Is Gi or No Gi Easier for Older Beginners in BJJ ?

What's up guys,

Today we have a question from a fan, who ask "is Gi or No-Gi Better for Old Guy Beginners?"

Now, in this video I rephrase the question a bit, to this:

Is Gi or No-Gi Easier for Older Beginners in Jiu-Jitsu?

The reason I do this is because "better" is a bit subjective, whereas the difficultly between the two, especially as one tends to get older, definitely changes for most normal people. This is due to the physicality, speed, and slipperiness of one vs. the other.

With that being said there are clear benefits of doing both. Doing No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu will help with your Gi BJJ, and vice versa.

In the video I'll explain which of the 2 I think is easier, why, and how training both can be beneficial to your overall Jiu-Jitsu game, regardless of which one you prefer.

Of course, this is all just my opinion.

If you're an older grappler who was wondering which style of BJJ you should do, then hopefully you found this video helpful for you.

- Chewy
-----------------

If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

[DrewDarce]

Not a beginner, but as a 38 year old black belt that coaches and trains a lot I just wanted to chime in that I basically roll no-gi 25-30 rounds a week and don't feel very beat up at all. I can throw 10 gi rolls a week into the mix and after that I start to feel way more beat up. It's way harder on my hands, knees, and back. No-gi definitely has more surface cuts, bumps, and bruises, but it feels so much easier on my joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

[teufel]

Old man strength is real. I've been scared of older partners cause how ridiculously strong they were lol

[retro]

As an older practioner, no gi is more comfy and that makes me happy.

[xkidmidnightx]

As a 43 year old black belt, no gi beats me up a whole lot less. Then again, I barely leave tired when I do no gi so it’s probably good to do both

[spipes]

Old guy here... all these 40yo comments are really me feel like the real old guy... I started when I was 50 and I'm 51 now.... and I feel there isn't easier. There is more comfortable... which ever you feel more comfort in your movements in is what I gravitated to like more.... for me I liked nogi first... I'm rolling around with majority military 20 nothing year olds in gi they had grips that slowed my slow ass down.... now I was out of shape 36% body fat out of shape cardio was 1min before I was gassed maybe... surviving was success in my book.... the weight of the gi sucked... now a year and a half later...gi has advantages to slow them down even more so for the(fng) that show up that want to try to sprint and muscle their way to a "win" now I'm not saying this is you... I am saying this is what I meant when I asked this question... is here is another excuse to wait to get on the mats let me watch and see what I want to do.... myself talk... get on the fucking mat everything else will work itself out.... true old man white belt here... nothing fancy but I show up.

[scalefreakgaming]

White Belt. 44 Years old. Learning BJJ for 6 months.
I prefer the Gi. It's a little slower and more calculated. I find the others in No Gi to be much younger, and...spazstic.
That being said, I'm also learning BJJ in a striking gym. Lots of people coming over from the Kick Boxing and MMA programs.

[RicoMnc]

At first I found no Gi to be more desirable because of previous wrestling background, but eventually I began to appreciate using the Gi to help slow down partners, especially newer, larger stronger white belt students (I'm a little old man)

This may sound like heresy to some, but I first trained at a school with Gi where they often said "grips are false". Grips definitely taught as part of training and learning grips, but taught us to avoid "death grips", to use as much grip strength as necessary, no more, to apply principles to efficiently use grips in a technical manner. Easier said than done, but a worthy goal I think.

[andrewkarl]

Old guy here (66) gi, like chewy said, you can slow down your opponent, but I trained at a 10th planet for 6 months and improved my game immensely

[Creontinho]

I’m 53 and a brown belt. I prefer no go due to my hand arthritis.

[blairfranklin]

I'm 54 and I just took my first gi class today. I love it. I just need to keep going to be consistent.

[petteriheino]

I turned 50 this year... Blue... I find no gi to be softer but with gi I can control the pace more. ..if I can. As Chewie said, do both as see for yourself

[ddsdevildog]

I am 48 and just started Jiu Jitsu because I enrolled my son and got tired of just watching. I have been loving it, but the “old man cardio” I have is the killer. I wrestled 30 years ago in high school and for fun in the Marines, but my biggest issue is going full power all the time and burning myself out. I appreciate your videos and in one of them you mention do nothing but get your arms inside. I am going to try and slow it down a lot and work on technique. Thanks for these videos and the great advice.

[mikez]

44 year old blue belt and our school holds identical lessons between gi and no gi classes during the week so it makes it fairly easy to assess the differences. Gi feels like a slower game, more methodical, however newer students will definitely get fatigued fast by gripping the hell out of everything so cardio can become an issue. Gi class is probably a bit more complex technically due to the varying grip positions and I definitely feel more beat up after my gi sessions. Things definitely move faster in no gi and you have to have good positional awareness just due to the lack of grips. I would say once you've developed your baseline rolling cardio, no gi is less tiring overall. I'd highly recommend anyone starting BJJ try to get some outside conditioning with a few weight or cardio sessions during the week. It will help prevent injury and may improve your cardio while rolling. I typically try to split my week between 2 gi and 2 no gi classes so that I learn both comparably.

[scottwalburn]

I totally agree with this. I'm a closer to 50 than 40 white belt that has been training for just over a year. I think the Gi is easier. It is a little slower and has all these crafty little things that make it easier for old guys. My hands hurt more in the Gi but I end up with so many bumps and bruises from NoGi. I like both of them but have been spending more time in the Gi. I wrestled when I was younger and never thought I would prefer the pajamas but I really enjoy the Gi now.

[linusji]

See some comments about finger issue in gi: a tip is to learn lapel guard. You have really good control and you don't hurt your fingers.

[pixlkid]

Love the videos. 46 y/o blue belt here and, I train in San Antonio where one of your black belts came to play when he moved to TX (Tony C the Lazy Lizard) as he calls himself. 40 of us were on the mat situational rolling recently, and one of our bigger, younger Marine Corps recruiter fellas made a comment that I have mechanic's grips which made me feel pretty good considering my muscle mass (no good). I absolutely have focused on grip strength and core endurance as my main focus in order to offset the younger, more athletic player explosiveness. My thought is entangle them, and their athleticism is less useful.

[scottbelanger]

53 year old purple belt. I concentrated on gi for the first few years because I was "scared" for the lack of a better word, that no gi would be too fast. I was surprised to see how well I did when I started doing more no gi. Train both. you will be fine in my opinion.

[stephenroach]

I'm 53. I started 5 months ago. My Cardio is above average(triathlete) and I get told by younger guys I need to work on my cardio. They have NO idea. Same thing with body pain. I live on 1600mg of motrin after training days. BTW at 38 I ran a high 6 min mile. You lose lung capacity as you get older, it's just a fact. Ask any 50 y/o and he/she will tell you, they'd love to have their 38 y/o body back.

[SalsaBailaProductions]

Doing both i feel no gi has more speed possibilities and less possibility to slow down… i think cardio can be maintained at later ages… for exemple runners keep gaining cardio even at later stages… maybe its not the same type ??but we loose speed and power for sure;)

[SuperParadox]

50-year-old blue belt here. I started at 47, one month shy of my 48th birthday. WHEN I started, my gym didn't offer regular no-gi classes, so I got no taste of it until the old head professor left and the new guy took over; that said, once I tried no-gi (about 3 months after starting), I saw exactly what Chewy said in the video. "The same but different" is about the best way one can put it!

For me, having no wrestling in my background (in fact, BJJ is the first serious martial arts training I've ever done), I tend to enjoy gi more- mainly because of the grips (I'm very good at keeping grips and reestablishing them when an opponent breaks mine). However, there's another old guy at my gym who's a couple of years older than me, who came from a wrestling background and tends to prefer no-gi. So I would say, your background is going to determine which one "resonates" with you and your personality and style more. With THAT said, I FULLY agree that it is extremely important to do both- at least occasionally. Doing gi will inform your no-gi with escapes and with guard, while doing no-gi will inform your gi with takedowns and learning to apply and keep pressure on your opponent. You really NEED both, even if only to compare and contrast and figure out what your style actually is.