Doesn't it suck when people quit bjj?

To some people, having money in the bank and not getting your arm broken in an arm bar is more important than training BJJ. :wink: But it does suck when someone's financial situation limits them from doing what they enjoy.
 
It only sucks when life circumstances (like illness/injury, or a very demanding job) steps in. Otherwise, if it's a totally free choice who cares. If you are not having fun, or you don't think it is worth your time/the injuries and so on I don't feel sad in you leaving.
 
As an owner of a BJJ/Judo school, in my experience the value people put on their training really is correlated to the price they are paying for it. We have two pricing plans at our school with one being about half of the cost of the other, and the average attendance of our full priced students dwarfs that of our half-price students. It's not unusual for our half-priced students to disappear for months at a time. In addition, whenever we have given people breaks based on their inability to pay, those students never have good attendance.

The logical thought that if I charge less money for tuition then I'd get more students simply isn't true from my experience. My mats will be more full if I charge $100 compared to charging $30. Obviously the charge has to be reasonable for your market, but undervaluing your product can have just as negative of an impact on your student base as overvaluing it.
 
This is a weird thing for me because I guess I have it really good right now. At my current gym/academy it's $100 a month. For everything at both of their locations. BJJ/Judo/MMA/Wrestling, and they're talking about getting a Yoga instructor to start having some classes. IMO the only time I see people really quitting quitting is because they're either A. Injured or B. Moving away (this is a big military community and I'd say 95% of the students are currently active duty or prior service)

If I was a younger, healthier stud I'd be in the gym 6 days a week multiple times a day exploring all that is offered.
 
If you can find a couple of good training partners, and have somewhere to throw down some mats, you can go the "do-it-yourself" route. My friend and I started training no-gi together in mid 2007, learning through books and videos, and rolling in a spare room at his home. We trained for about 6 months and then decided to enter a NAGA tournament as Beginners, and he actually took 2nd in his division. I didn't fair as well, but 3 months later I took a bronze at a Hayastan tournament, and we had still yet to train with anyone else or at any kind of official gym. Within a year, I won my division at a NAGA National.

We started networking a little, found some more like-minded individuals, and they have come and gone through the years. We'll also join gyms for a couple of months at a time (when we can afford it) for some extra training partners and to pick up some variations on our techniques. There are just so many resources online, and if you have even one or two good people to train with, you can make it happen. To this day, our primary training is one-on-one with each other, and we're still competing.

BJJ doesn't have to be expensive, and if you love it, truly love it, you can find a way to train.
 
jase0910 said:
If you can find a couple of good training partners, and have somewhere to throw down some mats, you can go the "do-it-yourself" route. My friend and I started training no-gi together in mid 2007, learning through books and videos, and rolling in a spare room at his home. We trained for about 6 months and then decided to enter a NAGA tournament as Beginners, and he actually took 2nd in his division. I didn't fair as well, but 3 months later I took a bronze at a Hayastan tournament, and we had still yet to train with anyone else or at any kind of official gym. Within a year, I won my division at a NAGA National.

We started networking a little, found some more like-minded individuals, and they have come and gone through the years. We'll also join gyms for a couple of months at a time (when we can afford it) for some extra training partners and to pick up some variations on our techniques. There are just so many resources online, and if you have even one or two good people to train with, you can make it happen. To this day, our primary training is one-on-one with each other, and we're still competing.

BJJ doesn't have to be expensive, and if you love it, truly love it, you can find a way to train.
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This. I quit training in a school years ago because of the expense. Today, expense would be less of an issue, but time is scarce. I got together with some training partners in similar circumstances, occasionally bringing in guys who are interested in learning grappling, and we've had an informal jiu-jitsu "meetup" going on 5 years now. It's once a week--it's not rigorous--but it's free, fun, and keeps jiu-jitsu in my life.
 
It suxs if the person wants to continue but outside factors effect his/her ability to train.
 
I had to stop training for 3 years just after I was promoted to purple. The reason was I had to relocate & was starting a family, new job. Now I'm back to training but due to time constraints I can only manage to train once a week. It's still better than nothing though. The first time I got back I got schooled by blue belts and even good white belts. I'm getting my endurance, muscle memory & timing back slowly. It's all good. It's really hard to forget about BJJ once you get into it.
 
dizzydean said:
I had to stop training for 3 years just after I was promoted to purple. The reason was I had to relocate & was starting a family, new job. Now I'm back to training but due to time constraints I can only manage to train once a week. It's still better than nothing though. The first time I got back I got schooled by blue belts and even good white belts. I'm getting my endurance, muscle memory & timing back slowly. It's all good. It's really hard to forget about BJJ once you get into it.
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Kudos to you bro. It's hard work getting beat up by the white belts again. Gotta have some serious control of your ego to not give up.
 
I think I the biggest reason for Bjj turnover is due to the time commitment. Life happens and people move on. Having to dedicate 10+ years to get a black belt is a long time. Most people set shorter goals (i.e get my blue belt or purple belt). The people that I see the most consistency from are the those that have already have established careers and families.

I have a photo of a group of 40+ plus Bjj guys from 6 years ago. Today, only myself and 3 other people are still training. Even my old instructor does not train Bjj anymore.
 
its sad but a fact of life. If he has his own personal reasons for giving up and isnt just being soft then so be it... Its pretty snobbish but i dont even try to remember white belts names now because i know they will probably disappear in a few months

a far worse tragedy are the higher belts that leave due to politics within gyms
 
i love bjj,,but i am getting a little tired of the fluke injuries,,,have a dislocated rib and its really annoying
 
LoopChoke said:
I think I the biggest reason for Bjj turnover is due to the time commitment. Life happens and people move on. Having to dedicate 10+ years to get a black belt is a long time. Most people set shorter goals (i.e get my blue belt or purple belt). The people that I see the most consistency from are the those that have already have established careers and families.

I have a photo of a group of 40+ plus Bjj guys from 6 years ago. Today, only myself and 3 other people are still training. Even my old instructor does not train Bjj anymore.
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This is what I"m trying to do. Nothing too big right now as I'm about to begin some new life transitions (hopefully a new job by the end of the year, wife finishing grad school, possibly having a kid) so right now I"m just focusing on getting closer to my blue belt without getting too beat up in the process. One of my new year resolutions is to compete at least once this year so I can say I tried it.
 
where I live bjj is twice as expensive as judo but both are taught by people who have other jobs. judo has always been affordable and not about making profit where as bjj has always been about money. I don't understand quitters unless its about injuries or money.
 
lagrapple said:
Lol at all these people bitching about high costs for BJJ and pining for a non-profit situation similar to judo's. Last time I checked, I didn't see any BJJ instructors in the Forbes 400 -- it's not like anyone is getting rich off BJJ. The prices are as high as they are because of simple economics. Most BJJ gyms cluster around high rent areas (LA, OC, NYC, SD), so they have huge fixed costs to cover. Couple that with the fact that BJJ gyms can't really scale (you can only have so many people in a class at a time, and those times are generally limited to a couple hours a day) and you have a recipe for high membership fees.
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BJJ organizations operating in the US have made no effort to use the structure which allows judo to remain cheap in the US.

IE instead of paying corporate rent, simply have a van or two and mats and lay them on an indoor basketball court at a public school or YMCA.
 
We're down a brown belt. Rumour is he was injured, or got a demanding job. He just disappeared. He's done it before, sometimes letting us know, sometimes not. Hopefully he gets back soon. Being a smaller gym, we can use all the higher belts we have.

I'm not so much upset when white belts quit, if I even notice. In my experience, the blue belts that have quit in my time were not the greatest training partners either. I agree with what Jag wrote during this threads first life. I'd rather train at a gym with people who are equally enthusiastic about training as I am.
 
i may have to quit when i move into a new apartment,i just cant afford it,but well..there always open mat and maybe i will find a new cheap alternative somewhere
 
shunyata said:
BJJ organizations operating in the US have made no effort to use the structure which allows judo to remain cheap in the US.

IE instead of paying corporate rent, simply have a van or two and mats and lay them on an indoor basketball court at a public school or YMCA.
Click to expand...

There's a very well-respected BJJ school that's very close to my house and costs $240 month. I'm actually fortunate enough that I could afford to pay this tuition if I wanted to, but I don't because I don't think BJJ should cost that much. I don't necessarily blame the owner for charging so much, but I don't need to contribute to such a high price structure, either. I'm a middle-aged hack who likes to roll a couple of times a week, and he probably gets a lot of guys like me. But it's a shame that a lot of really physically talented guys in their early 20s probably don't train because of prices like this. I know some recent high school grads who were good high school wrestlers and would love to train at this guy's school now, but they don't because of the price.
 
shunyata said:
BJJ organizations operating in the US have made no effort to use the structure which allows judo to remain cheap in the US.

IE instead of paying corporate rent, simply have a van or two and mats and lay them on an indoor basketball court at a public school or YMCA.
Click to expand...

Because it is their source of income.

It is a business.

I do not think a public school or YMCA would let professional instructors run their business out of their premises.
 
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