BJJ Poll: Are There More BJJ Schools in Your Area Than 5 Years Ago?
June 27, 2009
We received a voicemail from Aaron from Massachusetts, a member of the Mighty 600,000, who was driving around and couldn’t help but reflect on how many more Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools there are in his neck of the woods.
Now keep in mind, we are curious about genuine BJJ schools. As Aaron mentioned in his voicemail, there are plenty of traditional martial arts schools who may now advertise some grappling or even mixed martial arts instruction, we want to know whether your area now has more genuine jiu-jitsu schools than in the past.
So let us know in the poll above! And if you have any comments, leave us a message at (877) 247-4662!
BJJ Poll: Do You Prefer That Your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructor is Brazilian?
June 20, 2009
This Saturday’s installment of our weekly BJJ Poll was just something that occurred to me the other day when I got a call from someone asking me about Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools in San Diego. This person wanted to get their boyfriend a gift certificate to enroll in a BJJ school and we were talking about some of the things that would help her decide a good place to send her boyfriend. It made me wonder about all the factors that affect someone’s decision to train jiu-jitsu in a certain school. Things that might influence your decision about a jiu-jitsu school are its proximity to your house (or in this particular case, the guy’s surf spot), the belt level of the instructor, the vibe of the academy, and so on… Then I realized that to some people, it might make sense to choose one school over another because the instructor is Brazilian.
What about you? Do you think that it is important? Be honest! Let us know by voting in the poll above, and definitely leave a comment below!
And if you’ve got an idea for a poll, leave us a message at 877-247-4662 or email me at caleb @ thefightworkspodcast DOT com!
BJJ Poll: What Is Your Favorite Gi Color?
June 13, 2009
This Saturday’s installment of our weekly BJJ Poll comes to us from Jon in the United Kingdom. It’s a good question that I am curious about myself: what is the most popular color of gi out there? We have seen some crazy colors in recent years. While the IBJJF only allows white, blue, or black gis, even that is more tolerant than in the early days, when anything but a white gi was seriously frowned upon.
How about you? Are you a traditionalist in your gi color of choice? Or do you enjoy making a new fashion statement with something more off the wall? Tell us any gi color-related stories you may have in the comments below!
And finally, thanks to Jon for submitting this idea for a poll! If you’ve got one, leave us a message at 877-247-4662 or email me at caleb @ thefightworkspodcast DOT com.
BJJ Poll: Do You Wear a Mouthguard While Training?
June 6, 2009
To say that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a contact sport is an understatement. When we are not intentionally seeking to choke our opponents unconscious or bring our opponents’ limbs just to the point before breaking, there is plenty of room for accidental injury (as in most sports). We do not use strikes in jiu-jitsu but nonetheless, an inadvertent knee, elbow, or head, coming towards one’s face can easily turn one’s pearly whites into unpleasant sights!
Do you wear a mouthguard to protect your teeth when training BJJ? Vote in our poll, and don’t be afraid to share your thoughts in the comments section for this post. Feel free to also leave us a quick voicemail about your experience by calling 877-247-4662 and we may include it in an upcoming episode of The FightWorks Podcast.
(The idea for this poll came from a conversation held at our Dinner with the Family! Thanks guys!)
BJJ Poll: Does Your Jiu-Jitsu School Use a Set Curriculum?
May 30, 2009
We received this interesting question from Andrew, who trains at Nova Uniao. Andrew called our toll free number 877-247-4662 and said:
Hi Caleb. This is Andrew. I train at Nova Uniao and I just have a suggestion for a poll question. This comes from my experience - a big difference that I noticed in two BJJ schools. The question would go something like this: Does your BJJ program have a set curriculum in place? Now at the school I trained at previously, the instructor chose off the top of his head the techniques he was going to teach on any given day. At the school I am at now, there is a set curriculum for every belt level and stripe. In my opinion, the latter works for me because I can track my progress and I know what techniques I’m going to be working on in the near future. But anyhow, I just wanted to see what percentage of schools out there have such a curriculum.
Your wish is our command Andrew. This week’s poll
BJJ Poll: Will Roger and Xande Fight in the Mens Absolute Black Belt Finals in 2009?
May 23, 2009
At the 2008 BJJ World Championships, Xande Ribeiro defeated Roger Gracie in the finals of the mens black belt absolute division, viewed by many as the sport’s highest achievement. The anticipation to find out the winner was amplified as the match embodied the historical rivalry between Gracie Humaita and Gracie Barra. After ten minutes of cheering from the bleachers - packed with warring sections of fans who made the stadium rumble and tremble - the victor that day was Humaita’s Xande Ribeiro, who fended off a last minute armbar from Roger Gracie’s feared guard and won 4-2 on points.
Will we see the two titans in the Finals of the absolute division again this year? Vote in our poll, and don’t be afraid to share your thoughts in the comments section for this post. Feel free to also leave us a quick voicemail about your experience by calling 877-247-4662 and we may include it in an upcoming episode of The FightWorks Podcast.
Oh - and by the way - in Episode 166 of our BJJ radio show, you’ll hear Xande’s opinion on this question!
BJJ Poll: Have You Ever Used Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a Real-life Self-Defense Situation?
May 16, 2009
Above all, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art designed for self-defense. How many of us have actually had to put our BJJ skills to use in such a situation? I am really interested to learn more about this.
And make sure you tell us your story in the comments section for this post. Was it a bar fight? A road rage incident? Were you acting in your own defense or protecting someone else? Was BJJ effective for you? Were there any charges pressed? Feel free to also leave us a quick voicemail about your experience by calling 877-247-4662 and we may include it in an upcoming episode of The FightWorks Podcast.
I do not know why I did not think of this before as a poll! Many thanks to Larry for the idea!
BJJ Poll: What is a BJJ Competitor’s Priority: Their Success or Their Team’s Success?
May 9, 2009
What do you think is more important to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor? Do they care more about how well they do or how well their team does? Yes, it is a tough question, and some people may say that neither the team nor competitor has priority because they are equally important. But if you had to choose (like in today’s poll!) which is more important when a jiu-jitsu competitor steps out there on the mats, are they doing it for themselves or for their teams?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below as well!
BJJ Poll: Has the Economic Downturn Affected Your Ability to Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
May 2, 2009
The world is currently undergoing a global economic downturn. (Don’t come to our site for breaking financial news!) Some call it a crisis, as the word “depression” is taboo. Whatever you call it, many people have less financial resources than they did before, affecting people’s ability to pay for the basics like food, water, and jiu-jitsu.
Has the current state of the global economy affected your ability to train BJJ? Have you had to scale back your training or drop it altogether until you’ve got more money? Vote in our poll and let us know in the comments below!
BJJ Poll: Should Jiu-Jitsu Teammates Be Allowed to Verbally Agree on 1rst & 2nd Place If They Close Out the Brackets?
April 25, 2009
In Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, it sometimes happens that competitors who come from the same training team will find themselves facing each other at the end of the day when all the other opponents in their division have been beaten. Sometimes the two competitors in this situation agree between each other which of the two will take home the first place medal (and thus, who gets second place) instead of competing against each other on the mats to see who the best competitor is that day. This is known as the gentleman’s agreement.
There are multiple reasons why this happens. The risk of injury is probably the biggest reason to not have the match. While BJJ tournaments are generally a very safe environment, as in any contact sport there is always the risk of injury. Further, coaches of competitors in this situation feel they’ve already proven that their team is the best and they have nothing else to prove. For an in depth discussion of why this sometimes happens, you can listen to or read our conversation with Flavio Almeida where he discusses the rationale for not competing against fellow Gracie Barra teammate Roberto “Tussa” Camargo at the 2009 Jiu-Jitsu Pan-Ams.
There are however reasons to definitely go through with the match no matter what flag the two jiu-jitsu competitors train under. As our sport becomes bigger and draws more spectators at the large events, they come with the expectation of watching the best jiu-jitsu competitors go at it. The purpose of competition is to find out who is the best, is it not? Consider again the 2009 Pan-Ams: the matches to determine the winner of 3 of 10 divisions were not held because the two competitors verbally agreed who would walk away with first place! Spectators (including fellow competitors) could only be disappointed as a primary reason they traveled far and paid to enter was to see these matches go down. After the recent IBJJF New York Open Luca Atalla, editor in chief of GracieMag, laments the possibility that one day the final match of the Absolute division of the BJJ World Championship (considered by many to be the climax of the jiu-jitsu competition on the global level) is not held because two opponents from the same team verbally agree who wins. He goes on to suggest that to avoid the possibility, opponents from the same team be pitted against one another on the same side of the brackets to avoid them facing off at the end of the division.
What do you think? Let us know by voting in the poll above and don’t be shy! Leave us a comment below this post as well!
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