#1 Academy to become a pro bjj competitor

[Uchi Mata]

No, the choices are endless. But in this case, they boil down to:

follow your dreams

or

follow the instructions of others.

Even if he doesn't reach his current goal, who knows what experiences he will have and what doors will open on his journey?

By strongly suggesting he should not consider investing his energy in his current passion, you are potentially denying him the ability to grow, to develop, and to discover his true path.

Did you do what was expected of you rather than what you felt you wanted? Were you told where to go, what to study, what job you should take?

If so, I feel sorry for you. Please shut the fuck up.

If not, let the kid enjoy himself. And shut the fuck up.

I went to college and studied something interesting, in my case psychology. It turns out there were no jobs for people who studied what I found interesting, at least not in the field. At the same time I developed a crippling case of Crohn's disease which along with really bad back injuries destroyed my dream of pursuing a spot on the US Olympic Judo team, not to mention meant that living in the US I essentially had to have a job which offered health insurance (since as you're probably aware in the states health insurance is still largely tied to your job). Luckily I was able to get into business school, which as it turned out I also found interesting. I graduated and got a good job in finance which I loved, but which I lost during the financial crisis in 2008 when my company went under. So I got a job with a shitty little insurance company because by then I had a wife (who thankfully also had a good job, because otherwise I don't know how I would have survived 8 months of unemployment since I wouldn't have had health insurance and would not have been able to afford my meds) and I needed to earn money for, you know, food and housing. I decided that living like that was BS so I went back to school, got my MBA, and I now I have a job I love managing a team of data scientists for a large telecommunications firm. My wife is pregnant which we're ecstatic about, but it means that now I have some very real responsibilities. Which is fine, because this is the life I want.

So my point is not about doing what someone tells you vs following your heart, as that's a very juvenile way to interpret what I said. The point is to make yourself robust to all the terrible shit life can and very possibly will throw at you, and also being aware that while what you want out of life at 19 is often very different than what you want at 30, choices you make when you're 19 can have very real impacts on what your options are for the rest of your life.

So instead of judging me for advising this kid to think carefully about what he's going to commit to and how that might affect the rest of his life when his desires may very well move beyond being really good at BJJ, just shut the fuck up.

BTW, love your videos. I don't take this disagreement personally.

 

[selfcritical]

Kron is an outstanding grappler, but given his new focus on MMA, I don't know how much he's actually teaching there. Moreover, he's really anti-IBJJF rules and probably doesn't push competition very much, since he's practically given up competing in major tournaments himself.

Kron himself is an ADCC champ and has submitted some of the best in the world, but that doesn't mean he runs his school to produce sport champions.

The only person I know personally that trained with Kron had a fairly phenomenal ground game, but he was also top 5 in olympic judo trials in the US at HW so there might be other complicating factors there.

 

[Hywel Teague]

That's a pretty long string of bad luck. I'm glad you managed to come out on top after it.

If someone had told you to play it safe back when you were trying to get on the Olympics team, that there would be no money and that you would have no options etc, would you have listened, quit and become a good normal human being or would you have carried on regardless even if it meant living with a debilitating injury for the rest of your life?

Without your experiences, good or bad, you wouldn't be who you are today. And by 'advising' somebody of the cold realities that await you are essentially denying him an opportunity to learn and develop by himself.

I subscribe to the philosophy of offering counsel when it's asked for, advising in a time of uncertainty, but never directly guiding or influencing. Because then you become a meddler.

Glad you like the vids –*more cool stuff to come

 

[NSchoke]

But until a pro BJJ or submission grappling league opens up, there is no such thing as a pro BJJ competitor.

The difference between Pro and Amateur is Pro's get paid. There are quite a few tourneys at this point that pay so there are many competitors that would be considered Pro. Could they live off of that alone, probably not, but if they're successful in these tournaments they could attract sponsors. JT and Keenan have said they wouldn't be able to do what they're doing without their sponsors.

As you said, they could also release instructionals of some kind and do seminars in their off season. It wouldn't be a glamorious life but if you're following your passion, that has value.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

 

[Uchi Mata]

That's a pretty long string of bad luck. I'm glad you managed to come out on top after it.

If someone had told you to play it safe back when you were trying to get on the Olympics team, that there would be no money and that you would have no options etc, would you have listened, quit and become a good normal human being or would you have carried on regardless even if it meant living with a debilitating injury for the rest of your life?

Without your experiences, good or bad, you wouldn't be who you are today. And by 'advising' somebody of the cold realities that await you are essentially denying him an opportunity to learn and develop by himself.

I subscribe to the philosophy of offering counsel when it's asked for, advising in a time of uncertainty, but never directly guiding or influencing. Because then you become a meddler.

Glad you like the vids

 

[winterbike]

Friend of mine left for Atos a few months ago. He won the no gi purple championships earlier this fall, and seems to be enjoying his experience a lot. He rolls with world champs daily, and he looks to be good buddies with Keenan too, which must be fun.

He has a B plan though, he can come back any time and work in construction for good money. I'd advise the same.

 

[QingTian]

Some people aren't able to focus on something they aren't into, as back up. It might make sense for them to go all in. That said, they need to understand the potential outcomes. Most likely he will end up teaching BJJ at some random place for a meager wage or business income. But, it's better than a half assed degree that won't be put to use, and half the chances of being successful elsewhere.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Some people aren't able to focus on something they aren't into, as back up. It might make sense for them to go all in. That said, they need to understand the potential outcomes. Most likely he will end up teaching BJJ at some random place for a meager wage or business income. But, it's better than a half assed degree that won't be put to use, and half the chances of being successful elsewhere.

I agree. Even with backup plans you shouldn't do it if you're not going to commit to doing it right. I actually feel bad for people who's only interest is in something that pays nothing (not BJJ specifically, could be whatever) because it would make it so hard to do anything else just for $$$. I've always felt lucky that I find a ton of different things interesting enough to really work hard on them.

 

[Balto]

This thread backfires because the entire premise is silly. If you are really prepared to dedicate your life entirely to BJJ, you don't ask Sherdog where to train. Seriously, what would we really know about that? Hardly any of us do that. You should ask the other hardcore full time guys you know. And if you don't know any, well maybe you should know a few first to get a sense of what it's like before you go making life changing decisions.

If you have to ask, you probably aren't ready. It's like a middle school kid saying he is ready to have sex, but he wants to know how to do it first. If you have to ask, maybe you need to wait a bit.

 

[Cris]

In Rio you can train with 10, 15 black belts, in US you will probably train with a purple, brown or a recently black belt. Please, you cant compare Rio to the rest, i dont even like Rio (im from S

 

[Toothless King]

In Rio you can train with 10, 15 black belts, in US you will probably train with a purple, brown or a recently black belt. Please, you cant compare Rio to the rest, i dont even like Rio (im from S

 

[Lobo]

In Rio you can train with 10, 15 black belts, in US you will probably train with a purple, brown or a recently black belt. Please, you cant compare Rio to the rest, i dont even like Rio (im from S

 

[robotsonic]

Every time I see those blue belt 'pro BJJ athletes' at comps it just makes me LOL. I make more in a day, than they probably do in a month. Not being an asshole, it's just hilarious how many guys drink the kool aid of this sport.

Seriously kid, I know we're all bred to believe the Hollywood bullshit about following your dreams but you never see the hundreds of thousands who crashed and burned.

So yeah, you want to be a head in the clouds motherfucker, then go anywhere in SoCal. If you want to be clever, go to school, get a job and train BJJ on the side. If you still feel like doing it after you're done with school then at least you'll have something to fall back on.

 

[deadlizard]

This thread backfires because the entire premise is silly. If you are really prepared to dedicate your life entirely to BJJ, you don't ask Sherdog where to train. Seriously, what would we really know about that? Hardly any of us do that. You should ask the other hardcore full time guys you know. And if you don't know any, well maybe you should know a few first to get a sense of what it's like before you go making life changing decisions.

If you have to ask, you probably aren't ready. It's like a middle school kid saying he is ready to have sex, but he wants to know how to do it first. If you have to ask, maybe you need to wait a bit.

seriously bro, why do you make so much sense?

 

[SuperAzn812]

Yeah, I agree. No matter what you pursue in life, if you really are serious, you would do the proper research.

 

[nakaiseye]

good luck in your poverty goals of 2014-2020

 

[Caecus]

I wish I had more driven individuals around me.. I went to a local community college and helped with a small BJJ club there.... after I graduated I had taken over and now "coach" the same team...
If you go there they pay for a ton of stuff... they will pay for competitions, gis and uniforms occasionally, and they help with a great affiliation, they help a ton..
Essentially you can go to the school for two years (yeah just a CC, but you can transfer anywhere and finish at a strong college if you have the grades) for a really good price, and TRAIN and COMPETE in bjj for free as long as your grades are good.. pretty cool.
I can count the number of people who take advantage of this fully on half of one of my hands haha.. It is really an awesome opportunity for people to get their two years of school in and do a ton of BJJ.. buuut I guess people around here are lazy.

 

[jcandoitbig]

Every time I see those blue belt 'pro BJJ athletes' at comps it just makes me LOL. I make more in a day, than they probably do in a month. Not being an asshole, it's just hilarious how many guys drink the kool aid of this sport.

Seriously kid, I know we're all bred to believe the Hollywood bullshit about following your dreams but you never see the hundreds of thousands who crashed and burned.

So yeah, you want to be a head in the clouds motherfucker, then go anywhere in SoCal. If you want to be clever, go to school, get a job and train BJJ on the side. If you still feel like doing it after you're done with school then at least you'll have something to fall back on.

real talk. education is the key to success, when you're 19 you should be in college learning the social and academic skills needed to succeed in the world.

 

[Hywel Teague]

Op,

[YT]DX6JdynMW-M[/YT]

 

[FlexLuthor]

For those oh so very self righteous among you, please consider answering the OP's question at the end of your unsolicited wall of opinion.

I'm not qualified to suggest an academy sadly. Just wanted to put that out there.