Lavin Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness

The No-Gi practitioners claim that “No one wears a Gi in the street” and that “If your whole game is set up on a collar grip, your jiu jitsu is worthless in a street fight”. While these things are 100% true, the flip side of that argument is that no one in the street wears a slippery rashguard and knee pads. While Gi training can give the practitioner the unrealistic use of a collar and cuff that don’t exist in most self defense situations, No Gi has an equally unrealistic “slippery” and “sliding” feel to it. No-Gi training does not allow for a person to grab your shirt, pants, hair, etc. If you try to grapple-fight someone who is not trained to  grapple, pretty much the first thing they will attempt to do is grab on to your clothing. This can bind you up and stop you from obtaining a mounting position, from hitting, all sorts of things. Basically if you aren’t used to grip breaking, good luck working that takedown against the guy standing next to the pool table who has 50lbs on you and played college football.

So which is best for self defense? Neither. Which is another way of saying ‘both’. You need to get used to the slower, grinder feeling of gi, as well as the grip breaks. Anyone you are going to fight will likely be wearing clothing with a lot more friction then a rashguard. However, you also need to not over rely on gi grips that likely won’t be there in a real fight, and as such, you need to train No gi as well and to not get used to your thick gi collar protecting your head and neck. The ideal BJJ self defense program would be about 50% No gi and 50% with Gi.

While both sides are arguing about which is better for self defense, every layman watching the argument is thinking “Do either of these groups practice their ground fighting while the other person is trying to hit them? Like every single person will try to do in a real fight” and “So they start already on their knees? Are they any good at takedowns?” These are the real areas that are important to round out if you want your jiu jitsu to work for self defense. Working ground and pound drills (both top and bottom) as well as incorporating takedowns and some form of boxing/kickboxing. While you don’t need to be an expert at takedowns and boxing, having at least a working level of experience at both of these is essential for real life defense. It is also important to throw in a little bit of personal safety/ situational awareness style self defense training. This is the pre fight/lead up to the fight training, basically how to avoid getting sucker punched. Learning to recognize the warning signs that someone is going to attack you is just as important as knowing what to do once the fighting has started. It doesn’t matter how many stripes you have on your belt, if you let someone else get in a position where they can blindside you all your BJJ training might be for nothing. Good pre fight references are:

Fight Logic by John B. Will
Gracie Combatives
Pretty much anything by Peyton Quinn
Jackson’s MMA: The Stand Up Game (Self Defense Section)