Should I train in Gi for overall Jiu Jitsu game?

Hey guys! Sorry I'm sure this has been asked a lot but wasn't able to find it after a few searches.

Basically Im am training for future MMA fights, I come from a boxing background but love every aspect of MMA.

I really want my Jiu Jitsu game to tighten up and go to the next level, I also like the idea of belts :P, as my MMA school doesn't support it. I was wondering if you guys thought it would be smart to go to a gi jiu jitsu class once or twice a week. As when I talk to people who train in both they always say that that Gi tightens up there game, but then when I watch mastering the system there so many crazy advance moves to learn would I be better off not bothering with gi chokes etc?

Just wanted to get the opinion of some high lvl no gi grapplers, thanks a lot guys :)

p.s. first exhibition MMA fight for those interested :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye9GJ...k_bFYw&index=5

Are there any legit no gi schools in your area? Personally I don't think you need the gi to be better at no gi. But if you don't have any really good no gi training partners training in the gi would be better than nothing.

If you take a Gi class.. You arent forced to use the grips. Just pretend theyre in a rashgaurd/tights and dont use it against them. Then you get the benefits of constantly grappling partners with an advantage over you. If you can escape their guards while theyre grabbing your sleeve/collar.. you can sure as heck do it easier when they only have your neck/wrist to work with.

But Im with Brent.. If youre not planning on competing in a Gi.. It would probably be better to invest that time into NoGi/MMA. Soccer players can probably kick a football decently.. But if you want to be the best punter/kicker in Football.. you practice with a football 100 percent of the time. Just my thoughts though. Im definitely not "high level" by any means.

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Originally Posted by Chad Allen

But Im with Brent.. If youre not planning on competing in a Gi.. It would probably be better to invest that time into NoGi/MMA. Soccer players can probably kick a football decently.. But if you want to be the best punter/kicker in Football.. you practice with a football 100 percent of the time. Just my thoughts though. Im definitely not "high level" by any means.

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Great philosophy!

More mat time is never a bad time. If gi increases your mat time, then go for it. Just don't sacrifice nogi mat time for gi mat time.

With all the world champion GI players out there doing Mma there is not one who is known for having an incredible guard or mount.

Why?

Because according to Rickson & Roger Gracie most of traditional Bjj is useless in Mma.
If you are serious about a career in Mma, do not ignore Rickson and Roger.

Master the 10p system :)

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Originally Posted by Gray

More mat time is never a bad time. If gi increases your mat time, then go for it....

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I agree 100%. :)

e2a - if I only did no-gi I would only be able to train a couple of sessions per week. It all really depends on what is available to you (classes/schedule/location etc). Sometimes you just have to make the most of what you got available. :)
However I do adopt a the 10p style even in the gi. I very rarely use the grips etc. Always the hooks. :)

Looking at it logically, fighting in MMA you won't be wearing a gi, so training in one wouldn't make much sense. However, at my club we have a couple of MMA guys that come to train most sessions because they feel their technique is improved when training in the gi.

Hard for me to answer though because I don't do MMA, so this is just relaying what my training partners told me. Like Gray said also, it's all about mat time. Ultimately, the more hours you put in the better you will get.

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Originally Posted by Eddie Bravo

With all the world champion GI players out there doing Mma there is not one who is known for having an incredible guard or mount.

Why?

Because according to Rickson & Roger Gracie most of traditional Bjj is useless in Mma.
If you are serious about a career in Mma, do not ignore Rickson and Roger.

Master the 10p system :)

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Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie?

We haven't seen any guard work to note, but both have a very dangerous mount in MMA. Not to mention Roger's back control.

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Originally Posted by paulmma101

Hard for me to answer though because I don't do MMA

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So really your name should be paul10pjj then, right?
;)

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Originally Posted by Eddie Bravo

With all the world champion GI players out there doing Mma there is not one who is known for having an incredible guard or mount.

Why?

Because according to Rickson & Roger Gracie most of traditional Bjj is useless in Mma.
If you are serious about a career in Mma, do not ignore Rickson and Roger.

Master the 10p system :)

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Woh, should of seen my face after I saw you respond :P :P

You need to open more schools in Aus bro! One in Brisbane would be off chops! :)

Thanks for the advice everyone some really valid points, I think that the main issue for sure is just quality of competition in my area. I like the idea of training with the gi and not using its advantages, but overall I think after these discussions the best bet it just to get in the car and drive our sister school that has more professional fighters training.

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Originally Posted by Robbie Hannan

Hey guys! Sorry I'm sure this has been asked a lot but wasn't able to find it after a few searches.

Basically Im am training for future MMA fights, I come from a boxing background but love every aspect of MMA.

I really want my Jiu Jitsu game to tighten up and go to the next level, I also like the idea of belts :P, as my MMA school doesn't support it. I was wondering if you guys thought it would be smart to go to a gi jiu jitsu class once or twice a week. As when I talk to people who train in both they always say that that Gi tightens up there game, but then when I watch mastering the system there so many crazy advance moves to learn would I be better off not bothering with gi chokes etc?

Just wanted to get the opinion of some high lvl no gi grapplers, thanks a lot guys :)

p.s. first exhibition MMA fight for those interested :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye9GJ...k_bFYw&index=5

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Hi Robbie,

Knowing a little about the club you train at, I can understand you wanting to broaden your game. The training at Integrated is great but they can be a bit narrow in their approach to grappling as it is MMA focused.

Where were you thinking of doing BJJ? I'm pretty sure Infinity do no-gi some nights.

You are always welcome to come down and train in Brisbane at Fightcross MMA. We have gyms at Geebung and Northlakes and while we do have gi and no-gi classes we are pretty lax about it and most of our fighters never wear one.

Plus, we do a lot of 10p stuff :)

The answer is simple. Train Gi to get better at the Gi, Train No-Gi to get better at No-Gi.

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Originally Posted by Aaron C

Hi Robbie,

Knowing a little about the club you train at, I can understand you wanting to broaden your game. The training at Integrated is great but they can be a bit narrow in their approach to grappling as it is MMA focused.

Where were you thinking of doing BJJ? I'm pretty sure Infinity do no-gi some nights.

You are always welcome to come down and train in Brisbane at Fightcross MMA. We have gyms at Geebung and Northlakes and while we do have gi and no-gi classes we are pretty lax about it and most of our fighters never wear one.

Plus, we do a lot of 10p stuff :)

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Hey Aaron, Im in Thailand for the next 3 weeks training, but would love to pop in and have a roll. Would obviously have to ask my coach first though as you can imagine dont want to burn any bridges. But I love training with different styles and peoples :)

I just love competition and want start doing BJJ comps aswell as fight. Managed to get third in the beginner bracket at Tiger so was happy with that for a 1st comp :) - of to BJJ class now actually :)

If its for mma, trainin in the Gi will only give you habits that won't work in mma such as using collars n sleeves to execute subs and sweeps.

Focus on no gi for mma. Learn to use the clinch, over hooks and under hooks.

This is the point of 10th planet. To develop effective grappling for mma

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Originally Posted by Robbie Hannan

Hey Aaron, Im in Thailand for the next 3 weeks training, but would love to pop in and have a roll. Would obviously have to ask my coach first though as you can imagine dont want to burn any bridges. But I love training with different styles and peoples :)

I just love competition and want start doing BJJ comps aswell as fight. Managed to get third in the beginner bracket at Tiger so was happy with that for a 1st comp :) - of to BJJ class now actually :)

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Sounds good man! Our MMA coach is actually a student of Dannys so I can't imagine they'd mind :)

our schools details: http://www.fightcross.com/
add me on fb if you want: http://www.facebook.com/aaron.claxton

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Originally Posted by Kurzy

So really your name should be paul10pjj then, right?
;)

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lol :o had that name before I started jiu jitsu, MMA nut

This is something i have been struggling with in my head for a while now, but from a little different point of view. I dont ever plan on fighting mma, i use bjj for fitness, stress relief, and self defense. I have only trained at a tenth planet school, however i really enjoy playing in the gi with guys after class and stuff, even though i dont know alot about the grips and whatnot. My question is what does everyone feel about a mixture of both gi and no gi as far as a purely self defense standpoint. Obviously is the attacker has on a tshirt gi would be useless, but what if they are wearing pants and a heavy shirt or jacket. Wouldnt it give you even more advantage over them if you use gi techniques. I would love to hear master eddies take on this. That being said if i could only pick one style for self defense it woukd be no gi, purely because you are prepared no matter what they are wearing.

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Originally Posted by Chris "Beowulf" Burchell

This is something i have been struggling with in my head for a while now, but from a little different point of view. I dont ever plan on fighting mma, i use bjj for fitness, stress relief, and self defense. I have only trained at a tenth planet school, however i really enjoy playing in the gi with guys after class and stuff, even though i dont know alot about the grips and whatnot. My question is what does everyone feel about a mixture of both gi and no gi as far as a purely self defense standpoint. Obviously is the attacker has on a tshirt gi would be useless, but what if they are wearing pants and a heavy shirt or jacket. Wouldnt it give you even more advantage over them if you use gi techniques. I would love to hear master eddies take on this. That being said if i could only pick one style for self defense it woukd be no gi, purely because you are prepared no matter what they are wearing.

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The collar choke is one dangerous weapon to have in your arsenal for any attacker in a leather jacket

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Originally Posted by Paul Hughes

The collar choke is one dangerous weapon to have in your arsenal for any attacker in a leather jacket

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yeah I could definitely ezekiel the fuck outta dudes with my superdry jacket for sure haha :)

And this guy, of course :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyy1qnJuZis

If you learn how to pass or break posture via gi, when you get in the cage you're fucked. And that's the last place you want to be fucked, with all the lights on and everybody watchin. Armbars, triangles, sweeps. They all will fail in the cage because the set-up you learned, drilled, and hit in practice isn't there.

You have him in closed guard and he is in position to be armbarred. Step one- grab the lapel to keep posture.. uh oh. Step 2- grab his sleeve and row so he can't escape as you position your hips.. shit. The next step is he postures up, pulls his arm out, and punches you in the face.

Movement within a clench and killa leg curls are unique to 10p and crucial to makin jj work nogi. 10p. But roll and train with as many good guys gi and nogi as possible.

ANOTHER name change! lol.

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Originally Posted by Paul Hughes

The collar choke is one dangerous weapon to have in your arsenal for any attacker in a leather jacket

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I choked a guy out with his own t-shirt one night after has came at me swinging.

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Originally Posted by Kurzy

ANOTHER name change! lol.


I choked a guy out with his own t-shirt one night after has came at me swinging.

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Was gonna go with PaulHeartsKurzy but thought better of it lol

I like the collar choke for self defense because it can be done standing pretty easily. Even taught my Mrs how to do it! A T-shirt?!lol. You're lucky that shit didn't fall apart in your hands!

Sam, I hear Essex police are making any jiu jitsu players that own SuperDry jackets register with them as they are walking lethal weapons. Just a rumour.