Out-of-Association promotions?

[HEAVY GRAPPLER]

A funny thing happened at a Royce seminar this weekend.

I only went to the second day, so I may have been a little clued out to what was going on.

At the end, Royce paired up the coloured belts for rolling. I knew one of the guys I was rolling with was being tested for purple. He is sort of a local ronin, belonging to no particular association. He has been training a long time and was also the guy who organized the seminar.

I was having good rolls and Royce was complimenting me on a few things. He kept pairing me up and at some point, I realized maybe he was grading me (?) I was actually in the last pairing on the mat.

At the end, he gave some white belts their blue, gave the guy his purple, and gave me a third stripe on my blue. But I am not associated with Royce and obviously belong to another association.

It's no big deal, just a stripe. I'll talk to my instructor tonight about whether I wear it or not. I wouldn't want to disrespect Royce or offend my training partners.

But how do people feel about out-of-association promotions in general? He also gave a blue to a guy from a school affiliated with ours. I guess that is a bigger deal. To be fair, Royce has pretty much no way of knowing who belonged to what team at this seminar.

I like and respect Royce a lot. I know he has a funny reputation for seminar gradings. Let's not bash him here for that. Just asking a general question based on a specific scenario.

FRAT, TL/DR: If you got a stripe or a belt at a seminar from another association what would you do?

 

[Senshi]

well it's an honor to get if from royce but simply explain to your instructor what happened and see what he says. if anything, try to persuade your instructor to not let you wear it to honor him (your instructor) and if he OKs it maybe politely refuse it once more and if he still gives you the go ahead then it's yours.

 

[HEAVY GRAPPLER]

well it's an honor to get if from royce but simply explain to your instructor what happened and see what he says. if anything, try to persuade your instructor to not let you wear it to honor him (your instructor) and if he OKs it maybe politely refuse it once more and if he still gives you the go ahead then it's yours.

So, if you love something - let it go?

J/K

I think the only complicating factor with my gym is that we do not have an in-house black belt doing promotions. Promotions are performed when a BB from our association visits. The last thing they would want to encourage (I'd imagine) is students going to other association's seminars looking for belts.

Again, I don't think in my case it is a huge deal. But I wondering generally how this sort of thing is viewed. Maybe it doesn't really happen too often?

 

[879lexus]

I personally wouldn't even mention it to my instructor. I would just remove the stripe and go to class as usual... Royce is the best, but he's not my instructor..

 

[davejitsu]

Its a piece of tape and not worth the trouble it could bring from your teamates

 

[redaxe]

I'd probably just try to have a private conversation with my instructor. Like "So, I went to a Royce Gracie seminar the other day, and funny thing happened--he put a stripe on my belt. I don't wanna be disrespectful, so is it OK with you or do you want me to take it off?"

 

[Jdonw]

Its as simple as "I went to that Royce seminar and he gave me a stripe, what do you want me to do?" Because you didn't go for the purpose of being graded, I don't see any problem with it, nor do I have any problem with it.

I would have a problem with somebody if they for example, learned Pedro Sauer's 88 moves and passed a blue belt test when they went on vacation, then came back wearing a blue belt and maybe even a patch. Just as an example that may or may not have occurred.

 

[armtriangle]

I personally wouldn't even mention it to my instructor. I would just remove the stripe and go to class as usual... Royce is the best, but he's not my instructor..

That's what I would do too.

If your instructor wants to give yo a stipe, he will give you one. If you only get graded once per year (that's how it is done at my club too), you will probably get multiple stripes.

Not worth the drama, and why should you care about a 3rd stripe? You are not going disrespect Royce because he is never going to see you again, and if he did, he wouldn't remember or you would have already ranked up.

 

[pittelp]

I personally wouldn't even mention it to my instructor. I would just remove the stripe and go to class as usual... Royce is the best, but he's not my instructor..

This makes sense.

 

[Auspex]

Personally, I'd talk to my instructor. Saying nothing sounds secretive and some can take an offense to that.

And I don't mean a sit down conversation where you hold hands, but just a, "hey, went to a Royce seminar this weekend, it was pretty cool!". THen tell him about the cool stuff you learned, what you thought about it, then mention what happened and that you took off the stripe. See what he says.

The last thing you want is any sorta wierdness/animosity with your instructor.

 

[HEAVY GRAPPLER]

Yeah, that's pretty much the plan. I am just going to tell him. He probably knows already. Somebody posted a well-meaning "Congratulations on the stripe!" on my facebook.

Our gym is run by a purple, who does not do promotions. We are only in the process of joining RMNU - so it is sort of weird timing.

Incidentally, RG did not actually put the stripe on my belt (or anyone's) he just said "You, stand up. Put another stripe on your belt."

 

[platfox]

At the very least, its a funny story to tell your teammates.

 

[curb1850]

I'd just tell your instructor what you just told us.

Is this a common occurrence in general?

 

[Vector_X]

I think I would be okay with the stripe, but a belt from a different instructor that isn't even affiliated with your school would be a different matter and I'm honestly not sure how I would handle it.

 

[Rod1]

Its a piece of tape that its worth nothing, i would take it off and move on with my life, id rather have those who know me well grade me. Although in my case, where they charge for every stripe, i would try to keep it.

 

[MUFC]

I don't think most instructors will mind a stripe from someone else.

Im a bit worried about what happens if you go on vacation for a while somewhere, and train for a consistent period of time with another school and the instructor there tries to promote you. Like say, I went to ATL and trained with Jacare and Cobrinha for 4 months. If Jacare tried to promote you to purple, it would be difficult to refuse. I mean, it's mother fucking Jacare...

 

[THeels934]

I would have been gracious to Royce during the process, but then would have taken the stripe off my belt right when I got home. It's nice that someone of such high regard in the sport was impressed enough with your abilities to think you deserved a stripe, but he is not your instructor and isn't in a position to promote you. Just my 2 cents.

 

[THeels934]

I don't think most instructors will mind a stripe from someone else.

Im a bit worried about what happens if you go on vacation for a while somewhere, and train for a consistent period of time with another school and the instructor there tries to promote you. Like say, I went to ATL and trained with Jacare and Cobrinha for 4 months. If Jacare tried to promote you to purple, it would be difficult to refuse. I mean, it's mother fucking Jacare...

I see something like this being a very rare occurrence. Unless you specify to the outside instructor that you are permanently joining their school/association, most will be respectful to your instructor and let him handle promotions.

 

[MUFC]

I see something like this being a very rare occurrence. Unless you specify to the outside instructor that you are permanently joining their school/association, most will be respectful to your instructor and let him handle promotions.

Oh, okay. I was never sure about it.

My instructor tells us that if we want to train elsewhere for an extended period of time he would prefer it to be a within association school (in my case, any Nova Uniao associate) so as to avoid this promotion problem. It's not a big deal for me because the team is big and worldwide, but for smaller associations, a similar policy would be an issue.

 

[MMA junkie]

I would find it weird to get a promotion from another instructor (especially a seminar). I do respect his opinion but I also respect my Instructor's. That being said, I would do what others suggested, talk to him in private. Since you are a blue, you have been training under him for a bit of time, you should be able to talk to him on this level. It would be kind of odd if a purple belt thinks a BB's (Royce's) grading is wrong though. A stripe isn't a big deal at all. I would really feel conflicted if it was a belt though.