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