All the no-gi guys are ruining mma.

[Jack Hanley]

Highest level of Grappling is ADCC, and I dont recall any of them winning one.......

If you compete in the ADCC tournament, you have competed at the highest level, much like making it into a superbowl game or the world series. Whether a guy wins or not is splitting hairs as far as the "level" of his grappling.

No-gi guys have done remarkably well given their very small numbers compared to gi based competitors:

Jake Shields subbed "7x Mundials Champ" Leo Santos and took Bronze in 2005. David Avellan subbed Tarsis Humphreys and took bronze in 2009. Rustam Chsiev subbed the bigger Alex Ceconi (who beat Romulo Barral at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Pro) and won the ADCC trials. Marcos Avellan also won ADCC trials. Josh Barnett won the No-Gi Mundials at Black. Denny won No-gi Mundials at Brown. Gilbert Melendez beat Baret Yoshida at ADCC.

If that's as good as I can get without the gi, I think I'm cool with that.

[Jack Hanley]

I also didnt say a thing about being the best no gi grappler, did I? I said being the best grappler you can be period........

Nobody said you did.

[Luis Candelas, BCG]

people here hate on the GI way more then all the Gracies and gi players hate on 10th planet

i agree. "it's just freaking cloth"

i've never heard any negativity from the gracies or the GI community

[Jack Hanley]

Yeah, I agree that it's bizarre how a difference in attire could engender so much animosity (on both sides in my experience).

But, as a no-gi guy I do feel the need to speak up when people claim or imply that no-gi training is somehow inferior as a training style for no-gi competition or MMA.

I think many no-gi guys wouldn't argue so vehemently on this topic if many gi-guys weren't constantly claiming that you somehow MUST train in the gi in order to become good at no-gi.

Hell, there is a gi based black belt on another forum who has claimed that 99% of no-gi guys are "nothing" compared to a decent gi based purple belt. While this is a truism since 99% of guys who start training (whether they train gi or not) will quit before they rack up enough mat time to be good at grappling in any real sense, the statement still shows the flavor of the anti-no-gi sentiment a lot of us have seen over the years.

[StephenG]

You guys realize that no one is taking this seriously right?
Well...except the people telling people not to debate the topic.

[Jack Hanley]

Yeah, it's all kind of ridiculous. The sports of no-gi grappling and gi grappling are diverging. One day, the divergence will be complete and this argument will cease to exist.

[Brent Smith]

The people that dont want you to take off the gi are the ones that dont want you to take money out of their pocket. Of course theres going to be animosity. Its a business

[Ron Almeida]

the people that are so adamant about wearing the gi, also sell you the gi.

i used the gi for 3 years and hated every minute of it. its to hot and restricting for me.

my son wore it for 1 year and hated every minute of it. he says its to hot, it gets tangled and it comes off anyways.

[Isaiah Mendoza]

i like to do kendo naked it makes my style better except for getting my dick wacked on occasion.

[StephenG]

i like to do kendo naked it makes my style better except for getting my dick wacked on occasion.

Nothing wrong with wacking your dick on occasion.