#1 Academy to become a pro bjj competitor

[jiujitsubjj]

Gracie Barra America HQ in Irvine, Southern California. It's a huge gym with plenty of blackbelts and talented lower belts for you to train with

Thanks. A friend of mine recommended Kron's. He beat Otavio 3x and he's an amazing competitor, but I want to get some more opinions. Would you care to give me yours?

 

[jiujitsubjj]

Well I think the term "Pro" jiu-jitsu fighter is an interesting term because you're likely not going to make money in training full-time for a while.



He probably means Romulo Barral's school. I mean if you were to pursue to become a champion, I'd recommend Marcelo Garcia's academy or southern california. (I recommend SoCal because the Worlds/Pans are there and it will be easier to travel.) It also really depends on the game you're going to want to play and the school that you choose to attend will really help you develop that game.

That being said, SoCal and NYC are the two most expensive cities, so I'd make sure to keep that in mind.

Thanks. MG's school is definitely up there

 

[GuardOfDoom]

Can't wait to see where this goes.

 

[JustTheTip]

Famous gyms with talented instructors and students will push & motivated you to train harder. Success breeds success, talent breeds talent, loser breeds loser.

I'm not saying everyone who trains at a famous BJJ gym will automatically becomes a world champ, but your jiujitsu will definitely gets better if you train at a well known gym.

This is a VERY good point.You will notice that a huge percentage of medalists come from a handful of academies. That push and motivation can't be denied.Its really hard to compete at a high level when you are the only guy preparing.

 

[JustTheTip]

If it is JUST about competing, then yes SOCAL is an obvious choice because of the amount of tournaments there. That said, i'm assuming that you want to make a career out of BJJ and your instructor lineage and connections are important as hell too. Honestly, Affiliations like ATOS and AOJ just haven't been together long enough for me to invest in them.I really wouldn't be surprised if AOJ splits form ATOS sometime soon or even if ATOS breaks up completely.

 

[jiujitsubjj]

What do you guys think of Kron's? It was recommended to me by a fellow training partner.

 

[Toothless King]

Well I think the term "Pro" jiu-jitsu fighter is an interesting term because you're likely not going to make money in training full-time for a while.



He probably means Romulo Barral's school. I mean if you were to pursue to become a champion, I'd recommend Marcelo Garcia's academy or southern california. (I recommend SoCal because the Worlds/Pans are there and it will be easier to travel.) It also really depends on the game you're going to want to play and the school that you choose to attend will really help you develop that game.

That being said, SoCal and NYC are the two most expensive cities, so I'd make sure to keep that in mind.

yeah, socal and nyc are equally expensive.

but i bet you can't run on the beach in NYC in the middle of dead winter to do conditioning in the morning before heading to the academy

 

[TSO]

Atos and UniJJ produce some beasts. Atos more or less takes an 8 and makes them a 10, but UniJJ takes a 1 and makes a 9 out of them. It depends on where you're at.

 

[JustTheTip]

yeah, socal and nyc are equally expensive.

but i bet you can't run on the beach in NYC in the middle of dead winter to do conditioning in the morning before heading to the academy

True, but in the absence of a beach to run on, you could train your ass off since the mats are the only warm place to be.

 

[Toothless King]

If it is JUST about competing, then yes SOCAL is an obvious choice because of the amount of tournaments there. That said, i'm assuming that you want to make a career out of BJJ and your instructor lineage and connections are important as hell too. Honestly, Affiliations like ATOS and AOJ just haven't been together long enough for me to invest in them.I really wouldn't be surprised if AOJ splits form ATOS sometime soon or even if ATOS breaks up completely.

i don't get the lineage thing. i think you should be OK if you didn't get your blackbelt from Joe Nobody from Boonieville, Idaho.

Plus, I think you are OK if your lineage is under Mendes Bros or Andre Galvao.

 

[DaGenius]

Dude..if this is really your dream..Go Chase it with all your heart!!

That said, southern California should be your long term US training home as you have a ton of great schools and you will always be able to get a tournament in. I say long term because, short term, I think you should move to Brasil for 1 year and just train and really immerse yourself in the lifestyle. Training and living will be cheap. Your big expense will be your plane ticket. Put a year in there..then come back and you will be even more ready to chase!

Good luck

 

[jiujitsubjj]

Dude..if this is really your dream..Go Chase it with all your heart!!

That said, southern California should be your long term US training home as you have a ton of great schools and you will always be able to get a tournament in. I say long term because, short term, I think you should move to Brasil for 1 year and just train and really immerse yourself in the lifestyle. Training and living will be cheap. Your big expense will be your plane ticket. Put a year in there..then come back and you will be even more ready to chase!

Good luck

Thank u dude!!!!!

 

[Limatime]

I'd suggest visiting several gyms. You'll not only get a sense of the instructors & students, but also about whether you'll like the city you'll be living in. And even big name academies may not have the vibe YOU would be best suited in.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Find a state where it's easy to get licensed as a pro fighter or has fights on Indian Rez'. Win or lose you'll earn some cash to help make ends meet til that next big tournament score.

 

[JustTheTip]

i don't get the lineage thing. i think you should be OK if you didn't get your blackbelt from Joe Nobody from Boonieville, Idaho.

Plus, I think you are OK if your lineage is under Mendes Bros or Andre Galvao.

Say your job moved you to Montana. There are 4 different BJJ schools all about 30 min away.All ran by American black belts that you don't recognize.One is an Alliance school and a Cobrinha BB. Another is an unaffiliated school from a BB named Scott Davis who got his BB from a guy named Buck Thompson,who got his BB from a guy named Ronaldho Souza.Another is a Gracie Barra BB who got his Belt from a guy named Alonzo Moura.Lastly there is an unaffiliated BB who has a Gracie Combatives certificate. Which school would you visit first?

 

[glassprisoner79]

Anyone who keeps saying Brazil is cheap has obviously never been there. It is fucking expensive. It is not what it was 20 years ago. Especially if you are from United States or Europe and cannot live a third world standard in order to make it "cheap living".

Assuming you are American and probably live in a flyover state, I recommend Southern California. NYC is too expensive and distracting. Any school in southern California would be a great choice. All of them have Pan Ams and Worlds champions. Seriously, all of them. Every school I have dropped in, large or small, had monsters on the mats with decorated medalists.

There is a reason why they moved the WORLD championship from Brazil to Long Beach. That area is the new mecca. Sucks for all those talented, poor Brazilian kids in Rio. Some of them would absolutely tear it up at Worlds but do not have the means to come and compete.

For whatever it's worth, yeah a tournament driven school will help your game. But, it's a small, fairly minor piece of the puzzle. It would be good to be rolling with great training partners and to immerse yourself in the lifestyle of competition jiu jitsu but the bigger pieces of the pie are things like your work ethic, your drive, your body type, dedication, personality type, etc. THOSE are the important things. A competition school is the icing.

Good luck.

 

[Toothless King]

Say your job moved you to Montana. There are 4 different BJJ schools all about 30 min away.All ran by American black belts that you don't recognize.One is an Alliance school and a Cobrinha BB. Another is an unaffiliated school from a BB named Scott Davis who got his BB from a guy named Buck Thompson,who got his BB from a guy named Ronaldho Souza.Another is a Gracie Barra BB who got his Belt from a guy named Alonzo Moura.Lastly there is an unaffiliated BB who has a Gracie Combatives certificate. Which school would you visit first?

Depends.

If i was a newbie white belt, i'd go for the school with "Gracie" prefix.

But since i've been doing BJJ for a while, I'd go to the schools for one week trial period before I make the final decision.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Say your job moved you to Montana. There are 4 different BJJ schools all about 30 min away.All ran by American black belts that you don't recognize.One is an Alliance school and a Cobrinha BB. Another is an unaffiliated school from a BB named Scott Davis who got his BB from a guy named Buck Thompson,who got his BB from a guy named Ronaldho Souza.Another is a Gracie Barra BB who got his Belt from a guy named Alonzo Moura.Lastly there is an unaffiliated BB who has a Gracie Combatives certificate. Which school would you visit first?

And you can fight pro without any medical checks or registration. Just sayin...

 

[JustTheTip]

Depends.

If i was a newbie white belt, i'd go for the school with "Gracie" prefix.

But since i've been doing BJJ for a while, I'd go to the schools for one week trial period before I make the final decision.

How did you choose your first school? Distance?

 

[Toothless King]

How did you choose your first school? Distance?

Cheap tuition. i knew the front desk guy who worked there, so he gave me a discount.

$79/month to train with two third-degree blackbelts