Last Question before I choose class, I swear!

**rolyasm** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 11:48am

Okay, hope some of reading this will have been following my other threads. In brief, I have two choices in my area for good BJJ. Both are Pedro Sauer affiliates. At site one the main differences are 1)Pedro Sauer doesn't show up there, he taught the instuctor though. 2)Cost is $80.00 per month vs. $120.00 for site two and 3)It is about 20 mins closer to where I live. Site two offers 1)Pedro Sauer, which you all have told me won't make a difference and 2)specific beginner classes. So as far as going the the black belt Pedro, I think I have decided it is fine to go with brown belt taught by Pedro. The only difference I see is that I went to the Pedro Sauer class( of course he wasn't there) and it was a biginners class that they offer on Mon. and Wedenesday. They spent less time on more advanced moves, and more time on basics. So should I be concerned that if I am not taught "the basics" that my technique will suffer later? Will I learn "the basics" through intense training and asking questions of the students. "Dude, what is that called that you are doing to me?" Not that names matter that much, but if I want to test for belts don't you have to know some of that stuff? "Show us butterfly crunch with double twist, or Triangle with moshi moshi." Lemme know. Site one doesn't offer specific beginners classes. I have a phone call in to site one, the one I hope to go to because of cost and vacinity. Mabye some reassurance from the intstuctor is all I need. \
Thanks
Roly

**theraydiator** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 12:00pm

i am not an expert

I've had 2 classes so far at my bjj school.]

Let me say this though: it is tought by a blue belt who was a student of a higher belt and also a student of Royce.

After a few classes, it's already clear to me that i'm going to be doing most of my lerning from the other students.

Process has been going like this:
Main instructor demonstartes a technique, then I try to work it with my partner.
I'm trying to get the main idea down and my partner points out 1 or 2 subtleties that i missed from the demo.
If i'm doing well my partner tells me so. If not, he keeps giving me advice. If that's not helping, the instructor notices and gives a second opinion on what i'm doing wrong. After i'm corrected i know i'm not doing everything right yet, because they're only giving me 1 or 2 things to think about at once - they're really good about not overwhelming me - they understand that you have to feel it work..

Again, the point here was that i have done most of the learning from other students. Everyone is pointing out weaknesses in eachother's technique - it's very cooperative in the sense that people are helping eachother get better.

hope that a) made sense, b) was even mildly helpful.

**PoleFighter** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 12:10pm

When I started, I didn't go to any specific beginner class, so I learnt most of my stuff from blue belts. It will probably take you longer to "collect" all of the basic moves. I know I had to download instructionals and read on the internet to even get a picture of what "the basics" where; I'm sure I would have been less confused in the beginning if I had gone to classes geared towards noobs.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 1:06pm

Have you tried out both classes?

If you have, which did you LIKE more?
If you have not, you should stop right here and try them both out.

What are the class sizes like?
Lots of blue belts there for you to get up by?

**daGorilla** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 1:10pm

Originally Posted by Yrkoon9

Have you tried out both classes?

If you have, which did you LIKE more?
If you have not, you should stop right here and try them both out.

What are the class sizes like?
Lots of blue belts there for you to get up by?

That being said -- don't overlook the value of convenience (i.e. having a school closer to home). Less overhead spent commuting can (depending on your situation) translate into more training time.

-daGorilla

**Beneath Contempt** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 1:19pm

I suggest tossing a coin.

**RoninPimp** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 1:35pm

YrKoon9 has a point. I would personally lean towards close and with beginner's classes. Basics are EVERYTHING.

**sweats** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 2:47pm

You know where you're not going to learn BJJ? Sitting on your computer and posting in this forum. Just kidding. I've only been doing BJJ for about a year, and I always learned a lot from blue belts and even some of the more experienced white belts. Sometimes I thought it was easier to learn from someone not too far ahead of me because they had an appreciation for where I was in the learning process. I train at a university club and many of our summer club practices have been being taught by a mid-level blue belt, and I'm still learning. It was always my experience that if a technique being shown was too advanced for me it was pretty obvious because I couldn't even get it close to right. Granted, that was time I could have spent drilling the basics, but that's alright. Just pick whichever school you're most comfortable with and you'd have to try pretty hard to not learn something.

**rolyasm** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 4:52pm

Aight. Well, I like the closer class better, regardless of price, which coincidentally is the cheaper of the two. I have gone to both places. The more expensive place with the courses for noobs was kind of snooty and the students were not as friendly or helpful. The class that doesn't have the course for noobs was great, fun and helpful. But I could sacrifice the fun and enjoyment if I really needed the noob classes. It sounds like I probably don't, so I will sign up for the one that I like better. Probably make me more eager to keep with. If you know of any sites off-hand that have basic moves, as POLEFighter used, let me know. I will do some reading as well as the classes. thanks all.
Roly

**sweats** · Posted On: 8/11/2005 7:52pm

bjjfighter.com has some, but don't worry about that. Go to class and do what they tell you, you're not going to learn from a website. Also, I reccomend you keep a journal of the moves they teach you. Write down, as detailed as you can, a description of how to do the moves and the positions after every class. I didn't do that in the beginning, but once I started I noticed real improvement. Not only did it make me review what I was taught so I would remember it better, it also gave me something I could read later when I was having a problem with a technique.