Gracie Barra Review

im a gb student. we have no green belts. promotions are based on time put in and results. we do have to wear the official gb gi. 150 a month but classes are 7 days a week. top notch instruction. friendly atmosphere. very happy with them.
 
The Bottom Line is that it appears GB DOES indeed have certain rules in place and like with ANY franchise the franchise "owner" can put whatever rules in place the franchisee is willing to accept. That said, it appears each GB school does as it pleases but keep in mind under the terms of the franchise agreement the franchisor can come in and enforce the rules the franchisee agreed to.

If that means $180 for a gi when you already own 3, so be it, if it means bowing when you are used to coming and shaking hands, thems the breaks, if it means that suddenly there are testing fees, that's life.

Some of the rules do seem "TMA-ish" but we all know that live training aspect is what really separates BJJ from several other arts.

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.
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I trained BJJ no gi, maybe put on the gi a half dozen times, also you guys already know that I have wrestled and stayed involved in wrestling.

There is nothing that would suggest to me that cleaning the mats every day and washing your body would not be effective. In fact a rashguard may do little to really help any skin infections if the mats or people you train with are dirty.

I don't know the science behind rash-guards or skin conditions but wouldn't the sweat of an infected, dirty person being trapped in your gi or rash-guard be as likely to give you a condition?

Again wrestling and no gi and I caught ringworm once.

I think to a new person or maybe even some that don't know about skin infections or rashes the rash guard gives the appearance of being cleaner or safer, I do not know this to be true in a practical sense though.
 
a couple of things. i enjoy cursing, but i have some instructors that don't so i don't . i have some that do, and so i do. do as the class does.

the green belt thing makes sense from a retention stand point but for adults, i think it's silly.

the one part i do agree with you is the price for a gi. i have about 6 different gi's. if i joined a place that was so caught up in their partnership with another company that they made me buy their gi, i would find somewhere else. that's just me. so on that front, i completely agree with you. now i did join a competition team and they made me buy their expensive gi but i understood why and no complaints.

i like my gym because their is a nice informal but still and underlying sense of respect. i joke sarcastically about my instructor but never ABOUT HIM if that makes sense.

i hope you realize that not all gracie bara are like this though but i do understand your frustration.

thanks for sharing .
 
trust me TS, you arent the only one noticing these changes. They are very very nice, but since they got their feet settled in america they have changed all the rules and making it cost too much money. having to wear their gi is just god damn stupid
 
the most expensive thing in bjj is your time. i say go with best instructor/atmosphere. if you have to buy a couple GB gis then that is life. so you spend a few bucks extra on a gi, big fucking deal.
could you imagine someone not training with roger because they had to buy a GB gi (no I am not saying that his students ahve to buy a GB gi as i do not know or care).
 
iwannabeadored said:
trust me TS, you arent the only one noticing these changes. They are very very nice, but since they got their feet settled in america they have changed all the rules and making it cost too much money. having to wear their gi is just god damn stupid
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I just joined the GB in Montreal and they didn't force me to buy any GB gi, let alone a competition one. I wear my judogi, a hybrid one and an ouano one. I don't even have the patches since they don't carry any.

I will say this, the fact that there is a curriculum in place was a big factor in me giving BJJ another twirl. I've grappled at most of the Montreal gyms (From BTT Canada, H20 to BJJ revolution, all good guys in their own right. I'm not disrespecting anyone) and the professionalism of GB is a breath of fresh air; especially in such a technical sport. The hours are regulars and accessible, the instruction is also linear and progressive. Will a WB still get owned at randori during the advanced class? Sure but the tiered class lets you know whats what.

I'm very pleased that there is a fundamentals class (offered twice in the same night on tuesdays and thursdays) and an advanced class. More Technique + drilling is always a plus. And if you wanna do the advanced class and get straight up tooled by higher belts, it's not like you're forbidden or anything.

Rashguard is cool, but you need to buy the right kind (I don't find mma ones all that good at doing their actual job of cooling you down + keeping perspiration at a minimum). Not much difference between that and a tshirt when both are drenched in sweat.
 
Astaroth said:
I just joined the GB in Montreal and they didn't force me to buy any GB gi, let alone a competition one. I wear my judogi, a hybrid one and an ouano one. I don't even have the patches since they don't carry any.

I will say this, the fact that there is a curriculum in place was a big factor in me giving BJJ another twirl. I've grappled at most of the Montreal gyms (From BTT Canada, H20 to BJJ revolution, all good guys in their own right. I'm not disrespecting anyone) and the professionalism of GB is a breath of fresh air; especially in such a technical sport. The hours are regulars and accessible, the instruction is also linear and progressive. Will a WB still get owned at randori during the advanced class? Sure but the tiered class lets you know whats what.

I'm very pleased that there is a fundamentals class (offered twice in the same night on tuesdays and thursdays) and an advanced class. More Technique + drilling is always a plus. And if you wanna do the advanced class and get straight up tooled by higher belts, it's not like you're forbidden or anything.

Rashguard is cool, but you need to buy the right kind (I don't find mma ones all that good at doing their actual job of cooling you down + keeping perspiration at a minimum). Not much difference between that and a tshirt when both are drenched in sweat.
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Thats actually why the became professional. They feel that americans prefer professional, they aren't like brazilians, very laid back. They like schedules
 
I think eventually all GB schools will be standardised in terms of curriculum, uniform, marketing, advertising, academy websites, promotions, rules & formalities etc. I'm not saying that is a good or a bad thing, just think that is where it is heading. Some may not like that kind of formalisation/professionalism/standardisation, but i guess those people can train elsewhere as they please.

Some broad affiliates such as Renzo, Roger, Braulio, Draculinho, Cachorrao etc probably follow some of the guidelines as they see fit.

All i will say, is that if any school anywhere of any lineage does anything over and above setting minimum time frames and ages for belts (which i think is broadly fine) and starts awarding people belts just for turning up for that minimum time period or worse, charging people extra for those stripes and belts, then that is not good for BJJ.
 
From my experience of Gracie Barra in my city I don't really like the students they make I realize it comes down to the person but I do believe it also comes down to the Sensei(Teacher). We had some Blue Belts come down from Gracie Barra and the Quality was pathetic. They had huge ego's, their game was awful and some of them injured students at our club.

If you have to wear a Gracie Barra Gi thats pathetic I can wear whatever gi I want, I can swear seeing as I am human and I call my teacher Sensei out of respect even though I don't have to. When people have a relaxed environment that makes you respect them naturally you'll enjoy it more then forcing silly rules.


I have a lot more respect for Machado schools.
 
Wow, I did not read all of the posts to this thread, but my GB school is nothing like this, no belt fee, I wear whatever gi I want, though they do have GB patches on them, it is still not required. The quality and attitude of the students depends on the professor, not the "name brand", with more BJJ schools then any other, the chances of getting some that do not up to par is likely.
 
my first day was yesterday, it's 99$ a month (hard to beat) and my instructor asked if I could get a gracie barra GI because he wants me to be able to compete and attend other schools with it and to wear it proudly in touneys.
 
Necrobump but I was wondering if anyone knows how Gracie Barra Miami (Daniel 'Montanha') does promotions?

I'm about to join for the exercise/self-defense and maybe a competition down the road. If I'll have to pay $60 for a promotion I'll just stay a whitebelt forever for all I care.
 
Chrono Instinct said:
Necrobump but I was wondering if anyone knows how Gracie Barra Miami (Daniel 'Montanha') does promotions?

I'm about to join for the exercise/self-defense and maybe a competition down the road. If I'll have to pay $60 for a promotion I'll just stay a whitebelt forever for all I care.
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I've heard both from him. We had a paid test when he flew out to Springfield, MO ($50). It was supposed to be 2 hours but ran long. I think he was seeing if anybody would quit. Nobody did, but I think people got close... it was brutal, but it was mostly self-inflicted (going too hard to show off).

I've also heard of him promoting someone from Springfield who was out in Miami without a test. Gave him the belt after a private lesson. It was a total surprise. The guy had been down to Miami to train several times, and was well deserving.
 
So since this thread was started, I started training at a GB gym. I bought one GB gi, it cost $160. I still wear my other gis to class and no one cares. People swear, nobody cares unless there are little kids around. Wearing a rashguard is a strict rule, but I'm used to it now. We don't have any fees or tests for belt promotions, but we do have attendance cards. The instructor looks at your attendance, your skill, and your competition performance in deciding when to promote you. We have five GB schools in the area with something like 16 black belts spread between them. And we have lots of technique drills, timed position-specific sparring, and open mat rolling. Overall it's an awesome place to train. The price is fair and they automatically bill my credit card, but there's no contract and I can stop at any time with two weeks' notice.

Couldn't be happier, except if they let me not wear a rashguard, haha.

In my perception the rules they have at GB are mostly to make it a friendly environment for the whole family, not just a fight club for men.

If you read this interview with Carlos Jr. he talks about it a bit:
http://www.graciemag.com/en/2011/01...ely”-roger-will-have-the-same-success-in-mma/

“There are still fewer academies in the USA than there are in Brazil. But the academies in the USA have more practitioners than they do in Brazil.”

“To make a comfortable living from Jiu-Jitsu, the teacher needs to bring normal people into the gym, to have 200 to 300 students.”

“Why do so many women do aerobics and so few Jiu-Jitsu? One of the reasons is that the environment in most academies is not inviting to them. You wouldn’t take your wife or daughter to a place where everyone walks around without a shirt, curses, and does what they want. The academy becomes a fight club instead of a school.
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I think we need to be careful about relating the trappings of TMAs like bowing and paying and wearing certain uniforms as 'respectful'. What it really is IMO is a system by which your instructor controls you. The cult of personality TMA instructors often try to establish is completely dependent upon having all the students in lockstep on every issue. Demand discipline in small, seemingly minimal things and you will get it on big, harmful things as well such as paying for belt tests (the single most reprehensible aspect of TMAs IMO) and buying uniforms only from the instructor.

We don't need that in BJJ. A lot of us started doing BJJ because we wanted to get away from all that and get back to martial arts that were about fighting effectiveness. I feel badly for this guy and I hope his GB school is not representative of the whole org.
 
Steelviper said:
I've heard both from him. We had a paid test when he flew out to Springfield, MO ($50). It was supposed to be 2 hours but ran long. I think he was seeing if anybody would quit. Nobody did, but I think people got close... it was brutal, but it was mostly self-inflicted (going too hard to show off).

I've also heard of him promoting someone from Springfield who was out in Miami without a test. Gave him the belt after a private lesson. It was a total surprise. The guy had been down to Miami to train several times, and was well deserving.
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I can understand the need for a test like that for an Affiliated school since he doesn't get to see the students very often. Now I hope it isn't the same at his home gym where he gets to see and interact with those students nearly everyday.

Either way it won't really matter to me though, I'm not really interested in the belt. Like I said, if I have to pay for the promotion, I'll just stay a whitebelt forever.
 
redaxe said:
So since this thread was started, I started training at a GB gym. I bought one GB gi, it cost $160. I still wear my other gis to class and no one cares. People swear, nobody cares unless there are little kids around. Wearing a rashguard is a strict rule, but I'm used to it now. We don't have any fees or tests for belt promotions, but we do have attendance cards. The instructor looks at your attendance, your skill, and your competition performance in deciding when to promote you......And we have lots of technique drills, timed position-specific sparring, and open mat rolling. Overall it's an awesome place to train. The price is fair and they automatically bill my credit card, but there's no contract and I can stop at any time with two weeks' notice.

Couldn't be happier
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This has been my experience as well. I've trained consistently at 1 GB for almost 2 years, and have visited 3 others for training during that time span and they were the same as well. I think the TS' school is in the minority.
 
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