my guys at gracie barra chicago were awesome enough to bring in rener for a seminar. i enjoy the gracie breakdowns and also the bully proof and gracie combatives dvds. i decided to check it out and i'm so glad i did. he taught attacks from the back and a position he calls the "triple threat". it was super advanced stuff (which was surprising because it was for all levels). but the way he teaches is excellent and made it easy. i highly recommend you guys checking one out if you get the opportunity
i don't know if this has been posted yet but for anyone that hasn't seen it. this is rener vs a purple belt. rener doesn't use his hands, taps the guy twice.
Bendo Smooth'd out my Butthole 2.0 -He's gotta be my favorite instructor of the art. I live 20 min drive from his academy. But the Gracie curriculum is G-A-Y gay. As a white belt U cant roll with anyone for l the first 2 months even if use been with another jiujitsu school, among other reasons for sure. Renners emphasis on teaching is awesome! But it's too difficult to train "Gracie" jiujitsu and another art/discipline at the same time.
yea - it's like that at gracie barra as well. you can't go to open mat until you have a couple of stripes. however, they do get to do positional sparring (ie passing the guard while person on bottom tries to sweep or submit). i know it can be frustrating for some, but i think it's good to ease them into it so they don't spaz out and hurt their training partners. i definitely see the draw backs though.