Gracie Barra Review

seanshepard said:
I think a lot of the deal is that the gym is so large with so many members that it's really hard unfortunately for the instructors to keep track of everyone's progress. People would be inevitably lost in the crowd and fall through the cracks. I'd rather wear goofy colors than have people be forgotten for sure.
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isn't that the point of stripes? i don't mean that to sound snipey, i'm honestly curious. my school doesn't use stripes at all, but we're a small school and our black belt knows all of us by name.

personally, i didn't find the original GB review terribly suspicious or objectionable. as critiques go i thought it was pretty balanced. the positive feedback was honest and the negative was even-handed. however, i'm not surprised by the backlash. i've been to a few different gracie schools for trial lessons or drop-ins, and one thing they had in common with eachother is this really intense, almost militant allegiance. at one it was mild, and another it was kinda culty. every place is different. i trained at a TMA school for a few years and it was the same way, so i'm definitely sensitive to it. anyhow i steered clear of gracie schools (barra or otherwise) when i went hunting for an academy to train at full time. i understand loyalty and being enthusiastic about your organization, i know i'm pretty proud of mine. but there's a line that gets crossed sometimes and i can't help but wonder if some of the responses to that initial post aren't a symptom of that.

all in all, to each their own. what rubs me the wrong way might be perfect for someone else so you won't hear me condemning any organization outright. that'd be pretty dismissive and unfair. but i do think it's fair to want a place to vent your frustrations, and TS's motivations for retaining anonymity seem quite legitimate. sometimes you just need to vent without bringing a shitstorm on yourself and your training partners. and frankly, if someone wanted to troll, i doubt their criticisms would have been nearly as diplomatic. if you're anonymous, after all, why bother with niceties?
 
with the rash guard/shirt under the gi being required, can it be any shirt or rash guard or a gracie barra rash guard/shirt?
 
wOg said:
Fascinating. I train at Gracie Barra Seattle.

We are also experiencing the "Gracie Barra America takeover" - and personally, I think it's great.

I've been training for 4.5 years, and while the instruction has always been top notch, I think it will be much easier for students to learn jiu jitsu with the new curriculum GBUSA has put together (I hear that Renzo also played a role in building the new program).

There are some new formalities for us, too. But most of them are mild (wearing a T-shirt or rashguard beneath your gi is no big deal) or understandable (my official GB gi has outlasted both my Gameness and Howard Liu gis), as far as I'm concerned.

The renewed emphasis on self-defense, and on being a "martial artist" as opposed to a "fighter" are both things that I really appreciate - especially as I come to the end of my "jiu jitsu competition" career.

As long as we stay clear of belt tests, green belts for adults and belt fees, I'll be fine.

Each to his/her own, but I have to admit that I'm as excited about training at a GB school as I've ever been.
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Interesting. The things that you think are great (more formality, requiring rash guards, requiring a GB gi, more focus on self defense as opposed to competition) are all things that make me not want to train there. It sounds like a bit of a slippery slope to McDojoVille. To each his own I guess!


BTW I don't get why people think rash guards under the gi prevent skin disease any more than the gi already does. A lot of people are too germophobic. The gi is already a very thick, absorbent piece of cotton that soaks up the sweat, and even without the rash guard I almost never touch your opponent's bare torso with mine--the only skin-on-skin contact is between hands, neck, and legs/feet, which a rashguard doesn't cover either. The majority of my training partners and I never wear a rashguard under the gi, and we've never had any problems with ringworm or staph in our gym.

I'm no doctor, but I really think that just making everyone wash their gis after every practice and cleaning the mats with bleach daily enough to prevent skin infections.
 
I have no problem with formailty as bowing, etc. takes only a second or two. I don't really see Gracie Barra teaching more self defense than competition bjj as they are heavy on competing. I do however, disagree with the shirt/rashguard underneath the gi. How does this prevent skin infections any better than if you didn't have one? Your sweat goes on your gi anyway then goes onto other people, the mat, etc. As long as the mats are cleaned everyday, nobody should be having skin problems barring odd occasions
 
ASiAnVaLEtUDo said:
I have no problem with formailty as bowing, etc. takes only a second or two. I don't really see Gracie Barra teaching more self defense than competition bjj as they are heavy on competing. I do however, disagree with the shirt/rashguard underneath the gi. How does this prevent skin infections any better than if you didn't have one? Your sweat goes on your gi anyway then goes onto other people, the mat, etc. As long as the mats are cleaned everyday, nobody should be having skin problems barring odd occasions
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agreed, i actually dont like grappling with people who have a shirt underneath sometimes, my hand sometimes gets caught in the shirt when im going for a collar choke...but maybe its just me.
 
I'm also glad that shirts/rashguards have to be worn. Because gis come open while rolling and the last thing I need is some dude's sweaty hairy belly/moobs rubbing all over my face.
 
Padlock said:
It can be anything that stops your sweaty ass from giving me any diseases lol
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I guess I am asking why does Carlos Gracie Jr. insist that you wear a rashguard in his gym, yet ban them at his tournaments? It doesn't make sense. I am cool with either, but I don't know why the guy who makes the rules is contradicting himself?

Actually, I do know why, but I just dont like it.
 
redaxe said:
BTW I don't get why people think rash guards under the gi prevent skin disease any more than the gi already does. A lot of people are too germophobic. [...] I'm no doctor, but I really think that just making everyone wash their gis after every practice and cleaning the mats with bleach daily enough to prevent skin infections.
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amen to that!

the only reason i started wearing a rash guard is to protect my nipple barbell. a rash guard keeps gis and fingers from getting caught on it. it never gets irritated anymore. if i ever decide to get rid of the piercing, i'll ditch the rash guards as well. it's just another layer of heat!
 
redaxe said:
BTW I don't get why people think rash guards under the gi prevent skin disease any more than the gi already does. A lot of people are too germophobic. The gi is already a very thick, absorbent piece of cotton that soaks up the sweat, and even without the rash guard I almost never touch your opponent's bare torso with mine--the only skin-on-skin contact is between hands, neck, and legs/feet, which a rashguard doesn't cover either. The majority of my training partners and I never wear a rashguard under the gi, and we've never had any problems with ringworm or staph in our gym.
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I would suspect it is more about appearance then anything. Some people are self-conscious, some don't like rolling around with guys wearing nothing but jacket that keeps coming open, especially some of the larger or hairier folks.

Which is not something to ignore, a gym needs members to survive, and if a percentage are backing out due to being uncomfortable it hurts the school.
 
I train at a Gracie barra and we never bow. We are encouraged to call our blackbelts professor. Which I don't see a problem with. They are blackbelts and have worked very hard to get it and they deserve that respect so I don't see a problem with that.

We are encourged to wear the Gb gi but don't have too. We could wear another gi and put GB patches on it.

There is no swearing. If someone got caught swearing its not like they would say give us 30 pushups or anything. It is just a simple rule that everyone follows.


The rashguard under the gi doesn't necessarily have to be a GB rash guard or shirt. As long as you cover up its fine.


There are no green belts at any gb school that I have heard of.

Instruction is good. And we focus on the self defense aspect of bjj and the sports jiu-jitsu aspect. We also do a little bit of No-gi.

Classes are 1 hour long.


I appreciate our school being a little formal. I never forget when I walked in to a new mma school that opened up. There were guys flirting with girls on the side. A few guys hitting the heavy bag. People lifting weights and all while the class was going on. The instructor was swearing at the kids and there were a bunch of guys in wife beaters.
 
redaxe said:
BTW I don't get why people think rash guards under the gi prevent skin disease any more than the gi already does. A lot of people are too germophobic. The gi is already a very thick, absorbent piece of cotton that soaks up the sweat, and even without the rash guard I almost never touch your opponent's bare torso with mine--the only skin-on-skin contact is between hands, neck, and legs/feet, which a rashguard doesn't cover either. The majority of my training partners and I never wear a rashguard under the gi, and we've never had any problems with ringworm or staph in our gym.

I'm no doctor, but I really think that just making everyone wash their gis after every practice and cleaning the mats with bleach daily enough to prevent skin infections.
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You're in Korea though. My understanding is that the skin diseases are not a big problem over in Korea, Japan, Hawaii which have more isolated, smaller, bjj communities and less crossover with wrestling/MMA etc.

There was some article on here last year about the Japanese being worried about some new skin fungus epidemic that was coming from Brazil/US and it turned out to be just ringworm or staph.
 
Lookyoung said:
I train at a Gracie barra and we never bow. We are encouraged to call our blackbelts professor. Which I don't see a problem with. They are blackbelts and have worked very hard to get it and they deserve that respect so I don't see a problem with that.

We are encourged to wear the Gb gi but don't have too. We could wear another gi and put GB patches on it.

There is no swearing. If someone got caught swearing its not like they would say give us 30 pushups or anything. It is just a simple rule that everyone follows.


The rashguard under the gi doesn't necessarily have to be a GB rash guard or shirt. As long as you cover up its fine.


There are no green belts at any gb school that I have heard of.

Instruction is good. And we focus on the self defense aspect of bjj and the sports jiu-jitsu aspect. We also do a little bit of No-gi.

Classes are 1 hour long.


I appreciate our school being a little formal. I never forget when I walked in to a new mma school that opened up. There were guys flirting with girls on the side. A few guys hitting the heavy bag. People lifting weights and all while the class was going on. The instructor was swearing at the kids and there were a bunch of guys in wife beaters.
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I just do BJJ, not GB or Machado, I just train under a Pinheiro brown belt and I appreciate the formalities, like the bowing and paying respect to our cage we train in and lining up by rank, but that's just the military in me
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I have created a new Sherdog account with my actual BJJ nickname "Poppa Rotzee" so there wont be any confusion with me at the school, my youtube and on the forums I post in. I will be using this to post on all the forums now..Thanks guys. *BYE BYE PURPLE BELT* SNIFF, SNIFF

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BruceLeeMMA said:
You're in Korea though. My understanding is that the skin diseases are not a big problem over in Korea, Japan, Hawaii which have more isolated, smaller, bjj communities and less crossover with wrestling/MMA etc.

There was some article on here last year about the Japanese being worried about some new skin fungus epidemic that was coming from Brazil/US and it turned out to be just ringworm or staph.
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there are a lot of medical and scientific opinions that point to an over reliance on anti-biotics and anti-bacterial agents as being the primary culprits in the surge in staph infections and super-bacteria. an entire thread could be swallowed by a debate on this, citing an equal number of doctors on either side of the debate, but the way i look at it is this: guys grappled for years before the advent of anti-microbials and our national obsession with bleaching the shit out of everything. they all got on just fine. infections will happen from time to time, that's the nature of being social. freaking out and blasting everything with antibiotics hasn't helped the situation any. things are actually getting worse. i think it's time to rethink our approach.

cheers!
 
Rashguards and shirts under the gi are no good. The gi slips off way too easy with a rashguard and my fingers are always getting caught on the guy's t-shirt going for collar chokes. I consider it way more dangerous than the remote chance of chest to chest ringworm. Being scared to touch skin is just plain homophobic.

The only legitimate reason they do it is to keep the hamburger meat from scaring potential students/moms. I personally hate it because a 5lb gi is hot enough thanks. And if you want to worry about hygiene get guys to clip nails, shower and wash their gi's before each class. Then you can come talk to me about wearing a rashguard.

I can understand bowing, but I don't really seeing that as being more respectful than actually being respectful in general (being nice, not talking while instructor is instructing, etc...). Something I can live with.

I think a curicculum could be a good idea though. At least as long as someone is updating it.

And paying for belts is dirty. You only get four over the course of about 10-12 years. That averages to about $4/year.
 
BruceLeeMMA said:
You're in Korea though. My understanding is that the skin diseases are not a big problem over in Korea, Japan, Hawaii which have more isolated, smaller, bjj communities and less crossover with wrestling/MMA etc.

There was some article on here last year about the Japanese being worried about some new skin fungus epidemic that was coming from Brazil/US and it turned out to be just ringworm or staph.
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A fair point, and that could be one of the reasons why our gym hasn't had any staph or fungal outbreaks.

Still, I'm really not convinced that rashguards under the gi offer enough extra protection to be worth the expense and discomfort. The gi itself allows very little skin-on-skin contact, just hands and feet, and the neck when you're doing chokes. I can't recall anyone ever having to touch my bare chest or belly during rolling.

I'm tempted to think that the real reason has more to do with forcing all the fatasses to keep their man-boobs covered up, to spare others the discomfort of having to see them. Of course you couldn't make a rule that just says "women and obese men must wear rashguards" or "people with breasts must wear rashguards" so they're just making everyone wear them so they don't hurt anyone's feelings.

Man-boobs are also rather uncommon in Korea, so it's not an issue at our gym.

Now, I do think rashguards should always be worn in no-gi, doing no-gi bare-chested is just gross.
 
BruceLeeMMA said:
You're in Korea though. My understanding is that the skin diseases are not a big problem over in Korea, Japan, Hawaii which have more isolated, smaller, bjj communities and less crossover with wrestling/MMA etc.

There was some article on here last year about the Japanese being worried about some new skin fungus epidemic that was coming from Brazil/US and it turned out to be just ringworm or staph.
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I don't know about Korea but Japan and Hawaii have major crossovers of bjj schools with wrestlers/mma'ers. Here in Hawaii, our moist, warm temperature is perfect breeding ground for these nasty skin infections if left uncleaned on the mats or on a freshly sweaty trained body that goes unwashed for an extended amount of time. In fact, my bjj instructor teaches out of my kickboxing/mma academy so many of the guys who have mma fights coming up train at the same academy as well as many wrestlers from all different public schools also come and train. And we rarely ever have any instances of skin problems. The community is kind of limited with the size of the islands but off the top of my head, I can already think of more than a dozen bjj academies, and two dozen judo schools on the island. This definately sounds like a bigger community in numbers of practitioners thus, the higher the number of chances for people to spread stuff.

My instructor has told me before and I have heard from other instructors from brazil all say that before coming to the USA, ringworm and staph weren't seen too much. In brazil, they happen and occur from time to time but compared to America, it was not normal for it to happen. Boils would occur more frequently than staph/ringworm though with less severe effects. And the thing is you can bet that the cleaning habits of BJJ academies in Brazil are nowhere near as refined or frequent as we have here but yet, they have much fewer occurrences. THese superbug/antibiotic resistant stuff is likely from all of the superclean tendencies to use every type of germicide out there
 
sounds absolutely horrible and i am glad i dont train there


every time i hear the gracie name nowadays it seems connected to some bullshit. this makes me sad


on the other hand, i saw royce gracie today at the UFC 110 weighins. SOoooo Wooo!
 
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