Review of 3 NYC BJJ Schools

[Brooklyn BJJ]

Interesting: More Details Emerge on StudioX and Marcelo Garcia The FightWorks Podcast | BJJ Radio

Looks like I'm going to stay away from studio-x.

 

[radman]

You should represent your school a bit better instead of telling topic starter to stop running his mouth when he did a review of his experience. Pathetic.



It's the one in SOHO right? Didn't they move down the block and loose him and have purple belt or something teaching now from what I heard.

Aaron is still there, unless something changed over the weekend and he's a black belt awarded by Danehar.

 

[Submariner]

I find that most Brazilian instructors to be full of shyte. They expect you to have absolute loyalty to them, while they won't hesitate to stab you in the back.

They're full of drama queen, cliqueish, my dojo is better than your dojo, attitude, poor sportsmanship. Prissy and high maintenance, despite the fact that they ask for boatloads of cash.

It's no surprise that most of them are nothing more than spoiled rich kids who had to do nothing except roll all day while growing up.

 

[GracieMMABarra]

I find that most Brazilian instructors to be full of shyte. They expect you to have absolute loyalty to them, while they won't hesitate to stab you in the back.

They're full of drama queen, cliqueish, my dojo is better than your dojo, attitude, poor sportsmanship. Prissy and high maintenance, despite the fact that they ask for boatloads of cash.

It's no surprise that most of them are nothing more than spoiled rich kids who had to do nothing except roll all day while growing up.

Oh shit, now you have done it

 

[J Storm**]

I find that most Brazilian instructors to be full of shyte. They expect you to have absolute loyalty to them, while they won't hesitate to stab you in the back.

They're full of drama queen, cliqueish, my dojo is better than your dojo, attitude, poor sportsmanship. Prissy and high maintenance, despite the fact that they ask for boatloads of cash.

It's no surprise that most of them are nothing more than spoiled rich kids who had to do nothing except roll all day while growing up.

thank you for not making a bunch of blanket statements that have no merit.

 

[alphamale]

wow what an epic so far.

can someone very quickly summarise the marcelo beef with studio-x/alliance?

easy to see both sides so far, i think the TS was honestly trying to be objective, but i also see why people are so passionate about their own school.

im just glad i have an awesome instructor, good people to roll with for a great price and no politics to deal with.

 

[lethalazn]

I find that most Brazilian instructors to be full of shyte. They expect you to have absolute loyalty to them, while they won't hesitate to stab you in the back.

They're full of drama queen, cliqueish, my dojo is better than your dojo, attitude, poor sportsmanship. Prissy and high maintenance, despite the fact that they ask for boatloads of cash.

It's no surprise that most of them are nothing more than spoiled rich kids who had to do nothing except roll all day while growing up.

How about opening your post with "Some Brazilian Instructors I met...." or "The ones I met" instead

I'm sure everyone can name Brazilian instructors who fit in that category off the top of their head, but have you met all of them? or even 1/2 as much to make such a statement?...I doubt it

On top of that, you just discredited yourself to about every person who's been fortunate enough to have a Brazilian instructor who isn't like that

 

[teamcarvalhonj]

This thread is getting crazy...

To the original TS, the best thing you can do is go with your gut and pick which place has the best feel to YOU. Those are all great schools and you can learn loads from all of them.

I will say this much, you described some of the schools as feeling "cold" or "jiu-jitsu factories", but think about this. Grappling is a very difficult martial art and many people start out in it, realize how difficult it is, then leave. There tends to be a high turn over rate with any kind of grappling, because of this in many schools newbs may be treated kind of indifferently at first till they put in a little bit of time. One of my buddies that used to run an MMA school I trained at/instructed at had a blanket policy that he didn't even bother to learn a person's name till after they had been there for 6 months. That is kind of harsch, but when you see guys come and go all the time in clubs/schools, it is a valid way to feel about newbs.

As far as switching schools-specifically those two schools-whew buddy I wouldn't do it. You're just asking for trouble and the guys at whatever school you would transfer to may very well have every intention of stomping your ass when you go in there and actually start rolling. Anytime there is bad blood between two grappling schools it is a pretty serious thing and shouldn't be taken lightly. They can eventually blow over, but it can take years.

Great point I see so many people come and go because they cant handle the workout or there ego is too big to keep gettin tapped

 

[Brooklyn BJJ]

Hey guys I went to Alliance today, class was not bad!

The teacher showed us crazy ass GI manipulations that I never seen before so it was pretty good, also competition there is great since everyone is pretty advanced.

But.. 1 year contract.. $60 registration and $240 a month (or whatever it was $220?) is ridiculous for me since I have a job and other responsibilities after work.

I asked Fabio for drop in.. he said $40 and actually I had to pay that on my first class (trial).. kinda WTF but what the hell I went and gave him $40. Don't think I will be going there any time soon unless I have $40 to throw away :|.

 

[Lame]

you guys in NY pay alot for your training. here in phoenix there are only like 2, maybe 3 if im generous, reputable schools. I go to the nova uniao school and really like the instruction and atmosphere alot. I do a 6 month contract and it only costs 140 a month. The only negative is maybe the facility its very large but can get extremely warm in there as i think it used to be a warehouse or workshop at one point. the guys there are great to roll with aswell. the gym is more of a mixed martial arts gym and we have a couple ufcer's and alot of other guys that are really serious about there careers, but if your a newb there are still plenty of people to roll with.

 

[Soid]

If Renzo's was such a good place to train, why do their instructors cancel hundreds of dollars of prepaid private lessons without informing the student that they needed to reschedule, and without offering a refund or a chance to rechedule with other instructors? Why does Renzo's forbid its students from attending seminars at other teams? I used to honestly think Renzo's was one of the best places to learn, but attitudes like those have soured my impression of them.

They might be the best place in the world for you to train. But not everyone is the same person. My school isn't the best for everyone. Your's isn't. Nobody's is. I'm not saying Renzo's is a bad place to train at, but they are not perfect or even close to it either. No place is. All that matters is how you respond. You have to respect the TS's opinion and not blindly dismiss it because you like it there. It doesn't make you better than him either. Just different.

Renzo's doesn't forbid students from attending seminars at other teams and the rest of your allegations are false as well. Other than that I think the guy gave an honest review and didn't try to slander anyone.

 

[lethalweapon]

Finally, what I really like about Renzo's aside from the world-class instruction, is the amount of students that go there. You get to test yourself everytime you train because of the variety of skill levels (even within specific belt levels), and diverse amount of students with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. In a more personalized enviorment you tend to roll with the same people everytime and you are already expecting certain things from certain people. When you roll with the same set of guys, you already know who likes to do certain sweeps, or submissions from certain positions. You can't get too confident at Renzo's because somebody will always come along at some point and keep you humble. And you want that, because the more holes in your game you can discover while your train, the more complete your game will be when it matters most, whether it be in a real self-defense situation, mma, or sport jiu-jitsu competition.

At the end of the day, you have to decide where is best for you, and where you think you will get the best instruction for your hard earned money. I'm not saying that Renzo's is the only place that could happen, but it is for me. Finally, like everything else in life, it's not where you go to learn, it what you make of your learning experience.

Good reply from mma2stay, especially the last 2 paragraphs.
Fair analysis from shaolindub.

My 2 cents:
I had checked Renzo's, Studio X/Alliance (years b4 the split), and Machados. Having taken a trial at all 3 schools and not knowing anything, I can't tell the difference in instruction; meaning they were all good. They all showed 2-3 techniques in the class. I had no doubt the blackbelt instructors in all 3 schools were very qualified, so as total newb, i'd definitely be learning regardless of which I choose.

Assuming instruction is the same for all 3 schools, other factors such as cost, commute, class schedule, locker room size(sorry, I don't like changing in a closet with a bunch of sweaty men), showers, atmosphere, class size, and student rankings.

Not to add to the drama on this board, but like mma2stay said, I chose the one that worked best for my needs.

 

[Eric Renzo NH]

Max is one of the coolest people I have ever met. Perhaps its you that have the problem? And are you actually saying you had any trouble understanding any of our instructors? I'm guessing you had Magno who is from Queens for Christ's sake. All well...

Yea i train at a Renzo affiliate and i've had the honor of training at the NYC academy. I thought everyone there was more then helpful. I took one of Magno's classes and i loved it.

Also, the weekend i was there, Renzo himself was hosting a seminar and there were over 20 black belts on the mat. THat in itself is pretty amazing, and each one was really nice, no condescending attitudes or anything. Igor, Daniel, Renzo himself, Zed, all really nice guys, really helpful.

 

[Eric Renzo NH]

OK, I'm new to bjj, and I'm looking rof a gym/school to train in. Here's my review...

Renzo Gracie's:
I found Renzo's to be very cold...a bjj factory. I went in for a trial class and when we had to find a partner, by default, I ended up with a person (girl) half my weight. The instructors didn't notice the disparity for about a good fifteen (of the thrity minutes) into the drills. What the fuck? Renzo's has a lot of great things going for it (obviously), but personalized attention is not one of them. And the sales guy Max is a "pushy sales guy". Instruction was...eh. Instructors weren't really paying attention and assistants didn't know what they were doing...e.g., parring with the wrong hand. Renzo's charges 75 bucks for registration fee and 210 per month on a one year contract. Facilities and schedule are awesome. Work out was not particulary intense. Classes are one hour. Ten minutes of warm up, then instruction, drills and position rolling, and then 5 minutes of strechting to finish.

Alliance NYC:
Alliance had an awesome feel to it. They play fun music while they train. Everyone, including Fabio, was amazingly nice, helpful and welcoming, but the place is tiny and it stinks like by balls. I was told that Lucas Lepri was coming to teach there full time soon, which was a very appealing feature. Alliance's familial feel, success in competition and its connection with the Alliance org is very appealing. The instruction was, again, so so. Fabio showed everyone two moves during the one and one -half hour class. And it's hard for a new guy to understand what he's saying in his accent. They too have a one year contract. They charge 60 for reg fee and 220 for the first month and then 218 per month for the rest of the year. Crazy!!! (Must be to pay off all of the legal fees.) Classes are one and a half hour long. The class had me more winded than any of the others. TOUGH WORKOUT!!!

Studio X (the new one):
Yes, as everyone claims, Josh is very charming and the facilities are DOPE. But there is a cold, souless feeling to the place...maybe because it's so big. The students there were mostly whites and blues. I found Josh's instruction to be far superior to Renzo's and Fabio's, partly (but not entirely) because he spoke english with out an accent. When hour long class began we started right away with the drills. (I notices that everyone strecthed and wamed up before the class began.) Josh took us through drills that progressed into moves he would eventually teach us during the class. Everything was in a progression. This goes into that. That goes into x. X, if x doesn't work, goes into y. Y, if y doesn;t work, takes you to z. X , y and z each being submissions. The students there were super helpful, with one exception. I rolled with two different guys, both of which were super helpful and Josh asked if there were any questions at the ent of the calls (actually 15 minutes after the class should have ended), which was nice. Fees are 199 per month...period...no contract.

I know everyone here is hardcore and you all view the one year contract as nothing, but for a new guy who can't tell which place is the right one for him or even whether bbj is for him, the one year k is and issue.

With the grat instruction and no k, I' leaning toward the new studio x. But I really want to go to Alliance. The biggest appeal for me going to alliance is the idea of having lepri and other great experienced people to roll with in a familial enviornment.

Also, although I am kind of old, I may want to compete in tournaments some day and think that Josh's rep might hinder that possiblity.

I think the best thing for me would be to start off at Josh's for a while until I learn fundamentals and then move to Alliance, but there is so much bad blood that I don't know if that would be possible.

Thoughts?

I know everyone's jumping down your throat on this one man, but people take who they train under seriously, i'm sure you know that. Each school has strengths/weaknesses.

 

[Submariner]

How about opening your post with "Some Brazilian Instructors I met...." or "The ones I met" instead

I'm sure everyone can name Brazilian instructors who fit in that category off the top of their head, but have you met all of them? or even 1/2 as much to make such a statement?...I doubt it

Sure, I'm only speaking of some of the Brazilian instructors I've met, and not every Brazilian instructor fits that negative stereotype but there are plenty of them.

Who hasn't presonally run across those types? And anecdotally, is there a SINGLE major Brazilian instructor who doesn't have some feud with some former student or other instructor over petty stuff?

A lot of Brazilian instructors act like junior mafiosos. They act like its about family, respect, loyalty, and honor, but it's all about running the business. And the act is to keep people in their place in the pecking order below them. It's like dealing with jr. high school kids or Mean Girls.

Where is their loyalty to a paying customer? We all know students who have gotten flack for training at some other place. If someone wants to go elsewhere for a bit to round out their training, what's the big deal? This ain't Brazil. In America, we believe in customer service and the freedom to choose wherever we want to go without people acting like we just killed their mother.

Personally, I'm a gi guy, but every no-gi place I've visited has been friendly and receptive, unlike some Brazilian run schools. The more "Americanized" BJJ culture becomes, the better it is for students.

 

[Tony Manifold]

Who hasn't presonally run across those types? And anecdotally, is there a SINGLE major Brazilian instructor who doesn't have some feud with some former student or other instructor over petty stuff?

I was talking about this with my instructor last night, we are under Marcus Soares, and according to him Marcus doesn't care if we bring in guys from other teams. I am sure that there are a few individuals he has personal problems with but it doesn't seem to affect us.

Where is their loyalty to a paying customer? We all know students who have gotten flack for training at some other place. If someone wants to go elsewhere for a bit to round out their training, what's the big deal? This ain't Brazil. In America, we believe in customer service and the freedom to choose wherever we want to go without people acting like we just killed their mother.

I agree to a point. There are some situations where I would not train with someone based on his actions towards my instructor but if someone told me, I can only train with carlson gracie team black belts, I would be like Fuck that.

 

[NJrocks]

I think the TS wrote up a good review from a complete beginners perspective, you guys need to stop hating on him for negative feedback about your school. Just because your school is prestigious as hell doesn't mean that the teachers are better teachers, or that he will get better faster there, or that he will enjoy it more. There are so many perks to smaller schools that people seem to ignore. Sense of community, individual attention, etc.

 

[pride-jitsu]

I think the TS wrote up a good review from a complete beginners perspective, you guys need to stop hating on him for negative feedback about your school. Just because your school is prestigious as hell doesn't mean that the teachers are better teachers, or that he will get better faster there, or that he will enjoy it more. There are so many perks to smaller schools that people seem to ignore. Sense of community, individual attention, etc.

maybe your right about coming down hard on him. i think the major problem is you can't accurately sum up a schools atmosphere and teaching in one visit.

 

[sherdog19rob]

My scheduled has dramatically changed. Do you any of you guys know what the cancellation fee will be for getting out of the 6 month contract at Renzo's?

 

[masada555]

Original Poster,

Can I make a suggestion? Please check out some more schools. I realize that there might be distance issues involved, but you should not have to settle for a place that you don't vibe with. Especially at that price point! Assuming a certain baseline of quality of instruction (which almost every school has), the most important thing is to have fun.

There might be some smaller schools, perhaps run by purple or brown belts even, that have a more intimate, friendlier vibe and a great atmosphere for you, and may be even cheaper!

Man, I can't get over that price point. I paid 50/month at my first school (a place that put two guys in the UFC and tons of guys in WEC and local shows) and now I pay 90/month for a month-to-month contract. NYC is expensive!!!

Good luck!