What's the general thought of the Gracie Barra Association?

[Balto]

Either that or he is opening a school in Oc imho

Cool.

Glad it worked out for him.

 

[NateTx4112]

The gym I'm looking at in particular has a black belt instructor that received it from Carlos Machado before going over to Gracie Barra. Though I believe the purple/browns teach the fundamentals classes there.

He has browns now??? His top blue belt moved to our school a little over a year ago.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I see at least purples in the class pic from last night on FB.

 

[tap nap or snap]

Culty - at least in Australia. They're the only affiliation I have seen air their dirty laundry on social media when someone leaves their gym. In saying that, there are lots of great GB gyms and very talented students and instructors.

 

[PayPerView]

McDojo of BJJ.

It's a hit or miss. you can train at a GB gym with world class BB instructor or GB gym with a purple belt as head instructor

I assume you are using the common definition of mcdojo, if you have your own definition then I would love to hear it.

My understanding of the term mcdojo originating from Bruce Lee is that it is a school which teaches techniques that do not work in the street or teaches watered down techniques. Gracie Barra has self defense implemented in their daily curriculum. Whether or not the instructor chooses to follow it is up to them, but it's there. So as far as that goes, GB is actually less of a mcdojo than a BJJ school that never teaches self defense and I've been to plenty of them.

Martial arts since then have evolved greatly and people don't always train for strictly self defense purposes of course. But what evidence do you have that the techniques taught at GB are watered down? I can tell you that a competent purple belt would be more suited to teach a fundamental class than a disinterested black belt. Belt level does not necessarily mean as much especially these days.

The second common definition of a mcdojo is a school that only cares about making money. Pretty much all BJJ schools are there to make money. If you believe otherwise then you are living in a fantasy world. I agree that certain uniform requirements and misleading contracts from poorly run GB schools have tarnished the reputation of the organization as a whole but these things occur at all BJJ schools and are not limited to GB. Every school I've ever trained at has required me to buy a patch and shirt.

 

[lechien]

Oh boy that should be fun.

 

[Hendo89]

Went to GB Hollywood, Mark (I think) was really nice, gave me 2 weeks training if I bought a GB t shirt. Small classes at lunch with good one on one coaching.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Like all associations it comes down to the academy and instructor. If you let us know which location you are considering, people on here can probably give you some useful advice.

 

[nooper]

When my local GB finally replied to my email, the told me their fundamentals was only 25% self defence; the other 3 quarters must be??? so I continue my search, but GB just didn't feel right for me.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I went ahead and signed up last night and did the Fundamentals class. Purple belt did the warm up exercises and stretches. Black belt taught the class. He taught from the GB Fundamentals Week 2 curriculum and taught a standing defense against a front kick. Then moved to breaking the closed guard, guard pass and choke in a linear progression.

We a couple of rounds of situational grappling working on that closed guard/pass/choke series. Then the purple belt led the cool down exercises and stretches.

I stayed and watched the advanced class. A brown belt led the warm exercises and stretches. (Black belt was talking to a potential new student) The same brown belt taught the first technique which was a standing Judo throw (Uki Goshi), then the black belt joined the class and showed a couple of variations of that throw. They did a ground technique, I forget which, then they started rolling. Everyone started standing.

The black belt rolled with the 3-4 stripe white belt belts and actively gave them advice. The brown belt, purple, blues rolled with each other. The black belt would periodically let the white belts roll together and walk through the class giving the higher belts advice on how to advance/defend their positions. I left before they got to the end of the class.

When I got home, I downloaded the GB Fundamentals week 1-4 app for my iPad and reviewed the video descriptions of the techniques that we worked on in class. I liked the ability to do this. Helped me wrap my mind around them more.

I've wanted to try out a school that incorporates self defense aspects into the curriculum and this GB school does. I'm going to stay a while and see how it goes. Thanks for the info.

 

[HockeyBjj]

I started at a Gracie Bara place. Instructor was amazing, no bullshit, learned a ton, and it never seemed like he was in it for the profit.

Good competition culture, and they didn't allow anything even close to sandbagging.

 

[Toothless King]

So as far as that goes, GB is actually less of a mcdojo than a BJJ school that never teaches self defense and I've been to plenty of them.
.

Alliance HQ, Atos, AOJ, Cobrina LA, Lovato, etc. are all sport BJJ.

Are they McDojos?

 

[NateTx4112]

What are the names of the purple and brown belt?

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I didn't ask them. One brown, two purples, two blues last night in addition to the black belt.

 

[NateTx4112]

Just curious as of the names. I should know them more than likely.

 

[NSchoke]

Alliance HQ, Atos, AOJ, Cobrina LA, Lovato, etc. are all sport BJJ.

Are they McDojos?

If Gracie Barra is considered McDojo, Alliance should be also. They allow purple belts to open affiliates from what I've heard.

 

[KarateFist]

If Gracie Barra is considered McDojo, Alliance should be also. They allow purple belts to open affiliates from what I've heard.

yep, there is an MMA gym near me that is affiliated with Alliance and the instructor is a "purple" belt, although I don't think this guy has rolled a minute outside his own gym and for whatever certification class they run in atlanta

 

[combatcvic]

I personally saw a GB allow a guy to go from purple to black in a year, and I watched memorized, within month of that black belt he was instructor at an affiliate gym in the area. This was not in California so Bjj academies were harder to come by. It happens in California too. Several GBs have closed in OC and several left for their own affiliation.