The Gracie Debate: "Online" vs. "Live" Training

[GrandNewb]

*** New GU Belt Promotion Process ***​

Gracie University "Technical Blue Belts" for Online Students​

5) If I earn a Technical Blue Belt, am I still able to advance through the Master Cycle curriculum and work towards purple belt?

Yes. Earning the Technical Blue Belt is a perfect indicator that you have successfully completed the Gracie Combatives course, and qualifies you to begin the Master Cycle. Once you pass the Blue Belt Stripe 1 course via the Video Evaluation Process, we will send you the official BBS1 stripe for wear on your Technical Belt. After you earn all four stripes, you may take the live Purple Belt Test even though you may have never earned the Official Blue Belt.​

So you can get your technical blue belt and then test for a blue belt stripe 1 via video evaluation without earning the "official" blue belt.

Then what's the point of even having a "technical" blue belt? It's the same thing as an "official" blue belt according to them. A guy can go from technical blue to blue belt 4 stripes all through video evaluations.

 

[Daveb]

The difference is the amount of money you spend. They will probably charge an additional fee to have an in person reflex test to make your 'technical blue belt' an 'official blue belt'

 

[ThatBJJGuy]

the debate is being made about online training vs live training.....the real controversy is the BS online gradings.

 

[nooper]

May I propose a better belt idea to this branch of The Gracie Family. Instead of a

 

[beeran1]

Questions too difficult for you?

You're just a born salesman, aren't ya?

 

[LaBrian]

May I propose a better belt idea to this branch of The Gracie Family. Instead of a

 

[TheSubmissionCh]

I want a technical red belt like SBJ will have one day.

Actually I don't.

Keywords: useless, worthless, pointless, snakeoil salesmen, crooks and liars, Whorian, anti-jiu jitsu, stallers, winless, unethical, clowns, bullshido, dishonest, TMAification, frauds

 

[the heed]

more and more I read about GA
more and more it sounds like Church of Scientology

 

[sb413197]

1. There is no sparring, just 'simulations' which are semi-contact at best given their highly cooperative nature. Fine as a training tool, but not equivalent to sparring with full resistance.

But doesn't their program advocate full resistance sparring against their other "garage mates" or whatever?

I don't know much about the program and haven't spent that much time online for BJJ, but it doesn't sound that bad as long as there is a lot of full resistance training. I mean you have some guys who have trained more, then new guys joint, the older guys keep getting better and improving through training with the newer guys supplemented by youtube and other online stuff and seminars etc, and with enough time you'd basically have a viable gym?

I do think that they need to be really careful with this thing. They need to make darn sure that guys are at the expected level before promotion - maybe even sandbag a little bit to be sure.

 

[Patrick F Carey]

I, like others I'm sure, do not dislike rener or ryron. I watch a lot of their breakdowns, their technique videos are great. I enjoy their perspective on things, even the memes they do are funny to me ( rener's "dannnng" is always hilarious to me). Sure the online belt thing is lame but whatever, it's not the only thing I know them for.

We would just like to know your affiliation with them, SBJ. Why the secrets? We aren't trying to get you to admit something so we can say 'gotcha' or anything like that. We are genuinely curious. Are you a white belt that does this for fun? Unpaid intern? Member of their marketing team? Rener himself? Context matters more than you're willing to admit.

Literally the only thing shaddy about what you do is not answer the questions about your affiliation with them. You should be proud of what you do. Personally if I was in your position I'd proudly say I was a paid representative of theirs.

 

[sb413197]

I liked at the end of the video how they separated the online belts from the in-person belts. That makes sense

I don't know, reading through this thread there seem to be a lot of people really worried about this thing but it just doesn't seem that bad IMHO. I've never rolled with a "gracie garage" guy but it seems like it would work. I mean we all use youtube etc sometimes anyway - some more than others - if they're rolling hard with a variety of training partners and going to seminars sometimes etc that could definitely work, especially if they're requiring in-person contact for the regular belt promotion

 

[SBJ]

From: https://www.facebook.com/javier.vazquez.1671

 

[Einarr]

Based Royce gets shit done.

 

[liuk3]

Based Royce gets shit done.

Huh?

 

[deadlizard]

the training is not the problem, it's the belting.

 

[Jeff Goldblum69]

I got my sherdog belt online

 

[ThatBJJGuy]

Based Royce gets shit done.

yup!

people can harp on about online belts but at the end of the day they were forced to change it to "technical blue belt"

shame it took 6 years

 

[Rambo121]

While I agree the online resources are great, they should change the belt to a yellow belt or something to avoid confusion.

Selling blue belts online is a joke and only diminishes the legitimacy of GJJ.

When you get your blue belt online you are also entitled to teach others.
I have rolled with one of these guys before and it was humiliating for him to say the least and he shouldn't be teaching anyone except maybe children the basics.
I was going to link the guys website to show you one of these "blue belts" that thinks he is qualified to teach but I think it may be against the sherdog rules and what not.

"Technical Belt" lol I should order a black belt online then I can be a "Technical Black Belt"

Its just a money making scheme.

My only real beef is the watering down of BJJ/GJJ, and in a way ruining something their ancestors created.

 

[nomilkforsanta]

They should just make a new belt color for their online program, maybe blue with a white strip down the center IBJJF does with kid belts. This way any honest instructor can tell them to take it off and wear a white belt without to much embarrassment.

edit: I really do feel bad for the people who buy this blue belt and take it to a real gym.

 

[JJedo]

The Martial Arts are an individual's person journey. Why is everyone so concerned about what other people are doing? Is your own journey not enough for you?