B-Team’s Owen Jones recently shared his thoughts on the distinct challenges of gi and no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Jones pointed out that in no-gi, athleticism and explosiveness can create opportunities even against high-level black belts:
If you roll with a black belt in no-gi, you can do stuff.
If you’re big, strong, athletic, and you push him around…
If he’s trying to secure something and you make a big explosive movement – jumping on a leg or an arm – you could actually get something.
However, he emphasized that the same opportunities are much harder to find in gi training.
Using gi specialist Adam Wardzinski as an example, Jones stated:
If you train with him in the gi, you’re going to do nothing.
He’s just going to beat you up for 10 minutes – you won’t be able to get anything going.
Jones also acknowledged why no-gi might be more appealing for many practitioners:
That’s another reason why people find it more enjoyable and are more likely to train or watch it…
Matches become more competitive when they probably shouldn’t be.
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