I can hide my belly under a gi... Going sans Gi and wearing just a rashie is not flattering .... 
I like both. I do not discriminate. I train gi more than nogi because everything I can do no gi I can do in a gi. I can't do everything I learn in a gi without one so I figure I am just minimizing what I can learn by going nogi all the time.
Again, I enjoy nogi but there is more to learn in a gi so I pretty much train in a gi about 90% of the time.
Also, we have a small gym so often times I end up being in a gi rolling against a guy without a gi. This is pretty fun against new guys as they have all sorts of handles and I don't and it makes for good training (for me) imo.
I always love these threads.
I have always been more NoGi oriented than Gi but I offer MORE Gi classes to weed people out.
They are both pretty fun in their own rights , I just don't consider Gi extremely realistic. I am not trying to start an argument so you don't have to bring up choking people with their hip denim jackets. Just an opinion.
joshjitsu -checkuroil - Scrambling is understanding where you should go
So you consider this a technique? Do you teach it in class?
Scrambling is essential if you are going to be a complete grappler, it has nothing to do with spazzing.
you guys act like no gi you can just freakout of every submission and thats all anyone does.
joshjitsu - I try not to ever scramble. IMO when people scramble it means "Oh shit! I'm about to be in a bad position so I better spas the fuck out faster than this other guy!"
Although you guys are obviously saying thats not what your doing, for me my goal in grappling has and will always be to still be able to play my game when I'm 65 years old. So with that requirement scrambling needs to be strayed away from. Thats just my thought process, your entitled to yours.
I respect that too and that makes a lot of sense but for now you're young and you'll be going against younger guys too in the near future so you'll need to be comfortable in a scramble.
Ozzimandias -Thanks I'm 31, so I appreciate you calling me young :-)joshjitsu - I try not to ever scramble. IMO when people scramble it means "Oh shit! I'm about to be in a bad position so I better spas the fuck out faster than this other guy!"
Although you guys are obviously saying thats not what your doing, for me my goal in grappling has and will always be to still be able to play my game when I'm 65 years old. So with that requirement scrambling needs to be strayed away from. Thats just my thought process, your entitled to yours.
I respect that too and that makes a lot of sense but for now you're young and you'll be going against younger guys too in the near future so you'll need to be comfortable in a scramble.
zunk1 - you guys act like no gi you can just freakout of every submission and thats all anyone does.Absolutely not! NoGi is extremely technical! Anyone who says its not is full of shit... Plain and simple. The difference is that in NoGi a less technical person can definitely get away with a lot more than in a Gi.
I love NoGi and Gi ! Again, who wants to walk into a gym and have to make excuses as to why they such ass with or without a kimono? If you want to be a "complete" grappler then you should train both, to think you can't benefit from both is rediculous and closed minded. I feel bad for the guys who only do one or the other because they are missing out on a ton of fun and don't even know it.
i like both.
i prefer gi.
I like beating a dead horse in a gi!
In terms of doing them, I like both but slightly prefer no gi. This may be a novelty thing as I don't get to do it much. Though I also find the use of the gi to be annoying sometimes; basic things like getting gi grips and collar chokes are fine but I find things like wrapping lapels into complex configurations around people's arms and behind their backs etc very far removed from "reality" and kind of dumb. I can't be bothered to learn that kind of stuff and find it annoying when it's done to me. Nevertheless I enjoy both fairly close to equally and I'm sympathetic to the argument that gi can improve your no gi game etc.
In terms of watching BJJ/grappling, I infinitely prefer no gi. It's partly an aesthetic thing; I think gis just look ugly and silly, especially flying everywhere and coming up over people's heads and stuff. It's so much more of a jerky game as well. A no gi match flows a lot more I think. On the odd occasion I show people who aren't into BJJ videos to explain what it's about, I always show them no gi stuff.
If I had more time to do jiu-jitsu, I could see finding aspects of the gi interesting. As it is, adding in 50 million ways to grip fight and manipulate clothing would be too much for my 2 days a week. Also, I like the idea that everything I learn in no-gi translates much better than vice versa.
i like both, i also like being comfortable in either setting. with the gi i pay more attention on how to solve problems, like grips, before trying to advance my position. with nogi i think i relied more on exploding out of bad positions or slipping out submissions.
Well I've only trained nogi, but from what I've heard from guys who have trained gi I'm not missing much. From an excitement perspective it is not even close.
Colt Seavers -Yeah I gotta agree I have more trouble with stronger bigger guys in the gi than with no gi. Once a big guy who knows how to use the gi get a hold of you and you're a little guy it's very very tough. They make just moving difficult. Where with no gi you are able to move easier and are harder to hold down.BJJintheUSA -
My thought on No-gi is that it is fun, but it allows you to use strength and athleticism to win more than gi does. the Gi requires slower more intentional movements.
Biggest myth in jiu jitsu right here.
You can have just as slow and methodical no gi game as you can in the gi. I see a lot more examples of gi guys using strength to win by grabbing the gi to control guys with it instead of using good body positioning that you need without the gi, which takes a lot less strength and energy.
misterw - Also, I like the idea that everything I learn in no-gi translates much better than vice versa.
strictly true, but no gi guys have a tougher time putting a gi on then gi guys taking it off, imo
always from what I've seen
always from what Ive seen as well. The handles and hazards are multiplied with the gi. Different ballgame
Colt Seavers - I still see gi guys who've been training for 5+ years still lost in no gi because they don't have anything to grab on to. They have a game that uses grips to compensate for poor positioning.
I think you guys maybe sort of talking about slightly different things and yet sort of the same. I am a no gi guy who trains every so often in the gi so that I don't miss out on mat time so I have some experience on the subject.
When a no gi guy first trains in the gi of course it's a bit of a debacle, arm bars are legit threats from anywhere. Getting torreando passed by whitebelts happens repeatedly it's kind of a mess. However for me at least I quickly understood what can and can't happen in the gi. I still have no spider/dela riva guards and I don't have much in the way of fancy sweeps but I positionally I will still dominate the same people that I dominate in nogi, I just have fewer finishes at the moment.
On the other hand if a gi guy takes of a gi he isn't really going to look as foolish as his counterpart. There are not really and awesome no gi passes or sweeps that a no gi guy can pull out that a gi person wouldn't have seen. So there is very little of an embarrassing transition. Sure guys will slip out of stuff but to a random observer the gi guy wont be made to look silly.
Here is where the rub lies. If the gi guy goes back to really only training gi and relies on his gi grips for his game and rarely trains no gi he wont really ever get that much better at strictly no gi especially if leg locks and nogi guard retention/passing aren't trained. I've rolled with some monsters in the gi that when they take it off somehow think that they are just magically recover guard once I pass the legs and begin to turn the corner, I believe it's because they are used to sleeve and lapel grips to hold me off and create space to reguard.
So I think you guys are both right. The first couple months a no gi guy has difficulty making anything work in the gi, whereas the gi looks pretty normal. However a gi guy who refuses to train the differences will struggle long term in no gi.
the change/lessening in number of handles going gi to no gi took some time to get use to...learning to slow the game down without the use of the extra handles is a skillset.
the few times i've put a gi on since doing mostly no-gi, i tend to be be extra aware of my neck and dealing with breaking grips on the gi.