A lot of it is just going to take some time man. I went from doing only no-gi for a couple of years to doing both and the gi sucked for a while. I did and still do have a very no-gi'ish game, even in the gi. I don't play as much lockdown and rubber guard as I used to, but they're still great options to play in the gi. the main things you'll run into are more friction which on the plus side may make your lockdown and rubber guard a little tighter, but also possibly harder to get into. You still have to watch your typical counters, but in my experience learning to deal with cross chokes just takes some time.
Especially from your half guard and dog fight situations, you're going to be dealing with a lot of brabo choke (the lapel brabo, not the darce), cross choke with the brabo grip, and and the baseball choke. If you have half guard on their right leg and you feel your left lapel being untucked out of your belt, there's a good chance that someone is going for that brabo/baseball/cross choke series on you.
Darces and guillotines will still be threats, but you'll also need to keep an eye on brabo and loop chokes, which are sort of the gi equivalents of those. From the back you'll have to deal with bow and arrows along with RNCs, and arm-in ezekiels along with the arm triangle. I still have a hard time dealing with collar chokes and it sounds very cliche but not letting deep grips on your collar is most important. So try to hand fight, or if they get a deep grip, get both hands on your opponents wrist and push away while keeping strong posture to break their grips.
One thing that makes the learning curve steep in the gi is that many grips are strong and many aren't. It takes a while to get a feel for what's what. A good rule of thumb is that until you get that feel for what grips are dangerous and which ones aren't, just try to break them all. So if you're passing and they get grips, just try to break every grip you can. You can try to play a game like Rafa Mendes or Leandro Lo. Those guys like to pass without really breaking grips, because they feel it takes too much energy. But at first I would try to break grips. If you're on bottom and they start getting hands in your collars, those grips have got to go. Always.
Good luck man. Give yourself time. It took me a long time. I prefer no-gi but gi can be fun too. Just frame it as a new challenge if you can. The bonus is that once you go back to no-gi things like sliding all of your choke into place will feel so easy.
Especially from your half guard and dog fight situations, you're going to be dealing with a lot of brabo choke (the lapel brabo, not the darce), cross choke with the brabo grip, and and the baseball choke. If you have half guard on their right leg and you feel your left lapel being untucked out of your belt, there's a good chance that someone is going for that brabo/baseball/cross choke series on you.
Darces and guillotines will still be threats, but you'll also need to keep an eye on brabo and loop chokes, which are sort of the gi equivalents of those. From the back you'll have to deal with bow and arrows along with RNCs, and arm-in ezekiels along with the arm triangle. I still have a hard time dealing with collar chokes and it sounds very cliche but not letting deep grips on your collar is most important. So try to hand fight, or if they get a deep grip, get both hands on your opponents wrist and push away while keeping strong posture to break their grips.
One thing that makes the learning curve steep in the gi is that many grips are strong and many aren't. It takes a while to get a feel for what's what. A good rule of thumb is that until you get that feel for what grips are dangerous and which ones aren't, just try to break them all. So if you're passing and they get grips, just try to break every grip you can. You can try to play a game like Rafa Mendes or Leandro Lo. Those guys like to pass without really breaking grips, because they feel it takes too much energy. But at first I would try to break grips. If you're on bottom and they start getting hands in your collars, those grips have got to go. Always.
Good luck man. Give yourself time. It took me a long time. I prefer no-gi but gi can be fun too. Just frame it as a new challenge if you can. The bonus is that once you go back to no-gi things like sliding all of your choke into place will feel so easy.
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Originally Posted by bobby rivers
This is a hotbutton for me I guess, and not just limited to Jiu Jitsu. Being a teacher, of anything, is a sacred responsibility. As a teacher myself I get upset when people who are close minded, rigid, and disciples of orthodoxy pass those ideas onto others. Homophobia, racism, anti-cannabis, "you must train gi", all that garbage is taught by close minded assholes.
