Does your school make you buy EVERYTHING from them?

...requires everyone to have equipment bought from them due to staph and mrsa.

Had she stopped at "because it's a Gracie and that's how they are" then I'd believe it. But she went out of her way to make up some bullshit.

If I were you I would look into training somewhere else. If there simply aren't any other good schools, you'll just have to deal with it. But if you find a place that's not too much further away, you'll likely sleep better at night knowing you're not getting treated like a sucker. I would, anyway. If they had any respect for their students, they would find an ethical way to supplement the gym's income.
 
I'd be weary of training at a gym that has soo much interest in monetary gain


I mean, fine, (best case scenerio) if they're going to mandate everyone to wear team clothing, I'm sure it could be done at cost

doesn't sound like this is the case
 
i understand trying to make a buck, but "requiring" team gear? for training? that's a bit much. i say offer team shorts, rash guards, t shirts, patches, gis whatever you want, and for the most part, people will want to buy that gear to "rep" the club/gym. but when i go train, i grab what's on top of the pile of clean gear, i don't want to have to buy 5 pairs of team shorts and rash guards, 3 team gis etc... just to avoid having to do 3 hours of laundry every night after practice.

i understand wanting uniformity, so maybe offer some quality gear for a hefty discount to contract members or something of that sort.
 
i train at another renzo affiliate and have trained at renzo's main school. although it is a rule at both that u must wear an RGA brand gi, and it is offered at the front desk of both, neither enforces it, really. i wore a gi with some renzo patches on it and nobody questions me. i have 3 non-renzo gis and 1 renzo competition team gi.

i find that renzo himself seems pretty laid back, it's some of his affiliate schools that are more serious about the rules.
 
Sounds pretty lame. Even the no-gi class requires you to buy $120s in stuff?
 
No, we can buy Gracie Barra gi's from them at a discounted price though. I have been to a gym where such thing existed. They said it was $100 for fight shorts and a bag with their logo.
 
The ATT school I go to encourages you to buy their rashguards but they aren't that heavy on you buying a gi from them, but they have them and they are reasonably priced. The main issue was that the instructor got tired of people wearing crap like Budweiser or Larry the cabel guy t-shirts instead of rashguards in fact he has even said "if you can't afford a rashguard, come see me and I will give you one" Although the rashguards are actually pretty cheap.

I don't think any school should force you to buy their equipment unless they sell the stuff at a price that would encourage you to buy it from them in the first place, how much do they charge a month? Maybe if they have lower monthly fees I could see it as a compromise.
 
I am only required to have a team patch on my comp. gi.

Instructor prefers it if we buy a team shirt and wear it to comps.

Nothing more.
 
That sounds ridiculous, at my gym there's no pressure to buy anything from the gym. There are packages available to new students to eliminate the hassle of going out and getting everything themselves, but its a convenience thing moreso because it's all really reasonably priced. There are two things that are emphasized, school patch for comps and when not in uniform at comps we're encouraged to wear our schools t-shirts, but both of those are given to us for free anyways
 
Unless they're giving me free membership to rep them in tournaments I don't really care who knows where I train. As long as I'm still paying membership fees they work for ME and if they don't like it I'll take my business elsewhere

Either way, unless you're sponsored, you're going to be paying to have someone's logos on you.
 
My school makes us pay about $400 upfront when promoted to "advanced class" for boxing gloves and pads.

But then again, they also bind us to $200 a month 2-year contracts. I'm leaving soon.

and from my short experience with BJJ, I've noticed that most if not all Renzo affiliated gyms are money-hungry.
 
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Either way, unless you're sponsored, you're going to be paying to have someone's logos on you.

Yeah, but then at least the decision comes down to personal preference for a particular brand, rather than being forced to pay for whatever the school choses
 
My school makes us pay about $400 upfront when promoted to "advanced class" for boxing gloves and pads.

But then again, they also bind us to $200 a month 2-year contracts. I'm leaving soon.

and from my short experience with BJJ, I've noticed that most if not all Renzo affiliated gyms are money-hungry.

That
 
Just say your a college student and don't have the money... So either you sign up else where or you wear whatever you got. I hate when gyms try to act like they're doing you a favor by teaching you.
 
Well, in my case, we are supposed to wear a T-shirt sporting our fight clubs name, in an attempt to promote unity and a team atmosphere. I could understand wearing a t-shirt and a patch, because you should represent your club, but it doesn't seem right to force you to use gear that sports their name only. If you already have equipment seems like a waste, especially in this economy.
 
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