Getting Started
Gi vs No-Gi BJJ: The Real Differences, and Which to Train First
Updated
Gi is trained in a heavy woven jacket and trousers that both people can grip. No-gi is trained in a rashguard and shorts, so grips move to wrists, necks and legs and the pace goes up. If your gym runs both, start in the gi: the grips slow the round down enough to learn position before speed takes over.
The difference in one table
| Gi | No-gi | |
|---|---|---|
| What you grip | Collars, sleeves, lapels, trouser legs | Wrists, neck, underhooks, legs |
| Pace | Slower. A good grip can stall a round | Faster. Scrambles don't stop |
| Sweat | The jacket soaks it up | Everyone gets slippery by round two |
| Chokes | Everything no-gi has, plus cloth chokes: cross-collar, bow-and-arrow, loop | No cloth chokes. Guillotines, arm triangles and rear chokes carry the load |
| Leg locks at IBJJF (adults) | Heel hooks banned at every belt | Heel hooks legal for brown and black belts only |
| Rank shown by | Belt | Rank colour on the rashguard (IBJJF) |
What you wear
Gi kit is a jacket, trousers and a belt. No-gi kit is a rashguard and shorts, with spats or compression shorts underneath if you like them. Ours, for the record:
| Piece | All Around spec | Why it matters on the mat |
|---|---|---|
| Gi jacket | 450 GSM pearl weave, pre-shrunk | Heavy enough to survive grip fighting, light enough not to cook in by round three |
| Gi trousers | Ripstop | Knees and shins take the wear. Ripstop stops a small tear running |
| Rashguard | 240 GSM, flatlock stitching | Flat seams don't rub raw on a long scramble |
| Shorts | 200 GSM outer shell | Stretch for inverting without flapping around your legs |
GSM is the weight of the fabric in grams per square metre. Higher is heavier and tougher; lower is cooler. For the gi side of that trade-off, see how to choose a BJJ gi. For the fit, the gi size guide has the chart and calculator.
How the game changes
Position before submission, hips, pressure, timing: the fundamentals don't change. What changes is how you hold someone. In the gi, a collar grip can pin a guard player for a whole round and a sleeve grip breaks posture on its own. Take the jacket away and control has to come from your body: underhooks, head position, a tight body lock. It's why no-gi rounds feel frantic and gi rounds feel like a grind.
Crossing over humbles everyone. The first no-gi rounds after years in the gi feel like trying to hold a bar of soap. Your grips were doing more work than you knew. Go the other way and the jacket feels like wrestling in a heavy coat until your grip strength catches up.
IBJJF rule differences
Uniform. For no-gi, the IBJJF uniform rules ask for a skin-tight rashguard long enough to reach the shorts, in black, white or black and white with at least 10% of your belt colour (or fully in your belt colour). Men wear shorts reaching at least halfway down the thigh and no longer than the knee, with no pockets, zips or exposed drawstrings, and compression shorts are allowed underneath. Women can also wear spats or compression shorts. You weigh in wearing the no-gi uniform, just as gi players weigh in wearing the gi (see IBJJF weight classes).
Leg locks by belt. This is the difference that catches people out. From the IBJJF illegal-moves chart, for adults:
| Technique | White | Blue, purple | Brown, black (gi) | Brown, black (no-gi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight foot lock | Legal | Legal | Legal | Legal |
| Wrist lock | Illegal | Legal | Legal | Legal |
| Knee bar, toe hold, calf slicer, bicep slicer | Illegal | Illegal | Legal | Legal |
| Heel hook, knee reaping, twisting knee locks | Illegal | Illegal | Illegal | Legal |
That's the IBJJF. Other organisations and many local events run their own rule sets, and some allow more leg locks at lower belts, so check your event's rules before you register.
Which to train first
If your gym runs both, start in the gi. The grips slow everything down, so you get time to feel a position, make a mistake and fix it before the next scramble. No-gi punishes the same mistake faster and teaches you less about why it happened. Once your base holds up, no-gi sharpens reactions and shows you which techniques were quietly relying on cloth. If your gym only runs no-gi, start there. The fundamentals carry either way.
Nobody asks what belt you are in no-gi. They find out.
Training both
Be clear about what that shows. A lot of it is our gi + any set offer: buy a gi and any no-gi set is 50% off, and they don't have to match. So it's what our customers buy, not a survey of the sport. The training point stands on its own, though. The skills run in both directions: gi teaches patience and grip fighting, no-gi teaches speed and body control.
Frequently asked questions
- Is no-gi easier than gi?
- Not easier, different. No-gi is faster and more slippery, so mistakes get punished quicker. The gi is slower but adds grips and cloth chokes you have to defend. Most people find the gi harder to survive early on and no-gi harder to control.
- Should beginners start gi or no-gi?
- Start in the gi if your gym offers both. The grips slow the pace, which gives you time to learn positions and escapes before no-gi speed tests them. If your gym only runs no-gi, start there. The fundamentals carry over.
- What do you wear to no-gi BJJ?
- A skin-tight rashguard and grappling shorts with no pockets or zips, plus spats or compression shorts underneath if you like. For IBJJF events the rashguard must be black, white or both, with at least 10% of your belt colour.
- Do gi techniques work in no-gi?
- Most do. Positions, escapes, sweeps and many submissions carry over. Anything built on a collar, sleeve or lapel grip doesn't, and cloth chokes only exist in the gi. Expect to swap grips for underhooks, wrist control and head position.
- Is no-gi better for MMA?
- It's closer. MMA has no jacket to grab, so no-gi grips, body locks and scrambles transfer more directly. The gi still builds control and escapes that carry into MMA grappling, but for fight preparation, no-gi matches the ruleset better.