JITSAI DATA · UPDATED 25 SEP 2026
No-gi is jiu-jitsu in a rash guard and shorts, with no gi to grab. Here's how it differs from the gi, what to wear, the IBJJF and ADCC rules, and what 3,316 adult grapplers told us about how they train.
No-gi only, by belt
No-gi jiu-jitsu is Brazilian jiu-jitsu without the gi, the heavy jacket and pants. You train in a rash guard and shorts or spats. There's no collar or sleeve to grab, so you control people by the wrists, the head and the body.
The aim is the same as in the gi. Take the fight to the ground, get to a dominant position and finish with a choke or a joint lock, such as the kimura, which works with or without the gi. People also call it no-gi BJJ, no-gi grappling or submission grappling.
It's the same sport. What you wear changes what you can hold, and that changes the pace, the guards and the submissions.
| Gi | No-gi | |
|---|---|---|
| What you wear | A jacket, pants and a belt | A rash guard, and shorts or spats |
| What you hold | Collars, lapels, sleeves and pants | Wrists, head, arms and body |
| Pace | Slower, with long grip fights | Faster, with more scrambles |
| Takedowns | Judo-style throws from collar and sleeve grips | Wrestling: single legs, double legs, snap-downs |
| Guards | Spider, lasso and lapel guards, built on gi grips | Butterfly, single-leg X and leg entanglements |
| Chokes | Collar chokes, like the cross collar and bow and arrow | Guillotine, d’arce, anaconda, arm triangle |
| Heel hooks (IBJJF) | Not allowed at any belt | Adult brown and black belts only |
In the gi, a grip on a collar or a sleeve can hold someone in place for a whole round. In no-gi there's nothing to hold. You control the wrists, the head and the upper body instead: collar ties, underhooks, overhooks, two-on-one grips on one arm, and body locks. These grips slip more easily, so position and angles do more of the work.
With less friction, people escape more easily and positions change faster. Sweat makes it more slippery as the round goes on. Expect more scrambles and fewer long grip battles.
Gi takedowns borrow from judo, with throws built on collar and sleeve grips. No-gi takedowns look more like wrestling: single legs, double legs, and snap-downs to the front headlock.
Some guards depend on the gi. Spider guard and lasso guard are built on sleeve grips, and the lapel guards on the lapel. No-gi guards use hooks and frames instead, like butterfly guard and single-leg X.
Chokes change too. Collar chokes, such as the cross collar choke and the bow and arrow, need a gi. In no-gi, the guillotine, d'arce, anaconda and arm triangle do more of the work. The rear naked choke works in both.
Leg locks are a bigger part of no-gi, and heel hooks most of all. Many modern no-gi games are built around leg entanglements such as ashi garami and the saddle.
The rules differ too. The IBJJF bans heel hooks in the gi at every belt. In no-gi it allows them for brown and black belts in the adult division only. At the ADCC World Championship, any leg lock is legal for everyone.
For class you need three things:
Competitions are stricter. For IBJJF events:
The two best-known no-gi rulebooks are the IBJJF's and ADCC's. They score differently, and they disagree about heel hooks. Rules vary from event to event, so read your event's own rules before you enter.
The IBJJF scores no-gi the same way as the gi: 2 points for a takedown, a sweep or knee on belly, 3 for passing the guard, and 4 for mount or back control. Grabbing the shorts or rash guard, yours or your opponent's, is a serious foul. Divisions are set by belt, age and weight.
Which leg locks you can use depends on your belt. For adults:
| Technique | White to purple | Brown and black |
|---|---|---|
| Straight ankle lock | Allowed | Allowed |
| Toe hold, knee bar, calf slicer | Not allowed | Allowed, gi and no-gi |
| Heel hook, knee reaping | Not allowed | No-gi only, adult division only |
In masters divisions (30 and over), heel hooks and knee reaping are banned at every belt. Source: IBJJF Rules Book, June 2024 edition.
ADCC stands for Abu Dhabi Combat Club. Its Submission Fighting World Championship was first held in Abu Dhabi in 1998, and has run every two years since 2001.
The first half of an ADCC match has no points. At the World Championship, a 10-minute match scores nothing for the first 5 minutes. After that, pulling guard costs you: go to the ground on purpose and stay there for 3 seconds, and you lose a point. In finals, that penalty applies from the start.
Any leg lock is legal at the World Championship and the Trials, heel hooks included. Slams are banned unless you're escaping a submission.
| IBJJF no-gi | ADCC | |
|---|---|---|
| When points count | The whole match | Second half only: the last 5 minutes of a 10-minute match |
| Takedown or sweep | 2 | 2, or 4 if it finishes past the guard |
| Guard pass | 3 | 3 |
| Knee on belly | 2 | 2 |
| Mount | 4 | 2 |
| Back control | 4 | 3, with both hooks or a body triangle |
| Heel hooks | Adult brown and black belts only | Legal for everyone |
| Grabbing clothing | A serious foul | Not allowed |
ADCC column: World Championship rules, 2026 edition. ADCC's Opens in the Americas run shorter matches and ban heel hooks for masters beginners and intermediates.
Nobody wears a belt in no-gi, but you still hold a rank. The IBJJF has one belt system for gi and no-gi. At its no-gi events you compete at the belt you're registered with, and your rash guard has to show your belt colour.
Other events sort no-gi by level instead. NAGA splits adults into Novice, Beginner, Intermediate and Expert by years of experience, but blue belts must enter at least Intermediate, and purple, brown and black belts must enter Expert. ADCC's Opens in the Americas use Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced: white belts, then blue and purple, then brown and black. Grapplers without a belt go by years of training.
The order is the same as in the gi: white, blue, purple, brown, black. For the minimum times at each belt, and how long our members have trained at each one, see BJJ belts in order.
When grapplers join JitsAI, we ask their belt, and whether they train gi, no-gi or both. 3,316 adults answered. Most train both: 64%. 16% train only no-gi, and 20% train only in the gi.
No-gi only is most common at white belt. About 1 in 5 white belts told us they train only no-gi (20%). It is rarer higher up: 13% of blue belts, 11% of purple belts and 9% of black belts.
Training both is the most common answer at every belt. It is highest at the top: 78% of black belts train gi and no-gi, against 61% of white belts.
Share of members at each belt. Read across a row.
| Belt | Members | Gi only | Both | No-gi only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1,931 | 20% | 61% | 20% |
| Blue | 818 | 20% | 67% | 13% |
| Purple | 321 | 26% | 63% | 11% |
| Brown | 129 | 18% | 74% | fewer than 10 people |
| Black | 117 | 14% | 78% | 9% |
| All belts | 3,316 | 20% | 64% | 16% |
Brown belt no-gi only is left out: fewer than 10 people. A dot marks a share resting on fewer than 10 people. Percentages are rounded, so rows may not add up to 100.
These are patterns in what members told us, not causes. Each belt is a different group of people, not the same people followed over time. So the data can't say whether grapplers add the gi, or add no-gi, as they move up.
For how long each belt has been training, how often they train and why, see BJJ belts in order.
There's no wrong first choice. The positions, the escapes and the goal are the same in both. Pick the one that fits your week and your reasons for training.
Coaches argue both ways. Many say start in the gi, because the slower pace gives beginners time to feel why a position works. Others say start in no-gi if you're heading for MMA or submission-only events, where nobody wears a gi.
Here's what white belts told us. They split evenly: 20% train only in the gi and 20% only no-gi, while 61% train both. At black belt, 78% train both.
Starting out? The five mistakes almost every white belt makes are the same in the gi and in no-gi. There's more on training well in our articles.
No-gi jiu-jitsu is Brazilian jiu-jitsu without the gi jacket and pants. You train in a rash guard and shorts or spats, and you can’t grab clothing, so you control people by the wrists, the head and the body. The aim is the same as in the gi: get to a dominant position and make your partner tap.
The gi gives you cloth to grip: collars, lapels, sleeves and pants. That slows the game down and makes room for guards and chokes built on those grips. No-gi has nothing to hold, so it’s faster, more slippery and closer to wrestling, and leg locks play a bigger part.
Neither is better. They test different skills. The gi rewards grip fighting and patience. No-gi rewards wrestling, speed and tight control without grips. Most grapplers train both: 64% of the 3,316 in our data.
A tight rash guard, and grappling shorts or spats with no pockets or zips. Bring a mouthguard. For IBJJF events the rash guard must reach your waistband and be black, white, or black and white, with at least 10% in your belt colour.
You don’t wear a belt in no-gi, but you still hold a rank. The IBJJF has one belt system for gi and no-gi, and you enter its no-gi events at the belt you’re registered with. Some events, like NAGA, sort no-gi divisions by experience instead, but still send higher belts to higher levels.
It depends on the rules. Under IBJJF rules, only brown and black belts in the adult division may use heel hooks, and only in no-gi. They are banned in the gi at every belt, and in every masters division. At the ADCC World Championship and Trials, any leg lock is legal, heel hooks included.
Either works. Start with the classes you can get to every week, and try both. In our data, white belts split evenly: 20% train only in the gi, 20% only no-gi, and 61% train both.
In our data, 16% of 3,316 adult grapplers train only no-gi. It is most common at white belt, at 20%, and falls to 9% at black belt. Most, 64%, train both.
The members. 3,316 adults (18 and over) who joined JitsAI between 16 October 2025 and 24 September 2026 and told us their belt when they signed up. Snapshot taken 25 Sep 2026.
The question. At sign-up, the app asks "Gi, no-gi, or both?" and each member picks one answer. Everything is self-reported. New to the terms? Our BJJ glossary covers gi, no-gi and every position and submission mentioned on this page.
Who they are. Most found JitsAI through our ads in the US and UK, which speak to grapplers who want to improve and compete. That makes this a big sample but not a random one, and it leans towards competitors.
What we publish. Totals only. Every group has at least 50 people (the smallest belt group is 117), and any share that rests on fewer than 10 people is left out. Founder accounts are excluded, and percentages are rounded.
Free to use with a link to this page
JitsAI (2026). No-gi jiu-jitsu: what it is, and who really trains it. Data from 3,316 grapplers. https://www.jitsai.com/no-gi-jiu-jitsu/
Rules, uniform and technique details were checked against these in September 2026. Rulebooks change, so read your event's own rules before you compete.