M

[MMAFan7]

H

 

[Papawash]

Both would be good choices assuming that the instructors are good. Numbers wise, GB has more fighters fighting in the bigger leagues and is the bigger group overall. I'd say try both for a couple of sessions and choose from there.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Hi all, my first post and the title basically sums up my question. In my town I have a choice between a Gracie Jiu Jitsu (Royce Gracie Network) Academy, or a Gracie Barra. I've heard about some differences in their approach and teaching focus (Self defence vs Competition bjj) and wanted any opinions on which would provide the best skills and base from which to bring into MMA (Alongside boxing). Thanks in advance for any responses. Biased and unbiased are both welcome.

The self defense you'll learn in a Royce school will not be very MMA oriented. I would definitely go with the Barra school, because you'll most likely get harder rolls and more competitors, and you won't learn any sport specific stuff that don't work in MMA until you've been there for years (if even then). Unless there is a good crew of MMA fighters at the Royce school I'd go Barra.

 

[Doop]

obviously your best option is to TRY out BOTH schools for yourself if you have not already. I train at a Royce Network academy and while we do focus on self defense (as its the whole reason behind GJJ) we are heavily sport oriented. The Barra school might be better for you or maybe the Royce school! Who knows go out and train and see which place you vibe with the most.

Also being upfront and honest about what you want out of training to the instructors wouldnt be a bad idea!

Happy Training!

 

[MMAFan7]

Awesome, thanks guys.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

It really depends on who the instructor at the barra gym is.

 

[lts5025]

Hi all, my first post and the title basically sums up my question. In my town I have a choice between a Gracie Jiu Jitsu (Royce Gracie Network) Academy, or a Gracie Barra. I've heard about some differences in their approach and teaching focus (Self defence vs Competition bjj) and wanted any opinions on which would provide the best skills and base from which to bring into MMA (Alongside boxing). Thanks in advance for any responses. Biased and unbiased are both welcome.

The name on the outside of the gym is only a guarantee that the school owner has paid his affiliation fees, not a guarantee of quality or style.

There are some Royce black belts that are very legit like John Crouch at the MMA Lab in AZ or Rob Kahn, then there are others that are, ahem, not so great.

And GB is so big that it can be hit or miss too. There are absolute legends of the sport teaching under the GB banner and guys who just got their brown belt.

 

[MMAFan7]

The name on the outside of the gym is only a guarantee that the school owner has paid his affiliation fees, not a guarantee of quality or style.

There are some Royce black belts that are very legit like John Crouch at the MMA Lab in AZ or Rob Kahn, then there are others that are, ahem, not so great.

And GB is so big that it can be hit or miss too. There are absolute legends of the sport teaching under the GB banner and guys who just got their brown belt.

It really depends on who the instructor at the barra gym is.

The GB instructor is gustavo Pinta, 3rd deg BB from Sergio Lisboa academy Brazil and under Marcelo rezende.

The Gracie instructor is Luke beston, 2nd deg BB under Royce gracie and Bruno panno

If that helps

 

[lts5025]

The GB instructor is gustavo Pinta, 3rd deg BB from Sergio Lisboa academy Brazil and under Marcelo rezende.

The Gracie instructor is Luke beston, 2nd deg BB under Royce gracie and Bruno panno

If that helps

Oh man, to be able to even meet the Mestre Luca Bestão would be an honor.

 

[Was at Pride GP 2000]

The GB instructor is gustavo Pinta, 3rd deg BB from Sergio Lisboa academy Brazil and under Marcelo rezende.

The Gracie instructor is Luke beston, 2nd deg BB under Royce gracie and Bruno panno

If that helps

Do either schools have mma classes? If not jiu jitsu doesn't just automatically translate to mma. While the gi will make you technical the grips and speed of the role are different then mma and jiu jitsu without punching is not mma

 

[next_mma_champ]

It all depends on the teachers. Both are good schools, and neither is a waste of time or money.

 

[MMAFan7]

Do either schools have mma classes? If not jiu jitsu doesn't just automatically translate to mma. While the gi will make you technical the grips and speed of the role are different then mma and jiu jitsu without punching is not mma

The GB school has one MMA class for 90 mins on a Saturday, so not a great deal. I figured getting a solid bjj background from a credentialed school and boxing at a boxing school would give a stronger combination than just learning MMA from a school that does MMA but is not as highly regarded for either bjj or boxing? Thoughts?

 

[yetanother]

Depends on the quality of the schools.
You also need specific training to tie things together.

 

[Jeff Goldblum69]

The self defense you'll learn in a Royce school will not be very MMA oriented. I would definitely go with the Barra school, because you'll most likely get harder rolls and more competitors, and you won't learn any sport specific stuff that don't work in MMA until you've been there for years (if even then). Unless there is a good crew of MMA fighters at the Royce school I'd go Barra.

um first off, you learn just as much self defence at a Gb school, they are a traditional school, especially as a beginner.. Secondly
Lol @ won't learn Bjj for MMA at a Royce school, his whole ethos is bjj for fighting, not grappling comps.. And secondly self defence bjj closer linked to MMA than sport bjj ... Look at the lab, one of the top MMA schools in the world has John crouch a Royce BB as The head instructor.


That said it depends on the school and the instructor. There are so many gb schools, Many vary in quality, A romolo gb school is very different to the local suburban one.

 

[Uchi Mata]

um first off, you learn just as much self defence at a Gb school, they are a traditional school, especially as a beginner.. Secondly
Lol @ won't learn Bjj for MMA at a Royce school, his whole ethos is bjj for fighting, not grappling comps.. And secondly self defence bjj closer linked to MMA than sport bjj ... Look at the lab, one of the top MMA schools in the world has John crouch a Royce BB as The head instructor.


That said it depends on the school and the instructor. There are so many gb schools, Many vary in quality, A romolo gb school is very different to the local suburban one.

I don't have much confidence in the self defense taught at most BJJ schools for use in MMA, certainly not the 'hip toss defense to a throat grab' kind of stuff taught at traditional Gracie schools. I totally disagree that self defense is necessarily closer to MMA than sport BJJ, reason being that self defense stuff is almost always taught in the context of no or minimal resistance, often in artificial situations life the aforementioned throat grab. Sport BJJ, for all its faults (and I think those are highly exaggerated, most sport BJJ looks a lot more like ordinary sorts of grappling than it does the double butt flop that occurs in high level featherweight matches), is at least 100% resistance training against a skilled opponent. Now if your self defense training consists more of putting on the gloves and rolling while trying to hit each other, that would definitely be more applicable to MMA. But in my (admittedly limited) experience with very traditional school there hasn't been a lot of that. So yeah, check out the school, but just because someone says they focus on self defense and real world applications it doesn't mean you're actually going to get training that is applicable to MMA.

 

[Gorbag]

Yeah, people should just go for the sport version of their grappling style and forget about "Self defense". Being in decent shape and a good sprinter is probably a better and safer option. Teaching people self defense has been bread and butter for judo/jiujitsu instructors since beginning of time though;