Strict vs Laid Back schools?

[Drose427]

Whats your guys preference?

Personally, I prefer a strict, high-discipline gym with a total Hard A** as my coach/ instructor

But to be fair, Im probably conditioned to prefer that considering I've never got to train at pretty laid back school. The closest was my wrestling coach, and while every now and then we'd have laughs and was more relaxed than my military style TSD class, Coach would still be the guy who'd give 100 pushups or 30 weighted hallways to anyone he thought was slacking off to much. Break one of his major rules i.e. bad grades, cost a team point, etc. and you'd be miserable for good while.


That said, the gym Im starting kickboxing at tonight seems to be more relaxed. I havent seen kickboxing/boxing much yet, they tend to ignore everything but BJJ on social media or their website. But theyre BJJ class is so laidback its borderline unprofessional at times. I mean, they uploaded for or five pictures of their head instructor with Kurt Osiander flipping off the camera. It just rubs me the wrong way, although it has little to do with the quality of their training and may not affect me at all since its a different instructor. Although, I know this isnt an issue for some people.

Anyway, it just made me curious, whats your preferred class style?

 

[Hanzou]

Laid back. I prefer the more care-free attitude of the Brazilians. No bowing, no "sensei" crap, just fist bumps and bro/sis hugs.

 

[Steve]

Laid back doesn't necessarily mean unprofessional. I don't need a lot of rules, formalities and honorifics. I do expect that class will start and end on time, and that the instructors will have a well thought out plan for what will be covered in that class. The school should be clean and inviting, and the staff should be professional, as well. Money matters, such as rates and billing, should be very clear and above the table, handled professionally.

But all of those can ALL be done in a laid back school. Unnecessary bowing, over use of titles, rules for everything and quasi-punishments... nah. I can do without that.

 

[Steve]

Laid back. I prefer the more care-free attitude of the Brazilians. No bowing, no "sensei" crap, just fist bumps and bro/sis hugs.

"Brazilian time" just drives me bananas. Going to a class that's supposed to start at 6pm, and the instructor rolls out at 6:20... class scheduled to end at 7:30pm and it officially ends at 8pm, but with an impromptu open mat following because he just felt like it. That kind of thing drives me up the wall. Not every brazilian is like that, but I'm sure you know the type.

 

[Drose427]

Laid back doesn't necessarily mean unprofessional. I don't need a lot of rules, formalities and honorifics. I do expect that class will start and end on time, and that the instructors will have a well thought out plan for what will be covered in that class. The school should be clean and inviting, and the staff should be professional, as well. Money matters, such as rates and billing, should be very clear and above the table, handled professionally.

But all of those can ALL be done in a laid back school. Unnecessary bowing, over use of titles, rules for everything and quasi-punishments... nah. I can do without that.

I can agree with most of that, We didnt have honorifics or bowing or any of that in my old boxing gym or wrestling, and while we had rules/punishments it was still very professional while still being fairly laid back.

"Brazilian time" just drives me bananas. Going to a class that's supposed to start at 6pm, and the instructor rolls out at 6:20... class scheduled to end at 7:30pm and it officially ends at 8pm, but with an impromptu open mat following because he just felt like it. That kind of thing drives me up the wall. Not every brazilian is like that, but I'm sure you know the type.

One of that assistant wrestling coaches I had was like this. The extra time for wrestling wasnt rough, but it was annoying if he wasnt there for like the first 30 minutes of practice and we'd get chewed out by the head coach for not working on what he told the assistant to have us do....like we were supposed to magically know haha

Laid back. I prefer the more care-free attitude of the Brazilians. No bowing, no "sensei" crap, just fist bumps and bro/sis hugs.

The majority of BJJ schools Ive seen have bowing to some extent, especially before in-gym matches.

Things like bowing to instructors, on/off the mat, etc. Has always been sporadic in experience.

Frakly, I dont mind bowing to opponents and shaking hands like we do in TSD. But Im not gonna fret about it outside of the Dojang if I forget.

In KMA's we dont even have sensei.

We have honorifics, but when talking to an instructor (even our korean KJN) you just say Sir or Ma'am. Just like respect to elders here in the states.

Even when talking in the 3rd person about them, youd only really use Master or Grandmaster. For those who havent achieved those ranks, youd just say Sir or Mrs.

Which isnt a big deal to me. Even in boxing and wrestling I called my Coaches "Coach" or Coach *insert name* or Sir

 

[geezer]

"Brazilian time" ...drives me bananas.

Sounds like a Harry Belafonte calypso song. Try singing it to the tune of Day-oh.

Anyway, I teach small groups, and I tend to be laid back. I really have to watch out that I don't get into that "Brazilian" or "Latino" time thing. Es decir que no somos trenes. Entonces pa' que fijas tanto en el horario?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I'm a big fan of informality in training. That said, I'm with Steve on the whole "Brazilian time" thing. My instructor isn't even Brazilian but he has that same time sense. At least I try to make sure the classes I teach start on time.

 

[Xue Sheng]

All of the Traditional Chinese martial arts schools I have been at or seen are fairly informal.

 

[Danny T]

We are a Strict laid back school.
Strict on Respect toward each other,
Strict on discipline to help each other to be better,
Strict on humility, if you are better than your training partner then you work at the level the other can learn and do their drills properly.
Strict on starting class times.
Laid back on everything else. Have fun, laugh, work hard, smile, and do your best to be the best training partner you can be.
In that manner everyone learns and grows.

 

[Buka]

I have trained in strict schools, I've trained in laid back schools. I teach either way, depending on where I am, who I'm teaching and what whoever is in charge would like. I don't really have a preference. (probably because of doing both.)

But Brazilian time drives me out of my mind. And I'll do you one better. "Hawaiian time" (well know in the Pacific) means - anytime between what was agreed on....and next year some time.
I trained in a Brazilian school IN Hawaii. Oh-my-fricken'-God.

 

[Tez3]

I have trained in strict schools, I've trained in laid back schools. I teach either way, depending on where I am, who I'm teaching and what whoever is in charge would like. I don't really have a preference. (probably because of doing both.)

But Brazilian time drives me out of my mind. And I'll do you one better. "Hawaiian time" (well know in the Pacific) means - anytime between what was agreed on....and next year some time.
I trained in a Brazilian school IN Hawaii. Oh-my-fricken'-God.

We have Cornish time where everything is 'dreckly', it's like Brazilian/Hawaiian time but without the urgency...

 

[Dirty Dog]

There is a time to be a hard ***, and a time to take it a little easier. There are students who need a hard ***, and there are students who need a more relaxed instructor.
There's no one size fits all solution.

 

[kuniggety]

Both the kung fu school that I went to and the BJJ school that I now attend are both laid back. That's the way I prefer. I am a grown man who has enough "military strictness" by well.. being in the military. I don't need someone harping on me. I will push myself hard on my own. I also know when I need to take it easy and, if I need to, I just take it easy. As for the Brazilian school in Hawaii, well, I'm going to be moving there in 4 months and so that's what I'm going to have to get used to, haha.

 

[Hanzou]

"Brazilian time" just drives me bananas. Going to a class that's supposed to start at 6pm, and the instructor rolls out at 6:20... class scheduled to end at 7:30pm and it officially ends at 8pm, but with an impromptu open mat following because he just felt like it. That kind of thing drives me up the wall. Not every brazilian is like that, but I'm sure you know the type.

I deal with that in my current school. In my original Bjj school, my instructor liked to tell stories while demonstrating technique. He was a great guy, but sometimes we just wanted to get on with it. Guy was an amazing instructor though, and I miss training with him.

At my current school, classes tend to run over pretty badly, and my instructor tends to lose track of time, because he gets carried away explaining and doing techniques. I help him teach the fundamental classes sometimes, and he loves showing the white belts "cool" techniques. He also has a black belt in Judo, so he enjoys mixing stuff up to give his students a well rounded game.

That said, I still prefer both styles of teaching to the rigid Asian-style schools.

 

[Buka]

Both the kung fu school that I went to and the BJJ school that I now attend are both laid back. That's the way I prefer. I am a grown man who has enough "military strictness" by well.. being in the military. I don't need someone harping on me. I will push myself hard on my own. I also know when I need to take it easy and, if I need to, I just take it easy. As for the Brazilian school in Hawaii, well, I'm going to be moving there in 4 months and so that's what I'm going to have to get used to, haha.

Which island, bruh?

 

[jezr74]

As long as the instructor has control in all cases.

These days I'm more towards laid back, can't be bothered all the time with formality.

 

[kuniggety]

Which island, bruh?

Oahu. I've been there twice for vacation and once for work and so luckily I already know my way around a bit (and dropped in as a guest student at one of the BJJ schools while I was there for work). I'll be there at least 4 years. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[Buka]

That's great, Kuniggety, good for you. Lots of Martial Arts out there.

I see no snow shoveling in your immediate future!

 

[kuniggety]

Thanks man. The funny thing is that there was a record amount of snow last year here in Tokyo but I was in Bangkok and my wife had to do the shoveling. Which island were you on?

 

[Razor]

For about 9 months or so I've been training in a school of Jujutsu that is very strict (at least I feel it is) while still training in the Bujinkan, which I've been doing for a few years. I don't know if it's just that I'm used to a very relaxed Bujinkan style, but I much prefer this. That is not to say that any of the instructors in the Bujinkan I've had have been lax; if class starts at a certain time, it starts then. There is however no lining up and shouting at one another or pseudo-punishments (e.g. push-ups) for having a patch missing from a gi or other minor infractions.

One instructor at my Jujutsu club in particular seems to like the sound of himself shouting and he strikes me as someone who seems to fancy himself as a military drill-instructor type. Even during warm ups he shouts at people for not doing exercises quickly enough or for not being able to complete a set. It is good to encourage people to work hard on the fitness side as well, but I don't find him at all encouraging or motivating and for me it detracts from the class.

That may just be more to do with what I'm used to though; I started off in an environment that was very laid-back and made new people particularly feel very much at ease and not under any pressure. This other club though seems to pride itself on insane amounts of enthusiasm over the smallest things - for example having to run towards everything they're doing, even if it's just putting mats away. Kind of reminds me of what my father says about life in the military - it's a good job once you get past all the "********" of parading and shouting at each other and suchlike.