Gym hoppers. Good or bad?

I don't care unless you lie about why your leaving. I had a guy at my gym say his girlfriend didn't want him training anymore (Worst excuse ever btw) and then he goes to another gym after we were nice enough to go out of our way to cancel his contract for nothing. I just happen to be friends with the other gyms owner and he told me.

Just say you don't like the gym, instructor, whatever. Don't be a little bitch, man up.

who do you think you are, God? thou shall not lie?
 
what if: 1- the instructor is a douchebag, despite teaching well? 2- you just don't fit- i.e. if your instructor is a bible thumpin, religion pushin' dude, and you don't dig that, or vice versa, you're religious, but the instructor calls students p*ssies and drops f bombs all the time? 3- a bunch of the students are just not good training partners, and injure each other all the time?

why are those reasons not legit?



the thing is, you don't. and what if you've never 'made the decision to be at one gym' to begin with, but just happened to have been working out there?

for me, the owners of the gym i started at had a falling out, and ended up splitting into THREE different gyms. was every guy in the gym not loyal (and a dick), as we all had to chose where we were going to go and ditch someone?

gyms are businesses. you may be friends with some of the owners and employees, but they're businesses. do what you need to (and frankly, what you want to.

If you find out the instructor is a douche, then you would do that within the first 3 years of your training, lets say that puts you at blue belt, thats not as big a deal to leave as long as you be honest with the guy and give him honest reasons why his gym isnt for you.

But if someone is a douche you can pick it up pretty quickly, usually in a few months, then you have no attachment to the team you are at. Once you have been with a team for 2-4 years and have been graded, and are competing for a team, then the game changes, you are a part of that team's competitors and you need to honor that.

Im all for whitebelts and some blue belts who rarely compete changing gyms if they are honest, but once you start competing regularly for a gym, then you are a part of that team for sure. There would have to be some serious changes to make me consider leaving my team.

Most of you have this "Its my money I can do what I like " attitude, thank you america for raping jiu jitsu and making the ENTIRE art about customer consumption. If you treat your BJJ instructor like a BJJ dispensing machine, then expect to be treated like a customer, lets say at a restaurant, they will be polite and teach you to get your money but they really dont give a fuck about you as long as you keep paying.

If you treat your BJJ instructor like the head of your team, expect to get friendly with him and develop a rapport, and you can bet your bottom dollar that guy is going to care about how your BJJ and training develops.

McJitsu- the commercialisation of BJJ in the USA was always going to attract more consumer renegade douchebags, its just sad to see it in full force :(
 
{insert random immature-guy bullshit, betraying an unsophisticated view of the world here}

Things are not always as simple as you believe or wish them to be. There are plenty of valid reasons for changing gyms that do not fall into your ridiculous list as the ONLY VALID REASONS ANYONE COULD CHANGE GYMS EVER, OMGWTFBBQ1!!11!!!.

Let me guess, you're in your late teens or early 20s, and you think incredibly well of yourself for how smart you are for having chosen jiu jitsu because it's so awesome, and how loyal you are, right? No one could possibly have any other reasons for doing something outside your tiny sphere of understanding because you're so smart and empathetic, that you've anticipated every possible scenario under which someone might legitimately move gyms, amirite, AMIRITE?

I had many reasons for leaving my first gym; ultimately though, I don't do anyone any good by airing them here. I have my side of the story, others have their sides; I just want to train, and eventually renew friendships with all sides. I wish my former instructor, and his school and students all the best in their continued training. I owe the guy for getting me on a path that in some sense changed and saved my life. I respect him as a fighter, jiu jitsu competitor, and teacher. I would unhesitatingly recommend his school to anyone who wanted to train Jiu Jitsu. All that said, at some point it was patently clear that my time with him was at an end. It was not an easy decision, and a large part of me wishes it could have gone another way.

"It's my money, I'll train where I want" is shorthand for: "it's a really long story, and none of your motherfucking business."
 
"It's my money, I'll train where I want" is shorthand for: "it's a really long story, and none of your motherfucking business."


Why post your opinion on the internet then, when people will UNDOUBTEDLY have opinions that may not match with yours. If its none of my motherfucking business then keep it off the internet, if you cant handle people disagreeing with you, then maybe you should keep off forums.

If you left the gym for reasons to serve yourself then you are being selfish, you can have all the respect in the world for an instructor and his team, but leaving because you want to find somewhere better is a big "fuck you, you arent good enough for me" in any and every context.

You can disagree all you like, thats fine, thats your opinion, just dont get butt hurt when I wont be swayed over to your understanding of things.
 
I'm not trying to sway you; I don't need or care about your validation. I've pointed out that your views are simplistic, and more than a bit naive. I' m trying to pop your self-important balloon, and let a little gray into your black and white world. There are other valid reasons to change gyms than your shortlist. For you to believe that you alone know the ONLY VALID REASONS EVAR11!!FTW11!! is nothing short of hilarious.

Be well :)
 
nothing really.

You instructor plays a role at white belt and maybe at blue.

But by purple, you pretty much writing your own thesis/phd on BJJ and you start studying and researching from different sources.

As a purple belt I completely disagree. My instructor plays a tremendous role in my development. He's still teaching me new things, giving me pointers, and tightening up or fixing things that I already do. He's also still training himself so that he stay sharp. I'm taking a private lesson with him in a week to work on a new leg lock series he showed me.

Sure, I'm doing my own thing as well. I'm working on honing my game and developing strategies, focusing on areas where I feel I'm weak, tinkering with new ideas that I have, and watching matches and instructionals to get new ideas. But that's no substitute for a dedicated instructor actually teaching you.
 
If you find out the instructor is a douche, then you would do that within the first 3 years of your training, lets say that puts you at blue belt, thats not as big a deal to leave as long as you be honest with the guy and give him honest reasons why his gym isnt for you.

But if someone is a douche you can pick it up pretty quickly, usually in a few months, then you have no attachment to the team you are at. Once you have been with a team for 2-4 years and have been graded, and are competing for a team, then the game changes, you are a part of that team's competitors and you need to honor that.

so now we have a time limit- if you change teams within 4 years,you're cool? otherwise, you're a d*ck? :icon_lol:
 
making a change b/c the school is not the best fit or doesn't have the necessary pool of talent to continue your grappling education is different than continually just training wherever, whenever, especially with teams that are in competition with one another.

i don't know that you will or won't be telling our rivals how/what/when we train. be a committed member of the team and/or come to open mat. it's not "show up when you need something/feel like it" BJJ.
 
so now we have a time limit- if you change teams within 4 years,you're cool? otherwise, you're a d*ck? :icon_lol:

Enough time to become a part of their competitive team, just a loose guideline. Team loyalty and respect= being a good person; treating instructors like cash gobbling BJJ dispensing machines = being a selfish dick.

its quite simply really, no grey is needed, grey only serves to help you rationalise things that are legitimate douchebag moves.

If you dont mesh with an instructor after a few months of training, move clubs, thats cool you are being respectful, if you leave after years of training and competing for the gym because "OMG an awesum BJJ blackbelt moved in down the road, and heez better than my instructor" then you are an epic prick.

BJJ instructors arent to be treated like cash hungry hookers truffling for money: treat them like mentors, friends, and people who have helped you.
 
I'm not trying to sway you; I don't need or care about your validation. I've pointed out that your views are simplistic, and more than a bit naive. I' m trying to pop your self-important balloon, and let a little gray into your black and white world. There are other valid reasons to change gyms than your shortlist. For you to believe that you alone know the ONLY VALID REASONS EVAR11!!FTW11!! is nothing short of hilarious.

Be well :)

This is how you treat your instructor:

truffling.png


A pig truffling for money. They are actually people who care about building a legit team, which must be hard when people like you up and leave to serve your own selfish desire to be better than anyone else.
 
So once an instructor gives you a purple, you're pretty much married to him? That's insane, but you live your life however you like.

P.S. crankthat, you may have said already, but what belt are you?
 
If you left the gym for reasons to serve yourself then you are being selfish, you can have all the respect in the world for an instructor and his team, but leaving because you want to find somewhere better is a big "fuck you, you arent good enough for me" in any and every context.

Except that it's really not. Context does matter.

Do you think guys like GSP and Jon Jones simply gave their original instructor the finger and said "I'm off to train with Greg Jackson, because I'm too good for you guys now"? Not bloody likely. Odds are they left on good terms, because their instructors understood that they could make better progress by training with some of the best in the world.

I hate to disillusion you, but some purple belt going from Joe's Tap Shack & BBQ Cafe to Alliance and "sharing secrets" about Joe's students with his new teammates at NAGA is not the height of betrayal. To be honest, unless you're on one of those big teams, nobody else really pays much attention to the team scores anyway.

There are lots of valid reasons to leave one gym for another. Leaving doesn't always have to be on bad terms, and I think in many cases, it isn't. You have to do what is right for you and your progress in jiu-jitsu.
 
Except that it's really not. Context does matter.

Do you think guys like GSP and Jon Jones simply gave their original instructor the finger and said "I'm off to train with Greg Jackson, because I'm too good for you guys now"? Not bloody likely. Odds are they left on good terms, because their instructors understood that they could make better progress by training with some of the best in the world.

I hate to disillusion you, but some purple belt going from Joe's Tap Shack & BBQ Cafe to Alliance and "sharing secrets" about Joe's students with his new teammates at NAGA is not the height of betrayal. To be honest, unless you're on one of those big teams, nobody else really pays much attention to the team scores anyway.

There are lots of valid reasons to leave one gym for another. Leaving doesn't always have to be on bad terms, and I think in many cases, it isn't. You have to do what is right for you and your progress in jiu-jitsu.

You just keep truffling away trying to make your jiu jitsu better, whilst im going to stick with a legit team and help it grow, along with my BJJ.
 
So once an instructor gives you a purple, you're pretty much married to him? That's insane, but you live your life however you like.

P.S. crankthat, you may have said already, but what belt are you?

Brown belt under Eduardo Telles.
 
This is how you treat your instructor:

truffling.png


A pig truffling for money. They are actually people who care about building a legit team, which must be hard when people like you up and leave to serve your own selfish desire to be better than anyone else.

Wow dude you are really fucking stupid.
 
Brown belt under Eduardo Telles.

What did Telles think of your "truffling" speech in 2002 when he left Alliance?

Or in 2004 when he started a new team?

Or is it only "truffling" when other people have legit reasons for leaving?
 
This is how you treat your instructor:

truffling.png


A pig truffling for money. They are actually people who care about building a legit team, which must be hard when people like you up and leave to serve your own selfish desire to be better than anyone else.

I didn't leave for competitive, or financial reasons, but whatevs. I'm not trying to be "better than anyone", I have a sense of proportion about where I fit into the grappling universe. I am, and will always be a pretty small fish. I've no wish to get in the way of internet meme pics substituting for spirited debate, though. You just keep being the awesome person that you no doubt are.
 
The pig picture is a little extreme, no?? Not all instructors are the altruistic saints you're painting them to be!
 
What did Telles think of your "truffling" speech in 2002 when he left Alliance?

Or in 2004 when he started a new team?

Or is it only "truffling" when other people have legit reasons for leaving?

Telles left Alliance due to relocation, and he left on good terms, starting your own team isnt truffling, he wanted to start his own establishment.

Mestre Telles applauded the truffling speech, he actually has used it before when talking about people who switch teams due to being selfish.

The pig picture isnt extreme, it only applies to those who leave instructors for no other reason than they want something better. Its like leaving a long term girlfriend because you think you have a better shot with a prettier girl, its a douchebag move.

You all need to stop and think about the 'truffling' metaphor a little bit longer.
 
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