Cheating ?

[DeadlyAlliance]

Has this ever happened to any of you guys ? In a bjj rolling sessions, when passing/opening the guard and grabbing the guys gi pants to pass. The person would say that doing that is "cheating" (??) and if it is why is grabbing the gi pants consider cheating ?

[tallgeese]

It's actually far from cheating when one is rolling with a gi on.

Working for your "grips" as they are called is a tactic that is a specific part of BJJ. In fact, many movements are designed around proper grips work. The torreando pass for example works best when grips are used. They are part of jiu jitsu much as any position or submission.

Now, if you're working no gi and training specifically under that, most tournies don't let you grab shorts or rash guards, ect. Maybe this is what you're partner is referring too.

But gripping the gi is part of the art. There are specific movements designed around grips. No cheating there. Just look the specifics of what you're training for. If you're club focuses on no gi, they might feel that way.

I'd caution about just doing this though. Great technique can be developed thru the use of the gi. Not to mention if you're not rolling gi then you're missing a big part of the art.

[sensei8]

Everything's fair in love and war...cheating...nope!

[ps1]

No. It's not cheating. There are several passes that use grips on the gi pants. Now, if you're rolling no-gi, and they guy happens to be wearing pants, that's a different story.

Edit: I should qualify my statement to pertain to tournament style training. If you're just messing around and training for fun/self defense, it's usually ok to grab just about anything.

[sensei8]

Everything's fair in love and war...cheating...nope!

When I said..."cheating...nope!" I was saying that it's NOT cheating, imho!