Gi or no Gi

[ceasarx]

I had a brilliant Idea but It was shot down so I will use my brilliant idea when I grow up and open my own school.
This was my idea, I think that my class should train in a non gi setting once in awhile. I think it promotes real life situations where we might not have the advantage or disadvantage of a sturdy gi. I understand why we use the gi most of the time but I think if we are going to practice and train for real self
defense then we should train in a real situation.
What do you guys think ?

[crazyjoe380]

both..

[darrianation]

Hey ceasarx, we actually did this once or twice a month in Karate class. We would spar and practice self defense while wearing jeans and tennis shoes even sandals. This is what you would be in on the street. This is a very good idea to train this way. You get to know the limitations that jeans give you, and have you ever tried to kick someone with sandals on? You learn that you have to modify some techniques or not do some at all.

[DRLashambe]

Even if we're talking about sport instead of real life, every tournament I've been in (grappling and pancration) has a no-gi option. My grappling teacher has 4 classes weekly, and his last class of the week is always no gi.

A note for all of us northern climate people: a gi does represent someone's jacket fairly well, but you do have to practice with real jackets to get the feel for little problems like zippers, gloves, the fact that jackets are zipped up to the neck, etc.