How have your opinions of BJJ changed over the years?

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TalkShowOnMute

dancingonthecorpsesashes
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I would like to know. How did you feel about the art when you started? (Most deadly/complete art ever?, Great camaraderie?) and how do you feel about it now?

The same? If not, what has changed?

I don't want this to feel like a survey, I just really wonder about this. No one seems to vocalize it much. I know my opinions have changed drastically since I first started training, so much that I've nearly stopped training altogether. (I get in 3 or 4 sessions a year nowadays.)


So yeah, how did you feel, and where are you now. If rank seems relevant, go ahead and say it.


For example:
For me, being a fresh white belt...vs now being a 6 year 3-stripe blue with a degrading body..very different thoughts on the art and culture. But I don't want this to be about me, I'm more interested in yours.
 
IBJJF = Imperial Empire.

It's a great art being polluted and babied by the sport rules. I like competing less and less now because of it (despite loving to compete).
My current team i absolutely love, makes me feel like a family member nearly.

As far as culturally goes, it has it's gang mentality from time to time and this creonte stuff i just don't care for.
 
I came to it with the perspective of a standup TMArtist. Elongated stances, fear of "the ground" and the people who excelled there, worrying about eye gouges and eagle claws and such. It took a while to suppress all the notions that the fairly ignorant world of standup TMA had ingrained in me. From the get-go though, I knew there was a certain depth to groundfighting, that it was a huge aspect of the game that I was missing, and that I couldn't stay sheltered in the world of forms and board-breaks forever if I wanted to have a well-rounded game. One of the most ridiculous notions that every TMArtist I knew back then seemed to have, was that "wrestling" was about using "strength against strength" as opposed to using the opponent's momentum against them, which is what we believed we were training in. I'm glad I was one of the few who started to doubt those statements and to try to expand my horizons
 
It changed drastically.

I went from white belt and team member to running my own club.

I spend my time tuning up my curriculum, finding ways to teach and learn new techniques.

Looking foward to create the next generation and hopefully keep the club as a non profit organisation run by and for amateurs.
 
Interesting to watch some people, and it is probably based on their unique experiences, progressively become disillusioned with the BJJ scene and others truly find that environment they are looking for.

I wonder if it is based on the person and their outlook, or may be some of us just choose the wrong direction in the sometime "choose your own adventure" styling of jiu jitsu.

Some people are affected more by the politics and whatnot where others can simply tune that out and just have a great time doing BJJ. (Or maybe some are fortunate and never really experience negative things related to BJJ.) Very interesting to me.
 
Brown belt about ten years.

Guys are more afraid of fighting now. I hear a lot of people say "I am scared to get punched in the face." When I started, you would never hear something like that.

BJJ is also really dirty and corrupt. I think that the majority of dudes are pretty good people, but there is a pretty nasty core of scumbags that operate basically unchecked because BJJ culture hates to rock the boat.

I don't think the dirty part is a change either. I think I just didn't get to see when I was new.
 
well, the politics are annoying and you need to be able to ignore it.

it is not that easy especially with the so called loyalty expected from paying customers.

it was difficult for me because the relationship changed.

when I started, my instructor was still working and teaching on the side.

One he builded enougth customers base to make a living teaching fulltime, my outlook or view on that relationship changed.
 
Been training over three years now I think.

When I started I thought "wow, what a great atmosphere, such great people, and the instructor is a super chill friendly guy." I would read about BJJ drama and politics and scoff, "not at my gym."

Well... lets just say I still train with great people, and I just try to keep my mouth shut. The camaraderie with my team mates keeps me going.

I get the sense that the politics and ego bullshit is a taint that all martial arts suffer, not just BJJ.
 
balto said:
brown belt about ten years.

Guys are more afraid of fighting now. I hear a lot of people say "i am scared to get punched in the face." when i started, you would never hear something like that.

Bjj is also really dirty and corrupt. I think that the majority of dudes are pretty good people, but there is a pretty nasty core of scumbags that operate basically unchecked because bjj culture hates to rock the boat.

I don't think the dirty part is a change either. I think i just didn't get to see when i was new.
Click to expand...

100%.
 
And what I mean really is..there are a lot of things that go on..good and bad..and I wonder how it changes some of our perceptions. I probably over-think and analyze, but here are some of the things I mull over.

Things like:

Current competition scene (The "popular" styles and changes in competition. The rules. How does this affect the training environment at your school?)

-Upper Echelon BJJ Drama. (Things that happen in regards to the top guys in the sport.)

-The ever-expanding schools and instructors. (Influx of scheisters or simply the number of people training in general and locations. BJJ is showing up everywhere. Level of school/instructor may vary) (Some say the "watering down".)

-And the stuff I try to ignore (sometimes unsuccessfully) (online training/Gracie drama - Helio filter (Who trains real jiu jitsu??)/current state of BJJ/legit BJJ competitors in MMA)

-Basics?/Self-defense or competition/ Jiu jitsu Lifestyle

-Do you feel like family in your gym? Or another dollar?
 
Also, these thread can be a little tempered as no one really wants to ruffle feathers, make enemies, or cause problems in their gym. (I don't want to cause problems in your gym by having you respond here.)

I just feel the guys that do train all of the world should maintain a constant dialog on the reality that they see. Too many people just accept the ..eat acai and train lifestyle. The bromances. (nothing wrong with them.)

Those are the guys that tend to turn a blind-eye to anything shady. And that hurts the are in the long-run in my opinion.
 
i remember thinking bjj had the most terrifying grappling in general, then i realized wrestlers had the takedowns, judoka had the pins and top turtle, sambo guys had the leglocks, and mma and bjj are not the same animal technique wise.

also the ibjjf are cancer to the sport in general, and the politics has worse drama than most reality tv shows.


my gym i see like most things in life where somewhat large groups are together (eg work, school, sports teams) in that there are a handful of people i get along with really well, a handful of people i would rather avoid, a handful of people that probably barely know i exist and the rest im acquaintances/mildly friendly with

also i enjoy the gi way more than my former just bleed trane ufc brah self would have imagined
 
I think I've explained it before, but jiu jitsu is like a marriage.

I met BJJ 14 years ago. Married the game 12 years ago. I still love jiu jitsu but the love is not the same. If anything, its something that nags, and gets on my nerves if I stay close by too long, but its something I will always go back to. My dedication is something that I can't put into words. Have we grown apart? Yeah. Did BJJ change on me? Sometimes I think I did, sometimes I think this is what it always was, but I was too young and stupid to recognize it. Sometimes I think that everything is perfectly normal and I've just been involved a little too long.
 
Balto said:
Guys are more afraid of fighting now. I hear a lot of people say "I am scared to get punched in the face." When I started, you would never hear something like that.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of that has to do with the increased availability of BJJ. In the early 90's, the only people who had heard of BJJ were people who were already fighters and saw BJJ in action, people who liked fighting and saw the early UFCs, or people who were already martial artists and read about it in Black Belt Magazine or something. Out of those people, the people who sought out BJJ instruction were looking to train BJJ as a fighting style, not as a sport or a hobby or fitness regimen. Add in the fact that BJJ gyms were few and far between, the people who were the type to pick up and move to a new state or drive 2 hours each way to train are not likely the type of people to be afraid of getting hit in the mouth.
 
I dislike the current style of competition BJJ that Im going back to the more basic ...position submission style....good top game and good takedowns

im sick of this double butt sitting.

the bermibolo aint nothing once you know how to stop it

Gambledub said:
also the ibjjf are cancer to the sport in general, and the politics has worse drama than most reality tv shows.
Click to expand...

They need to get rid of advantages..save jiu jitsu! get back to the older mind set that guys in the early 2000's had
 
Calibur said:
I think I've explained it before, but jiu jitsu is like a marriage.

I met BJJ 14 years ago. Married the game 12 years ago. I still love jiu jitsu but the love is not the same. If anything, its something that nags, and gets on my nerves if I stay close by too long, but its something I will always go back to. My dedication is something that I can't put into words. Have we grown apart? Yeah. Did BJJ change on me? Sometimes I think I did, sometimes I think this is what it always was, but I was too young and stupid to recognize it. Sometimes I think that everything is perfectly normal and I've just been involved a little too long.
Click to expand...

Definitely similar to mine but a shorter journey..I've been "training" for 7 or so.



It's funny the more things you know about something you love, the harder it is to love it unconditionally.
 
I started a long time ago but didn't start training consistently until a couple years ago. I've seen it go from effective martial art to a sport. It seems like very few school I've been to teach anything self defense. I get it but it's just not what I want personally, I like what works
 
started bjj 2 years ago as my first martial art and i really didn't think much of it, i wanted to learn how to defend myself mostly. Fast foward to now, i am a blue belt and this is more than just a sport or self defense art...It is a mental game and has made me a better person all around and I now have something i can call a hobby.

Ive competed before and I do not like the way they're set up, I believe in submission only in this sport and that is my own opinion. I fight not to score a point but to choke or take a limb with me.
 
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