7 Reasons You Will HATE* Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

[Senshi]

I really hate when a bead of sweat falls off the other dude and into my eye. That shit is the worst

oh we used to have a sasquatch of a man at my old club and he sweats more than me, which is pretty bad, this was a usual occurrence.

I think #3 and #1 are double edge swords

 

[Hotora86]

What I was trying to say is that I don't see a problem with YOU saying YOU yourself wasted YOUR time, but you can't say that other people wasted their time.


Conversely I honestly don't think I could be getting so much out of MMA training if I didn't have some sort of fight training beforehand. This shit is rough and if I went straight into MMA training with no history of getting beaten up in class I would have thought I was obviously to much of a pussy for this sport.

OK, I see your point. Totally agree with the second part of your post as well, having a solid background you can fall back on is invaluable in MMA.

 

[shades001]

Definitely the bruising and not being able to train the "perfect" amount.

 

[goatfury]

ttt

 

[SUPERGRAPPLER]

I hate it when people just want to smash your teeth and nose with their forearm. Its retarded and nobody really learns anything. Especially when it comes from mid/upper belts.

 

[Petoria]

Hair or sweat in the mouth is so damn disgusting

 

[goatfury]

ttt

 

[School_Of_Koi]

Hello everyone. I saw this discussion on this forum and I would like to join and tell why I HATE BJJ and about my personal experience. (Disclaimer: I understand that there are many joe rogan/jocko worshipers here and it will be very painful for them)
I was doing BJJ and other martial arts more than 5 years, but I still 3td grade white belt because I travelled so much, moved from one city to another and took long breaks. And during these 5 years of BJJ I have never ever been happy in my life. Not a single day. During all my BJJ experience there were either 1). Small town toxic gyms with very toxic head coaches 2). Brazilian cult-like gyms. 3). Eastern European gyms where everyone is smashing you and tries to cripple you 4). Commercial monetary driven franchises which rip you off.. During all my life I've never seen more unfriendly people than in BJJ gyms and people with such a sick egos, who listen all this joe rogan's destructive bull...t about "the most dangerous man in the room" and go to this sport just because they feel insecure and they want to dominate other people. All this propaganda about BJJ as "the most friendly and non-toxic community" doesn't correspondent to the real life. And all these things look like big lies and hypocrisy, which I don't like. I understand why 90% of people quite after receiving a blue belt, they just understand that it is pointless to pay abnormal amount of money for overpriced grappling on the floor, when any sambo/judo gym just right across the street has everything the same and you don't have to overpay for it. I undrestand that many people go there because of its marketing and because judo/wrestling/sambo are not so popular in western hemisphere. Now I changed MA, stoped doing BJJ and I don't regret absolutely. It doesn't worth it .

 

[ChickenBrother]

Hello everyone. I saw this discussion on this forum and I would like to join and tell why I HATE BJJ and about my personal experience. (Disclaimer: I understand that there are many joe rogan/jocko worshipers here and it will be very painful for them)
I was doing BJJ and other martial arts more than 5 years, but I still 3td grade white belt because I travelled so much, moved from one city to another and took long breaks. And during these 5 years of BJJ I have never ever been happy in my life. Not a single day. During all my BJJ experience there were either 1). Small town toxic gyms with very toxic head coaches 2). Brazilian cult-like gyms. 3). Eastern European gyms where everyone is smashing you and tries to cripple you 4). Commercial monetary driven franchises which rip you off.. During all my life I've never seen more unfriendly people than in BJJ gyms and people with such a sick egos, who listen all this joe rogan's destructive bull...t about "the most dangerous man in the room" and go to this sport just because they feel insecure and they want to dominate other people. All this propaganda about BJJ as "the most friendly and non-toxic community" doesn't correspondent to the real life. And all these things look like big lies and hypocrisy, which I don't like. I understand why 90% of people quite after receiving a blue belt, they just understand that it is pointless to pay abnormal amount of money for overpriced grappling on the floor, when any sambo/judo gym just right across the street has everything the same and you don't have to overpay for it. I undrestand that many people go there because of its marketing and because judo/wrestling/sambo are not so popular in western hemisphere. Now I changed MA, stoped doing BJJ and I don't regret absolutely. It doesn't worth it .

I can relate to some of the issues you're talking about but honestly it sounds like you just trained at shitty gyms and never really stayed long enough to find your place at them. Even if it's understated, every gym has its own politics and catty behavior between members (just like any organization). But if you find a gym that fits your personality with teammates you click with, it can be very rewarding and the friendships are a benefit on par with the actual training.

But I agree that BJJ is more expensive and attracts more hipsters than other combat sports. Judo and wrestling are cheaper and more everyman with zero emphasis on bling.

 

[mattemate]

(Disclaimer: I understand that there are many joe rogan/jocko worshipers here and it will be very painful for them)

Not really. It's mostly old grappling veterans with shitty knees, not noobs in spats

During all my life I've never seen more unfriendly people than in BJJ gyms and people with such a sick egos

That sucks, hasn't been my experience. At all.

who listen all this joe rogan's destructive bull...t about "the most dangerous man in the room"

I don't think I've ever heard Rogan say that, but OK

propaganda about BJJ as "the most friendly and non-toxic community"

I mean, it's just people. We're realistic. TLI. The Jones-Ryan drama. Many more. Definitely plenty of toxicity. Go to the gym to train, not socialize. If you meet cool people along the way, good for you. It sounds like you need to try more places.

Now I changed MA, stoped doing BJJ and I don't regret absolutely.

nobody cares

 

[School_Of_Koi]

And a couple of another things about BJJ which probably seem OK for American/Canadian people ( I guess you even don't see an issue with that) but were wild or weird for me as for an European person:
1). Most of BJJ gyms have this "we are family" thing. Like "We are family. Buddy. We are family" "our family", "no, we are family" etc. and then run to the debt collector bureau even if the person forgets to stop the contract or postpone a payment even for one day WE ARE NOT FAMILY. I just pay for your servicies and help you to put some food on the table in exchange for your servicies. That's all.
2). Strange binding contracts. I understand that it is a common thing in US/Canada and a marketing strategy but to my mind it is very uncomfortable thing. Thank god that it is not common in Europe and you can still find an "old school" gym like pay and train and you can stop going there any time without any explanation and excuses if you don't like it or feel uncomfortable there.
3).When I was training in one well-known and famous franchise they were taking photos every training before,during and after each class, even if I didn't want. I guess they were sending daily reports to the central office or their headquarter which looked like some cult scientology weird s...t making my uncomfortable trainings even more uncomfortable.
4). Downgrading and harassment of other martial arts representatives and inability to stand any criticism. Especially we can see such things under "judo vs. BJJ" type of videos with a lot of hate comments from BJJ practicioners or under the videos where sambo champions like Islam, Khabib and others destroy BJJ black belts. When all these social media magnates like Mask or Zuck started doing BJJ too, all comments in social media with criticism of BJJ for some magical reason been strangely deleted, reported, marked as a "spam" or been blocked every time. Which is also weird.
All this doesn’t really inspire to continue training and keep going in this sport, because I’ve never seen this in other martial arts, (only in CrossFit)

 

[ChickenBrother]

And a couple of another things about BJJ which probably seem OK for American/Canadian people ( I guess you even don't see an issue with that) but were wild or weird for me as for an European person:
1). Most of BJJ gyms have this "we are family" thing. Like "We are family. Buddy. We are family" "our family", "no, we are family" etc. and then run to the debt collector bureau even if the person forgets to stop the contract or postpone a payment even for one day WE ARE NOT FAMILY. I just pay for your servicies and help you to put some food on the table in exchange for your servicies. That's all.
2). Strange binding contracts. I understand that it is a common thing in US/Canada and a marketing strategy but to my mind it is very uncomfortable thing. Thank god that it is not common in Europe and you can still find an "old school" gym like pay and train and you can stop going there any time without any explanation and excuses if you don't like it or feel uncomfortable there.
3).When I was training in one well-known and famous franchise they were taking photos every training before,during and after each class, even if I didn't want. I guess they were sending daily reports to the central office or their headquarter which looked like some cult scientology weird s...t making my uncomfortable trainings even more uncomfortable.
4). Downgrading and harassment of other martial arts representatives and inability to stand any criticism. Especially we can see such things under "judo vs. BJJ" type of videos with a lot of hate comments from BJJ practicioners or under the videos where sambo champions like Islam, Khabib and others destroy BJJ black belts. When all these social media magnates like Mask or Zuck started doing BJJ too, all comments in social media with criticism of BJJ for some magical reason been strangely deleted, reported, marked as a "spam" or been blocked every time. Which is also weird.
All this doesn’t really inspire to continue training and keep going in this sport, because I’ve never seen this in other martial arts, (only in CrossFit)

Honestly dude, you're overthinking it and/or you've only trained at shitty gyms. No gym is perfect but as you point out, prospective students will vote with their feet and their wallets.

Right after I started training at my current gym almost 7 years ago, the instructor started requiring everyone to pay $10 for and then sew a school patch on our gis and also to wear a ($40) school-branded rashguard on nogi days. I didn't like it and was bitching about it to one of the brown belts in the locker room after class. He gave me probably the best answer to these kind of gripes: "It's [gym owner's] gym so he makes the rules, not me. If I decide it's worth what he's charging to train here, and I may not, then I'm agreeing to abide by his rules when I'm here."

 

[School_Of_Koi]

"It's [gym owner's] gym so he makes the rules, not me. If I decide it's worth what he's charging to train here, and I may not, then I'm agreeing to abide by his rules when I'm here."

Completely agree. Thank you! Unfortunately the main problem here in Europe is that BJJ is... eem... "still growing" and if in USA you guys have hundreds of BJJ gyms in every corner almost in every city and you can choose among the great variety, in Europe even in big cities we have like 3 and most of them are bad. So even if you are dreaming about a perfect BJJ gym you have to choose between bad and nothing in most cases.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Completely agree. Thank you! Unfortunately the main problem here in Europe is that BJJ is... eem... "still growing" and if in USA you guys have hundreds of BJJ gyms in every corner almost in every city and you can choose among the great variety, in Europe even in big cities we have like 3 and most of them are bad. So even if you are dreaming about a perfect BJJ gym you have to choose between bad and nothing in most cases.

Yes BJJ is popular in the US and most folks have multiple local gyms to choose from if they're not happy at the one they're at. But Judo is not popular here, and I believe is much bigger in Europe and huge in France. I'd prefer to train old school Judo with leg grabs and 30 - 40% of training spent on newaza, but that's not available in my area so I make due with BJJ and wrestling. BJJ and Judo are literally the same sport (only difference is competition ruleset) and there's significant overlap between those and wrestling.

But given the choice, I'd always prioritize quality of instruction, gym environment and teammates I get along with. If the gym has that, I'd be happy training any of Sambo, BJJ, wrestling or Judo.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

warm ups...

That's mine, I visited a gym for a bit that straight up had everyone doing like 30 minutes of "warm up"

They were really having full kettlebell workouts before anything.



When I had my own classes long ago, they were in a full regular ol gym.

I didn't have warm-ups outside of slow rolling.

I told everyone, "warm up before you get here."

I got paid to teach them grappling/MMA not how to work out.

Extended warm-ups feel like such a waste of time that cut heavily into the limited amount of class people have.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

Although I stick with what I sad above.

By FAR my least favourite thing about BJJ.

Is the rampant insane commercialization of I'd say a majority of gyms.

The first strictly BJJ gym I went to in Santa Maria, CA....

It costs an ungodly amount to of money and the contracts are fucking ridiculous.
2 year contracts.... really?

I like to view my students as students, not dollar signs.



Here's an anecdote:

I got threatened with "Legal" action to pay outthe rest of my contract early.

The bozo instructor (who I'm pretty certain bought his belt, before he started the gym he was a blue belt and magically went to black belt in under a year)

He called me up and said I had to pay out the rest of my contract since I was injured and couldn't go...

The irony, he was the one that injured me.

I still think I had 6 months left on the contract.

The full twist: I was maybe 14 at the time and I don't think my signature is valid... whatsoever.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Although I stick with what I sad above.

By FAR my least favourite thing about BJJ.

Is the rampant insane commercialization of I'd say a majority of gyms.

The first strictly BJJ gym I went to in Santa Maria, CA....

It costs an ungodly amount to of money and the contracts are fucking ridiculous.
2 year contracts.... really?

I like to view my students as students, not dollar signs.



Here's an anecdote:

I got threatened with "Legal" action to pay outthe rest of my contract early.

The bozo instructor (who I'm pretty certain bought his belt, before he started the gym he was a blue belt and magically went to black belt in under a year)

He called me up and said I had to pay out the rest of my contract since I was injured and couldn't go...

The irony, he was the one that injured me.

I still think I had 6 months left on the contract.

The full twist: I was maybe 14 at the time and I don't think my signature is valid... whatsoever.

That sucks
The local bjj gyms in my town are obviously businesses too, one in particular is the guys sole livelihood, but it's nothing like the above

That's why I like my judo club. The coaches are volunteers and are not making any money. Ok there are only 2 or 3 sessions per week, but we are free to train in any club and it's actually encouraged to spar with different people