whats the current definition of a fake BJJ/MMA gym or instructor in todays world? It used to be pretty easy to define, but now, someone gets a bluebelt from his buddy across state lines or spends money to join an association and it's seemingly more accepted than back in the day.
If your blue belt is from James Paredes.....you might be at a fake BJJ gym.
When the professor doesn't roll but is physical capable of.
holy crap, i just watched thew paredes videos. that is hilarious. I have one of those guys here
When there's a real black belt near by and they open their own gym at blue belt 
checkuroil - When there's a real black belt near by and they open their own gym at blue beltI'm not trying to start something. But what if the real black belt was like that asshole from Canada???
My instructor was a purple belt when I started and there is a black belt in town. My instructor is a really nice guy who was super welcoming when from the second I walked in the door. Does that mean I'm at a fake gym?
actually, what about gyms that are run by guys that dont even have bjj black belts. i know the avellan brothers have their ffa system and its submission grappling.
david avellan is a top notch grappler, but he doesnt have an offficial bjj black belt, or last i recall he didnt train under a bb.
or how about other grappling arts like sambo and judo. im sure there r a lot of legit schools there.
to me, a fake bjj gym is one that is taught by low level guy purporting to be better than he is. if the guy was just teaching grappling and was damn good, then dont market it as bjj, just say its grappling, with and without the gi
To me a fake BJJ gym would be one that the owner or instructor was not or is not being promoted in ranks by a legit blackbelt. Yes you can have the skill, technique and ability to teach it, but if you are not following the BJJ ranking system correctly than you should just call it submission grappling.
Its all gray, I have gyms in my area that pay an affiliation and wear brownbelts with the skill of blues but are considered to be respectable because they pay affiliation fees to a organization.
What is the answer? Stop caring about what happens outside of your academy because BJJ is fucked, we will be as respected as karate in a very short time due to brazilian sellouts and americans waving cash to get the accolades and respect they want so badly.
Josh. I sometimes have the same sentiment in regards to what bjj will be perceived as in say a decade or even a few years.
There are some high belt frauds out there for sure. But few and far between I think?? Purple definitely seems like the new blue. But it seems for the most part the black belts and brown belts aren't handed out easily at most academies.
I also don't buy into anyone can achieve a black belt in bjj. It's just like golf. You can play your whole life and still suck. If that changes and anyone can get a black belt than the art has officially jumped the shark.
The only defining characteristic of a "fake" BJJ gym IMO is dishonesty.
You can open a gym as a blue belt and be perfectly legit, provided you are honest with all of your students and your instructor. Your instructor should know you're teaching, and your students shouldn't have any illusions about your credentials.
You can be a relatively poor gym in terms of ability to transmit knowledge (as would be the case if the head instructor is a blue belt), but not be "fake." Put differently, "fake" == "low ranked."
Honesty is what's required.
Here's the problem... it's the "legit" black belts who are the one's selling belts!
The guy who puts on a Black Belt himself with no or minimal training is not as common and much more easily spotted than the guy who buys a rank that is "legitimate" because he bought it from a legit guy.
If you buy a rank from well chosen name, then get it IBJJF certified, who can successfully argue that you're not "legit"?
So, it's mostly the people at the top of the food chain who are ruining BJJ in this regard, There are guys on this forum under some of these "salesmen". The problem is, as a casual observer, you don't know if they are truly one of their "legit" students who earned it or they just bought it. To me that's the real crime of selling belts: you hurt your own students most.
That's why I always say, as soon as you realize your instructor is selling belts -to anyone- get a new instructor/ affiliation. As a community, we simply shouldn't support instructors like that because, there's no bigger F -U to one's own students than to sell belts.
Untraceable, or cloudy lineage,unable to pretty much smash everyone technically, almost no one knows anything about the instructors origins, has no self defense moves (meaning basic, one to one unarmed aggression), and fails to acknowledge other ways of completing similar tasks.plus other things I'm sure.
I don't know the age limit to this statement, but even if you are say, 55 years old, (assuming you are not a legend like caique or Rickson or cavalcanti, for example) you should be in great shape physically (old injuries may be limiting factor of course) and, while you may not have the explosive stamina of a 20 some year old, you should at least be such an astute, sneaky bastard that the lower level belts, no matter how good and accomplished they are, will almost always fail to see the attack or counter that does them in just when they thought they had your number. don't hate me.
Funny how this is a topic only talked about on the internet or behind peoples backs.
Thats why it will only get worse.
I put some stuff up last week. It caused me nothing but grief.
checkuroil - I put some stuff up last week. It caused me nothing but grief.
Been there too. Thats why I don't care anymore.
No one stands together and no one with large credibility will call out the sellout "legends" openly. So you get guys like you and I who get nothing but greif for trying to keep the purity out there. So all in all, in my experience. We are better off saying nothing and just letting it happen.
We should probably talk about more rape and sexual abuse in BJJ since its pretty much the only thing the bjj community will unite against.
value tudo - If your blue belt is from James Paredes.....you might be at a fake BJJ gym.Hey, wait a minute....... No hespect the lugwrench or what?
I think the reasons above are why the idea of BJJ 'affliations' will die out within the next few years. Then there will just be people doing BJJ at this gym & that gym just like there is with boxing. If someone wants to do boxing theu don't care if the boxing gym is affiliated with floyd mayweather or frank bruno because they would be smart enough to realise that having the guys name written on your wall or your Gi patches is no guarrantee of quality especially if the 'name' guy is living in rio & the affiliate branch is in alaska.
Facilities run by blue belts who got their belt via the Gracie Academy online course. There is one in Sioux City, and every single blue there is beyond awful. They have the largest student body of any place in that town, and there is a solid Romolo Barral purple in Sioux City. He has, maybe, 10-15 students. It is obscene. I was tempted to dojo storm at one time, but what is the point? There is nothing that can shake these folks from their delusion of bjj competency.