Train No-Gi or with Gi?

I’ve recently read certain popular martial art trainers claim that training with a Gi (or Kurtka in my case) is out dated and has no practical use. They also say that no gi training has more practicality for real life self-defense situations. Bold statements.
The recent decline in Gi training has come from the booming popularity of MMA. People see MMA matches and assume training with the Gi is useless. If one only wants to concentrate in competition no-Gi or MMA only, then perhaps training with the Gi might not be necessary. Myself at our gym, we train Submission Wrestling that is with out Gi. I think training both ways is important.
I believe training with the Gi is an utmost importance if one wants to train for self-defense. “We don’t wear these type of jackets, so they’re not real!” I hear this often. My response, of course I don’t walk on the street with my Kurtka (although it would be cool!) it is a training tool for reality self-defense training. Especially living in a cold climate area, we start wearing jackets in the fall. On learns how to use the collar, sleeves and belt area as means of control, and learn several choking techniques not possible without the Gi.
So why wear a Gi? Well if I would wear another jacket, I would have to replace it every week, as it will get ripped during training. Gis usually don’t rip in training.

So my final point is that it is too bad that people dismay training with the Gi as useless. Rather it is an essential tool for reality based self-defense training.