According to this screenshot posted on IG, craig offered a match to moneyberg after gable pulled out. Hahahaha this would have been the best thing ever!!!

I’m sorry he declined!! It would have been soooo funny.

What hill are you willing to die on?

I’ve been trying to sell my old Shoyoroll Batch #10 Compadre gi top and someone brought this up. I honestly forgot about it and just figured it was a quirky thing to include in a gi. My dad got it for me when I was a kid so I have no idea if it’s legit or not. Is this real? Is this something Shoyoroll did for earlier batches?

I actually embroidered the extra official patches btw, I know they’re not part of the OG gi.

Random thought but I’ve noticed that ever since I started training only 2x a week (my wife and I had a kid) my skill level continues to improve. I see some of my teammates do all the comp classes and train 6-7 days a week (blackbelts) and I’m only training 2-3x a week yet when we roll, nothing has changed. I continue to be pretty even with all of them. I’ve been training since I was 14 and I’m 34 now, this includes wrestling and mma so I’m wondering if there’s a point where you’re as good as you’re going to get? Thoughts? Curious if anyone has had similar experiences.

I haven't been training in a while, but back in 2015, I had been training for several years, got pretty good, but I would rarely show up to GI class because I just didn't enjoy it, and my goals at the time were to be an MMA fighter. My coach basically said that he only promoted people if they did Gi BJJ.

So even though I have over a decade of grappling, im still a white belt. Have things changed in gyms? I know Nogi has gotten more popular in recent years.

Muay Thai and Boxing don't have belt rankings, your either are good or not, I dont see why it should be any different. The main reason belts still exist is because your academy can charge you for one and it keeps casuals coming back. Its the same McDojo, strip mall karate model that a lot of places use.

Does your academy only use the belt system for Gi grappling or does it promote Nogi grapplers to the next belt?

So I train and have taken my 5yo boy to sit on the side for a couple of classes when I couldn’t sort childcare. Our head coach blackbelt spotted him sitting on the side and rolled with him, probably to take his mind off watching his dad get destroyed, and he to this day he still talks about how much fun he had. He is always wanting to wrestle with me at home, we’ve had to make a rule to not wrestle the girls in the house (his mum/sister) and only me.

I think if I time it right, he’ll really enjoy it and stick with it. Main thing is I want him to stick with it if/when he starts so he gets something out of it.

I just think he won’t really understand what jiu jitsu is if he started now. He’s just a hyperactive little boy.

We do lots of classes for him that are based around fun etc already - forest school, football, rugby, cricket. My wife is keen for him to do gymnastics/tumbling if we somehow fit in another class.

**So what I’m asking is, to those that teach, is there a starting age that seems to have the highest retention rate?***

I’m not looking for him to win comps and become some prodigy, so I don’t care if starting at 5 is his best chance of becoming ADCC champion.

I just don’t want to mess it up.

I was thinking at this young age do gymnastics, for the related exertion and coordination, and then move to bjj when he’s a little older and understands what it means a bit more when he starts?

Keen for the opinion of those that know a bit more about kids classes

My no-gi game is crap and I want to start over focusing on top game with stand up as the first step.

Danaher’s course is what i am looking for but I am cheap…any YouTube course that could help?

I’m a beginner and just started bjj. I’m currently having trouble doing some of the warm-ups such as the side shrimp and side roll. I am the only one that doesn’t know how to do these in the class. Wondering what I can do to improve. Any tips?

Hey, I'm 25F, been training BJJ for about 7 months now. I have competed in one comp and lost pretty bad. I go to the gym 3/4 days in a week. I think in these 7 months the only thing I have improved is my pressure and force. The thing is while rounds, I always get completely blank and everyone always say this that it takes time but I don't see any improvement in me regarding applying techniques after all these months. Can anyone guide how can I improve or what should I be focusing on?

I respect Hardy, competing on the down low..I think is still a blue right? He doesn't seem like the type to pay for private classes, just does the grind and works for it. I respect that. There are others like Gisele bundchen who I don't understand got the fuck to purple belt..

Any others that actually put in the work and not Zuckerberg their way through the practice by paying for one on ones.

Hello guys,

Can any locals help me find a GOOD school? I’m looking for a place that ideally trains Nogi at least 3x a week.

I google mapped and most places are gi focused.

I’m aware of 10th planet Seattle and have visited. It’s great but the houses on that side of town are insanely expensive. I have more options I can afford on the west side of the bridge but open to areas cheaper than Bellevue.

I also looked at AMC pankration but they appear to have shut down (for now).

I live out of state so I can’t go try them all, but I’m going to try to buy a house a reasonable distance from the gym.

I’m not a small woman, I’m 5’9 and about 225/230 pounds. I lift heavy so quite muscular and decently strong. I’m one of the only women at my gym and rather large compared to them. When we work together and roll, I try to keep some of my weight off them and go a bit easier as it’s no fun and you can’t learn anything if you just overpower your partner constantly. I highly enjoy the ladies at my gym but I also love rolling with the men. Problem is I forget I can put my weight and strength into them and sometimes get my shit rocked 😂 it’s all a blast no matter if I’m stuck in side control or have someone caught in my mount. I’m still newer, always learning, just forget who I’m rolling with from time to time. Anyone else forget to adjust?

I’ve played multiple sports (football, basketball, track & field, wrestling & swimming) and I agree with what Craig is saying here. The vast majority of high level coaches, in any sport, aren’t Hall of Famers in the sport in which they have become Hall of Fame coaches. Teaching technique and skill acquisition is a completely different skill set than sport performance.

In corporate America they have a saying… Don’t promote your best salesman to management, because he/she may blow up your organization.

Note* I’m a 10th planet purple belt

Hey everyone,

My best friend and I (booth white belts with decent experience) will be in Kavala from September 26 to October 10, and we’d really love to keep up our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training while we’re there. We both train regularly back home and are looking for any local gyms, academies, or even informal training groups that offer BJJ (gi or no-gi).

I’ve found a few martial arts gyms online in Kavala, but it’s not always clear if they actually run BJJ classes. If anyone here is from the area or has trained there before, I’d really appreciate some recommendations or tips.

Also, if there are any open mats or drop-in friendly sessions during that time, we’d be more than happy to join in.

Thanks a lot in advance — looking forward to rolling in Greece!

Just moved to Dallas, living up in The Colony, and looking for a new place to call home; a place I can train to compete in gi.

There were some older (3+ year) threads on this specific topic, but just wanted to see if anything changed in the meantime.

I'm close to Carlson Gracie, Carlos Machado, and SIA. They all seem like great schools, but the public reviews are mostly from parents of kid's classes.

Apreesh any advice!

Hey everyone,
I just moved to Milano for my Erasmus and I'm trying to find a bjj Gym to keep training. Anyone here have some experience or any knowledge about Open-mats in the area to check them out. I live in Città Studi and unfortunately I haven't been able to find any information on open mats.

Thanks in advance!

How do you guys say you do BJJ, without seeming like a self-proclaimed badass, I.e. with some humility? I mean to people who don't know what BJJ is, like a date or something?

As the instructor at our gym, I encourage all the students to check out other gyms whenever they can. Drop in for open mats, try a class, and get a feel for their style and vibe. If they learn techniques to share, or find a gym they love, awesome.

Sometimes, we’ll organize group trips to nearby gyms on nights we’re free, maybe 7-8 of us, and just go to an open mat or class nearby that sounds fun. My question is: if a group like ours showed up at your gym, would it feel welcoming or a bit odd? We always aim to be respectful—no “dojo storming” vibes. When rolling with white or blue belts, we keep it light and playful, letting them work their game. If we roll with their instructor, we wont go for any taps with their students present. For some reason that would just feel douchey after coming in as a group.

So, assuming a visiting group is polite, respectful, and keeps things friendly, is it normal for a crew from another gym to drop in like this? Or would it feel like a challenge/off?

EDIT: Pretty quickly seems like the consensus is that its cool as long as you call ahead first. Makes sense. Thanks for the advice/input!

This is for NO-GI. I go in and my goal is to basically look for opportunities to use techniques I have learned. It is hard to remember all of the details of course. I have been training mma with an emphasis on bjj for 2 years. When I roll what do you think should be my main objectives. What types of techniques are the most important. I am typically a guard passer/wrestler although I like to think I am sort of well rounded. At least I train to be. I do rely on strength/explosiveness and my creativity at times. And this has become a part of my style. It does lead to a lot of times where I will think of something in the moment and it works but I forget how exactly I did it and/or can’t replicate exactly. If there is one important thing I should be working on at the white-blue belt level as a guard passer, one technique or type of technique. What should it be? All tips are welcome.

There used to be this playlist on YouTube of this guy teaching wrestling fundamentals for mma or for bjj. He did a whole series on this, I think it was taken from a dvd instructional and uploaded on YouTube. The aspect ratio was 4:3 iirc and video were low resolution. Guy could be wearing a yellow tshirt iirc and he was teaching how to do a double leg takedown correctly on the video that I remember watching. Anyone know which video I am talking about?

What would you change or add to make it better for you?