"Jiu Jitsu for everyone"... is this widespread ?

It depends, jiu jitsu is not for everyone, i realized this a couple of years by now. No matter how soft you make the class, not everyone gets hooked on rolling, some people just can’t take it, the physical aspect of the game, the long learning curve and the ego crushing, some can, some enjoy and some just don’t like it. GB is one of the most competitive teams in the world, you can , be a competitor, you can be a gym Rambo or you can just do it to enjoy yourself lose weight whatever. There are other teams which are way more focus on competition though. It’s your choice, if you are at a gb gym, and you want to compete, the training should be good enough as in most other gyms, at least if you are in a real gym and not a mcdojo

Thanks man , that's really helpful
 
Oh my instructor at Gracie Barra is a very legit black belt. I have no doubts about that part. You're right though about the GB business model watering down skill level, but what I pay a month is only $150 which seems very reasonable for what you get in return

Watering down?

Not really.

It is a game number.

I would say your hardcore fulltime training competitors are less than 5% of your membership.

Not enough to keep paying the instructors and the rest of expenses.

Now back to the drama about promoting the rest in due time.

The reality is what we do is freaking hard.

Even if someone train for a year, I can tell that he or she is better than someone that never train.

You might think they sucks because they are bottom feeders in your group based in your exp ectations.

Let put it this way, you are more desensitized to Bjj skills as you train longer and you don't see the improvement because your expectations have already increased based on your increased knowledge.

When I was a white belt, I thought blue belt were Jedi. Never mind what a purple belt was...we did not not even have them to roll with. We just had a blue belt that was white for 6 years and one black belt. No you tube or books.

The day we learned omoplata..it was the best thing ever....

But nowadays, omoplata is a staple move.
 
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Helios taught to businessmen and politicians, if that isn't "jiu jitsu for everyone" I don't know what is.
 
jiu jitsu) is to protect the indivisual, the older man, the weak, the child, the lady and the young woman from being dominanted and hurt by some bum because they don’t have the physical attributes to defend themselves.
-helio gracie
Sounds like jiu jitsu for everyone to me
 
Jiu jitsu is judo for everyone.

In my case you're kind of right, I'm 35 and when we start on the feet, I just hope that we get on the ground fast and without any damage.

Being thrown around is not for everyone.
 
Oh my instructor at Gracie Barra is a very legit black belt. I have no doubts about that part. You're right though about the GB business model watering down skill level, but what I pay a month is only $150 which seems very reasonable for what you get in return

I don't get why you think it's watering down anything, sometimes you can get a jewel from those demographics that will do it for years and years. It doesn't do you any harm, if your class is big enough you should be able to always train with the ''competitive ones'', let the casuals do their stuff. Personnaly I don't mind the hobbyists, rolling with them is sometimes pointless but in the technical parts you just have to guide them so they don't mess up your drilling.

We have the begginers class where we do mostly techniques and have a 10-15 minutes of rolling and specific sparring that can be done by pretty much anybody. Just after we have another class with about 15 minutes of techniques and 45 minutes of sparring. The other classes are about 45 minutes of techniques and 45 minutes of sparring. Some hobbyist just do the beginners class

At my gym, it's for everyone, but if you don't show that you want to spar a lot, by going to the classes with more sparring or going to the open mats, you won't have any promotions. Promotions are only on the way you behave in sparring. Not meaning that you have to tap everyone to have a promotion, more of the way you react to situations and how you manage to use what we learned in class. So if you only go to the 2 beginners class, it's gonna take you 6 months to a year to get one stripe, the classes are super cheap (800 can$ a year) and the coach doesn't how you anything.
 
This really shocked me. I really thought the opposite and that if you transported a blue belt from the old days he would mop the floor with today's purple and even brown belts.

For the most part, no. Not likely. As lechian said, most of us only had other white belts and the occasional blue belt to train with. In fact, most of the schools in the country at the time were actively run by blue belts. Think about that. Most schools were run by blue belts and it was not only accepted, but you were actually pumped if you managed to find one. Now if a school is run by a blue belt people start yelling about "frauds" and "mcdojos". This isn't because blue belts were so good back then either. It's because that's all we had. It was years before I saw my first black belt. I trained in the "early days" then took time off for school and to get my career started. When I finally came back there was a brown belt running a school near me. Big Foot himself may as well have ridden a unicorn into the building to hand me my membership forms.

Now days, most schools have classes 3+ times a day for 5-7 days a week. Most schools have multiple black belts and it's not uncommon to have as many blue belts as you do white belts. That creates a very different environment in my opinion, than what we had back then. Now days, to train with a black belt is easy to do. Back then, even finding a black belt was a challenge. You can't help but get better in an environment where most of us are this spoiled.
 
BJJ isn't for everyone. There can be plenty of reasons why that's the case. Some people have behavioral disorders that keep them from engaging in close contact with others. Some people have chronic injuries or disabilities that prevent them from doing even the most basic of movements in BJJ like bridging and shrimping. And that's fine.

Now does every BJJ gym need to be full of killers who spar 100% and compete every week? With a huge focus on creating athletes? No. The people interested in that will create their own spaces.

Now does every BJJ gym need to be full of 40 year old dad bods and soccer moms wanting to wrassle around, learn a little something to be less likely to get their ass kicked, and have something to feel good about? No, the people interested in this will find a place for it.

But one type of gym (hardcore) doesn't invalidate the need for the other one (hobby), and vice versa. They can both exist in harmony. Just like there are hardcore power lifting gyms turning out strength athletes, and then there are "fitness centers" for the slobs. In that sense, BJJ can be for "anyone" like Calibur said.

And for the people that don't fit into either of the above categories for whatever reason, there are other martial arts that can accommodate them.
 
"Jiu jitsu for everyone" is essentially the dominant business model for Gracie Barra (where I train). I've had a revolving door for people coming in from other gyms and then quit. Overall they seem better than most people at our gym. Another black belt there that teaches our class sometimes subtly makes fun of the whole "bjj for everyone" as it dumbs down the talent pool.

Are all bjj gyms like that now ? I understand running s bjj gym is hard and you need as many members as possible just to survive let alone eke out a profit, but for anyone on here that started training "in the old days" do you see bjj now as too mainstream and dumbed down to the point where a black belt today would be a purple belt back then? Are all bjj gyms now openly accepting and going out to get anyone who isnl willing to put on a gi and pay the monthly dues ?

Thank you

No, if anything it's the opposite. There's so much more knowledge out there and standards are much higher these days. Though I will say, you can get a black belt these days without being expected to really know how to fight, and most old school black belts trained at least some MMA as it was much more part of the culture at the time.

In general I'm not a big fan of the 'BJJ for everyone' model, though that's mostly a matter of personal preference. I won't claim it's inherently bad. As long as MMA is around as a sport there will be places for people more interested in fighting to get their submission grappling training, so a more inclusive model doesn't represent an existential threat to effective BJJ.
 
"Jiu jitsu for everyone" is essentially the dominant business model for Gracie Barra (where I train). I've had a revolving door for people coming in from other gyms and then quit. Overall they seem better than most people at our gym. Another black belt there that teaches our class sometimes subtly makes fun of the whole "bjj for everyone" as it dumbs down the talent pool.

Are all bjj gyms like that now ? I understand running s bjj gym is hard and you need as many members as possible just to survive let alone eke out a profit, but for anyone on here that started training "in the old days" do you see bjj now as too mainstream and dumbed down to the point where a black belt today would be a purple belt back then? Are all bjj gyms now openly accepting and going out to get anyone who isnl willing to put on a gi and pay the monthly dues ?

Thank you
A bjj gym is business, and a business always accepts money. The landlord doesn’t care how legit your gym is, and the electric company sure don’t care. I think a good gym, that want to keep its doors open, promotes bjj being for everyone, but at the same time allows the “legit” folks to get serious. If your think regular class is powder puff? Hit that open mat and find like minded serious folks to roll with. But remember that revolving door of white belts pays for mat your sweating on. And Gracie Barra is a well respected gym. There’s one in Birmingham Alabama ( we see them at most tournaments around the Southeast) and they are generally very competitive if not dominating the mat.
 
No athletic activity is for everyone. The average American would have a hard time running a 100 yard dash without having a heart attack or lapsing into a diabetic coma.
 
If you can take the bruises and beatings - especially when you're white to blue.

Also, if you can afford gis which can be expensive and the high dues.

But other than that - yeah for everyone.
 
This business model even extends to prominent mma gyms like jackson-wink and AMC.

My coach and gym owner once told me, “fighters don’t pay the bills”

Which is perfectly fine because even though mma gyms have cardio mitt kickboxing classes, they are still producing talent.

Although I do wonder if bjj and mma gyms were run like boxing and wrestling centers if the talent pool would increase tenfold...
 
Helios taught to businessmen and politicians, if that isn't "jiu jitsu for everyone" I don't know what is.
Well .. it's not cuz if u dint hae money as far as he was concerned it wasn't for you!
 
This business model even extends to prominent mma gyms like jackson-wink and AMC.

My coach and gym owner once told me, “fighters don’t pay the bills”

Which is perfectly fine because even though mma gyms have cardio mitt kickboxing classes, they are still producing talent.

Although I do wonder if bjj and mma gyms were run like boxing and wrestling centers if the talent pool would increase tenfold...
Not only do they not pay the bills I've seen instances where they decide they needn't continue paying the fee to remain a member of the gym! They think their contributions by representing the gym in competitions is payment enough despite all the disproportionate attention they receive compared to "normal" members. They even leave out of spite and train with other gyms or fighters.
 
"Jiu jitsu for everyone" is essentially the dominant business model for Gracie Barra (where I train). I've had a revolving door for people coming in from other gyms and then quit. Overall they seem better than most people at our gym. Another black belt there that teaches our class sometimes subtly makes fun of the whole "bjj for everyone" as it dumbs down the talent pool.

Are all bjj gyms like that now ? I understand running s bjj gym is hard and you need as many members as possible just to survive let alone eke out a profit, but for anyone on here th.

On that started training "in the old days" do you see bjj now as too mainstream and dumbed down to the point where a black belt today would be a purple belt back then? Are all bjj gyms now openly accepting and going out to get anyone who isnl willing to put on a gi and pay the monthly dues ?

Thank you

It's what the atmosphere makes it out to be. I'm sure there are "Jiu jitsu for everyone"rs' that may want to thrown down and compete. You just have to stick together.

The talent pool is expanding. You hope the ones that stick are good. There's no issue with anyone doing it for fun and fitness. The instructors have to keep a leash on the killers.
 
I remember something that my instructors in two different self-defense disciplines (one of which is jiu jitsu) said to me. They both separately said something to the effect that they don't worry about someone like me necessarily ( 6 ft tall, 195 lbs). They are more concerned about the weaker, smaller, unathletic people as those are the people that need training the most. Kind of changed my perspective on things. It is for anyone who is not willing to quit.
 
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