is more likely to save your life.
 
Potentially. But remember, law of numbers (greatly decreasing apparently) is that your grappling advantage over someone that's completely green will trump the lack of the sacred cloth.

I have however heard from a old teammate that one the trippiest street fight he's witnessed was in Brazil when he saw two hobos going at it and one was trying to cross choke while the other was trying to pass closed guard
 
I keep it really simple when it comes to Gi for "self defence":

1) Learn how to defend, break, and counter Gi grips, because as Crimson Glory said, IN TEH STREETZ people can grab your shirt/coat/hoodie, they can stiff arm you, they can pull it over your head, etc.
2) I do not rely on any kind of Gi grips for any other type of move.

I roll in the Gi all the time, and I literally do not grab my partner's Gi unless it's part of a grip break.
I love this combo of my offence being limited to NoGi techniques, and my defence being well rounded for anything.

This, 100%. Collar chokes are silly.
 
This, 100%. Collar chokes are silly.

Choking people unconscious is not silly.

And in many cases this is preferable to beating the ever loving shit out of someone. Especially when you have experience in the criminal and civil court system that often follow a fistfight.
 
Choking people unconscious is not silly.

And in many cases this is preferable to beating the ever loving shit out of someone. Especially when you have experience in the criminal and civil court system that often follow a fistfight.

lol at mounting and bunching up there t-shirt and pinning them, preventing their escape and making them reasonably fear for their lives, and then going to court.
 
You can choke people unconscious without a Gi, you know?
 

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