universal server java client API vs. JDBC

I'm currently using Infomix Universal Server 9.11. As you probably know, IUS has some nice object-oriented features, including complex row types, collection types, smart BLOBS, table inheritance, etc. I need to write some java applets that talk to the database. I would like to take advantage of many of the above mentioned features of IUS. IUS has a proprietary Java client API does the job, but they also include a JDBC driver. I'm new to java and don't know too much about JDBC. Would JDBC be sufficient to handle the features of IUS? Or should I just go ahead and use the Informix Java API? Thanks in advance. -MT