Apache said:

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Any insight on starting out in no gi?

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Visit multiple gyms to see the culture prior to signing up. Take advantage of free trial weeks. At 35 you might want to avoid gyms loaded with 20 something former wrestlers & serious competitors.

Wear a cup & mouthpiece.

You'll be drinking from the firehose starting out. It's a long road & you'll never, ever learn everything. Focus on defense first & a few core attacks. Some will come easier & more naturally, find out what works best for you & your body type and develop your "game". The internet is fully of exotic and difficult submissions, but the basics if mastered will make you a handful for most. Kimura. Armbar. Rear Naked Choke. Triangle Choke. Arm Triangle. D'Arce. Guillotine. etc.

I don't think there is any advantage or disadvantage on starting in gi or no-gi personally. Essentially they are two different sports/martial arts albeit with a lot of crossover.

Gi tends to be slower & has a lot more submissions. I have grown to prefer no-gi because the kimono is freaking hot and it's tough on the fingers. Both are technical in their own way.

You'll benefit greatly in either sport!

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I don't know anyone who wears a cup

Seriously? I got racked once & that was all it took for me.
Quite a few guys in our gym do. Doesn't impact anything & I don't even think about it.

No cup here either. And I only wear a mouth guard if im getting punched.

Yall are more brave than I am! Also the cup I think makes BJJ a little less gay.

Im a 41 yo 210lb guard player. There's nothing I can do to diminish the gayness.

Apache said:

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Yall are more brave than I am! Also the cup I think makes BJJ a little less gay.

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So in your case, the cup is to protect the sparring partner from you, not you from the sparring partner???

I know a few that wear a cup. I always use Under Armor underwear and a pair of NoGi shorts under my Gi. It keeps the boys close to home, so to speak.

I ALWAYS use a mouth guard when live rolling and most especially when competing.

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So in your case, the cup is to protect the sparring partner from you, not you from the sparring partner???

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WTH? I don't want my junk casually dragging on anyone during an armbar or something & I definitely don't want to catch a knee/elbow to the jewels.

Well there's your problem you need to be intentional not casual

Touch

Apache said:

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Touch

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Apache you have a problem!!!

NO TOUCH!

Wanna roll sometime big guy?

Not with you, creep!

Don't make eye contact

Lol not deterred yet.

Talked to my coach (who also trains bjj), he recommended Gi for the fundamental aspect as shared by some here. Also gives me opportunity to train with my son (turns 5 soon, in Gi bjj) better.

Will likely start around April. I want to get to a point of being to effectively spar in boxing before taking some time away from it for the bjj classes.

Appreciate all the feedback!

Sweep4-2 said:

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2012Ag is now pondering how best to say "uhhh…thanks y'all but I'll stick with striking."

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We went over triangle from mount today. Ever time we go through that sequence I consider switching to striking myself...

And then, as if that's not enough, 2 additional teabag submissions!

After those couple of classes I took a few weeks ago I went back last night to officially sign back up and go consistently to see how realistically I can do with with a bad shoulder. Since it was over the holidays the classes I went to a few weeks were pretty light in terms of attendees and also what was covered. Not last night, it was pretty heavy on the cardio with some takedowns and also some knee on belly stuff. After not being in class for a year that was tough, there's nothing you can do to really prepare for another man to put his body weight on your stomach with his knee. Regardless, I'll be back Wednesday even though I had my tail kicked last night. It's been a while since I was that out of breath but it just makes me want to get better. Since I still exercised over the last year I hadn't lost all my strength so I wasn't a complete pushover, but very much not where I want to get back to.

I've heard it said forever than Gi is better for learning fundamentals.
Why do you think that is so?

Apache said:

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I've heard it said forever than Gi is better for learning fundamentals.
Why do you think that is so?

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Great question....IMO it's a couple different reasons.

From a defensive standpoint, you have more to worry about in a GI....the grips your opponent has on your sleeves, lapel, collar, etc. require you to develop good posture, to defend your neck, to frame effectively, to keep your hands/elbows close, etc. Defense and escapes are highly dependent on position, technique, etc in a Gi. In nogi, you can develop sloppy defense (I.e., bad posture, spazzing out of submissions, etc.) that would otherwise get you tapped in a Gi.

From an offensive standpoint, in a GI you have to be a lot more technical and make use of different types of passing. So you get better at learning how to control their legs, hips, chest, etc. and how to mitigate guard replacement and framing. In nogi, alot of guys rely purely on speed passing and explosiveness, and typically have less variety in their passing game which makes them less effective in addressing more complex guards.

When I'm coaching less experienced students, I often challenge them to slow their game down......when passing use control, position, direction, etc. When defending use position, incremental position improvements, etc. because it makes them rely more on technique than on explosive, athletic movements (which get less explosive the more tired they are).

Both are great ways to train, but I think gi develops defense, posture, position, etc. better in the beginning.

For me the gi has much more solidified positions. A lot of my nogi seems like it happens in the in between during transitions. I also might not know exactly what im doing.

In the gi I also know which exact grip I have to deny different training partners because they can x then y then z submit me.