Gi and No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has two main styles of practice: Gi and No-Gi. Both share the same foundation of techniques, concepts, and mechanics. The main difference lies in the training attire and the strategies that arise from it. Understanding the role of each helps students see why training both leads to a complete grappling game.
What is Gi Jiu-Jitsu?
In Gi training, students wear a kimono with a jacket, pants, and belt. The Gi allows practitioners to use collars, sleeves, and pant legs as grips. These grips open up additional submissions and control options that are unique to Gi training.
Key features of Gi training:
Extensive grip-based controls and attacks
Technical layers created by collars, sleeves, and lapels
Broader variety of guard systems and sweeps
Access to submissions like cross-collar chokes and lapel strangles
Gi training is often seen as highly technical because of the range of strategies that become available with the uniform.
What is No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu?
In No-Gi training, students wear rash guards and shorts. Since there are no collars or sleeves to grab, grips shift to the body itself. Control comes from hand fighting, clinches, hooks, and positional pressure.
Key features of No-Gi training:
Reliance on wrist control, head position, and body grips
Strong focus on movement and transitions without fabric grips
Submissions and controls that work in any clothing or MMA setting
A style that feels closer to wrestling and submission grappling
No-Gi training is not a separate martial art — the mechanics are the same as Gi. What changes is the absence of fabric grips, which makes certain strategies more common while others disappear.
Gi vs. No-Gi: The Main Differences
Grips: Gi provides lapel, sleeve, and pant grips. No-Gi focuses on grips directly on the body.
Submission Options: Gi adds collar chokes and lapel-based submissions. No-Gi removes those options but emphasizes the same fundamental submissions found in Gi.
Strategy and Feel: Gi players must learn to manage and break grips. No-Gi players must refine hand fighting, pressure, and scrambles.
Both require mastery of the same core mechanics.
Why Training Both is the Best Approach
Practicing only one style leaves blind spots. Training both ensures you are prepared for any situation.
Gi teaches grip fighting and layers of strategy created by the uniform.
No-Gi develops adaptability by showing how the same mechanics work without fabric grips.
Combined training builds a complete grappler who can adjust to any opponent, rule set, or environment.
The best athletes in the world consistently train both, using Gi to sharpen detail and No-Gi to refine efficiency and adaptability.
At IJJ ATX in Austin, Texas, we emphasize the importance of learning both styles. Gi classes expand technical understanding through grips and detailed strategies. No-Gi classes build adaptability and show how to apply the same mechanics in a different setting. Together, they create a well-rounded grappler ready for self-defense, sport competition, or MMA.