Thoughts? Go.

Thoughts? Go.

And no offense every time I see a Gracie Barra guy in competition...

None taken. I find it helpful to be reminded of what I need to work on (which is a lot of things). It's interesting that a uniform can potentially communicate a certain style of jiu jitsu or potential knowledge gaps.

None taken. I find it helpful to be reminded of what I need to work on (which is a lot of things). It's interesting that a uniform can potentially communicate a certain style of jiu jitsu or potential knowledge gaps.

Representing your club colours proudly at tournaments and special days is one thing. All for that. Cultification and militarisation, not so much.

You see someone wearing a beat up HCK, Krugans, or Red Nose then...

It is fun going up against 10th planet guys and just playing dead and them wondering why they can't get the truck to work against my zombie defense lol

And no offense every time I see a Gracie Barra guy in competition... I just sorta think to myself...I don't always leg lock guys...but when I do it's guys wearing red shields that don't train leg locks.

Anbut when I do it's against guys wearing red shields that only know how to pull guard.

Lol. Six of us in the advanced class a few weeks ago and coach set us rolling at the end of class, only for 3 people to pull guard. He was annoyed as he's been trying to teach us not to do that. No, I was not one of the guard pulls. I'm terrible at takedowns but I am trying to learn.

I train at a GB because it's 5 minutes from my house and I like the instructor. I completely hate the uniforms. They're fine quality-wise, but GB wear's selection is IMO extremely limited. When I started in August '19, they literally sold zero women's tech wear. They just sold men's stuff and labeled it 'unisex.' This has gotten better since but there's still a lot of room for improvement. Then there's the sizing. GB seems to believe all women are 5'6' or less. I'm 6'0' 162 lbs with freakishly long arms and legs and they don't make gis in L sizes. I normally wear women's L sizes in rash guards and spats and t-shirts. With GB I buy the XL stuff and it barely fits. (My 5'1' 125-lb teammate wears their M sizes. It's ridiculous.) I just think that if you're going to preach 'jiu-jitsu for everyone' and require your students to wear your uniforms, you should, y'know... Make uniforms that fit them. That is all.

I feel that mandatory uniforms aren't necessary, however, everyone attending an academy should have that academy's patch on their gi. For one, it is the branding/marketing of one's gym.... If people walk around with NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, MLS, La Liga, UEFA, or any other team in any sport jersey/hat/t-shirt, why wouldn't you represent the gym you train at, the teammates who help you get better? Now that said, I'm not sure that everyone should pay for a terrible quality Gi that their gym may have an arrangement with a vendor. People have different financial limitations, and I've seen in some schools, uniforms costing up to $200. If you're going to a new academy, and already own several other gi's, just change the patch on it and you're good. Or if you can't afford that Gi, get a cheaper one on Amazon, or BJJHQ, and again, put the patches on it. You should represent your gym, if you train exclusively at a club or open mat scenario, than who cares what you wear, but at an actual academy, fly your flag high and proudly.

Add the old MKM Comp Gi to that list. Like sandpaper. My first ever comp I played half guard against. a lad in 1 and came out the other end with cuts on both eyelids and my face was even more of a mess than it usually is. 16 years of striking arts before that and its the most beat up I've ever looked .

We have association gi's that are cheaper than most gi's out there. I really like them and try to wear them most of the time. They are not mandatory but everyone seems to like the quality. They are a Fighters Market - Maeda brand make. Really comfortable. Patches are mandatory for all team members but are cheap to buy. I do not harass or force anyone to wear anything. They usually go that way on their own. We also only allow white or the royal blue gi's. No black or red etc gi's. When someone comes in with one of those we let them use a loaner gi. If they refuse, they can go home. Our mat our rules.

Not allowing a guest to train because they are wearing a Black Gi is just silly cult like behavior. I can understand not wanting people to be wearing some tie dye or attention seeking attire sorta fashion statement. Plain Black Gi's are very common. It's all I wear now. I've never had any academy be like no sorry we can't let you train in that Black Gi. It's one thing to force your members to wear 'your clothing' and go by your unusual rules. If they choose to be enslaved by them that is on them and even that is still pretty shitty as there may not be any other academies near where they live so they just tolerate it even though they don't respect it. But to force a guest to abide by an unusual set of rules that really have nothing to do with jiu-jitsu itself makes zero sense. Also your just going to chase away more creative oriented people who may be somewhat frustrating at times because of their lack of just doing what they are told all the time because they need to understand why and not the how before they even care about the how. These type of people are very useful as they are most likely the ones who could end up having an extra passion about the art itself on another level and bring their own unique set of benefits with it comes to conceptual and creative thinking if you don't try to stifle creativity and force what you assume to be best for everyone. Even in the most extreme custom oriented societies they would often make exceptions for outsiders who did not share their own set of customs as they were wise enough to understand that forcing someone who does not adhere to your set of believes of principals to those same ideas is arrogant and shameful in of itself a dishonor. To be seen as a projection of weakness. If the goal is to bring someone to your side it should never be by rule or by force but by leading by example.

'When someone comes in with one of those we let them use a loaner gi. If they refuse, they can go home. Our mat our rules.' We give them the option. I don't see the problem. I really don't care what your opinion is.

I understand. I am just saying it's a silly rule and that those type of places are normally very culty and sometimes chase new people away from ever coming back to the art itself. Which that bothers me. The first place I ever went to was one of those Gracie Humaita's, And the specific location I went to is the most culty gym I still to this day have ever been to out of over 40 academies and I didn't go back to another jiu jitsu gym for over 2 years because of it. They wasted 2 years of time that I could of been training jiu-jitsu as I was just like screw this that is a cult like behavior I am seeing and that is what I ended up thinking jiu-jitsu was until I went to an MMA gym 2+ years later and tried jiu-jitsu for really the first time and ended up loving jiu-jitsu as the gracie humaita place wouldn't even let me train on that first day. It was a distraction that took away from the jiu-jitsu itself. And now after having trained at 40 different places I can say that this my way or the highway mentality or cult like behavior is a cancer. It's not the issue of chasing away people who are already training and just prefer a different environment. It's the issue of some new person thinking and believing that 'this is the way' that jiu-jitsu truly is everywhere. That all jiu-jitsu is just run like some TKD or Karate class environments. Some people may be into that...but the vast majority can't stand it and will not respond well to that mindset. It's a very controlling insecure mindset. It's not how leaders think. It's how bosses think. And jiu-jitsu should be fun and not feel like work. People want to enjoy and not dread any stupid little aspects of it as it is their escape their addiction their desire to just get better and not deal with stupid childish bullshit while trying to enjoy their favorite hobby or passion. Every little stupid thing that they have to deal with to try to enjoy something that they truly love can chip away at their desire to train at any given location or the art itself. It's my way or the highway type mentality type of people normally try to take all the creativity out of everything in general which reduces the fun and the desire to even do said thing to begin with. Lead by whatever example you like. Nowhere is perfect. There is no perfect way to do anything. But at least now I know that this one academy was not a random coincidence...that this behavior must of been passed down by example. And this I will make sure to avoid these locations in all my travels. And I know you don't care about my opinion. That is fine. My goal isn't for you to Agree with me or to change any of your rules...but to simply maybe think that if a stranger comes into your academy and has never trained jiu-jitsu before and they don't respond well to your environment for whatever reason at least point them to another location with a different mindset and maybe they will respond or maybe they won't. At least give them a chance to choose their own adventure. Some people like tyrannical structure...other's can't stand it. At least have awareness for this and give them a chance even if that is just simply telling them that they may enjoy another location better. And if your already doing that props to you then.

I personally think having to post any sort of code of conduct or rules is silly for adults. If you they want to do that for kids class cool. Treating adults like children is just again not my thing. I personally am not going to train anywhere where I feel like I am being treated like a child. That goes for rules or for teaching methodology as some instructors teach adults like they would teach children. Back to working out.

Not allowing a guest to train because they are wearing a Black Gi is just silly cult like behavior. I can understand not wanting people to be wearing some tie dye or attention seeking attire sorta fashion statement. Plain Black Gi's are very common. It's all I wear now. I've never had any academy be like no sorry we can't let you train in that Black Gi. It's one thing to force your members to wear 'your clothing' and go by your unusual rules. If they choose to be enslaved by them that is on them and even that is still pretty shitty as there may not be any other academies near where they live so they just tolerate it even though they don't respect it. But to force a guest to abide by an unusual set of rules that really have nothing to do with jiu-jitsu itself makes zero sense. Also your just going to chase away more creative oriented people who may be somewhat frustrating at times because of their lack of just doing what they are told all the time because they need to understand why and not the how before they even care about the how. These type of people are very useful as they are most likely the ones who could end up having an extra passion about the art itself on another level and bring their own unique set of benefits with it comes to conceptual and creative thinking if you don't try to stifle creativity and force what you assume to be best for everyone. Even in the most extreme custom oriented societies they would often make exceptions for outsiders who did not share their own set of customs as they were wise enough to understand that forcing someone who does not adhere to your set of believes of principals to those same ideas is arrogant and shameful in of itself a dishonor. To be seen as a projection of weakness. If the goal is to bring someone to your side it should never be by rule or by force but by leading by example.