Here's a great video of my professor that really touches on why I personally enjoy training BJJ and plan on staying with Gracie Barra for as long as possible. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE79vUBPIdw"]Draculino: "Gracie Barra is still #1" & "Jiu-jitsu changes lives" - YouTube[/ame]
Drac is awesome. But ive heard mixed reviews overall about GB in the states. Mostly around belt standards slipping due to the size of the org. ive only ever trained with GB people from the uk and they were all very good however.
You are under Draculino? How COOL! As for the whole GB thing, I'm with GB, and it's really good and I love it. However I would still go to another gym if the oppertunity came up, be it SAMBO, or Judo, or 10th Planet Jujitsu....
What about other bjj gyms? Guy I used to train with, wouldnt train with any other BJJ assoc as he thought if it wasnt GB it wasnt 'true BJJ'
That's weird man! Although maybe that's what it is too him. I am not interested in being a great BJJ practitioner, I want to be a great grappler.
there's something off putting about graice barra, but no more so than any other international martial arts organization, and it shouldn't mean much to day to day training if the instructors good (and some of the worlds best are graice barra). that's silly for more obvious reasons but you have to wonder about people who feel these sort of misplaced loyalties to what are essentially global brands that couldnt care less about them.
Oh, obviously it would be hard for me to be good at grappling over-all if I totally ignored BJJ, hence why I practice it xD
Wierdly Im the opposite, (although there is a massive crossover) What BJJ offers me is the ability to train long term without major risk of injuries.
Cool man, I can totally respect that. My Instructor was telling us about the difference between Machado BJJ and GB BJJ. He said in GB you train in closed guard for the first two years, and at Machados you train in open guard for the first two years. The reasoning is that in GB you want to prevent your guard being passed, and at Machados they say you're going to pass it anyway, so don't worry about it.
Yea, he's awesome. I went to Brazil with him and a few guys in 2010 and he's a freaking celebrity there. Talk about getting major love at the beach. We were hanging out and Kyra Gracie walks up in a bikini and just hangs out talking to him. Toooo sweet! I like the GB curriculum and how it's laid out, but training at Gracie Barra Texas is really more about training under Drac, Brandon Mullins and the team at the school. There's a bunch of REALLY talented grapplers there. I'm not opposed to learning from other schools, though. I'm actually going to a Roberto Abreu seminar at a school I used to train at tonight. I can't speak for any other GB school as far as their standards in promoting, although I can say a large part of your ability to promote is based on attendance. You have to meet the two class a week training minimum to even be eligible to promote.
So sweet. For those who don't know who Kyra Gracie is: For informational purposes I posted this picture...
