To Gi or Not to Gi

In the spirit of not assuming everyone who reads this knows what a Gi is, let me explain. The Gi is the uniform worn by most, and certainly the more traditional, Jiu Jitsu practitioners. I’m sure you’ve seen one, most martial arts disciplines wear them. It consists of a jacket, belt, and pants. Close your eyes and imagine Danny in crane pose getting ready to kick Cobra Kai’s Johnny in their final match. What is Danny wearing? That is a Gi. (If you don’t get the reference, ask anyone over 40.)

Then, there is the No Gi camp. And unless you are fresh back from a lobotomy, you have come to the conclusion that these folk do not wear a Gi. Rather, they wear rash guards and an assortment of other lycra spandex accouterments. Which brings me to reason #146 for wearing a cup. Nobody wants your nasty bits in lycra rubbing on their face. The .5 mm of fabric between your junk and any part of my body just doesn’t cut it. I’d rather you bruise me with a hard plastic cup than getting up close and personal to your frank and beans. Although I have no empirical proof, I think most people belong to both camps. The Gi versus No Gi camps, not the Frank versus No Frank camps. Unless you are coming from another martial art, the majority of us start out No Gi. Fair enough. Let us move on.

Why even bring up the subject? Well, the Gi versus No Gi games are markedly different. I was No Gi for the better part of the first 3 or 4 months of my training. I thought I was doing ok. I kept my expectations real, and I showed up to practice as per the Jiu Jitsu instruction manual. I was learning to survive. Now, by this point I had purchased a Gi, but I had no belt. On our team, Coach gives them out, even the white belts, and I was quite proud when I earned mine. Yes, you do earn a white belt. With belt in hand, I could finally wear my Gi. I showed up to practice for the first time with it on, and man if I wasn’t going to open up a can of chokes. Superman had found his cape.

What they don’t tell you is that wearing a Gi makes you exponentially more susceptible to getting choked out. I lasted about 7 seconds until I was seeing stars in a collar choke. I went about 8 seconds the next time. I think my teammate got tired of choking me out quite honestly. Superman my ass. This jacket is the kiss of death. A choke coat. And these baggy sleeves. Great! Big honking collar and baggy sleeves. Perfect! Here, let me take my belt off and you can just use that too to render me helpless. As I have learned, the Gi slows down the action a bit. It requires a greater level of awareness of both yourself and  your opponent. The Gi game is hard, but it has helped my No Gi game tremendously. So the lessons for today are first, try to wear your Gi as often as possible, because it does make you better all around. And second, put your frank and beans behind a cup before you put your junk on any part of your teammate.

If you are looking for an awesome Gi and other related gear, check out Armor Kimonos at http://www.akbjj.com. They are great dudes, and produce a superior quality product.