Rules that are particular to your gym

Jawa said:
There's one gym I was at and they refer to all the black belts as master. So you would greet them as master <insert name here>. Is that common anywhere else?
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No, in fact it's actually incorrect usage of the term. In BJJ "master" means someone is 7th or 8th degree black and red belt.

Professor from 2nd degree black belt
Master from 7th degree black and red belt
Grandmaster from 9th degree red belt
 
BJJ Coffee Drinker said:
some of these traditional rules sound retarded to include in a bjj training atmosphere and serve basically no purpose. Why is tying your belt not facing each other even a rule? What practical purpose does this serve? Schools requiring you to call the instructors "master, coach, sensei" seem to look very much like ego stroking. Many schools of the best instructors and top badass competitors I have visited all just had the students call them by their first or last name. I feel since the instructors are rather secure about their abilities and place they are content with just that. Those that are insecure tend to rather force students to call them some sort of title that invokes authority over their students
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I couldn't agree more.
 
the place i train judo has the walk behind people who outrank you,but only when lining up before and after class...oh and also no legs sticking out when youre sitting on the side of the mat,safety reasons like someone else mentioned

the place i train bjj really doesnt have any haha
 
LemonHerbWRX said:
If you start a roll you finish a roll. If you're tired you can set out, that's fine, but once you start one it doesn't matter if there's 8 minutes left and you gas you finish. That way you don't get in the habit of quitting.


If you're hurt or something that's obviously a different situation.
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lol I used to train at pinnacle in redlands ( affiliate of c-quence )

I remember I think my first day there I go in way out of shape ( first day training period ). It was competition season, so we do about 45 minutes of some monstrous warm ups. I've already thrown up at this point and am a blob of jello with no strength left in my body.

I get through technique barely and it's time to roll. I tried to sit out in the 2nd roll and Jake said " No sitting out if you start the roll you finish the roll " Kind if felt embarrassed so I decided to finish all the rolling. My god that shit was brutal.

Good school though and good group of guys.
 
Ryan Wagner said:
Lol! What in the fuck?

Am I misunderstanding something or has the belief that Marcelo will sleep with your gf/wife dissuaded you from training with him
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I don't think Marcelo has a reputation of trying to sleep with his students wives or girlfriends. I too was what the fuck?
 
It's funny, I come from Judo, so when I need to tie my belt, I turn away from the mat area. Why? Because no one wants to look at some fat, hairy dude's gut, I guess. Even off the mat, there is, for many people, the understanding that you don't present yourself to other people if you're not... well... presentable. If someone were to catch you with your fly down, for example, in many cultures it would be appropriate to turn away from people while zipping it up.

Regardless, when I do this my BJJ instructor makes fun of me, and says it looks like I'm taking a piss on the side of the mats, haha.

The only rule I can think of at our school is that we never start on our knees. Pick a position and go. Generally guard, top or bottom.
 
BJJ Coffee Drinker said:
some of these traditional rules sound retarded to include in a bjj training atmosphere and serve basically no purpose. Why is tying your belt not facing each other even a rule? What practical purpose does this serve? Schools requiring you to call the instructors "master, coach, sensei" seem to look very much like ego stroking. Many schools of the best instructors and top badass competitors I have visited all just had the students call them by their first or last name. I feel since the instructors are rather secure about their abilities and place they are content with just that. Those that are insecure tend to rather force students to call them some sort of title that invokes authority over their students
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Well, fist bumping and hand shaking also serve no purpose. Those other practices might not fit your ideal training atmosphere, but BJJ can be trained with any degree of formality.
 
Darkslide632 said:
The only rule I can think of at our school is that we never start on our knees. Pick a position and go. Generally guard, top or bottom.
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I wish my gym had this rule. It would save a lot of time that's otherwise wasted in vying for position from the knees.
 
Dogstarman said:
I don't think Marcelo has a reputation of trying to sleep with his students wives or girlfriends. I too was what the fuck?
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I would totally let Marcelo sleep with my girlfriend in exchange for training! She's more into Caio, though, so I guess I'm out of luck!
 
Wow this stuff is way to formal for me. Our place is more like a frat house and it is common for me to put my balls by my coach's head while he is sitting on the mats bullshitting.

I guess rules would be

you have to wear a shirt under your gi no one wants your nipple in their face.

If you call someone out to spar, it is now a pink belt match. Everyone stops to watch and loser wears a pink belt for the rest of class or the week depending on the agreement.

You only take your gi top off to use the bathroom or you are done with class for the day.

After class we walk around the mat in belt order and shake hands
 
There are only three hard and fast rules we have:
1) No shoes on the mat and no bare feet in the lobby area.
2) Lower belts move out of the way of higher belts while rolling.
3) If you forget to take your gi/shin pads/etc. with you you have to do 20 pushups. The pushups are only really enforced if you get called out in front of a kids class.
 
I've trained at some gyms that have a lot of formal rules, most of which I've seen written in this thread. One I haven't seen here is that while the instructor is teaching, everyone has to stand.

My problem with all the bowing and turning while belt tying is that without exception people will space out and forget. Now it's uncomfortable for everyone whether that person should be reprimanded, or the transgression should be ignored (causing all those who didn't enforce the rule to feel guilty or awkward).

We bow in and bow out of every class, otherwise that's the only bowing. Standard stuff about finger nails and so on.

Most of the instructors at my gym are called Coach, though no one cares if it is omitted. I'm not a big fan of using Professor, though I guess I don't mind if it's a Brazilian since there's that's what they're called in Brazil. Americans that insist on calling themselves Professor sort of baffle me, since it just sounds a bit pretentious. I really don't like calling anyone Master, it just has too many weird connotations.

If I made the rules, I would add that guys need to wear rashguards or t-shirts under their gi jackets. Chest hair and sweaty guts are gross. I also think people should be expected to wear sandals into the bathroom.
 
Grapplingwizard said:
Wow your guys' gyms have a lot of TMA bs. why do you need permission to step on the mat? Will someone die? It's actually good to get a stretch or warm up in. Why can't you tie belts facing each other? (a common scenario would be tying belts and talking to your partner before class) Will 2 people die? A lot of retarded TMA shit in the BJJ world. We call our instructor by his name cause he is a person, not a supernatural being. He is not our "master".
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I agree. I'm glad I'm at the gym I'm at. None of that stuff. We're there to train hard, not waste our time.
 
Our rules are pretty relaxed, we're good with leg locks at any level, can wear whatever gi and rashguard/t-shirt/bare chest we want under. We call the instructor by his first name and regularly ask him to roll/taunt him until he does so.

But there are a few things that are absolute rules, and these mostly have to do with safety:

Must wear shoes/sandals off the mats, no shoes on the mat

All submissions are catch and release, it's not your job to break something if the other guy is stubborn

If you have leave a class early or jump in late, let the instructor know

No talking about who tapped/swept/beat who. What happens on the mat stays on the mat.

Training is not competition. Act accordingly.
 
We don't have any of the formality rules other than bowing in and out at the beginning and end of class. No leg moves are allowed on new guys, it's allowed for white belts just not guys that are in their first couple months that might thrash around and hurt themselves. Other than that everyone governs themselves by the, "don't be a dick" code.

I love the pink belt rule haha. That'd actually encourage a little friendly competition.
 
we can't look each other in the eyes while rolling or doing a technique
 
You must spend 10 minutes in a dark closet with the instructor in your underwear
 
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