Question about the GI

[Muhammad Abdou]

i think he's talking about 'ippon throwing'. its a bit like wrestling.. except you cant go for takedowns. havent you heard of it?

[Corky]

wow how the hell are you gonna use that? lol thats gonna make you work on your under and over hooks FOR SURE!!

[AJ Camacho]

I love this picture. It's of Mitsuyo Maeda training without the gi. I've heard that during the summer it was common for some judokas to train without a gi due to the excessive heat. They believed that it was a great training tool, requiring you to improve your clinch and body control without the aid of gi grips.

What I like about it is that back then, the gi was an after thought. It was a convenient and durable analog for clothing but the value of a Judoka was respected with or without it.

[Dionne Taduran]

Gi> nogi it helps establish good fundamentals.

[Harry Evans]

Even Marcelo Garcia, arguably the greatest no-gi grappler in the world, regularly says that he believes the gi is essential to building a complete game. It highlights gaps in your game, and tightens everything up, forcing technique over power or explosion. Then again, guys like Jake Shields rarely/never train in the gi, and nobody questions his legitimacy on the ground. So I'd say it's not mandatory, but definitely has strong benefits. My feeling is, since it helps build endurance anyway, do some time in the gi, and after a couple years, if you feel it's not helping, pack it away.

[Corky]

ya but marcelo is better than shields, and has beaten him in abudhabi
so i would trust marcelo on that one

[Corky]

thats crazy, its basically greco roman wrestling doing nogi judo huh?

[callum weaver]

another thing people dont talk alot about with the gi vs nogi debate is the fact that there is a huge number of gi schools in comparison to pure nogi schools, and in gyms where they do both there is usually alot more timetabled slots for gi which in the end adds up. as far as quality training partners go aswell most of the top level pros will swear by the gi and train in it alot of the time so finding pure nogi gyms and pure nogi training partners is very hard, i can only think of two places in the whole of england.

[Mathew Schuck]

i have this debate with gracie guys alot. IMO the gi helps train your defence a little better. you can't slip out of submissions and you have to defend against alot more, expecially if the other guy likes to use the gi alot (chokes). but for a more offensive game, no gi works for me. you have to secure lockdowns more, and you have have good position. Position before submission. They both have good qualities. i know with gi i can be more sloppy with my submissions because they can't slip out. Without the gi i have to have great position and work alot more sweeps. It is good to train with both. They both have different handles. Just my opinion.

[Chris Herzog]

hey i was meaning to ask someone who does judo
do they have nogi judo?

I'm a 4th Degree Black Belt in Judo, I teach both GI and No-Gi Judo classes at our Academy.


No-Gi Judo is not common, however you will find a few schools that teach it.