Gracie JuJitsu dojo trip report

[danvh]

Seems like a good place to post this cuz I dont want to write a trip report or anything..

Just finished my first BJJ class. It was at a Relson Gracie school, that I just started at.

I have taken Muay Thai some place else for about a year, though it was kind of slack.

Ive never felt more like Jeff Van Gundy in my life. Just holding on for dear life and trying not to get hurt.

We did some rolling after the class (the guys I rolled with were brown belts because they were teaching me also). Even half assing it, the feeling my arm could have been ripped off at any point isnt fun..

As a side note. I kinda knew..But had no real idea about how insane leverage is. I was rolling with another guy in class who is also new. We could get ourselves into the positions we were suppose to, but couldnt tap the other guy (due to crappy technique). But Jesus, when one of the experienced guys came over and shifted our hips or shoulders..It goes from mild discomfort to serious pain real freaking quick..Amazing its just from moving a leg out or dropping an elbow..

[skunkworks]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm confused about this 'oil change'. I have no idea what we are talking about.

[/ QUOTE ]
He's thinking of oil check, which is basically the white people's version of Kancho, or as the Korean people call it, ddong chee.

[SNOWBALL]

LOL Awesome kancho vid

[Sholar]

I've only played judo myself, but this doesn't really seem like a great deal. The class is huge and short; sort of pointless to pay for an instructor you'll never see. Stories are nice, but probably don't really help you learn.

A good judo gi might cost $100 for a double-weave, $50 for a single weave. Also, I can't believe that there won't be any sparring. You should be doing that after a week at most -- once you learn not to be stupid, how to tap, and take a fall. Whether or not you stick with bjj depends on how much you enjoy sparring. It's insane that you'd sign up for a year and take a month's worth of classes without sparring.

Also the cost seems outrageous compared to typical judo fees, but I hear that bjj clubs tend to cost more. Still asking for a year upfront is practically a scam a la generic health clubs. A negotiation room? Give me a break.

As far as a typical class, I train judo three days a week, around two hours each time, but I imagine it's pretty similar. Someone with bjj should feel free to elaborate. A typical class might look like: 15 minutes warm-up/stretching, 15 minutes repeating techniques (no throwing) with a partner, 20 minutes teaching a new technique/practicing that with a partner, 20 minutes throwing (on crash pads or just the mat), 25 minutes ground-sparring, 25 minutes sparring standing (sparring in 4 minute rounds with different opponents). It has a lot of sparring -- that's the only way to really learn the techniques.

Well, have fun whatever you do, but if you've never been to another dojo and there's another one in your area, take a look there first. Good luck.

[tisthefire]

my bjj classes are a bit over an hour and i go almost every day, looks like this, i usually show up a little early to stretch, then warmups usually go about 5 minutes, then 30 minutes on learning techniques and 30 minutes of rolling with various degrees of openness(often working from the position the techniques were from for the first 10, then 10 passing the guard which we do a lot and 10 minutes just starting from the knees) i think not sparring in one of these disciplines is absurd tbh

[VladKGB]

thanks for all of ur suggestions guys. I know u guys are right, there might be better shcools out there that cost less money but the problem is that their all too far from me. Right now i am carpooling with a pal, even tho there is a ATT dojo 10 mins away from my work place, i cant go there because if i stop carpooling i have to spend and extra $150 a month on gas so thats -EV for me.

I would definetly like to "roll" that was the most fun part of wrestling practice, im going to talk with the senseis about that and see what they say. The class size doesnt really affect my training, there is room on the mat and Pedro walks around and u can raise ur hand and ask for his personal help, he also helped me one one last night with a technique i was having problems with.

THe yearly contract thing does kind of suck, but its not that bad, only reason why id want to leave is if another school opens near me for less money, or if i injure myself, or if i become sick, or if i move. SO i dont think its that big of a deal.

THe gi or kimono or whateevr is probably double weaved, its like a jacket, its very thick 100% cotton, so its probably expensive.

thanks for ur help but looks liek ill be stickig to this dojo, unless another opens u near me. (Sunny Isles Beach, FL)

l8rz

[DannyOcean_]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't Do It, do you train at ATT in Miami?

Danny, I thought the singers were SBG?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure what's happened with that. I know that at some point they were, but i don't know if they stopped or what.

[MikeyPatriot]

Nice TR.

Can anyone offer me some advice? The only martial arts school in town (Bloomington, IN) that offers BJJ is this one http://www.monroecountymartialarts.com/. The price is nice ($50/month and $54 for a cheap gi), but I have never taken a MA class, so I have no idea what to expect. If I decide to go check out a class, what should I be looking for and what sorts of questions should I be asking?

[Colm]

mikey, i'm in a hurry right now but i'll try and answer you tonight.

[DannyOcean_]

It seems a little McDojo-ish, mikey. The fact that the head guy is a TMA (traditional martial arts), and that they talk about TKD before everything else makes me suspicious.

When being trained in Muay Thai or BJJ, your teacher/coach should be a pro fighter ideally. Every good MMA gym i've been to have had pro MMA fighters as teachers. BJJ you can substitute a good black belt for an actual fighter, but ask your teacher in BJJ what belt he is and who he got it from. If he tells a legit school or a Gracie or somebody, he's almost always a quality instructor, but beware of a TKD BB calling himself a JJ BB.

The price does seem very nice, and if they are legit in the MT and BJJ, i would do the combined program and do both if i were you. Muay Thai is by far the best striking art imo. I would also shop around, don't be discouraged by a small drive if it comes to that.

Here's a list of Martial Arts i found in Indiana. About 1/3 of them say 'MMA' as style, and could be worth going to check out. No idea if they are close to Bloomington, but it's better than nothing.

http://www.usadojo.com/kata/schools1.asp?state=IN

Also, every one of these schools should be legit. The first link is to a TMA site that lists some MMA schools, this one is all MMA and should be quality. Don't know how many of these are near bloomington but it's worth a shot.

http://www.fightresource.com/viewsch...1&state=IN

Also, here's a place i found in franklin, which seems to be close to bloomington. This guy seems very legit and is a Brown Belt under Mario Roberto, and a Judo Brown Belt.

http://ibjja.com/instr.html

I would check this out, and not let a 30 min drive stop me from a better school.