There's been lots of controversy in the Brazilian jiujitsu community over Rorion Gracie and his sons' Gracie University, which enables people to learn and earn rank, primarily online. Many of the purest out there are outraged because of the far harder road they've had to take to get a belt. Here are some opinions of my own in posts to online communities about it:
It's both and a great business strategy. But here's my thing: I practice both judo and GJJ.....which in my opinion is a subset of judo.
Judo kata or GU simulated combat: What's the difference?
I think there are many issues at play here, two of which are knowing the techniques for promotion and two, being able to apply them to an unwilling person. Up to blue belt I can understand just knowing the techniques, but beyond that in my opinion the point is to be able to apply them to an unwilling opponent.
Another thing is that I don't get the 600 techniques that the Gracie Academy is talking about. I mean, there's no way in 100 years I am going to bother to learn 600 techniques. I can see maybe there being 30-40, but the rest are just variations of the same. I mean, how many techniques do you need to defend yourself? If you need more than a dozen or two, buy a gun.
BJJ Affiliate Programs
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In addition to the bullshido of online and video testing, affiliate programs need a close look as well. They sport the name of some world known BJJ guy like a Gracie, and you get to the school and find out classes are taught by a purple belt, if you're lucky, and the owner of the club might not even have belt at all, and that they are affiliated with some guy, which basically means the pay him a fee like a franchise and he comes out to teach a few times per year for an additional fee.
It's one thing to be an affiliate if you are one of his black belts and you open a school.....maybe even a brown, but that is seriously one thing to look out for. Affiliate schools can be a serious scam. Oh, and by the way, in the ones that I know of you only have to be a blue belt, and you don't even have to have a belt FROM THAT PERSON. In other words, you could have your belt from one guy, and be affiliated with some other guy that had nothing to do with your development in jiujitsu.
If you know what you are getting into and are cool with it, that's one thing. But most people don't know the difference because they haven't been around martial arts or the jiujitsu business before. If I already know that xxx Gracie only visits the school twice a year and there is a hefty fee to be in that "seminar", and that the real instructors are blue and purple belts, that is on me to make the decision. But most advertising will just say, "xxx Gracie Academy" or something, and you don't find out the truth until you've signed up and start asking, "How come Prof Gracie isn't teaching tonight?"
I don't think anyone that earns anything through the Gracie University will do anything but lose in a tournament for a few reasons:
1. Tournaments test athletic ability. You can't train athletically though an online school.
2. The Gracie university already states that they do not do sport jiujitsu.
3. Tournaments are sport, and just like in any sport, you have to train and cross train, regularly, and to exhaustion. That is well beyond the scope of learning the techniques.
Overall I am not opposed to the Gracie University. I think it can definitely use some improvement, but I respect the attempt to have a core curriculum and reasonable testing standards. Most BJJ you don't know if or when you'll be promoted or what is expected at the next level, much less how to get there. I don't like the thought of paying good money for years on end with no end in sight. Most Americans want rank. Rank is an acknowledgement of learned and demonstrated skills. It is a standard to base what someone knows. Too much of BJJ rank has to do with athleticism. That is fine for people with the interest and time to devote to being athletes, but most working people don't have that kind of time nor interest. They want to know the skills necessary to defend themselves and the rank to know where they stand in the standard. They don't necessarily want to be athletes in the process.
Judo too has this issue sometimes, where you can get promoted much faster if you compete. But there is still a track for those that do not or cannot compete. It just takes longer.
I don't see the point of it taking 10 years to get a black belt in anything. Even the original Gracie bothers had black belts in 3 or so years, so who are they to make everyone else take 10 or more? And this is before Carlos and Helio modified what they learned (judo) for street fighting through leverage, etc. It should take 3-5 years to earn a black belt in just about any martial art. Now, mastery is another story. In that case 10 years makes sense.
I took a look at the website: www.gracieuniversity.com, and honestly, I love it. I think it's a great idea. I think they should come up with a better way to test as well as put a huge emphasis on the FACT that you must spend hundreds of hours sparring with unwilling opponents of different body type and sizes and skill levels in order to be proficient and to be able to defend yourself. There should also be emphasis o the fact that you are being tested on technically being able to apply the technique, but understanding the applying the techniques in combinations on unwilling opponents takes years of practice and the belt will only represent that you technically know the techniques themselves and nothing more.
If you are doing the online thing in combination with practicing at a respectable jiujitsu school, then you are setting yourself up for success and shortening your learning curve.
I like how Royce Gracie, who is not affiliated with the Gracie University, put it:" The belt only covers 2 inches of your ass, the rest is up to you."
It's both and a great business strategy. But here's my thing: I practice both judo and GJJ.....which in my opinion is a subset of judo.
Judo kata or GU simulated combat: What's the difference?
I think there are many issues at play here, two of which are knowing the techniques for promotion and two, being able to apply them to an unwilling person. Up to blue belt I can understand just knowing the techniques, but beyond that in my opinion the point is to be able to apply them to an unwilling opponent.
Another thing is that I don't get the 600 techniques that the Gracie Academy is talking about. I mean, there's no way in 100 years I am going to bother to learn 600 techniques. I can see maybe there being 30-40, but the rest are just variations of the same. I mean, how many techniques do you need to defend yourself? If you need more than a dozen or two, buy a gun.
BJJ Affiliate Programs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to the bullshido of online and video testing, affiliate programs need a close look as well. They sport the name of some world known BJJ guy like a Gracie, and you get to the school and find out classes are taught by a purple belt, if you're lucky, and the owner of the club might not even have belt at all, and that they are affiliated with some guy, which basically means the pay him a fee like a franchise and he comes out to teach a few times per year for an additional fee.
It's one thing to be an affiliate if you are one of his black belts and you open a school.....maybe even a brown, but that is seriously one thing to look out for. Affiliate schools can be a serious scam. Oh, and by the way, in the ones that I know of you only have to be a blue belt, and you don't even have to have a belt FROM THAT PERSON. In other words, you could have your belt from one guy, and be affiliated with some other guy that had nothing to do with your development in jiujitsu.
If you know what you are getting into and are cool with it, that's one thing. But most people don't know the difference because they haven't been around martial arts or the jiujitsu business before. If I already know that xxx Gracie only visits the school twice a year and there is a hefty fee to be in that "seminar", and that the real instructors are blue and purple belts, that is on me to make the decision. But most advertising will just say, "xxx Gracie Academy" or something, and you don't find out the truth until you've signed up and start asking, "How come Prof Gracie isn't teaching tonight?"
I don't think anyone that earns anything through the Gracie University will do anything but lose in a tournament for a few reasons:
1. Tournaments test athletic ability. You can't train athletically though an online school.
2. The Gracie university already states that they do not do sport jiujitsu.
3. Tournaments are sport, and just like in any sport, you have to train and cross train, regularly, and to exhaustion. That is well beyond the scope of learning the techniques.
Overall I am not opposed to the Gracie University. I think it can definitely use some improvement, but I respect the attempt to have a core curriculum and reasonable testing standards. Most BJJ you don't know if or when you'll be promoted or what is expected at the next level, much less how to get there. I don't like the thought of paying good money for years on end with no end in sight. Most Americans want rank. Rank is an acknowledgement of learned and demonstrated skills. It is a standard to base what someone knows. Too much of BJJ rank has to do with athleticism. That is fine for people with the interest and time to devote to being athletes, but most working people don't have that kind of time nor interest. They want to know the skills necessary to defend themselves and the rank to know where they stand in the standard. They don't necessarily want to be athletes in the process.
Judo too has this issue sometimes, where you can get promoted much faster if you compete. But there is still a track for those that do not or cannot compete. It just takes longer.
I don't see the point of it taking 10 years to get a black belt in anything. Even the original Gracie bothers had black belts in 3 or so years, so who are they to make everyone else take 10 or more? And this is before Carlos and Helio modified what they learned (judo) for street fighting through leverage, etc. It should take 3-5 years to earn a black belt in just about any martial art. Now, mastery is another story. In that case 10 years makes sense.
I took a look at the website: www.gracieuniversity.com, and honestly, I love it. I think it's a great idea. I think they should come up with a better way to test as well as put a huge emphasis on the FACT that you must spend hundreds of hours sparring with unwilling opponents of different body type and sizes and skill levels in order to be proficient and to be able to defend yourself. There should also be emphasis o the fact that you are being tested on technically being able to apply the technique, but understanding the applying the techniques in combinations on unwilling opponents takes years of practice and the belt will only represent that you technically know the techniques themselves and nothing more.
If you are doing the online thing in combination with practicing at a respectable jiujitsu school, then you are setting yourself up for success and shortening your learning curve.
I like how Royce Gracie, who is not affiliated with the Gracie University, put it:" The belt only covers 2 inches of your ass, the rest is up to you."
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