Okay so i just moved to Penscola Florida yesterday and I am trying to decide who to train bjj with. There is a class near by being taught by Pat Vito who is a Pedro Sauer purple belt, and about an hour away there is a guy named Michael Donvito who is a black belt under Machado. Would it be stupid to go to the closer school. Technically I am only a white belt but I really only train no-gi and only recently started to compete at the intermediate level. Would anyone here travel an hour one way to train with a black belt? ....Already missing hawaii
When I first started I would drive from Pearl City to Kaneohe to train. Ron was only a purple belt at a time but I dont feel like I missed anything because he wasnt black. It all depends on how good of a teacher he is sometimes when they are still only purple belt it allows you the opp to grow with the school which is a very good thing if the teaching is on point. In my opinion being good at Jiu Jitsu doesnt make you a good teacher. So go to both classes and see where you will learn and develop and commit to that class tough choice man good luck. By the way I still drive over the mountain to train. Ron is a black belt now and is one of the best instructors ive ever taken a class from IMO.
I agree with NK808.
ranatu, address a thread to bjjtek and ask if he's heard of Pat Vito.
then ask Pat if he knows Don.
I keed, I keed!
Jimmy hahaha. I just met Pat at a bar at the beach just by chance it was kinda crazy, seems like a real cool guy and i guess i can't go wrong with a Pedro Sauer Purple belt. Thanks for the input guys.
yeah, pedro has an awesome base of instructors for teaching.
I started with Mine & Chris Onzunka when they were still purples. They were incredible teachers even back then.
Ronn is also one of the smoothest grapplers I ever got to roll with. I hope I can train with him again someday (when he returns from his hiatus)
Thanks for the reply s guys. Now that i think of it some of my best instructions have come from purples. Going tomorrow night i'll let you know how it is. Florida Underground sux no one answers any questions.
Hawaii Love.
No can beat um.
just help any Hawaii boys passing through Florida looking to train.
Pay it forward.
gnome sane?
I would suggest to try out both schools and then make your choice based on your experience after taking classes at both places.
- Do you like the training environment?
- Do you like the gym?
- Is there enough mat space (i.e. is it safe?)?
- Is it clean?
- Do you like the instruction style?
- Is there a good number of training partners there?
- Are you willing to drive a farther distance on a regular basis?
- How do the fees compare to what you can afford?
These are just some questions that you can use to evaluate the school Good luck!
Its hard to beat a close drive