I started BJJ!

[John Takeshi]

Sure, of course the t-shirts rip. The entire point of shirtless, thong-wearing MMA is to get your opponent naked as quickly as possible, so you can bump and grind like a couple of thugs.

[Knifefighter]

Hmm, interesting perspectives. Do things like Tshirts not tear if you try to do Gi work on them? This is what's always put me off gi based systems. Once I'm up to speed with the no gi, I'll have to check out some gi then. The endless training quest continues.... TBH though, no gi is more me anyway.

T shirts tear quite often and you will go through a lot of them working this way. However, once you start working with them you will learn how to bunch them up and manipulate them in other ways to make them less likely to tear.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Sure, of course the t-shirts rip. The entire point of shirtless, thong-wearing MMA is to get your opponent naked as quickly as possible, so you can bump and grind like a couple of thugs.

Well DUH !!

Gi MMA is not that popular, but it does exisit, the Daido Juku is an example and there are some versions of Sport JJ that do striking, I think combat Sambo is another example.

Both Gi and No-Gi are essential.

[MasterKiller]

I prefer no gi. It's a faster game.

[bodhitree]

i'd like to train no gi more, I usually only make it to the gi sessions. I do love all of the things you can do with a gi.

[Shaolin101]

I find Gi to be so much more intricate then no gi. (and it tears up my fingers sometimes!)

Did a lot of no gi at the start and as soon as i got a gi i learned a whole other bunch of tehniques - which can be applied to no gi too - you just grab somewhere else instead of the sleeve.

Obviously you wont be feeding clothing through to choke without a gi but even if you only want no gi training i would suggest learning with one too just for the learning experience and the difference in how you can move with one on or how you are controlled/can control your opponent with one.

Well done on starting - i found it highly addictive straight away as i only ever did stand up and soon realised a black belt in one style can mean nothing when you hit the floor and dont know what to do!

[brianK]

Pablo Popovitch trains in the gi and finished #2 in 170lb twice at Abu Dubai. There are some advantages in sometimes rolling with a gi in training.

Pablo Popovich also practices and teaches no gi at the BJJ center (I'm a white belt there).

Brian