The Gi is dead? Who killed it
Those responsible for the rise of no gi popularity
Biggest influences toward Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu becoming more no gi.
North American culture
Joe Rogan/10th Planet
MMA
Gordon Ryan
The B Team
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is traditionally done wearing the gi jacket and pants. In the last 10 years, no gi BJJ (done wearing t-shirt and shorts) has really exploded in popularity and for the first time in my jiu-jitsu career, I see no gi as the future of jiu-jitsu compared to gi. Let’s take a look at what changed over the last decade to shift Brazilian jiu-jitsu from gi training to no gi training.
North American culture
Most people see a gi jacket and they think “that’s weird” or “that doesn’t make any sense”. They immediately dismiss it. You can tell people until you’re blue in the face that gi is more practical for a real life situation but it won’t matter to most people.
American wrestling
A lot of amateur wrestling students transition to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and they do not like to wear the gi. They find it awkward, uncomfortable, and harder to make their techniques work. It used to be that wrestlers who transition to jiu-jitsu were forced to wear the gi. But now so many gyms offer no gi classes that it’s easier for wrestlers to join jiu-jitsu and not ever have to train in a gi.
MMA
UFC 1 put BJJ on the map. Royce Gracie won UFC wearing a gi. The rules changed and now you are only allowed to wear shorts, a cup, mouthpiece, and gloves. They don’t think it makes sense for them to wear a gi. I have trained with a lot of MMA fighters and it is very rare to ever see one training in the gi. It’s not applicable for their fight in the cage.
Joe Rogan/10th Planet
Joe Rogan is one of the most popular people in BJJ and is very influential in the sport. He trains only no gi with the 10th planet team. 10th Planet is a no gi only BJJ school founded by Eddie Bravo. They have many gyms all around the world.
B-Team
Located in Austin, Texas. The B-Team has 137K followers on Instagram. It is one of the largest BJJ gyms in the USA and all the classes are no gi. The B-Team was the first major team (to my knowledge) to NOT have any gi classes on their schedule. Right from the start, B-Team has been strictly a no gi grappling school. B Team has had a major influence on BJJ training. Mostly seen by mixing submission wrestling with leg locks.
Gordon Ryan
The most popular and most successful athlete currently in BJJ does not train in the gi. Gordon Ryan has gained all his fame and notoriety competing in no gi. Say what you want about his personality, you can’t deny his results. Money talks.
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