My judo dojo is 10x more strict than the gracie barra i train at (bowing to a pic of kano entering/leaving the dojo, bowing before leaving/getting on the mats, bowing to each other before/after we spar). I see what you're saying about mcdojos but i think it's more about respect and tradition. btw my judo dojo is the largest judo dojo east of the mississippi river, with national, international and olympians training there. If they can show respect and follow tradition, so can I.
Gracie Barra Review
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My judo dojo is 10x more strict than the gracie barra i train at (bowing to a pic of kano entering/leaving the dojo, bowing before leaving/getting on the mats, bowing to each other before/after we spar). I see what you're saying about mcdojos but i think it's more about respect and tradition. btw my judo dojo is the largest judo dojo east of the mississippi river, with national, international and olympians training there. If they can show respect and follow tradition, so can I.
jasoncyclops**
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i had trained with 2 GB academy
Green belt for adult? Hell no
Belt testing? Wut?
Belt promotion fee? Nope, it's ridiculous
Green belt for adult? Hell no
Belt testing? Wut?
Belt promotion fee? Nope, it's ridiculous
Do any of you guys recommend these videos for noobs. Not to learn from from but to go over things that you have learned? Sort of memorization technique. I took someones advice here and been writing down what we drilled in class seems to help. Know its off topic but Thx for any advice.
hustles
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My buddy has the fundamentals video. He and his son use them to drill in their garage on the mats in addition to normal training. They seem to find them of value.
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Wow. Carlos Jr.s rationalizations actually seemed rally reasonable. Kinda surprised at how much I agree with him.
Orange Chicken
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Hey guys, don't know if you already considered this whole discussion settled but I wanted to throw in my two cents since I was browsing around.
I'm a student at Gracie Barra in Hawaii. The kids are on a separate belt system than the adults and fortunately, there's no green belts. The instructor is top notch and from Brazil. However, I guess to keep with company standards, I'm paying $150/month whereas the school one town over (not a GB) is at a nice crisp $75/month. Though I haven't gone to the other place, I'm sure GB offers the higher quality instruction. However, not everyone here in Hawaii can dish out that kind of money. It's a sad reality and I'm not saying that it's overpriced, it's just beyond what I'm capable of financially. Sadly, I'm bound by a "membership agreement" (contract) which was formerly for an entire year. They switched it to a 6 month agreement, so in reality you're looking at $900/half a year. Everyone here is kind and disciplined. Yes we bow before entering, to the instructor, to the Gracie's portrait, to one another, and when we leave. But no one complains.
I'm a student at Gracie Barra in Hawaii. The kids are on a separate belt system than the adults and fortunately, there's no green belts. The instructor is top notch and from Brazil. However, I guess to keep with company standards, I'm paying $150/month whereas the school one town over (not a GB) is at a nice crisp $75/month. Though I haven't gone to the other place, I'm sure GB offers the higher quality instruction. However, not everyone here in Hawaii can dish out that kind of money. It's a sad reality and I'm not saying that it's overpriced, it's just beyond what I'm capable of financially. Sadly, I'm bound by a "membership agreement" (contract) which was formerly for an entire year. They switched it to a 6 month agreement, so in reality you're looking at $900/half a year. Everyone here is kind and disciplined. Yes we bow before entering, to the instructor, to the Gracie's portrait, to one another, and when we leave. But no one complains.
TriangleMan
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Rrrrrrrrrresurrecttttttttttttt
to say an organization with 300+ schools doesn;t have a few shitty ones run by greedy douches would be a little short minded. if the ts is saying his school does this and blah blah blah, u cant judge the rest of the organization by 1 mcdojo's rules and actions. im sure there are just as many mcdojo's as there are world class gyms.
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No, let's not.
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I get it with Judo. I never had a problem with the bowing in Judo, because bowing is a Japanese cultural tradition and Judo is, at its core, a Japanese art. That's a real tradition. Bowing in BJJ is silly, especially to pictures of living people (the Carlinhos bowing that occurs in some GB schools), because BJJ is a Brazilian art and Brazil doesn't have a history of bowing (other than the large Japanese immigrant population, which wasn't significant in the history of BJJ other than Maeda). As far as I can tell, the only real traditions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are the hand slap/fist bump, the shaka for instructor/student photos, and the mean mug for group photos. All of those I'm happy to follow, to show my respect to Brazilian culture :icon_chee
TriangleMan
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Very true. TS apparently trained at GB America, which is the cream of the crop Gracie Barra because it's dubbed as "the Headquarters." I've trained there and it's really no different than other GB Premium Schools (premium schools are run in specific methods used by Carlos Gracie Jr.- ie, bowing to the photos, teaching curriculum, etc), there are just way more practitioners (tons of blues, purples, browns, and a handful of black belts).
It's just so interesting! I love hearing the vast opinions. Then again, it's because I was a Gracie Barra student and it holds a special place in my heart. Who knows if I'll be back in the future?
Dude, we bow to Carlos Gracie Sr, who's dead and nobody really knows his relevance. Even if we knew, it's just... weird.. it's a picture, you know? It's almost like idol worship. Most of my instructors at even the most serious BJJ schools don't take it seriously, they just do it as part of the curriculum. The Gracies must really love themselves to force that upon others
And on a side note, Judo and authentic Japanese culture is awesome.
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Dude, we bow to Carlos Gracie Sr, who's dead and nobody really knows his relevance. Even if we knew, it's just... weird.. it's a picture, you know? It's almost like idol worship. Most of my instructors at even the most serious BJJ schools don't take it seriously, they just do it as part of the curriculum. The Gracies must really love themselves to force that upon others
That is weird. I've never been to a BJJ school that does that. We bow on and off the mat at my current school (old school GB instructor, though not a GB school), but it's very perfunctory and we have no pictures.
Actually, in all the Judo dojos I've ever visited, we bowed on and off the mat, but never to a picture of Kano. I wouldn't be comfortable with that, honestly. It's martial arts, not idol worship.
I was always told that the bows in competition Judo were 1. bow onto the mat because it's the 'sacred' place you go to practice the art and learn about yourself, and 2. bow to your opponent as a sign of respect. In international Judo, you don't actually have to do the first one anymore, you only have to bow to your opponent (though I've never not bowed onto the mat, I get it).
Do people consider the hand slap/fist bump thing a tradition? I was told it was fairly new, and is more of a SoCal thing than a Brazillian thing.
My son trains at a Gracie Barra, and they don't do that. They bow on and off the mats, and to the instructor at the beginning and end of class. At the Gracie Academy in Torrange, we don't even do that.
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the face at the end was to indicate farce.
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The reason that we bow in martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is the same as why you bow in judo.
Bowing has nothing to do with idol worship and it has nothing to do with praising someone or something.
Bowing is showing mutual respect between two people - the instructor always bows back. Bowing to a picture is no different - Carlos is a gigantic influence on the sport, and is one of the pioneers of BJJ, for good or bad. There is nothing wrong with bowing to show your respect.
BJJ came from Brazil, but the art itself and the few traditions that still exist come from Japan. Kano taught judo to the Gracies, and BJJ came from judo. The Gracies still do harbour some of the culture and tradition of the art that was taught to them by Kano.
BJJ was made in Brazil, but we cannot disassociate the influence that Japan had on its making. The few traditional aspects of BJJ is about showing respect to your instructors, to your training partners, and to remind everyone where BJJ came from.
I taught at a GB for 7 years, got my black from them and never seen an adult green!There was never a cost for stripes, belts or promotions.You had to wear the Gi and rashguard but other than that it was run like an academy in Brazil,informal and loose.
TriangleMan
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I'm guessing you weren't a GB Premium School that aligns all its actions and ethics off Carlos Gracie Jr (extremely formal, in other words).
Awesome to hear you taught and got your black belt from them, though! I wanted to stay with GB because of their franchising model, but I need a harder environment to train at. I think my environment was too family friendly and not as competitive as I needed them to be, that's just my experience though.
premium schools don't have adult green belts nor do they have/charge for belt tests.
