Why we wear a Gi at Kingston BJJ. At Kingston BJJ we predominantly wear a Gi or Kimono. During the warmer months, typically, late June, July and August, we just wear a rashguard. Some people contact us asking if we practice ‘No-Gi’, we do. Because our focus is self-defence, almost all of what we learn and practice can be done with or without a jacket, a Gi.
It’s important for us to develop Jiu Jitsu that is not wholly reliant on a sleeve and collar, as my teacher Eddie Kone says, we are not slaves to the cloth. We cannot only prepare for someone who is not wearing a Gi (No-Gi), or upper body clothing.
Very little of what is taught can only be do with a Gi, our absolute focus is self defence, so to just learn and practice techniques that require someone to wear a jack would be crazy. Our techniques fit all situations.
WHY WE WEAR A GI AT KINGSTON BJJ. WE LEARN TO APPLY OUR GRIPS
Coming back to ‘why do we wear a Gi at Kingston BJJ?’ There are lots of benefits to wearing a Gi. One of those is the opportunity for us to use well placed, technical grips to prevent our opponent from defending our advances. Understanding where to place your grips when attacking is very important. When working our way towards the Mount or someone’s back, we use grips to nullify their defences.
These grips can also very easily become grips on someone’s elbow joints if they are not wearing a Gi, but very often, someone will be wearing clothing. We largely apply our grips to stop someone from turning in towards us whi is trying to thwart our advances. Keeping an opponent on their back makes our own advancement easier and stops defences, escapes and counter attacks.
For these reasons, the Gi is an essential training tool, valuable to us as we develop our Jiu Jitsu.
WE LEARN TO BREAK GRIPS OFF WHEN WEARING A GI
When someone is on their back, they are taught to use their legs and arms to stop the person on top from getting to their side. The person underneath is using their legs as a guard.
The person on top is trying to pass the opponent’s legs, also known as passing the guard or guard passing. Naturally, even without Jiu Jitsu training, the person on their back will grip the person attacking, often grabbing anything in range of their hands. Commonly, the sleeves, body of the jacket or collar. Without grips applied, our passing efforts become easier. So we train to break grips off. These technical skills are taught at Kingston BJJ – it’s not simply a matter of grabbing and breaking. Grabbing and trying to break grips off is difficult, there is technique and leverage involved.
Our training with the Gi, seen as a training tool, makes us efficient at attacking and defending. Applying grips strategically and breaking grips off to clear the way and make it easier for us to move to bigger, stronger positions of dominance.
We have lessons running four nights a week and always have two black belt instructors on the mat to maximise the student learning experience. You can check our timetable out here: https://kingstonbjj.com/timetable/
Kingston BJJ is 75 adult members strong – want to know what members think of the training experience and quality of instruction? Check our Google reviews out: https://kingstonbjj.com/reviews/
Ready for your first of three trial lessons? https://kingstonbjj.com/free-class-offer/
Our head instructor teaches and trains full-time – he’s a Black Belt First Degree, recognised by Rickson Gracie’s JJGF where the focus is Gracie Jiu Jitsu self defence: https://jjgf.com/academy-member/diccon-lynes
