Bailey's TKD & Jiu-Jitsu

**iceman_82** · Posted On: 12/16/2009 7:17pm

My personal review of bailey's tkd and jiu jitsu in tuscaloosa, alabama. I hate to flame the guys but there jiu jitsu program is one of the worst i've ever seen. Understandably we can't all be fortunate enough to train under black belt level instructors all the time however these guys are pretty much taking everything jiu jitsu stands for and throwing it away. There head instructor is a 1 strip blue belt (wolf pack association) under Charles Dos Anjos who himself is completely legit and a great instructor. They allow the head instructor to promote up to 1 strip below him which is a blue belt. So a blue belt can award a blue belt!!! They use 4 strips on white belt then yellow belt then orange belt then green belt then blue belt even for adult belt system... They recieve promotions about every month or 2 and charge testing fees, from what I was told they are not allowed to compete in tournaments without instructor permission. There blue belts were at about the same level as a 1 strip white belt in most schools i've been to. I personally feel that belt promotion should always be left for a black belt afterall how can a blue belt really say that someone should be a blue belt?

There class consist of 1 hour which is very formal (what you would expect in a traditional TKD or Karate school). The level of technical instruction was rather lacking in my opinion. The instructor (whom I outrank quite a bit) stated that each belt level was only allowed to know specific moves i.e. a white belt couldn't be taught the kimura. This seemed to me as a way of limiting what the students could learn keeping the instructor ahead always. Since most schools only limit white belts by not allowing leg locks due to the lack of control.

Just my opinion.... They were all very nice guys and enjoyable to train with but the school itself is not what i'd call a legit Gracie Jiu Jitsu school.

**Arskanator** · Posted On: 12/17/2009 4:36pm

Hmm, I really don't like the sound of this school.

I mean, there's a rather globally accepted belt system in BJJ already, why do they have the need to make more belt grades?

For money. This is just like when some TKD schools grade camo belts.

Besides, anyone but black belts should not be grading belts. That, when combined with the fact that they can't compete without their teachers permission, AND that they limit technicues like that, just screams ''McDojo'' to me. But since I haven't been there myself, I can't say anything for sure. Badsed on what you're saying it sounds really bad.

However, I do feel the need to remind you of the newbie F.A.Q. number 15:

''15. Do not write in trashing some instructor or school without providing a link to their website, and if possible you should provide a link to an on-line newspaper article establishing prior misdeeds that you make reference to.''

Granted, when I was doing BJJ we were usually taught by a blue belt, but the guy who usually was teaching us did win the BJJ finnish open -09, so he is a rather skilled blue belt.

There is also at least one purple belt, but he's usually teaching MMA, I think he sometimes teaches BJJ too. Nobody grants belts in our school, but Markku Juntunen, a black belt under Alexandre Paiva, comes to our school every now and then to host training camps, and sometimes during them he grades belts, as long as they are earned of course.

Sorry if my writing is hard to read, my english not so very bad ;D

And even tho I keep saying ''our school'', I'm not attending there anymore.Nothing wrong with the teachers or the other trainees, It's just that I have an old surgery wound in my scalp, wich sometimes opens up while wrestling and let's out some blood. Not a health risk since I don't have any diseases, but pretty nasty all the same. So i thought I'd just do all the others a favor and leave.