Just wondering if any of you have to deal with BJJ politics? One of my life goals is to get my black belt in BJJ. There is one gym I would like to train at as the instructor is a black belt and also because my former gym has merged with another one and the head instructor is not someone I mesh with and is also not a black belt. Assuming I compete, there's going to be some ill feelings when I compete against my former teammates. Am I making much ado about nothing?
No. You are right. There is no sport quite like it within martial arts I don't think... I'm Checkmat and if I was told about a great seminar at the GB club with Rickson I wouldn't go out of respect. Also you have to look at the lineage of your instructor and think are you proud of that? If not you are in the wrong place. Lynchburg
The instructor I don't mesh with is actually under Rickson, and Rickson came to do a seminar which I missed much to my regret. Lineage is not a priority with me, as long as I feel my skill level is deserving of a black belt but obviously lineage and skill level are sometimes correlated. As it happens, the black belt I was thinking of switching to is a Ralph Gracie black belt so luckily lineage is not a problem.
BJJ is the most elitist sport I've ever come across, the ammount of douches that train is unparalled, everyone wants to be the ultimate fighter and choke everyone the **** out, do me a favour man.
It takes a lot of sponsorship or your own cash to make it to tournaments. And you're right-- you can't just train wherever you want to. And you DO have to be careful about politics. Instructors/teammates who respect you will help you more. However, don't discount the fact that there are books, videos and other ways to improve outside your team (that are allowed). All pro fighters know about politics, and the great champions can also have great management. The cream doesn't necessarily rise to the top in this game. Good luck.
Cheers Thracian, I'm not particularly interested in competing BJJ but I know its part and parcel of achieving the black belt status in BJJ and I'm not good enough to get sponsors. I guess I'm stuck with the Rickson Gracie instructor.
