After reading a recent article in a Gracie Magazine about the importance of one's training environment, a though came across my mind. Is it possible for a person not surrounded by several black belts and top athletes to ever be on the same level of student's who are? I mean for someone to train everyday until they are a BB at a place like Brasa in Brazil compared to a school that is filled with white belts and the highest level guy around is yourself, how can you really compete with these others guys and their experiences at international level tournaments? I mean eventually this guy will be a BB, but even at that point he probably could be spanked by some purples and browns from top schools...let alone black belts. Case in point, look at the level difference in guys like Galvao and his recent opponent at the Mundials with the video floating around. Thoughts...
Yes. Latest proof - guys from croatia. Train by themself, al white belst and few blue, and blue belt places second in european championship, and second in mundials. Search blue belt, adult - matko kuesic from alliance NomeFaixaIdadePesoColocacaoAcademia It probably takes a more training time, and will and its probably alot harder, but ist possible.....
I guess I am referring to higher level belts like brown and black...there is a lot of talent in the purples and under but it is worlds apart from the higher belts.
i think it matters big time. take for example universities. people from harvard would on average be more smarter and ambitious than people from a junior college. at harvard you are competing with each other for grades because everything is curved. obviously the average scores at harvard will be high and therefore harder to get a good grade at that school. if one scores the average he gets a c+ and if one scores above the average he gets a b or higher or if one scores below the average he or she would get a d or an f. what makes this so hard is because everybody is so smart that the curve is set real hard. now compare this situation with a junior college. even in a junior college nothing is really curved. the courses are relatively easier and it is easier to get a high grade cause you are not competing amongst your peers. now why are brazilians better than everybody in bjj? is it because they are more athletic than people in the united states? i seriously doubt it. just look at the olympics and compare the medals won by the u.s. compared with the medals won by brazil. bottom line is that certain environments produce different standards. so it is very possible that a black belt from a dojo in the united states would only be a blue belt in a dojo in rio de janero brazil.
What a bad example. People in Harvard are selected because of their grades, which means their intelligence, diligence, and work ethic. People in junior college smoke pot in front of picnic tables outside after class. They are not equal to begin with.
there has to be some sort of outside instruction. my school is owned by a purple belt on the cusp of brown. he trains under a black belt at another school, basically teaching us everything he learns. It comes down to the environment will not so much hold back your goals as it will decide the speed at which you attain your goals.
your wrong. students at Harvard smoke pot as well. The quality of the weed is much greater at Harvard then the quality at a junior college. true stuff, look it up.
Def agree. Would be nice to train at a school where there are 5-10 legit BB in class on a regular basis. But what can we poor Americans do......
Def agree. Would be nice to train at a school where there are 5-10 legit BB in class on a regular basis. But what can we poor Americans do......
I find it really ironic reading some of the comments in this thread after watching the Matt Hughes / Royce Gracie fight last night (it was on UFC wired).
Def agree. Would be nice to train at a school where there are 5-10 legit BB in class on a regular basis. But what can we poor Americans do......
I think it does matter at very high levels. If you never train against the best how can you measure your ability. That being said one can become very very good just by working hard and learning and sticking with the basics. Judo and wrestling come to mind. There might be a club or HS gym filled with wrestlers who are average or just better than average but on occassion you have an athlete that shines above the rest and can be state champions (wrestling) or junior champions (judo) even though the coach nor the other athletes are of that level. I would say that when one does reach a fairly high skill level then perhaps it is time to seek out a club with a higher number of quality players.
actually the people who get into Harvard were already geniuses/hard workers from the beginning hence why they got in.
I just think it is hard to be at the same competitive level as these other guys. Especially when one becomes a black belt, s/he wants to look equal or better with their peers and not be mopped up on the mat.
