To wear a Bjj Gi or not to wear a Bjj Gi has been a classic debate throughout all Jiu Jitsu practitioners. Since Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA are the two fastest growing Martial Arts this debate will definitely be around for as long as these two Martial Arts exist. This debate is all over Bjj and MMA forums online and usually consists of the following arguments :

Bjj Gi fans argue that :

Jiu Jitsu grapplers who train with the Bjj Gi and are more technical and hold the greatest number of no gi titles. One of the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters, Marcelo Garcia, has had outstanding success in No-Gi tournaments holding many world titles and has completely dominated his weight class including some absolute division titles. Although, he has great success in both Gi and no Gi fights he predominantly trains wearing his Jiu Jitsu Gi. Bjj Gi advocates also support their argument with the success of numerous other Gi based fighters such as Jacare, Saulo, Xande Ribeiro and countless others.

Traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors, especially the Gracie and Machado family have been known to always recommend training in a Bjj Gi. They claim that every Jiu Jitsu practitioner needs to gain a certain amount of Gi experience prior to training without the Gi. Not only do the traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors claim this but so do countless BJJ World Champions such as Marcelo Garcia and many others.

The No Gi fans argue that :

Training without a Bjj Gi is more relevant to MMA and works better with more practical situations in reality. Many MMA fighters also believe they fight without a gi so why train in one? They also believe that in a Jiu Jitsu Match with the Gi the guard game becomes very deadly and this is not reality when it comes to a street or MMA fight. When fighting in MMA there is a sweat factor regardless which makes movement much faster, so why train in a Bjj Gi which would make the whole fight slow down.

The most famous guy for the No Gi movement would of course have to be Eddie Bravo. He is famous for his commentary on the UFC and KOTC and also for submitted Royler Gracie in ADCC. Eddie Bravo believes that fighters who train with a Bjj Gi are very prone to ground and pound because of their failure to train in No Gi. He has become famous worldwide for his rubber guard technique to defend against ground and pound in the guard in an MMA fight. Bravo continues to train many famous MMA fighters such as George Sotiropoulos, Chuck Liddell, Dean Lister, Dan Hardy and many more.