Andy’s Blog

This question gets asked so frequently amongst grapplers and aspiring MMA fighters, it’s casued people to go in two distinct groups.  Two grapplers that I respect tremendously, Eddie Bravo and John Lewis, are great examples of that.

 I met Eddie back when we were Purple Belts under the Machado Brothers and he was already on his way of developing his own brand of grappling.  He’s also one of the biggest proponents of no-GI grappling, and feels that if you want to become good at no-GI, then you have to train exclusively that way, from the beginning if possible.

On the other side is John Lewis, one of the first American Black Belts under Andre Pedernaris and the powerhouse Nova Uniao team.  Everytime I hear John talking about gi vs. no-GI, he makes a great point about how all the variations of the submission grappling is there with the GI on and how it teaches and reinforces the learning of the various leverage points and technical aspects of becoming a good grappler.

 I trained daily with the GI from White Belt to Purple Belt.  Back then, professional fighting was not even on the radar for me as it was still an underground sport and there was no weight-classes, etc.  Baret Yoshida and me would practically live, eat and sleep in our kimonos and the idea of of training no-GI didn’t even cross our mind.

 When I made the decision to fight MMA, obviously the GI began to come off and I learned right away that there were some very obvious and subtle differences in the two games.  A lot of the sweeps and reversals off my back that I liked in GI competition just weren’t available without getting a good grip on someone’s sleeves and the sweat, obviously less of a factor when you are wearing heavy cotton head to toe, made a difference in the techniques that were practical.

 But overall, I’m glad to have started my training with the GI and feel you should get to at least a solid Blue Belt-level before switching.  Why?  As the famous Wallid Ismael once said, “If you cannot choke me with a GI on, how are you going to do it without one on?”.  I always felt this was pretty accurate and by wearing the GI, you have to build certain movements without even thinking about it, such as when someone simply grabs your pants to pass guard.  As soon as someone grabs your pants, you already begin to counter; without the pants it is much easier to defend the pass and your subtle movements are already ingrained in you.

 I respect both opinions and in the end it is up to you to decide what to start with or train in, but I do think a solid foundation with the GI will eventually make you the best no-GI player you can be.