possibly switching to a GJJ school

Discussion in 'Brazilian Jiu Jitsu' started by roninmaster, Nov 27, 2013.

  1. roninmaster

    roninmaster be like water

    So I've been thinking about leaving my current school recently. primarily due to a couple of things I'm starting to not care for.

    1.) expensive. When I first began training at my Dojo it was around $120 per month, that was a couple of years ago and at the time we were the only school in our area that had multiple black belts who've competed and won at all the top level BJJ tournaments, plus trained pro level fighters on a global scale. So to me it made sense. after I got to bluebelt, the rates rose by another $20. ( coincidently without me knowing until afterwards)

    2.) Professor's absence: over time it went from multiple BB's to one BB. He has for multiple reasons been fairly MIA on the mats for prolonged periods of time. ( sometimes travel back to Brazil, sometimes training others for pro fights etc.) so our school is primarily taught by a high ranked purple belt. Coolest guy ever. Like a father figure, and very knowledgable about all things, but unfortunately not an ADCC level Black belt.

    This is primarily detrimental at tournaments. I'd compare our competition training to that of the Harry potter kids in order of the phoenix: translation:
    we're coaching and conditioning ourselves on our on time.

    We all still go to class 3-4 a week, but then go train in each others basements and Dojo hop to other gym's that allow drop-ins for competition training.

    for an example: I competed at a local tournament last week, and during the tournament I was facing two really really strong opponents because I didn't make weight and fought a division heavier than I was suppose to. and who was coaching me on the side? a white belt. :( however to be fair only 3 of us showed to this tournament to begin with. however this is not the first time we've all had to coach one another.

    It's kinda been irritating me for a while that we go to tournaments in large groups because of how big our school is yet are largely beaten by the guys from much smaller schools who were paying a lot less and also have their prof. on the mats all the time.

    We do offer other activities alongside our BJJ but i don't want to list them all because I don't want to explicitly say everything we do in our gym( I don't know whos reading), but those are the two main reasons.

    The other day I went to another school that a friend of mine had transferred to, to get a feel for it. It was a gracie jiujitsu based school. They allowed me to try the class and everyone was very nice. Like they really make you seem like family when you walk in the door. they're also only $75 a month.

    For the advanced portion of the class we did only rolling for an hour ( my guess is because they all were staring at me from the second I walked in and wanted to see if I was a dojo spazz)

    Now my school is more of a hybrid BJJ school i'd say. About 65% sport BJJ and %35 self-defense. This school of course, being a gracie based one is based much more on self-defense. I have no problem with this and have always wanted to work more on the self defense stuff while someone is trying to hurt you like they do with gloves on in the gracie academy vids.

    I'd say they're the exact opposite of my current school. 65% street 35% sport. During the rolling ( in a small class of about 6 people) I was tapped once by another blue belt, but was able to dominate the others for the most part. by dominate I'm simply speaking of winning on gaining landmark positions and points, had this been a tournament match.

    when I sparred with they're instructor( 1 of 3 black belts who trains there daily) he openly said they had a very fundamental jiujitsu game and was able to render almost everything I tried useless with only using strong position. I play a top passing game anyway. So this was something I liked. However aside from him, and his purple. The rest were not too difficult to deal with.

    so based on this MAP I have two questions.

    1.) from the information i've provided does it seem like a good reason to leave my school in the first place? Or am I just over exaggerating things?

    2.) I love BJJ for self defense and want to do more of it . BUT I have goals for competition too. both schools compete. However I was able to handle the people from the other schools pretty easily. ( im a one stripe Blue) however that was only 6 people out of they're entire school. I've heard that some GJJ trained schools don't fair very well in comps [ generally speaking] Do you think that this shows a problem should I try to go forward in competition?
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2013
  2. 47MartialMan

    47MartialMan Valued Member

    IMHO'

    Simple: If the training curriculum, instructor involvement, environment, and prices, all have changed, and you know its not want you are used to, then its time for YOU to Change

    The false dilemma you have is that you look upon loyalty over logical
     
  3. mattt

    mattt Valued Member

    I watched people go through this, and it was a difficult decision to leave but for the best. The difference in the ones I saw and yours was that they left to join a group of highly talented (world gold at brown) people- they would sweep the Boards at comp by weight class.

    The problem I see with your choice is that you aren't going somewhere that much better for your goals- you need a comp orientated school with both high level instruction AND a strong depth of training partners who are like minded. Are there any other options for you than this one school you mention?
     
  4. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    Maybe having a strong Blue belt is exactly what the GJJ place needs to improve the training and skill of everyone else there.

    I for one like the training lay out of the GJJ schools. They follow a curriculum and I find it easier to learn that way.

    In the end, though, you need to go some place you feel most comfortable and have the best time. If you find a good school, but hate everyone in it, what good will it be to you?
     
  5. roninmaster

    roninmaster be like water


    the only other school in my area would be another gracie based school thats taught by a purple belt, who has his BB teacher stop by usually once or so a month. Small school but they do real well in tournys. However its not the environment I'd like to subject myself to everyday. every training session is like fight club. I've been injured almost every time I went there.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2013
  6. mattt

    mattt Valued Member

    It sounds like this is the school to go to if you want to compete. But I can understand a reluctance to train that hard. You'll have to go with what feels right but I would say based on what little is here that I don't think you will be satisfied with the GJJ school you are considering due to their lack of focus and depth in the comp area.

    Good luck!
     
  7. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    This is going to sound harsh, but your looking for excuses for not making weight etc

    The GJJ places has Better instructors, but hasn't got a focus on competition, and you would be better then most there in rolling, choosing them would be great for technique, not better for comp.

    The other places is more full on, but you get injured lots, getting injured means less training.

    So really its jump into the GJJ and forget about comps for a year or two, or stick with you current school, and take resonsibility for yourself its up to you.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2013
  8. roninmaster

    roninmaster be like water

    had i made weight, id still been being coached by whitebelts.
     
  9. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter


    I disagree with nattt. You can train hard AND train smart. If injuries are happening every session, something is wrong with the training.
     
  10. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    And? Getting good mat side coaching is nice, but really its all down to you by that point.

    No school is going to have ADCC level Black belt as your personal coach.
     

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