BJJ Dallas Texas

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jbrandt

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Hey all, I'm a blue belt who's moving from Houston to Dallas in a few months.

I'm looking heavily at RCJ Machado BJJ. I don't know whether to train at the New location in Allen with John or at the main location in Farmers Branch.

I plan to live near the northern suburbs, (Plano/Frisco/Richardson/Prosper)

What are the reviews on the following schools:

Cobra BJJ-Eddie Ricardo
Pesedelo BJJ- Stephen Hall
Allen Mohler BJJ
BTT Plano- Diego Gamonal Nogueira
RCJ Machado-The Colony/Farmers Branch
NDBJJ- JD Shelley
Next Generation- Chris Brennan (Seems to be heavily focused on No-Gi, maybe too much so- I know Chris was an original badass with his BJJ)

I am absolutely torn and am pretty BJJ obsessed, so any help would be fantastic!
 
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I used to train with JD up in Plano he's out near the Dr. Pepper Star's center near George Bush tollway and Coit. Solid place with competitors, great lineage, and JD is a killer.


Gracie Plano is also worth a look as I know a few people who are very happy there. http://www.graciegymtexas.com/


Cobra- Solid place.

RCJ - eh the rumors are true in my opinion.


BTT Plano- Good place, worth a look.

Mohler- a little far from where you'll be living, I personally don't think it's worth the drive for BJJ.

Pesadelo- too far south for you.

Next Gen- Chris Brennan's rep speaks for itself. He's a solid person too, I've met him at competitions where we were coaching opposing people. Very professional.


For transparency sake I got my brown under JD after moving from Waco/Houtston as a purple. Now I'm at Marcelo Garcia Dallas.
 
The K1000 said:
I used to train with JD up in Plano he's out near the Dr. Pepper Star's center near George Bush tollway and Coit. Solid place with competitors, great lineage, and JD is a killer.


Gracie Plano is also worth a look as I know a few people who are very happy there. http://www.graciegymtexas.com/


Cobra- Solid place.

RCJ - eh the rumors are true in my opinion.


BTT Plano- Good place, worth a look.

Mohler- a little far from where you'll be living, I personally don't think it's worth the drive for BJJ.

Pesadelo- too far south for you.

Next Gen- Chris Brennan's rep speaks for itself. He's a solid person too, I've met him at competitions where we were coaching opposing people. Very professional.


For transparency sake I got my brown under JD after moving from Waco/Houtston as a purple. Now I'm at Marcelo Garcia Dallas.
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Thank you so much for all the info! I really appreciate it. I think that narrows it down quite a bit- down to JD's, Shelleys, Cobra, BTT. How do you like Marcelo's in Dallas? What caused you to move to Marcelo's if you don't mind me asking?
 
Curious...what are the rumors regarding Machado? Prof Machado is there quite a bit now. When he is out at seminars, Taryn Douglas (Machado BB) teaches. There are also at least 3 or 4 BB's there every evening. Is it the biggest comp school? No. Are there multiple comp classes every week? yes....and they are tough. Also, John Machado just opened a school in Allen. It's worth checking out. Good luck.
 
jbrandt said:
Thank you so much for all the info! I really appreciate it. I think that narrows it down quite a bit- down to JD's, Shelleys, Cobra, BTT. How do you like Marcelo's in Dallas? What caused you to move to Marcelo's if you don't mind me asking?
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I moved closer to downtown for work. It was between Octagon and MGD. Octagon was just too much $ and I had a better vibe with MGD.
 
Agent1707 said:
Curious...what are the rumors regarding Machado? Prof Machado is there quite a bit now. When he is out at seminars, Taryn Douglas (Machado BB) teaches. There are also at least 3 or 4 BB's there every evening. Is it the biggest comp school? No. Are there multiple comp classes every week? yes....and they are tough. Also, John Machado just opened a school in Allen. It's worth checking out. Good luck.
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There were a few you should forum search but I have no idea if any are true. THey've produced great guys.
 
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jbrandt said:
The rumors were that Carlos rarely teaches (he's not listed on the instructor page for RCJ) and is the most "money hungry" of the Machados, where you pay for belt tests. Also that it's not a comp school (this wouldn't seem like a concern to me as they produced Rafael Lovato Jr.)

I've heard fantastic and not so fantastic things, so just wanted to see what was what!
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Anyone know the prices of any of the frisco and plano bjj schools. I am currently doing judo but would like to maybe get some privates or maybe every couple months or so go to bjj. I know nextgen is like 150 a month.

I went to a Carlos Machado seminar about 2 years ago and he was a nice guy and it was a good seminar but he seemed caught up in showing off that he was a black belt. It seems most martial artists I have met don't really care what belt they wear but he forgot his blackbelt and started asking around if anyone had one he could borrow because it would look bad on him otherwise.
 
jbrandt said:
The rumors were that Carlos rarely teaches (he's not listed on the instructor page for RCJ) and is the most "money hungry" of the Machados, where you pay for belt tests. Also that it's not a comp school (this wouldn't seem like a concern to me as they produced Rafael Lovato Jr.)

I've heard fantastic and not so fantastic things, so just wanted to see what was what!
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They USED to produce guys like Lovato, not so much anymore. I have my own opinions about the Machado association in Texas, you can PM if you want it. It's just my take though.
 
I don't know the situation now, and the prices are a little high. I have trained at 3 of the local academies including one mentioned above and Carlos Machado had the best technique, and taught the best techniques. I think he is currently 7th degree blackbelt, with a memory like an elephant.

To repeat, I am not sure that any other instructors even come close to matching his technique. He trained Travis Lutter who should have won a UFC title with BJJ only pretty much, but that is for another thread.

I would not recommend Mohler. If you aren't competing, you are invisible to him.
 
Jd Shelley is a great dude. Pm Newcastle hes a brown belt there and regular poster.
 
isn't guy mezger's up that way? my buddy goes there and digs it...
 
Not sure about those schools but look into "Siam Star MMA" in Allen TX.- Agusto "TANQUINHO"S brother teaches there (Bruno "Tanke" Mendes) 2nd degree black belt. He used to teach us here in AZ with his brother but moved there 5 moths ago! Very nice guy! Very techincal! ..... Good Luck in your search!
 
Stinks to hear that about Machados place. I was there about 3 years ago and he was teaching the advanced class. He was super nice and made it a point to introduce himself to me. We talked for a good 3-5 minutes. That's a pretty long time when he has a whole room full of regular students and I was just a drop in. A low ranking one at that.
 
Hey I have trained w JD since I started in 2008. I'm also an assistant instructor and we'd love to have you try out the gym. Shoot me a PM for more info. Come try it out a week before you make any decisions.
 
Another to consider might be Octagon MMA in Uptown. Octavio Couto is the MAN. There is a good reason many of Carlos' early black belts now go to Octavio for training and mentorship. I'd be there in a heart beat if I were back in Dallas.

Or Star in Carrollton. Yousef is a good dude and keeps a great atmosphere.

You've got plenty of options in the Dallas metro.
 
I enjoyed training at RCJ Machado when I visited Dallas in 2012, though the main reason I went was firstly because I knew one of the people there and secondly to interview Carlos Machado, his brother Roger and his nephew Jean. I also heard some of those rumours from a few people before I went, but didn't see anything off-putting when I was there (though that was of course just the once).

Class was taught by two black belts, Adam and Ryan Trees. I'd love to take a class with Carlos some time: the instruction on his DVDs is brilliant, like the Unstoppable one he did on the butterfly hook sweep.
 
@jbrandt - may I ask where you trained in Houston?

As you may know, most of the established home-grown schools in Houston trace their lineage to Carlos Machado. He is highly revered for his technical knowledge but also his interpersonal skills and just being a great guy. I went to a seminar with him and it was incredible.

Octavio "Ratinho" Couto at Octagon is a yoda of BJJ, knows everything, he's funny, cool and cares. He's the guy Comprido calls when he has questions.
 
segfault said:
Octavio "Ratinho" Couto at Octagon is a yoda of BJJ, knows everything, he's funny, cool and cares. He's the guy Comprido calls when he has questions.
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LOL

So true. Yoda is an apt comparison.
 
I checked out quite a few places when I moved to Dallas from LA. I ended up choosing Cobra BJJ with Eddie Ricardo. The best way I could put it is he's a transformational coach that's really adept at picking up on what's the best way to motivate you and if communicate your goals to him, they become his goals for you and he'll push you to them.

Location might play a role too. The cities you listed cover a pretty big distance. Feel free to PM if you have any questions about lineage, price, or class schedule. I've done a ton of homework and could probably save you some time.
 
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