My Journey Through BJJ - by Roy Harris

[Shaolin Bushido]

I just read all of this thread as well. Very informative. I have had several conversations with Roy Harris and definitely feel that he is very intelligent, articulate, ethical and sincere. Many of those qualities are widely reported as lacking in some of the people he mentioned. Of course, misconceptions and cultural traditions seem to account for some of the problems, both Brazilian and American. Americans feel free to pursue what is in our own best interests economically, politically, religiously, etc ... while Brazilians seem to value their brand of loyalty and opinions without regard for anyone elses circumstances or concerns. Perhaps in hindsight one or both sides of the disagreements may have acted differently.

I own several of Roys' instructionals and would be honored to live in proximity to him that made training with him practical for me. Thank you Roy for posting this info here.

 

[dcfella]

Nice read...Roy tells a good story.

 

[blindgod]

I just want to add my two cents to this.

I've been training at Roy's school for a little over two years and six months before that at the school of one of Roy's purple belts.

I have never once heard Roy mention these stories in anything except when someone would ask him about them. If I hadn't read them on the internet, I would probably never have heard them. I say this to make the point that it's not something he harps on or brings up often.

I've never seen Roy (or any of his students) be anything other than nice and gracious and willing to help you out. The only exception to this is a few jerks who have come to the school for a month or two and then quit.

And I'm still waiting to find out what "doesn't teach it all" means.

 

[wannabjj]

I studied with Roy Harris for a little under a year, and I can attest to the man that he is. Honest, caring, sincere, full of integrity...you name any positive quality a man can possess and he has it. He does NOT withhold information - the thing is, he has such an encyclopedic mind for the smallest nuance of any technique that it is simply impossible to convey it all in one group lesson. He gives you the essentials (still in great detail I might add), and for those who want to delve deeper or perfect their technique, he has his private lessons. They are NOT a separate forum to learn "secret" techniques. For any of you who train bjj, think about it. Does your instructor give you every last scrap of information regarding the techniques they show you? The answer should be obvious - they don't. There's two reasons: 1) because there's not enough time or you're not ready for it, and 2) they don't want you to know.

Roy Harris NEVER, EVER withholds techniques because he doesn't want you to know. You think a man who has been stung by these bullshit politics over and over wants to become one of those political jerks? It just doesn't make sense - and if you know the man, you know it's impossible. It's just not the man's character.

 

[Balto]

I don't know Roy Harris personally, but I do know that he's a JKD guy.

I find it HIGHLY unlikely that anyone involved in JKD would ever hold anything back -- ever. It's just completely 100% counter to the entire philosophy of JKD.

If anything, JKD guys show too much and end up confusing people with information overload. Not the other way around.

 

[Who's Laughin' Now?]

^^^ OOO, never thought of it like that!

I've seriously only heard good things about Roy Harris, but that only HEARD, I've never trained at his school. I may be moving into the area soon, though, if anyone else has any more reasons one would not want to train at Roy Harris', I'd like to know, in PM if necessary. He sounds like an amazing teacher and I'm going to try some classes when I fly out this summer.

 

[blindgod]

Coming to the school to watch a few classes and talking to the people there will give you a good idea of whether it's right for you. I think that's more reliable than having people you don't know tell you things about a school when they don't know you or what you're looking for.

 

[MuayThaiBJJGuy]

Thanks for the story.

 

[aries]

Tbf I can understand why Roy Harris ran into problems; because he seems too honest has integrity and perhaps is a bit stubborn. Maybe if he'd have been the type to go crawling back to those teachers begging forgiveness (for something he hadn't done) then things might have been different. No doubt there are always two sides to the story but it all seems to ring true. Misunderstandings and mistrust occur all the time in any relationship and if neither party back down then fall outs will occur.

 

[fiftysvn]

haha what a super old thread to bump, but it was worth reading. thanks for helping me waste 20 minutes of my morning at work!

 

[Gentle Giant]

He got his blue belt after 13 private lessons with a gracie?



damn.. i've had several hundreds of lessons over the past 1.5 years and I'm still a white belt. This guy must have had a lot of talent!

 

[FlowWithTheGo23]

Don't have the time now, but will definitely read this all the way through later.