Gracie JuJitsu dojo trip report

[VladKGB]

damn that ATT place looks awesome, its a huge warehouse, has a gym, boxing ring, octagon cage, rolling mats, etc.. etc.. but its so far from me [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] too bad

Mikey, thats a very good price, go to a free trial class and see how they do things there. the way classes are in my BJJ dojo is the following:

15 mins review of [censored] we learned with a partner
then the sensei comes back has us line up and shows us a technique asks if we have any questions then we partner up again and practice it for 10 mins. then he shows another technique and we practice again. while practicing the sensei walks around and u can call him over and ask for tips or advice. this whole ting lasts a little over an hour, and we end up learning 4 techniques per session.

Be sure to read the rules of the dojo, pay attention to their hygene requirements, also make sure they have a decent locker room facility. the other ting is like others mentioned find out about if they do competitions and "rolling" or sparring.

[MikeyPatriot]

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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.

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Thanks for the help. A couple of those places in the second link are an hour and a half away, that's the closest listings. The university has a "club" that I've inquired about. It seems similar to a traditional school/class. Anyone have any experience with something like this?

EDIT: Just saw your last link. Julie Kedzie is a pro fighter, right?

[DannyOcean_]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Kedzie

kedzie is a pro fighter, yup. I don't have an MMA club at uga, but i'm actually going to start one this year i think.

[Shoe Lace]

I'd be weary about joining a place where they normally teach that many people and have LCDs showing the moves.

IMO you probably won't get enough hands on expert training in a setup like that. Sure you'll be paired up with someone more experienced than you most of the time, but the guy you're with is a student as well -- just slightly higher than you.

Training with a partner is obviously good, but without being under the eye of an instructor at all times it kind of loses merit.

I never had interest in this style so I'm not sure if training a billion people at once is common. If it is, I guess you have to deal with it if that's what you want to do.

Btw, don't be surprised when they charge you for each belt rank up (which is common for any public dojo).

I'm a bit biased I guess because I was in classes with 8-12 people and multiple instructors (at least 2, sometimes 3). Everything was hands on with an instructor and partner. This ensured proper technique (by having it done to you by the instructor -- doing it on the instructor -- then repeating it on a partner while being watched).

[Blarg]

Agreed there should be someone to go to besides someone of roughly equal level, if you have questions. You shouldn't expect to monopolize him even if your question is good, and if you haven't really thought out your question, you're kind of being a bit of an ass by wasting his time when other students need him. But if you ask a question with presence of mind that makes sense and is something you legitimately can't get past yourself in fairly short order, there should be access to an instructor to help you out.

They shouldn't think of this as a burden, either, because it's way harder to fix bad habits in students than to make sure they learn right in the first place. If you feel you're floundering around without anyone to help you, and it's fairly consistent and there doesn't seem to be a way around it, you may want to consider going somewhere else where you're not just a hazy face in a crowd.

Note though that large classes are not uncommon in judo schools, so classes can be taught that way. It's just that the instructor shouldn't use the size of the class as a reason to not give personal attention and correction when needed. Being a good teacher is actually quite a different skill set from being a good fighter, and they very often don't come together in the same guy.

This is why someone's "name" value doesn't mean everything.

[Shoe Lace]

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Being a good teacher is actually quite a different skill set from being a good fighter, and they very often don't come together in the same guy.

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I sort of agree. Although the great teachers are usually remarkable fighters because they really understand what they are teaching and have a way of teaching it that connects with everyone.

It's pretty easy to tell right away who is a great teacher and who isn't. Within the first few sessions for sure. I want to say within the first 15 minutes, but I'll cut some slack.

[VladKGB]

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Btw, don't be surprised when they charge you for each belt rank up (which is common for any public dojo).



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Oh my [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[tisthefire]

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Btw, don't be surprised when they charge you for each belt rank up (which is common for any public dojo).



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Oh my [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]yea i was pretty flabergasted when i read this

[oddjob]

are there any cross dressing BJJ dojos where you can fight in a kimono? cause that would be like, awesome.

[Shoe Lace]

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Btw, don't be surprised when they charge you for each belt rank up (which is common for any public dojo).


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Oh my [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]yea i was pretty flabergasted when i read this

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Am I getting leveled? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

A lot of trash schools test a lot of people at once, and never fail them. They use belt rank tests as a source of profit more so than benefiting the students.