Ffion Davies delivered an interesting take and on a recent episode of the James Smith podcast, she made her position on the Gi versus No-Gi debate very clear.
When reflecting on her world championship wins, Davies drew a firm line between the two formats.
“When I say world champion, I think Gi Worlds to me is like a true world champion. Not that No-Gi is brilliant, but I don’t consider No-Gi Worlds as it’s nowhere near as difficult as Gi Worlds.”
She placed ADCC in a separate category entirely.
“ADCC I would say is on par with Gi Worlds, but No-Gi Worlds is really difficult and an amazing title, but I’ll say two-time world champion because that’s the one that to me is the one.”
Davies explained her reasoning by pointing to the technical demands that the Gi places on competitors.
“I think the Gi is tougher. The repercussions for making a mistake in Gi is so much higher.”
She added that athleticism plays a far greater role in No-Gi.
“In Gi, if you’re the most technical and the best person, you will guarantee. It’s more like this person’s the best and they are the best.”
She also noted how much harder it is to recover from a deficit in the Gi format.
“In No-Gi it’s a lot more interchangeable because you can be losing by so much and dominating and then catch someone, and I think that happens a lot less in the Gi. It’s a way less common. The Gi is harder because it’s a lot more set in stone who’s going to win. It’s harder to come back if you’re terrible at points.”
On the subject of stalling, Davies pushed back on any negative framing.
“I think Gi is incredible to watch, so entertaining, but you can slow things down a lot more. I think that’s amazing and a skill in itself. My Gi game is quite slow in places and breaking someone down slowly and breaking their spirit is such a skill.”
She also touched on the physical demands of switching between formats, noting that time away from the Gi is very difficult to recover from competitively.
“I’ve missed out on a year or maybe two years now of the Gi circuit. I would like to go back. Can I compete in the way I want to compete with those people now having just done No-Gi for the last two years? Whereas for No-Gi, I think I could have a year off No-Gi and pop back in. It’s easier to make up for that lost time than in the Gi.”
