Hello everyone: After doing some research and having some initial queries answered by some people here I have realized that Gracie Academy in CA emphasizes more on the self defense / street fight aspect of BJJ instead of points and competition oriented BJJ that has gained popularity. They emphasize basic high probability moves and train their students for strike awareness from the get go. Plus they also incorporate ground and pound possibilities and are more in line with what Gracie / BJJ was meant to be. Just to get a taste of it I was thinking about flying to CA and training there at least for a couple of weeks to see what they are about. My question is ... how would it be different from the Muay Thai + BJJ class that is now being offered pretty much in every BJJ gym? Someone mentioned that Gracie Juijitsu teaches strikes not to knock the guy out like Muay Thai and modern MMA but to distract in order to get the clinch etc. If anyone has trained at Gracie Academy I would love to hear from them.
If anything, the Gracie Academy is much more structured than your regular BJJ academy. If you only have a few weeks, for sure Gracie Academy.
Their clinch TDs are okay, but if that's what you're looking to learn going and training some Judo or Greco would be a better use of your time and money. All of their stuff I've seen is more situational self defense, e.g. he puts my in a headlock, I take him down and get mount, etc. But I'm biased, not a big fan of the old school Gracie BJJ approach. There's a reason none of them fight MMA anymore, it's not enough all by itself though they continue to claim it is and blame the rules.
No experience in any of the martial arts mentioned above (in OP), but a system which has combined different phases of the 'game' together, coherently, from the get - go sounds more helpful for beginners than teaching someone two completely different arts and expecting them to stitch it together on their own over time. Figuring out how to combine system A with system B efficiently is a big deal which does not get enough credit. Of course, usual caveats of individual instructor capability, adequate training drills and regimen, decent training partners and all that remain.
