Anyone a Snake in the Grass?

[biscuitsbrah]

Aka a constant team switcher?
Or do you know people like this?

Share stories of burnt bridges or maybe just people cross training.
Also share if they became successful or never the same failures.

 

[spacetime]

I don't understand the question. Are you asking if guys who crosstrain tend to be more proficient in their art? If that is your question then no.. Actually the opposite in my experience.

 

[Tayski]

Such a great thread, let's bring up all the shit stories about shitty people doing shit things.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

I don't understand the question. Are you asking if guys who crosstrain tend to be more proficient in their art? If that is your question then no.. Actually the opposite in my experience.

Anecdotes of anything of the nature

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Such a great thread, let's bring up all the shit stories about shitty people doing shit things.

How many coaches have you had bud

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Martial arts gyms often have conflict between loyalty and simple business.

 

[j123]

I wouldn't say I was a snake in the grass, but late last year I had to leave my gym, it ended going badly for me. It was hard actually, all of my friends were there and I've always been big on gym loyalty. I used to think cross training was like blasphemy or cheating.

But basically I was getting fucked over in all ways and completely wasting my time and money; Health and brain wise would have gotten worse if I stayed. The new gym is great, the new team has just as good high level teammates to absorb knowledge from, new coach is more knowledgeable and everything fits.

Martial arts gyms often have conflict between loyalty and simple business.

This whole business is reciprocal, when one fails to meet their end it ruins it. Coach provides knowledge and in exchange students provide fees to keep the lights running

 

[DoctorTaco]

It’s normal to outgrow a gym and training staff. When a gym has nothing left for you to learn, when you’re the best one in the room then it’s time to move on

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Strikers unlike BJJers really dont have teams. All the pro boxers, and pro strikers have to arrange for their own camps, training, and sparring partners.

 

[ironkhan57]

I'm just going to input a fake story into this thread.

So back when I was training with DJ Khalid, we were training in American top team, obviously american top team doesn't remember us but I remember. So when DJ khalid lost his first fight because he was eating too much McDonalds and KFC for his fight preparation (idk why he did that we kept telling him he has to eat healthy and he's like "nah, I got this guys") so while we had to bring him home after he drank a little too much, he went to the blackzilians and said some harsh shit about american top team, he said "I hate att, they did me wrong, they blamed me for my first loss at amatuer" but that's not true we helped him as much as we could and he continued to eat McDonalds missed weight by 2lbs (somehow I don't know how) and got tired in the 1st round in 30 secs, and then collapsed. And then DJ khalid got a head injury in the blackzilians against Rashad Evan's, so he decided to follow a music career instead of being a fighter.

 

[j123]

Strikers unlike BJJers really dont have teams. All the pro boxers, and pro strikers have to arrange for their own camps, training, and sparring partners.

What do you mean by this exactly? Do you mean its select partners and a coach doing their thing? Or do you mean the entire gym gets on board to help 1 guy for his fight even though he's very green

If it's the latter, I've been in those and it was MT.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

What do you mesn by this exactly? Do you mean its select partners and a coach doing their thing? Or do you mean the entire gym gets on board to help 1 guy for his fight even though he's very green

If it's the latter, I've been in those and it was MT.

I mean the former. Most MT/KB places are combo MMA gyms (at least outside of Indochina). And most students are just recreational. If someone wants to take it seriously they likely have to gain experience on their own, and travel around a bit.

With BJJ, the competition is basically amateur, recreational, and pay to play. So people claim schools, and such to rep. I think mainly because it is the schools owners/instructors that organize the events, so this is way to promote themselves.

For pro boxing, basically as I stated, the pro has to arrange everything himself. He is the team.

 

[ironkhan57]

I'm just going to input a fake story into this thread.

So back when I was training with DJ Khalid, we were training in American top team, obviously american top team doesn't remember us but I remember. So when DJ khalid lost his first fight because he was eating too much McDonalds and KFC for his fight preparation (idk why he did that we kept telling him he has to eat healthy and he's like "nah, I got this guys") so while we had to bring him home after he drank a little too much, he went to the blackzilians and said some harsh shit about american top team, he said "I hate att, they did me wrong, they blamed me for my first loss at amatuer" but that's not true we helped him as much as we could and he continued to eat McDonalds missed weight by 2lbs (somehow I don't know how) and got tired in the 1st round in 30 secs, and then collapsed. And then DJ khalid got a head injury in the blackzilians against Rashad Evan's, so he decided to follow a music career instead of being a fighter.

 

[j123]

I mean the former. Most MT/KB places are combo MMA gyms (at least outside of Indochina). And most students are just recreational. If someone wants to take it seriously they likely have to gain experience on their own, and travel around a bit.

With BJJ, the competition is basically amateur, recreational, and pay to play. So people claim schools, and such to rep. I think mainly because it is the schools owners/instructors that organize the events, so this is way to promote themselves.

For pro boxing, basically as I stated, the pro has to arrange everything himself. He is the team.

Ah, I see what you mean.

Pros are a bit different, they take on teams and camps like contractors instead of full time employees.

 

[Jrange]

Its pretty common for guys in my area to get beat by guys in our gym and then leave their gym and come train at ours. I think it takesa guy whose humble and willing to leave his ego behind to do that, and i can respect it.

 

[Azam]

I don't get this snake in the grass shit.

Only in martial arts do you get ridiculous loyalty & snake in the grass bullshit.

A teacher's job is to impart as much knowledge/wisdom to their students as possible and hopefully improve their students life in & out of class.

Teaching is meant to be a noble profession and one in which you should do what's best for your student - not for yourself.

When you're in school for example - I've never heard of a teacher demanding that students not learn from other teachers and that they remain loyal...

Yet I'm sure all of us here have been involved or heard stories through the grapevine of shit like this happening in gyms/dojos (bridges burned, loyalty brought up, organisation/gym politics etc) regardless of whatever grappling or striking style you do - it's very common.

Personally I admire the very very few instructors that don't care about the money and teach for free or to cover the expenses of renting training space. I've had the pleasure of meeting a few instructors like this and they are a dime in a dozen. They don't care whether you stay or go - just that you don't stop your journey wherever you are and that you keep training. That's how it should be imho.

 

[BillytheFish]

the 'snake in the grass' shit is about ego and money- not actually in the interest of the fighter.

Leaving a gym to get more experience somewhere else is admirable. If a coach is annoyed it is purely through loss of money and time invested. But a coach must realize his/her own limitations. It isnt a fucking marriage.

 

[j123]

the 'snake in the grass' shit is about ego and money- not actually in the interest of the fighter.

Leaving a gym to get more experience somewhere else is admirable. If a coach is annoyed it is purely through loss of money and time invested. But a coach must realize his/her own limitations. It isnt a fucking marriage.

Its more rampant in BJJ apparently where some gyms look cult-ish

I always like it when you peel down the layers and see things for what they really are

Coaches saying you're impatient because you should be resourceful in finding quality training with brand new members vs same or higher level fighters. Translation, I don't want you leaving to a bigger name gym where you'll obv stay, and I need the monies.

 

[Sinister]

Such a great thread, let's bring up all the shit stories about shitty people doing shit things.

I'm with ya.

I got one of my gym's former fighters into training people. Because the guy has a head full of knowledge and it'd be a shame if it didn't get passed on. However, I did warn him: "As a trainer, most of your time is going to be spent waiting on people who aren't coming."

 

[Sinister]

the 'snake in the grass' shit is about ego and money- not actually in the interest of the fighter.

Leaving a gym to get more experience somewhere else is admirable. If a coach is annoyed it is purely through loss of money and time invested. But a coach must realize his/her own limitations. It isnt a fucking marriage.

Whoah up there, hoss. lol

I will respond to this with a slightly different notion. "Getting experience" means dick if you're not actually moving towards a better position. Lots of fighters move laterally, or down, for the wrong reasons. Fighting (of any kind) is an unusual Sport in that it requires a certain amount of ego to complete (and compete). But it must be controlled. However, just a LITTLE too much and you have a fighter who can't see the forest for the trees. I've had fighters leave because they think the grass is always greener, they find out it's just fuckin' grass. And much of the time when those other lawns aren't looked after, you end up stepping in dog shit. From my experience most fighters who leave what seems to be a good situation, just get tired of being told their flaws. They get tired of feeling imperfect. They start to view it as "negativity" and instead opt for "yes" people. Or managers get tired of trainers actually trying to protect their fighters. But no one, I repeat, no one gets shafted in boxing quite as hard as trainers who actually give a shit. We have pretty much ZERO legal protection. And no one who isn't an outright con-man gets into this for the money, so losing a fighter's monthly fricken dues means very little in the grand scheme of things. It's just not the climate of the Sport.

I've also recently gotten rid of a couple of very good fighters, personally, because they consistently threaten to do this. The problem is they're "Peter Pan" types, they wanna stay little boys forever in Neverland with no responsibilities, and they think they'll meet some magical guiding light who will sprinkle some fairy dust on them and suddenly they can fly. My program is more and more becoming designed to make my fighters strong and fairly independent. I could write a whole term paper on why that is, but I was inspired by Jack Blackburn telling a reporter in the lead-up to a Joe Louis fight that Joe didn't need him, and hadn't for years. He essentially said: "I'm here because Joe WANTS me here, but he doesn't need me to figure out how to beat this guy." Modern fighters would take that to mean the trainer was useless, and overlook the fact that he was STILL THERE. Joe wanted him. Joe didn't feel right without him, because a student rarely ever DOESN'T want their mentor around. Hell I get giddy when Mike (McCallum) is in the gym and passes a lesson I got to one of my students in the exact same way I got it.