unorthodox methods of rank advancement

[jthomas1600]

I've been able to train traditional BJJ twice but not long enough either time to reach blue belt. The town I live in has no BJJ schools. Recently a guy opened an "MMA" school. His background is mostly wrestling. He's been talking about doing the Gracie Combative course which is basically an online means of getting ranked. Anybody ever heard of this before? Known anyone who has taken this route? My first reaction is that it doesn't seem very legit.

There are a couple of BJJ schools an hour or so from my house (at least two Gracie Barra). I've thought about trying to get involved with one of these schools but I'm not sure how the instructor would feel about someone trying to get involved with the school but really only plan on attending once a month or so (while working out at the MMA school the rest of the time) for the main purpose of rank advancement.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[kitkatninja]

Gracie Combative is not BJJ, it has it's own rank requirements, etc. So if you do go for the GJJ program and earn your blue belt you won't be able to say I'm a blue belt in BJJ or JJJ.

There are various stories of how and why it broke away from the rest of the family's BJJ program (just search the internet), as for is it legit? I will defer answering that and leave it for the experienced people who do the grappling arts (I do the striking arts: kickboxing, karate, TSD).

TBH, is it really worth it, training once a month? Wouldn't it be better just concentrating either on BJJ or your local "MMA" school? Or seeing if there is a JJJ school in your area?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

It probably varies by individual instructor. My instructors would have no problem with a long-distance student who only showed up once a month. However, you'd be unlikely to get rank any time soon that way. If you're going to do it, just concentrate on what you can learn in the available time and don't worry about the belt.

 

[MJS]

I've been able to train traditional BJJ twice but not long enough either time to reach blue belt. The town I live in has no BJJ schools. Recently a guy opened an "MMA" school. His background is mostly wrestling. He's been talking about doing the Gracie Combative course which is basically an online means of getting ranked. Anybody ever heard of this before? Known anyone who has taken this route? My first reaction is that it doesn't seem very legit.

There are a couple of BJJ schools an hour or so from my house (at least two Gracie Barra). I've thought about trying to get involved with one of these schools but I'm not sure how the instructor would feel about someone trying to get involved with the school but really only plan on attending once a month or so (while working out at the MMA school the rest of the time) for the main purpose of rank advancement.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

I assume you saying you'd only be able to attend once a month, is due to other obligations, ie: work, etc? If thats the case, yeah, I know the feeling..lol. Perhaps you could supplement a class with an additional private lesson. Odds are, once a month, really isn't enough to progress, work the material, learn it, etc. Aside from doing what you could to make it at least twice, progress will be limited.

 

[jthomas1600]

Thanks for all your input. As far as "is it really worth training just once a month?", I guess I'm hopeful that since we do a lot of ground work at the MMA gym the once a month at a traditional BJJ school would at least sharpen my skills a little and offer me a little different perspective. Plus, I love technical grappling.

 

[Tez3]

Is it important that you grade? Our guys do MMA, not just because they enjoy it but because there's no gradings so they can train when they can without worrying about missing anything. Some of our guys we haven't seen for a while now as they are busy on pre-deployment training, then in the autumn they will be away for seven months, fingers crossed they will all come back and we'll have a full house training again in April next year.

 

[jthomas1600]

It is a little important to me to advance. I've already got a little time in that direction and I assume that some day in the future I will live in an area that has a traditional BJJ school and at that time I would seriously pursue advancement so maintaining at least minimal forward progress would be nice.

 

[Gentle Fist]

Enjoy being a white belt... Blue belt can bring a lot of anxiety (feel like you have to win verse lower ranks) to someone who only participates a few times a month...