Ryan Hall - An Open Letter to the Martial Arts Community

My opinion of Ryan was very high already, but earlier it was mostly based on him being a good instructior, while now I also believe he is a good person.




We should form a cult of Ryan!
Yes! We are all individuals!
 
phil is not an affiliate though, he is relson gracie affiliate isn't he? or did i miss something. now, they might have got their website layout from lloyd

Phil Migliarese is under Relson and an honorable guy.

The website has been that way for years. I am pretty sure it predates Lloyd giving marketing advice to BJJ guys.
 
Phil Migliarese is under Relson and an honorable guy.

The website has been that way for years. I am pretty sure it predates Lloyd giving marketing advice to BJJ guys.

heh. I'm not friends with him, but his facebook page says he just 'liked' beta academy.
 
Your the man ryan hall!!

In case anyone was wondering the vast majority of people in bjj are like minded good people who this kind of behaviour is uncomprehesible.

This is a small group who are dragging the sport that gave me a new outlook on life through the dirt.
 
As I said and has been proven, I have no idea :)
 
It's so well written with so many good points to it. Bravo Ryan.
On another note curious to hear what the Avellans have to say about it all if any of this changes their stance on TLI.
 
phil is not an affiliate though, he is relson gracie affiliate isn't he? or did i miss something. now, they might have got their website layout from lloyd

Sorry, I thought the poster was referring to BJJ gym owners in general. Yes, Phil is a Relson guy.
 
Wow... pretty harsh dose of reality there. Probably hit a lot of people that weren't expecting it.
 
I think the most important point of his letter was the one that many people who take up martial arts do so with a lot of cultural baggage, accumulated from years of martial arts film and Bruce Lee quotes. This can lead to some automatically labelling their teacher as some sort of wise mentor figure (as martial arts instructors tend to be in films) hence MA teachers are in a position of higher responsibility as opposed to say a driving instructor. In return the MA instructor can receive a degree of loyalty that the driving instructor ever will. This can lead to trouble for both parties.

So instructors need to be careful about how they operate within their role as mentor/sensei and students need to be cautious about falling into the trap of blind loyalty.

Ryan Hall said:
The phrase,
 
It's so well written with so many good points to it. Bravo Ryan.
On another note curious to hear what the Avellans have to say about it all if any of this changes their stance on TLI.

We wouldn't understand, we are mere 97%'ers.

I don't think it will change anything... LI is fairly cemented in their lives - he made them! They owe him everything!
 
That was a beautifully written piece. Everyone should read it (the entire letter). I always felt that Ryan Hall was an intelligent guy but I had no idea he was such a profound and articulate writer.

What he wrote goes well beyond the situation with Lloyd Irvin and his cult. It is applicable to so many facets of life and beneficial to anyone whether they are involved in martial arts or not or whether they care about this situation or not.

 
We wouldn't understand, we are mere 97%'ers.

I don't think it will change anything... LI is fairly cemented in their lives - he made them! They owe him everything!

From looking on Marcus's facebook David named his kid Lloyd and LI and his wife are his godparents.
 
Aren't TLI and fifty/50 each other's main competition in the same area? Hmmm . . .
 
I understand where he comes from. You so badly want someone to be able to give you all the answers, aka to be perfect,t hat you rationalize that they are.
 
This is pretty telling as to what life is like inside the Lloyd Irvin organization/cult.

"From an external vantage we can see some, but there lies more within, and I have been there. Internally, these people often attack one another, usually indirectly, as they jockey for position and compete for the chief form of currency in their lives: increasing the level of perceived closeness to their master. I remember paranoid, late-night text messages accusing me of disloyalty to a person I had done nothing but support and vouch for both publicly and privately to many who had reservations. I remember having phone conversations listened in to. I remember being informed on by “friends” who presented themselves as confidants once I started to ask uncomfortable questions. I remember, once the writing was on the wall that I was waking up, being bullied into signing contracts that were predatory (though thankfully unenforceable) beyond belief. I remember being threatened. I remember receiving hate mail from misguided cultists who felt spurned when I took my leave from a toxic situation."

I mean...we've all had friends and associates leave our companies/sports teams/ect. Usually you go for lunch, shake their hand and wish them good luck. Threats and hate mail for going off and doing your own thing....damn that's dysfunctional.
 
[QUOTE="Mata Leao";78611319]That was a beautifully written piece. Everyone should read it (the entire letter). I always felt that Ryan Hall was an intelligent guy but I had no idea he was such a profound and articulate writer.

What he wrote goes well beyond the situation with Lloyd Irvin and his cult. It is applicable to so many facets of life and beneficial to anyone whether they are involved in martial arts or not or whether they care about this situation or not.

 
As powerful a statement from Ryan as one could possible imagine.
I read the whole document - it's not THAT long. One person commented to me that what he wrote is the kind of common sense that every adult should already know. True. But a lot do not know, or are not aware of cultish behaviours. Ryan just blew the lid open.
Lots of respect to him and I was profoundly moved by his essay.
I hope one day he'll write the true story in graphic detail of his experiences under the cult.
 
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