paulchu said:
Now, as far as doing a great job, yes, I will agree that BJJ is doing a fantastic job as of right now. But what about the sports' future? What happens when a bunch of blue belts decide to open their own school? Or hell, even break off and start their own style of BJJ (which is how McDojoism started in the first place)?
The fact of the matter is, there are going to be more and more "satellite" schools in the near and distant future. Who will police these schools that decide to just give out belts? What if one of the satellite schools decide to give someone a brown belt, but in Helio's eyes, he is only at a level of a blue? If you were that person who earned that brown, you'd fight tooth and nail to keep it, despite what the Gracies say. Won't that harm the sport?
But then this opens up a new crossroad.... if Helio's sons are the only true practitioners of the sport, who do you think is getting paid for us to learn BJJ? The Gracies are. Now this does keep the system a little more "pure, but doesn't this kinda remind you of somewhat of a pyramid scheme? Or at least a very strict egalitarian regime.
You're starting to sound like a broken record.
Again, it's up to the CUSTOMERS to do the research into the legitimacy of prospective schools and instructors, whether there is one McDojo out there or 1000 McDojo's, and more importantly, whether there are belts/diplomas/ranks or not. Without belts, Joe Smith can open up a school and claim to be legit. With belts, he can do the same thing anyway. Traditionally, belts have been used as just one way to indicate credibility/ability/legitimacy. In BJJ, way more people use the system properly than improperly. It works more than it doesn't. Hence, you keep the belt system.
Once BJJ customers start using the belt system improperly, then you are correct...THAT will harm the integrity of the art and its teaching worldwide. So it is up to the BJJ community, whether there are 100 practitioners, or 1,000,000, to police itself...by wearing/giving/accepting/purchasing belts only when appropriate.
FYI...that appropriateness works both ways. I believe all BJJ practitioners would agree that sandbagging also hurts the integrity of BJJ, and its belt system.
You said, "Could you imagine being a brown belt for 7 years?" This is the type of statement that implies that you are belt-driven, and such a statement only contributes to McDojoism (as does your hypothetical brown belt who fights tooth and nail to keep his brown belt, even if Helio himself says he's blue...what good would the brown belt possibly achieve by stubbornly keeping the brown belt?). So what if you're a brown belt for 7 years, let alone a white belt? As long as you're learning what you need to learn. So by saying this, you are either a hypocrite or you are just trolling. Either way, your philosophical discussion of this topic is reaching its end.
Regarding your notion of a Gracie-led pyramid scheme for BJJ instruction. Business is business, and Helio and Carlos and their progeny have simply attempted to turn their life's passion into a business to make a living. That's common sense. Again, the CUSTOMERS have the ultimate power. If you believe Gracie BJJ is the "purest" or "best" BJJ to learn, that is your decision. Take out your wallet, pay your dues, and be thankful that you can access that BJJ despite not being part of the family. If you disagree, then there are other non-Gracie practitioners out there from whom you may learn as well. In that case, take out your wallet, pay your dues, and be thankful that you are learning what you believe is the "best" BJJ out there.
Learning BJJ from a trained instructor, whoever he is, does not come for free. It would only be considered a pyramid scheme if the product/service/commodity does not live up in the real world to the reputation that has been built up about it by its vendors. But that just brings up the whole McDojo topic again. Once the customers of that product/service/commodity realize that the whole system is just a "scam," the pyramid falls apart and fails to proliferate.
Ergo, caveat emptor.