The BJJ attitude

[LiteBlu]

LOL! I have read this whole thread and all I have to say is this:



SHOGUN = OWNED



RFLMAO!

 

[Shogun]

Not really. I proved my point. All I had to do was "leave out the facts" and BAM! the truth..


PS Kudos to Barra Brazil to showing me and others not all BJJ guys are A holes.
Hedgehogey was and now he's banned.

 

[CrankyDragon]

What he's probably reffering to as "fake" is that the majority of yoshin-ryu, daito-ryu, etc. schools don't train "alive", with real resistance (I was in daito-ryu for six months). Instead, usually practice is done against compliant partners.

Much like Aikido, which I why I transitioned to BJJ, which offers a chance to feel your techniques in a "real world" situation, where the Uke is trying to not let you perform the technique.

The attitude comes from a put-up or shut-up competitive attitude

That may very well be a large contributing factor.

i think alot of this attitude is from "newbies" in their style.

Any different in any other style? I think not... What "yellow belt" doesnt think they can whip the world? Also, likely 80% of yellow belts levels are young, hence the lack of developed maturity. I say the statmenet is applicable for all arts and sports in general.

So my question is how good should you really be after training in a style for 3 yrs.?

Only as good as that individual has the potential to be. Trying to put a style with performance is fruitless.

We should all respect each other’s arts, especially if we know nothing about it!!

Agreed, and also respect the arts we do know something about.

How many people have you poked in the eye?

Who me? Just 2. myself, and my little brother.

Now I had to chuckle at that one...

I've been to a BJJ school once. Some of the people were very nice, others wouldn't even look at me or say hi because I was new.

That dojo is night and day different to the dojo I train at now which has a lot of grappling, everyone helps out everyone.

I too am lucky, the school Im at now everyone is nice and willing to help teach! This is a reflection that the negative attitudes that others perceive are not necessarily (Sp?) the fault of the art.

Just one. He was questioning my ability to remove him from the bar I was working in. I was about 70kgs (155lbs) at the time, and he was around 100 (220lbs). He grabbed me. I put my right thumb in his left eye. He let go of me. He left the bar.

It works ok.

HAHAHA!

Despite the attitude I get from BJJer's (not all, like I said) I am going to try out a class on tuesday.

Here is the link:

Tap or snap

Ya know, I look at the instructors... and they look cocky! But, I bet they are good. I get the impression they are not just training for the art, but for the RING.

I might go back, but I'd have to make time, and I find my style more effective for actual combat.

Nothing wrong with that, WooTs! out to you!!

 

[Eternal Beginner]

I too am lucky, the school Im at now everyone is nice and willing to help teach! This is a reflection that the negative attitudes that others perceive are not necessarily (Sp?) the fault of the art.

My BJJ gym is very friendly as well. But I have to add a bit to that to make it absolutely true. At first, the people were considerate and polite...but didn't really engage you all that much. I found this strange at first because I had come from a school that was full of housewives and kids that was chatty and relaxed, so the somewhat "cool" reception seemed odd. After attending I finally realised that I was doing the same thing and I figured out why.

When you go to a BJJ school you are often flooded (especially after a PPV UFC or now that TUF is on) with wannabes who figure they will jump out there and learn it all and want to sit and shoot the breeze about their favorite fighters. 98% of the time they come for a week or two and you never, ever see them again because they realise it is work, hard work...and that sucks the fun out of it for them. They soon realise that the guys who are there are actually there to learn BJJ and are not just there to be able to say they do BJJ - big difference.

Maybe it isn't the ideal situation, but you have to have sympathy for the guys who train consistently and sincerely having to always deal with "the next UFC champions" who walk through the door. If they were to invest tons of emotional energy into what is most likely a fleeting fellow student, you could wind up very tired and disappointed. I now have a similar policy. A new student comes in, I am polite, civil and amiable..but I don't go much deeper than that until they train consistently for quite a while. It isn't snobbishness, it is a fact of life.

 

[AdrenalineJunky]

(Before I begin, let me say this is just my opinion, no offense is meant by it)


I have talked to several guys who take BJJ from various schools in my area. Everyone of them thinks there is nothing that can touch BJJ. They have cocky attitudes and the words they use to describe MAs the havent heard of: Fake.

They, apparently, have never felt a Sawk Ku Kao Loy.

 

[kenpohack]

(Before I begin, let me say this is just my opinion, no offense is meant by it)


I have talked to several guys who take BJJ from various schools in my area. Everyone of them thinks there is nothing that can touch BJJ. They have cocky attitudes and the words they use to describe MAs the havent heard of: Fake.
One of my aquaintances attends a local BJJ academy, and when I told him the martial arts I practice he had nothing nice to say. he said the Grappling we did in Budo Taijutsu is irrelevent, and said he'd never heard of styles such as Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu. I try to explain about the martial arts, but get nothing but rolling eyes. He said, "do you guys run around in little black masks and hide from each other?" anyone else experience this kinda "better than thou" attitude with BJJ guys?

I know exactly what you mean. I study both bjj and kenpo. When I first started to scout bjj schools in my town, I had a 5th degree black belt tell me to quit kenpo because it's worthless. I thanked him for his time and ran from that school. I think the attitude permeates the art from beginners to teachers alike.

That being said, I've found many humble teachers and practitioners. Nevertheless, there is still a quiet air of superiority that is easily detectable when looking for it even among the seemingly humble. In reality, bjj is a rugged style. It's an art that focuses on combat and winning. It does both very effectively. Most bjj guys know they can beat other martial artists, so their arrogance is not unfounded. What most bjj fighters don't realize is that it is less their art that is superior than their training habits. Most bjj classes are at least two hours, one hour of which is spent doing nothing but sparring. The average practitioner does three hours or more of sparring per week. Confidence can metamorphose into cockiness when one is not careful.

 

[AdrenalineJunky]

Most bjj guys know they can beat other martial artists,

Depends on the circumstances, really. I'm not trying to knock BJJ, but it's not the be-all-end-all art, any more than Muay Thai is. A lot of people know nothing about BJJ; I think that's what makes it most effective. I was training my Kenpoka buddy for the sparring portion of his advancement test. . .they didn't have a clue what to do with some of the Thai blocks and strikes (ones that he could use, anyway). Besides, how long has it been since a Gracie fought in the UFC?

Seems like cross-training a striking system is pretty necessary when it comes to BJJ, although I have little first-hand knowledge.

 

[Flying Crane]

What most bjj fighters don't realize is that it is less their art that is superior than their training habits. Most bjj classes are at least two hours, one hour of which is spent doing nothing but sparring. The average practitioner does three hours or more of sparring per week. Confidence can metamorphose into cockiness when one is not careful.

Well said, I would have to agree with you.

 

[arnisador]

Excellent point about the training habits vs. the arts. I often think of that when people compare boxers who spend severqal hours per day in the gym, much of it sparring, to karateka who spend two hours per week in the gym.

 

[rutherford]

My guess is that Shogun has a bit different perspective at this time.


It also seems that a lot of folks have an attitude about BJJ. Lots of instructors will say, "Now, this is how a BJJ guy would do this, it's completely wrong, and this is what we would do instead." Having done a bit of no-gi, I usually disagree about what I think a BJJ guy would do . . . Quietly. To myself.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

...It also seems that a lot of folks have an attitude about BJJ. Lots of instructors will say, "Now, this is how a BJJ guy would do this, it's completely wrong, and this is what we would do instead."

Yeah, I've heard many non-BJJ instructors do this exact thing. I especially like the ones who have never studied BJJ but that are trying to teach in the same area (sub grap and mma) run down BJJ like they actually know what they are talking about. The most common are, 1)BJJ'ers know nothing about takedowns or working the clinch and 2)they don't know what to do if striking is included 3)they only train in the gi.

Again, it is narrow-minded people defending themselves blindly and hopefully trying to make a buck off of other people's ignorance.

 

[arnisador]

Exactly. I hear this all the time. People are trying to jump on the grappling bandwagon. The "BJJers don't know what to do if you strike" issue I hear most often, and at least judging from where I study BJJ, it's simply false.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Exactly. I hear this all the time. People are trying to jump on the grappling bandwagon. The "BJJers don't know what to do if you strike" issue I hear most often, and at least judging from where I study BJJ, it's simply false.

It truly is amazing how many out there who have studied a non-grappling MA are now considering themselves qualified to teach grappling because they have either "self-taught" from videos (shades of "get your black belt by video" ads you find in the back of MA magazines) or because they figure they know a little more than the next guy so , what the heck, make 'em pay.

I suppose as more and more reputable, good schools build reputations in competition and the local MMA scene, naive potential students will have more tools to tell the good from the bad. As it is now, a lot of it is snake oil.

Ooops, a little off topic, sorry!

 

[Shogun]

Funny how MY attitude has changed over the past two years.
the story:
-I was getting disrespected by BJJ guys for practicing other grappling styles such as Wrestling and Japanese Jujutsu.
-I made the complaint.
-I validated the complaint by actually practicing BJJ.
-I went to a school, tapped a few lower level students. got tapped by the higher ones, and then was told that there was NO WAY I could tap any BJJ guy.
-went to a different school (Gracie Jiu Jitsu, under GM Helio Gracie)
- Loved it.
-now its my primary art

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Funny how MY attitude has changed over the past two years.
the story:
-I was getting disrespected by BJJ guys for practicing other grappling styles such as Wrestling and Japanese Jujutsu.
-I made the complaint.
-I validated the complaint by actually practicing BJJ.

At least you bothered to go check BJJ out. I know of guys who say outlandish things about BJJ but have never actually studied it, and they wonder why no other martial artists take them seriously.

-I went to a school, tapped a few lower level students. got tapped by the higher ones, and then was told that there was NO WAY I could tap any BJJ guy.

Again, depending on the school you can have very different experiences. We had one school (now closed down) in my city that was run by former criminals and thugs...some people got a really bad idea of BJJ from them. However many of them came to our club which is a relaxed, friendly place and now they are thrilled to be studying again.

-went to a different school (Gracie Jiu Jitsu, under GM Helio Gracie)
- Loved it.
-now its my primary art

Just sad that so many people stereotype BJJ because of their misperceptions and many times ignorance. I'm not saying it is perfect, there will always be jerks in any art, but generally speaking I have found that most of the guys I train with cross-train in other arts and are very accepting of them. They don't usually say BJJ is the be-all, end-all because if they truly believed that they wouldn't be cross-training, would they?