Rolling with other BJJ Gyms outside your own affiliation.

Thxs for the all great responses. I guess my first priority is self improvement which is more along the lines of viewing BJJ as an art. My only problem with rolling with other gyms is if you tap they think your from a weak camp on the otherhand if you tap one of their guys they think your showing off. Either way someone's ego crushed and anothers high.
 
When Travelling to a place without an associate nearby I can see training at different places without a problem. Although the mat fee is sometimes excessive. But in the same town? The people I and my training partners would compete against. I can see that being a problem. I'd talk to my instructor about that if I were you. Only he can tell you how he feels about it.
 
When I travel I try to the find the local gym and see if I can train there. If you are respectable many don't mind at all.
 
Aside from the personal benefit of seeing what type game level your BJJ is at by rolling in other gyms; the way you roll may be a recruiting tool to get others to either join your gym or stay away from it..
 
I train at a couple of different facilities in the States. I have always tried to be very open with my teachers about it. Ultimately I will always pick one place to remain loyal to in competition...and also with promotions. Some people like to try and find a school where they can get promoted the fastest...and that has never been my intent in going to other facilities.

As most have said...having a respectful attitude will really take you far.
 
Submariner said:
It's usually more of a problem with Brazilian instructors, rather than American instructors.
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Yup, this is true. Politics run very deep with Brazilian instructors. And it's not enough to ask your instructor to see if it's ok. Because they can tell you everything is cool and then be very upset. I've seen it time and time again. If you want to venture out (which I think is not a bad idea - options are good), then do so knowing you can be pissing people off.
 
This is a non issue for professional MMA fighters cuz they can afford to train with whomever or camp, gym they want etc.. Unfortunately for the average Joe like me I looking to roll with other gyms for free. Maybe this is where some of the tension arises from. More power to the mighty dollar $$.
 
Balto said:
Training at other gyms in BJJ is a tricky situation. This is because of the dual nature of BJJ. It is a martial art, but it is also a competitive team sport at a lot of places as well.

The goal of any martial art is individual improvement. No matter what level you start at, you want to become the absolute best you can be personally. The only real measurement of your progress is your own goals, so how you are progressing compared to others is not that big of a deal.

From a martial arts perspective, ego free training at other schools is perfectly fine. In fact, it ought to be encouraged. It raises your own level to be exposed to different styles, and it also simultaneously raises the level of your new training partners as well. In the martial arts, this is a good thing.

However, BJJ is also a competitive team sport. The goal of a competitive team sport is not to be the absolute best you can be. The goal is to defeat your opponents. This is where the complication of training with other teams arises. Mutual benefit is not the goal (at least not a direct one). In fact, giving any benefit to a competitor is discouraged. This is simply the nature of competition.

This isn't just true of BJJ either. Any competitive martial art will have this issue. There were some posts on here about how Judo is so much more open about training. I am sure those stories are true, but it's only because competition must be stressed less than the martial art aspect at these schools. If you think about a Judo Olympic team, there is no way in hell that one guy from one team could just pop in to practice with a rival team right before the Olympics. The coach from one team will not train competitors from the other. That would be a conflict of interest from a competitive standpoint.

These kind of training restrictions are one of the main drawbacks to competitive martial arts. Of course, there is also a lot of clear benefit to having competition in the martial arts. I personally like the competition aspect. But there are some negatives which is why even some really practical and effective arts swear off competition.

The dual nature of martial art and sport in BJJ is where the trickiness and variation comes into play. If we were talking about football and not BJJ, it would be very obvious as to why you can't just pop in to practice with a rival team. However, since BJJ is much more than just a competitive sport, it gets complicated.

I've seen BJJ schools run the gamut from completely cool with people training other places to expelling anyone who ever does so. I don't think it really has anything to do with Brazilian versus American, traditional versus progressive, etc. Mostly what I have seen is that the schools that have the strictest regulations about training with other gyms also have the most serious competition teams.

It's not necessarily right or wrong; I think it just mostly comes down to whether you view BJJ as a martial art or a competitive sport.
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Good post!
 
comquest said:
Hey just wanted to get some input on how you all view rolling with other BJJ gyms outside your own? It could get boring and predictable rolling people in your own gym and I believe in order to improve you should roll with people outside your gym i.e maybe even a competitors gym. This is a sensitive subject for various reason such as competitiveness, technique, loyalty etc..Thanks for the feedback.
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I would never train at a rival school, but I do switch back and forth between a shool in NY and one in FL. I find that it improves my game alot. Taking in the different styles of teaching really opens my eyes to the way other people look at BJJ.

I'm also a firm believer that you should roll with as many people as possible of all sizes, shapes and colors.
 
comquest said:
Hey just wanted to get some input on how you all view rolling with other BJJ gyms outside your own? It could get boring and predictable rolling people in your own gym and I believe in order to improve you should roll with people outside your gym i.e maybe even a competitors gym. This is a sensitive subject for various reason such as competitiveness, technique, loyalty etc..Thanks for the feedback.
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You can either

A. Compete in tournies

B. Train in other schools. If you do so I would make my instructor aware of that fact before you walk into another school! The BJJ community is very tight knit and word gets aroound, especially in the same area. Tell him you are going down to roll some other guys but have no intentions of leaving, and if you DO leave well.......you have to do what is best for YOU, not your instructor need$$$. Nah mean??
 
If you train at other gyms you can't expect your instructor to tell you all his little secrets and nuances to moves. Why would he teach you all this just so you can show them to the competition.

You do pay for his instruction but at the same time its a privilege to learn from someone.

For me personally i think training elsewhere as a one off is fine or when your travelling. But you shouldn't train at two gyms.
 
BenWS said:
If you train at other gyms you can't expect your instructor to tell you all his little secrets and nuances to moves. Why would he teach you all this just so you can show them to the competition.

You do pay for his instruction but at the same time its a privilege to learn from someone.

For me personally i think training elsewhere as a one off is fine or when your travelling. But you shouldn't train at two gyms.
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Anyone I pay to provide instruction should instruct to the best of his abilities. If he does not, any debt I would have to him, personal and professional, would be null and void. As a personal, thing I would not train with someone my instructor had a personal beef against unless I had some extenuating circumstances (such as a prior relationship) because that would be rude and could cause friction that would not be conducive to good learning but I would still expect him to honor his side of the contract which is to provide instruction to the best of his abilites. As soon as they make me sign a contract, I expect them to honor it just as much as they expect me to pay my fees on time.


Luckily, that is not really an issue where I train so I don't have to worry about it.
 
Can you really not find enough variety in the opponents rolling styles at your own gym? Practically everybody has a different style even at the same gym. I mean I could see if you were a black or brown belt and there was only a few of those at your own gym.
 
wpr102 said:
Can you really not find enough variety in the opponents rolling styles at your own gym? Practically everybody has a different style even at the same gym. I mean I could see if you were a black or brown belt and there was only a few of those at your own gym.
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Sure everyones game changes or evolves and guys in my gym are always looking for something new but because you all train together you know what to expect from their game. And its not about being king of the mat or belt level. I believe its always good to roll with new people whether beginner or advance. Unfortnately where Im from politics and rivalries don't make it easy to roll in other gyms. Aside from that I would love to gauge my level of Jiujitsu against other styles from different schools without having to test them only in competiton.
 
If you have established a rapport with a particular gym and you like it and you feel that it's like cheating on your wife if you train at another gym, than don't do it. If your school frowns upon your wanting to train some other place, well, I would frown upon that. And it would make me question their motives. You do what makes you feel comfortable. I'll tell you what though. The best fighters and grapplers on the planet are willing to travel around and seek different skills to add to their repatoir.
 
What do you guys think about regularly training at another gym under the same affiliation? I love my school and it's only 5 minutes away from me, but during a recent seminar at my school I met a couple of senior people from a gym about 45 minutes away and they invited me to come train with them. This school is under the same affiliation as my own, but it is more established and they have some strong competitors there. I plan on going there 1-2 times a week, in addition to the 3-5 days I put in at my current school. I already spoke to my instructor and he's fine with it, I'm just curious if this is generally standard or not.
 
Miss Click said:
What do you guys think about regularly training at another gym under the same affiliation? I love my school and it's only 5 minutes away from me, but during a recent seminar at my school I met a couple of senior people from a gym about 45 minutes away and they invited me to come train with them. This school is under the same affiliation as my own, but it is more established and they have some strong competitors there. I plan on going there 1-2 times a week, in addition to the 3-5 days I put in at my current school. I already spoke to my instructor and he's fine with it, I'm just curious if this is generally standard or not.
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That's cool. I like going on road trips to the affiliates once and a while.
 
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