hey guys, basically I am looking for a new school. I have had about 4 months in TKD, loved it but had some major problems as far as instruction goes. I have since left that school, and after watching alot of UFC lately, I have been thinking about getting into a ground art. So I call up some "martial art" schools that are in the phonebook asking their styles, and the first one I call ends up being a BJJ school. I am going to go watch them on Sunday, but I know almost NOTHING about ground work. Besides looking for good form by higher belts, what should I look for? I really don't want to end up at another bad school.
It's hard to find bad bjj schools. You should find out who the instructors, what belt they have, and who gave it to them. It would be great if you had a black belt teaching regular classes, but a brown or purple belt is more than qualified to teach a new student for years (by the time you reach the point where a purple belt wouldn't make a decent teacher for you, it's a sure bet your original coach is no longer a purple belt).
well, I was unable to go today, but I did find out they have a website. www.titanmartialarts.com . From the looks of it, it looks really solid. The schedule is a little bit different from what I am use to, but I can deal with it. They have different classes for beginners and the more advanced people. I don't like the thought of only working with beginners for a while. How am I suppose to continually learn new things if all the students are beginners? Also, I do not believe there is sparring in the beginners class. In your opinion, how long would it take for me to no longer be a "beginner"? I know these are questions I should be asking the instructors, but I was unable to go. Please tell me your thoughts on the school based upon the website. It says the lead instructor is only a purple belt in BJJ
By the sounds of it a purple belt BJJ instructor isn't all that uncommon, but you definitely need to bear in mind the fact that the instructor only had 4 years experience when he opened the school. Still, assuming he is still training, he's had another 3 years, so a 7 year experience instructor in total. Best bet would be to give it a go and report back to people with more working knowledge of BJJ than me.
