Does your school have a gatekeeper?

Jbeefnet1771 said:
When a purple visits, our Professor will put him with our best blue around that weight, etc. Always a good match and there are definitely a few gatekeepers.
The best though is watching my 8 yr old girl whup middle-school and even small high school boys when they first join the school. That is a defining moment for that new student - for most at least - it lets them know BJJ is for real and the school is for real.
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Sir with all due respect there is 0 chance your 8yr old girl taps "small high school boys".
 
You know whats funny, i was this guy in regards to striking at my last gym. Which i find kinda funny because the boxing coach would just rip me apart for my style saying "you moron, why are you sitting in there trading with that guy? You don't got the skill to trade with him you big dummy!!! Stick and move, slide in and out, use your damn angles!!! You like getting hit or something!?!?!?!?!?!!??!?!!?"

But whenever someone new would come in and was going to hard with our students or didn't get the whole "light" theory he would put me with him at the end of class and give me "the look".

Pretty funny since im pretty sure he thought my "skill" was sh!t!!!!!:redface: but i was a game'r for sure.:icon_chee
 
Respeezy said:
Come on man, let people be excited and get carried away , don't be a jerk.:icon_chee
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Its early, my bad!!! There is a thread in here about kids grappling that i posted in a couple times. I will invite him to that thread!@:icon_twis
 
Jbeefnet1771 said:
When a purple visits, our Professor will put him with our best blue around that weight, etc. Always a good match and there are definitely a few gatekeepers.
The best though is watching my 8 yr old girl whup middle-school and even small high school boys when they first join the school. That is a defining moment for that new student - for most at least - it lets them know BJJ is for real and the school is for real.
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Hey, if you are proud of her and whatnot you should post over in this thread we got going about kids BJJ. The girls usually dominate the 6-9yr olds in my area. Just sending the boys crying off the mat one after another.

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/my-son-rolling-edited-better-vid-added-1395115/
 
I'm certainly no gatekeeper, but was asked to play the role to test out a new guy (6'2", 230-240lbs) who was wanting to get some mat time while he was trying to join Boise State's wrestling team (which is a great program). I'm 5'8", 170lbs...

He tried to guilliotine me and had it on decently, I was stoked because I could tell he was working it, but I figured I'd be able to get out of it pretty easily.

I don't know how the shit it happened, but he dropped his hips into and yoked it just as I was trying something I shouldn't have, and POP!! Rib seperated from cartilidge. Ouch.

It hurt like hell (put me out for 6 weeks!), but I was almost more hurt from embarassment....

If you're gonna play the role you better perform. :(
 
chunglii said:
I lol'd. But yes, my academy has a gatekeeper. A 16 year old blue belt named Rolondo. He taps everybody and taps to nobody.
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I tap Rolando? (Then again, I'm probably twice his weight? LOL) I would also say David fills that role at purple. He's been giving browns a lot of trouble for awhile now.
 
I'm one of the veteran wrestlers at our gym, so I'm usually the one that gets paired up with the new guys that come in with wrestling experience. I'm never quite sure whether it's because I'm a good representative of my belt, or if it's because I'm a wrestler, so I'm used to the pace and pressure that the new guys are going to bring.

Either way, I haven't had any of the new wrestlers test me yet, but I try to be nice. Between straight up wrestling, then adding in my BJJ, I try to refrain from smashing them into hamburger and let them enjoy the roll.

To me, our gym's philosophy is more like "establish superiority, but welcome everybody".
 
I'm not really a gatekeeper, but sometimes my professor will tell me to put it on some one. If the guy is cool, then I tap them quickly. If the guy is an ass, then i don't tap them I just punish them with my top game :)
 
DonkeyKong said:
Just an amusing thing that I remember back from my BJJ days ( 5 years ago or so), I remember that my gym, and many others I went to, had a guy in every belt that was like.... the representative of that belt.

And what would happen was, occasionally an athlete from another school would come and the teacher would have him roll with this gatekeeper.

Of course.... he would be very casual about it.... he`d be like, hey, welcome, let me see who you can roll with... aha, I know, you can roll with "x".

Except X is the most talented, hungriest, and best technique guy you have at that belt.....

Does your school or instructor do this?

I remember clearly when Lucas Rocha, back then a blue belt ( twice world champion, juvenile and adult), was casually asked to roll with a visiting purple and wiped the mat with the guy. The teacher couldn`t hide his grin.

Vitor Estima was the purple belt gatekeeper at the time, haha. He rolled with him next and it was a massacre. At that point the guy was obviously embarassed, and the teacher, nice as he is, even went ahead and said " maybe you should warm up a bit first".....


Anyway, dick waving is a big part of BJJ culture in Brazil, so Im curious as to whether this ego thing transcended into the much more grounded American culture.

Do you see this, or attitudes like these, in your gym? :icon_lol:
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i think you are talking about the first string starters?
 
nocturno.jpg
 
that would be me
whenever someone is ticking off the coach he gives me a look and I shamble over
being a unassuming asian fellow my role in the gym is to cause the person as much suffering as needed until he gets the hint
we had this russian power lifter that came in every damn time teling us how all we needed was to get muscles like him nd we'd be so much better
it took me some like 100 smothers heelhooks neckcranks crucifix's
until the guy got the hint
STFU we genetically can not look like a magazine cover and we don't take steroids
and by the way I am stronger than you I just don't look like a greek staute

then there is this moron who was asked to be a demonstration dummy
while my coach does the techique the idiot tacles my coach who choked him out
the next day I taught him a lesson that problay should not be repeated on the internet

there have been a number of people over the years but those guys stick out

mostly though its people from other gyms that come in who want to challnege us

basically I am there to smash people
and there is another guy there to be the technical bully for the lighter weights
 
footgod said:
.....text....
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You should probably chill out a bit. You seem to be very immature, why not just beat them? Is that not enough? You seem to have so much aggression you can't handle.

If a guy could take 99 smothers, neckcranks, heelhooks and crucifixes and still come back, then maybe he was always aware of him not being the best? Seems to me that you are the dude with problems.

I don't care how people are the first time they come in, they'll automatically be humbled. If you act humble and just win against them in sparring, then they will get humbled. Can't even look down on you, you seem to have mad personality problems.
 
ILGrappler said:
You're awesome.

What is a gatekeeper, some sort of bully?
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It is usually some individual who represents the beltcolour of his school against new people or people from other gyms. Some people have it misunderstood and think it is being a blue/purple then trying to cause beginners, who they are jealous of for a reason or another, as much pain as possible.
 
ILGrappler said:
You're awesome.

What is a gatekeeper, some sort of bully?
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yes
if some guy ticks off the gym ever freaking time he is in there
someone needs to change his behavior

I'm not talking about some guy shows up and we haze him for no reason

e.g. we had one of Marcelo's guys out here visiting
we had a great roll (both purple belts) I managed to catch him after a very good roll
he goes home and when asked about out gym says ya they are cool guy let me train
and they have a decent skill level.

that's different
 
We don't do this at my school. More commonly, visiting blue belts or whatever are just left alone. It's not to be rude - it's just a tight group and there is a lot of unspoken protocol. I tend to be the guy who goes over and introduces myself. I am the anti-gatekeeper.

I travel a lot and visit other schools. I have run into this only once. I won't name the school - but it actually turned out to be a positive experience.

I was a four-stripe white belt at the time. I was rolling with and I suppose tapping other white belts. The instructor came over and started coaching my partner. I caught him again. I never know if this is good etiquette or bad. I just try to roll technically and be respectful.

The instructor then told me who to roll with next - a blue belt. We rolled and I swept and passed but couldn't hold a good position or get a sub. When time ran out, the instructor pointed me to my next partner - a four-stripe purple.

I don't think he even realized what was happening - because I got a sweep right out of the gate. Then he knew it was on. He was amazing - dazzled me with cartwheel guard passes, hit a spinning arm bar - great stuff. I couldn't help but smile and just wanted to keep rolling with the guy to see what would happen next.

The whole thing made the instructor really happy in the end. He paid me one of the nicest compliments I ever received "I'm very impressed with your jiu jitsu for your level - but especially with your attitude." This instructor has since become a real inspiration for me and we stay in touch. I can't wait to train there again.
 
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