How close are you to your teammates?

[Ninja This]

I hear everything from "best friends we hang out all the time" to "never talk to them outside of class"?

Does it ever become a distraction to socialize with partners when you should be drilling/sparring? (I remember seeing that in the pet peeves thread)

Chatter. Now.

 

[Hillary]

Depends on the person...some, I don't even know their name. Some, I cook dinner for, go out to movies with, and hang out on a regular basis.

Just because they're my training partner doesn't make them my best friend, but having someone with me every day who wants me to get better makes me closer to them.

 

[lechien]

It is a problem.

I am from the first generation so a lot of guys have left and I stay friendly with the new guys just for the principle.

But I can hear a lof of chatting around during training which should be kept for after or before training.

 

[TalkShowOnMute]

Not really, I'm a bit of a loner though.. I respect them all, they are my jiu jitsu brothers and if they called me with a problem I would do my best to help them. Not sure most would do that for me, but I am sure of more than a few who would.

There is a bond there, even if it is not always a conventional friendship.

 

[platfox]

Going into combat (just an analogy, I know its just grappling) together brings people pretty close. The core group of guys that come in regularly and compete regularly are all pretty close. My jiu jitsu teammates are slowly replacing my regular friends.

Chatter in class isn't a problem. We train pretty hard. We do stay after class for hours sometimes just to bullshit.

 

[Laddy]

Some of them are just merely acquaintances, but I signed up originally with my best friend and we usually spar.

 

[HotViolence]

my cousin got me into this but him and I rarely talk in class, we both go to roll with other people, I have one person who I've grown fairly close to and hang out with out of class, but thats a rare situation, I didn't know when I met him but he's dating my best friend's sister, so yeah haha, other than that, everyone and I get along well but I wouldn't consider them friends, just training partners. I've only been doing this for six months though so who knows how it will change over time.

 

[Fallen]

With some of them, close enough that we talk outside of class and have hung out on occasion. I like everyone in my gym though and I'm a friendly person, so I consider all of them a friend.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

brothers to me, well, not all of them, but most of them, I consider them my family.

 

[Misplaced]

I have a certain group of teammates that I would consider friends.(really the core guys who are there everyday, I generally don't even bother to learn someone's name until they have been around 2-3months because we get a lot of people who don't last a week. Not to sound like an elitist asshole, I'm just terrible with names. Only been there a little over a year myself so it's not like I'm one of the "old school" by any means yet.) Friends in the sense that we talk outside of the gym and go out drinking on the weekends or hook up and watch an mma ppv. As far as during sparring/drilling goes, sure we'll throw out some verbal jabs or crack a joke at times, but we're mature enough to keep it at that and not let it negatively effect any aspect of training. Overall I think it's a good thing to connect and form a friendship or brotherhood because this shit sure isn't easy and sometimes you need an extra reason to push yourself or a friend to drag your ass back in when you get lazy.

 

[POPPA ROTZEE]

Not really, I'm a bit of a loner though.. I respect them all, they are my jiu jitsu brothers and if they called me with a problem I would do my best to help them. Not sure most would do that for me, but I am sure of more than a few who would.

There is a bond there, even if it is not always a conventional friendship.

I would be glad to help you with a problem Kyle, and if you help me with a problem...I'll cook cook you BBQ ribs and jalapeno cornbread

 

[Lapu-Lapu]

I remember my instructor telling me once that one of the most important aspects of bjj is the fellowship you have with your fellow training partners. Certainly I am not close with everyone that I train with but I do feel a bond. Then there are guys who I do consider my friends. We've hung out, we've been to each others' homes, even helped each other move.

Sometimes we are too causal during training but when its time to work, our coaches make sure we work.

 

[Fedorzilla]

Some of my best friends in Shanghai are from my gym. It's been a huge help to me in moving back to meet people and train. I have friends in the U.S. too who are good friends. Some better than others. Also, plenty of guys who I train/ed with but don't have any more than casual gym conversations with when I'm around.

 

[Rws177die]

I consider them to be family, there are a lot of new faces that come and go but in the past few years it seems like the same group of 15 or so keep coming back so we are tight knit.

 

[hughes fan]

There are guys who are friends outside but they often don't talk until they have free time to spar or grapple.
Personally I'm not friends with anyone outside of the gym but I do get invited to their fights.

 

[Vector_X]

On Fridays a group of us will usually grab beers after beating the hell out of each other.