More BJJ bullshido - The Gracie Combatives Licensing Program™

[herbm]

I finally got round to listening to the Fightworks Podcast interview with Rener yesterday, ...

But best thing to do is of course listen to the man himself and draw your own conclusions.

The talk with Rener is the last of three interviews, taking up the last 22 minutes or so (I think: might have been that it was 22 minutes into the show).

It's the former (last 22 minutes). Right at 28:29 INTO the show for those who don't want to listen to the other segments or hunt around for this one.

If you have wget (or another command line web getter) then use this:

wget "http://www.thefightworkspodcast.com/podcasts/fightworkspodcastepisode89.mp3"

[ForkLiftRacer]

Ya, they are apparently giving out blue belts like candy. I just read about this. Check out their "exclusivity" requriements:



What the ****? Would you like fries with that? That you have to sign a NDA amuses me. All the "techniques" and "technologies" are already in US Army Combatives. I could just read my brother's manual and have him teach me all the techniques for free. What a joke.

I always wanted an exclusive territory. :icon_bril

Sadly I was never able to achieve this in my Mary Kay sales. :sleepy7:

[Epeeist]

Anyone have a list of the 34 techniques?

Sorry if this is a thread necro but since this was asked a few times and someone might search it, here are the techniques listed in the manual. (Not sure if this violates some copyright BS or forum rule, if so, please delete). THere are more than 34 perhaps because some are doubled up and used in different applications or perhaps because they don't count some of these as "techniques."

1. Trap and Roll Escape
2. Americana Armlock
3. Positional Control
4. Take the Back
5. RNC
6. Leg Hook Takedown
7. Clinch (Aggressive Opponent)
8. Punch Block Series (Stage 1-4)
9. Straight Armlock
10. Triangle Choke
11. Elevator Sweep
12.Elbow Escape
13. Positional control
14. Body fold takedown
15. Clinch (Conservative opponent)
16. Headlock Counters
17. Double leg takedown
18. Head lock escape 1
19.Straight Armlock
20. Double Ankle Sweep
21. Pull Guard (Is this really a "street" move?)
22.Headlock escape 2
23. Guillotine choke
24. Shrimp escape
25. Kimura
26. Standing Headlock Defense
27. Punch Block Series (Stage 5)
28. Hook Sweep
29. Rear Takedown
30. Haymaker Punch Defense
31. Take the Back
32. Guillotine Defense
33. Elbow Escape from Side Mount
34. Standing Armlock
35. Twisting Arm Control
36. Double Underhook Guard Pass

[ps1]

I spoke with Pedro Sauer about this course. He explained to me that the blue belt is not something you get with the course. Rather, the blue belt is a prerequisite for graduation from the course.

He told me the course is meant to be taught in three parts. It's supposed to be for military & law enforcement types. The first level of the course deals with prevention of takedowns and weapons retention. The second level teaches the ground. The third level is where you spend a minimum (for some people it takes longer, obviously) of 100 hours training BJJ to earn your blue belt.

There are 10 pages of text and if this has been mentioned, I'm sorry. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

[gonzomalan]

However, I'll also argue that this class has a different purpose than that.

The Combatives course is not meant to be a replacement for good Jiu-Jitsu training. It's not even designed to be a thorough Jiu-Jitsu course. It seems to me the purpose of the course is solely to introduce a few basic concepts of grappling into other martial programs. I don't think the Combatives course is pretending to do anything besides teaching basic techniques.

Now, I'm extremely new to BJJ. I've had only four classes, so far, and a little bit of book knowledge before that. Until last night, I did not know the proper technique for attacking a resisting opponent with either a triangle or an armbar from my guard. And yet, while rolling with other guys-- fully resisting opponents-- that have little or no knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu, I've been able to apply armbars, triangles, Kimuras, Americanas, and a host of other techniques that I've only seen in books.

In my opinion, the Combatives course isn't supposed to even the ground between a Grappler and a non-Grappler. It's supposed to give a non-Grappler a bit of an advantage over another non-Grappler.

--Joe

I like this post because it feels more in line with what Gracie University is all about now: spreading the art worldwide. not everywhere has San Diego-like access to bjj, even within the US, and even within the state of California.

I spoke with Pedro Sauer about this course. He explained to me that the blue belt is not something you get with the course. Rather, the blue belt is a prerequisite for graduation from the course.

He told me the course is meant to be taught in three parts. It's supposed to be for military & law enforcement types. The first level of the course deals with prevention of takedowns and weapons retention. The second level teaches the ground. The third level is where you spend a minimum (for some people it takes longer, obviously) of 100 hours training BJJ to earn your blue belt.

There are 10 pages of text and if this has been mentioned, I'm sorry. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

sounds like what i had imagined, i'm a little surprised Prof. Sauer knows of this program.

[gonzomalan]

now that i've read this thread, i'll provide a few updates, since i've only had one reply to what i wrote in my thread of choice.

-it's no longer a 2 week "vacation" with no previous experience necessary. all candidates for the program must have earned a blue belt through GracieUniversity.com with a minimum score of 90/100 (passing score is 80). I haven't read anything about someone actually taking the test in person at the Torrance, I would think they would let someone with a (subjectively) very good blue belt test be a candidate. so that list of 36 techniques posted previously coincides with being the exact techniques in the Gracie combatives program.
-don't believe it's been mentioned yet, but once a person is an instructor, it's not for life

Q. Once somone becomes gracie jiu jitsu instructor how often does he need to do the re-certification course ?
stsafi (7/22/2010 9:13 AM)
A. Every two years, here at the Academy.
GracieAcademy8

-

In the past, an individual could not participate in the ICP unless he/she was already an instructor at an established school of martial arts. Since the launch of GracieUniveristy.com, however, we realized that there are thousands of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu students around the world who have the character, desire, and dedication to become amazing instructors even though they have never taught a martial arts class in their life. As a result, we have decided to open the Gracie Academy Instructor Certification Program to all dedicated practitioners of the art who meet the three basic qualification requirements, so that those who have the passion can help us spread the word. The final goal is to turn dedicated students into amazing instructors so that they can make Gracie Jiu-Jitsu available in their communities with the proven system and the support of the Gracie Academy.

(source) (emphasis mine)
and the three reqs seem to defined as 1) Technique Preservation, 2) Discipline, Integrity, and Honor, and 3) Gracie Combatives Mastery. It still bugs that they say "technique preservation" because i believe they mean "philosophy preservation", but that's another point.
-instructors don't have to wait for a head instructor to pass by for belt evaluations. you might have guessed, students are filmed taking the Blue Belt Qualification Test and upload it to GU.
-more interested parties can read on here and here.

[ps1]

I like this post because it feels more in line with what Gracie University is all about now: spreading the art worldwide. not everywhere has San Diego-like access to bjj, even within the US, and even within the state of California.



sounds like what i had imagined, i'm a little surprised Prof. Sauer knows of this program.

Not only does Pedro Sauer know of it, he suggests it's a good program. I brought it up in order to get his opinion of it. He told me the course is well thought out and recommends it to anyone interested in working with LEOs or Military.

That's some high praise coming from a very very well respected source.

[gonzomalan]

Not only does Pedro Sauer know of it, he suggests it's a good program. I brought it up in order to get his opinion of it. He told me the course is well thought out and recommends it to anyone interested in working with LEOs or Military.

That's some high praise coming from a very very well respected source.

yeah, i'm still surprised, mainly because i've spent so much energy providing a defense for the Gracie Combatives/Gracie University in that thread that i'm surprised to hear someone so high up in the BJJ community supporting the Gracies in Torrance, CA. very nice to hear, though, thanks for sharing that.

[Diesel_tke]

This is very similar to what happens when you go through the academy. You are taught a few effective techniques and drill them to get good at them. Then you are hopefully better prepared than you were the day you walked in the door. I'm actually very thankful for the Gracie Combatives programs. It has allowed us to have access to better techniques than we were given in the academy.

Since they started the LEO program a few years ago, the state has added their techniques to the curriculum. We had a certified instructor teach us the combatives program, and it was very well done.

No belts were given, but that was not why we were there. The knowledge has save lives and prevented injury. That was the point for us. When I went through the program, there was no BJJ within 500 miles. We don't all live in Cali or New York.

[Tenebrous]

So it's on tv now. Gracie combatives during Spike's mma programming. The official ad copy is something like "you can't win in mma without mastering gracie jiujitsu."

Which is far afield from the official line of the gracie combatives program decrying competition and sport jiujitsu.