Gym advice, rickson gracie jiu jitsu center

[omgitsrick]

I'm living in LA and wanted to try out Jiu-Jitsu, I did some searches on the internet and found two places near me. I need your advice on which to go to. There is "Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Center" http://rickson.com/classes/classes.htm and the other option is this place http://streetsportsbjj.com/. What do you think, I'm leaning towards the rickson gracie one simply because of the "Gracie" part. I have no idea how to judge whether a grappling gym is a McDojo or not, so please help me out.

 

[Yojimbo]

Rickson Gracie is (barely arguably) the greatest jiujitsu fighter of all time. He is not just some Gracie. I mean respect to all of them, the family is full of talented fighters that have been training since childhood. But Rickson is a legend.

 

[Prokofievian]

Rickson Gracie is (barely arguably) the greatest jiujitsu fighter of all time. He is not just some Gracie. I mean respect to all of them, the family is full of talented fighters that have been training since childhood. But Rickson is a legend.

Does Rickson regularily instruct there is the question however. I saw a picture of him on the website, but does he?

 

[omgitsrick]

It depends, this gym is the only gym he has listed on his site, so its basically his headquarters. He probably trains privately, but also makes appearances there, after all it IS his gym. And im positive its him who picks the instructors, from what i've heard REAL BJJ black belts.

 

[vern_Fonk]

talked to kron last month, his dad is mostly in brazil these days, but you have great guys there like kron for one , who is amazing.

 

[Prokofievian]

I ask because I trained Muay Thai at a gym owned by a 5 time world champion and he charged rates as if he were the one teaching, but it was always his serior students. That's fine, they still knew a whole bunch...but 400 dollars worth for the first month with initiation and "mandatory gear" worth? Nope.

Isnt SoCal basically mecca for jiu jitsu?

 

[Yojimbo]

Does Rickson regularily instruct there is the question however. I saw a picture of him on the website, but does he?

From what I can gather, probably not. I'm sure it's still a very solid academy though.

OT: When my instructor moved to the states with Rodrigo Medeiros several years ago, they did a bit of training at Rickson's place. Samuel (my instructor) said there would be some days where Rickson would basically stand quietly against the wall just watching everybody, not doing very much in the way of training. He said there would also be days where Rickson would come in and you could see the fire in his eyes like he was hungry to train. He said Rickson would go through all the guys in the gym one by one, destroying everybody. Samuel is another black belt to add to the list of BB's that say Rickson is the best ever.

 

[omgitsrick]

So basically I should train at rickson gracie jiu jitsu center?

 

[Yojimbo]

You should visit both academies and see which one feels right for you. I've never heard of the instructor at Street Sport BJJ but he certainly seems legit and the school looks good. Check them both out.

 

[omgitsrick]

Thanks for the mature answers and advice, I'll definitely check both out

 

[elcliffo]

totally off topic, but you guys in SoCal are very lucky to have so many opportunities to learn the art, I am envious...

 

[Calogero831]

on a scale of 1-10 rickson is a 10 and a mcdojo is a 1. its one of the best places to go

 

[Kuark]

Rickson Gracie is (barely arguably) the greatest jiujitsu fighter of all time.

I think it is unarguable that Rolls was, especially since Rickson has said this himself.

Also Rickson's academy is grade A

 

[moxsum]

I train at rickson's regularly. Its a great school. The vibe is real cool, everyone gets along really well. The training is hard and good.. there are beginner classes, and intermediate classes, and 2 no gi classes each week. Rickson doesnt teach much anymore, he lives in brazil now, but he occasionally makes an appearance. However, his son Kron is a mundial champion and an upcoming star, he's also a great teacher.

Anyway, I suggest you check out both places and go with the place you like the most, but you should definitely check rickson's out!

 

[Silverblur]

totally off topic, but you guys in SoCal are very lucky to have so many opportunities to learn the art, I am envious...

The only problem being that all the big dogs drive out the little guys, so you baisically have to to go someplace that charges upward of 150$ a month. Not that I'm complaining, it's well worth it, but when I was first looking for somewhere to start training it was a little disconcerting.

P.S. I train at Machados, wich is pretty close to where you seem to live.

Jean Jacques isn't quite Rickson Gracie, but he's damn good, and he's the instructor everyday;

http://www.jeanjacquesmachado.com/onlinetraining/

 

[Prokofievian]

Jean Jacques Machado's gym sounds badass.

 

[Kakkarot]

dude u are in SoCal...even if u "spin the bottle" on any academy u really CANT go wrong...literally

 

[Zankou]

I live right near Rickson's. I trained there for a short while. It is an excellent academy. Rickson never shows though. Frankly I think you should try out several schools and choose which one you like. Renato is a terrific instructor, you cannot go wrong with him. Don't be swayed by the Rickson name -- I'd check out all the other awesome schools in the area then pick the one you like. The Machados, Shawn Williams, Rey Diogo's, too many places to name all in the same area. Check them out, then go with the one that's convenient and got the right feel to it. Frankly, you can't lose.