What specifically do you dislike about Gracie Barra schools?

[JustSomeGuy]

I also think it's really silly to make BB teach takedowns they have very little experience in doing (there a different takedown technique each week).

Yeah, I've seen the curriculum and there's like a 2-week slot for "Inner Thigh Throw". Good luck getting a usable Uchi Mata practicing it for 10 minutes after the warm-up for 2 weeks every 16 weeks taught by someone who doesn't know how to do it properly. :icon_conf

What BJJ school has a better approach? And what is it?

 

[nefti]

This one struck me as odd at first as well. I think I read somewhere that he has 600 blackbelts under him. But then I remembered that he has run one of the most successful BJJ schools in Rio and California for the last 31 years combined. I'm guessing you could create a lot of black belts in that amount of time. Some of the best black belts in the world came out of there as a matter of fact.

Let's not forget that whel Rolls died all of the Gracie family members who wasn't/didn't want to train under Rorion or Carlson went to Carlinhos. Just from that that's a large number.

 

[brendan raedy]

This one struck me as odd at first as well. I think I read somewhere that he has 600 blackbelts under him. But then I remembered that he has run one of the most successful BJJ schools in Rio and California for the last 31 years combined. I'm guessing you could create a lot of black belts in that amount of time. Some of the best black belts in the world came out of there as a matter of fact.

Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out at Gold's Gym.

Brauilo is Gracie Barra.

Some white belt at a random GB affiliate has about as much in common with Braulio as your next door neighbor who works out at Gold's does with Arnold.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Some white belt at a random GB affiliate has about as much in common with Braulio as your next door neighbor who works out at Gold's does with Arnold.

This is specifically what you don't like about Gracie Barra?

 

[Os3y3ris]

This shit:

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f12/whats-going-gracie-barra-2114977/

Plus, Carlos Gracie Jr likes to turn up at belt promotions looking for thousands of dollars.

The burglaries and shit aren't too charming either. Not to mention the rape spree.

Then there's the time they formed a right wing hate group and launched attacks against homosexuals.

 

[brendan raedy]

This is specifically what you don't like about Gracie Barra?

No, I don't dislike GB in particular for that. Basically every major affiliation is like that. I was just responding to the bolded point in the post I quoted.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

Yeah, I've seen the curriculum and there's like a 2-week slot for "Inner Thigh Throw". Good luck getting a usable Uchi Mata practicing it for 10 minutes after the warm-up for 2 weeks every 16 weeks taught by someone who doesn't know how to do it properly. :icon_conf

The BJJ seoi nages are the most painful to watch, for me.

Back in the day, I was always taught an ugly drop seoi.... which I didn't realize was ugly until I started taking judo lol.

 

[Leify]

What BJJ school has a better approach? And what is it?

Plenty of BJJ schools offer wrestling/judo classes taught by legitimately knowledgable and experienced people.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

What BJJ school has a better approach?

A judo club, or have a judoka teach them in a separate class.

And what is it?

Practicing throws relentlessly until you get good at them.

The learning curve for each throw is steep, even for the basic, day 1 throws.

 

[Musheen]

My general problem with GB is guys getting promoted for the sake of promotion or because they have x-many years at x-belt color. So what. It just waters down the art and makes belts lose their meaning. Far too often I have come across guys who are GB blues or purple, and are just rubbish. While is an occurrence across many gyms, not just GB, GB is one of the biggest gyms out there, making them one of the biggest offenders.

A promotion should be given because you've reached the skill level that your belt represents, not because you have done it a long time. It doesn't matter if you've trained 20 years, you should only be getting a x-color belt if you are on the same skill level as other x-color belts.

 

[1A11]

Do all of the various Gracie academies have the same problems as Gracie Barra? I'm looking at a Ralph Gracie dojo and am wondering if it's the same?

 

[mr violent]

Do all of the various Gracie academies have the same problems as Gracie Barra? I'm looking at a Ralph Gracie dojo and am wondering if it's the same?

No. Not even all the Gracie Barras have the same problems as Gracie Barra.

It's a large affiliation, and with over 400 affiliated academies, to say that what happens in one will happen in the other is idiotic at best.

 

[Zankou]

Yeah the individual school is VASTLY more important than the affiliation it belongs to.

 

[lechien]

Plenty of BJJ schools offer wrestling/judo classes taught by legitimately knowledgable and experienced people.

We teach jj out if a judo dojo . Students can learn judo from a 7th kodokan bb. 4 times per week.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

A judo club, or have a judoka teach them in a separate class.
Practicing throws relentlessly until you get good at them.
The learning curve for each throw is steep, even for the basic, day 1 throws.

Plenty of BJJ schools offer wrestling/judo classes taught by legitimately knowledgable and experienced people.

So if we are saying that BJJ itself can't successfully teach throws, then why do we call it a negative if a BJJ system has any at all? Talking pure BJJ here. No MMA.

Are you saying the negative is that Gracie Barra even tries to teach throws/takedowns? The solution being remove all throws and tell students if they want to learn that then they need to find a school that teaches that?

 

[Rivet L]

So if we are saying that BJJ itself can't successfully teach throws, then why do we call it a negative if a BJJ system has any at all? Talking pure BJJ here. No MMA.

Are you saying the negative is that Gracie Barra even tries to teach throws/takedowns? The solution being remove all throws and tell students if they want to learn that then they need to find a school that teaches that?

I've dealt with 3 approaches that worked:
1)School has a wrestling/judo program
2)Teach only single-leg set-ups to various finishes, and guard pulls to various finishes (ie. uki waza, tomoe nage)
3)Have an instructor that has a specific stand-up game for BJJ -- these are very rare.

Option number 2 is the most practical and logistically-viable, as those are also key components of an open guard.

...and YES, it's much better to teach no stand-up at all then to teach it badly. Improperly taught judo and wrestling leads to injury, ineffectiveness, and possibly law-suits.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

I've dealt with 3 approaches that worked:
1)School has a wrestling/judo program
2)Teach only single-leg set-ups to various finishes, and guard pulls to various finishes (ie. uki waza, tomoe nage)
3)Have an instructor that has a specific stand-up game for BJJ -- these are very rare.

Option number 2 is the most practical and logistically-viable, as those are also key components of an open guard.

...and YES, it's much better to teach no stand-up at all then to teach it badly. Improperly taught judo and wrestling leads to injury, ineffectiveness, and possibly law-suits.

Yup. Only I would just tack on the lack of sufficient ukemi practice.

Even if you're teaching throws well, and you're giving the students plenty of time to work on them, it will mean jack all if they all keep getting injured because they can't fall properly on a consistent basis.

 

[Paulo Dutra]

Even here, in Brasil, a lot of schools doesn't teach throws/takedowns anymore. We only focus on single and double legs all the time .
It's a shame.
But as Rivet said, its better not teaching than Improperly teach judo and wrestling.

P.S. I'm not a GB studdent

 

[ThatBJJGuy]

My general problem with GB is guys getting promoted for the sake of promotion or because they have x-many years at x-belt color. So what. It just waters down the art and makes belts lose their meaning. Far too often I have come across guys who are GB blues or purple, and are just rubbish. While is an occurrence across many gyms, not just GB, GB is one of the biggest gyms out there, making them one of the biggest offenders.

A promotion should be given because you've reached the skill level that your belt represents, not because you have done it a long time. It doesn't matter if you've trained 20 years, you should only be getting a x-color belt if you are on the same skill level as other x-color belts.

100% agree on gradings. Its what happens at GB school

 

[kjg1672]

Sorry to get a little off topic, but it's depressing to read about BBs with bad takedowns. Any instructor who doesn't have his students go live from the feet at least some of the time is doing them a huge disservice.