Not written by me but a good read.
"Yesterday, as we all lined up in rank order after class - a new tradition that my teacher has decided to add in our school, I ended up in the front row next to James(a brown belt and one of our other contributors to this site). Behind me stood all of the students that partook in that class today - some new faces others just newer faces; others that started after me."
read the rest at www.BJJSML.com
dave321 - Articles like this make me nauseous.
BJJ constantly thinks of itself as different from other "TMA's" but the emphasis of seniority, belts, etc makes me realize its all the same stuff.
Uhhh... did you even read the article?
I get that you might not have liked it, but the point of the article has nothing at all to do with your objection.
dave321 - Articles like this make me nauseous.
BJJ constantly thinks of itself as different from other "TMA's" but the emphasis of seniority, belts, etc makes me realize its all the same stuff.
LOL @ you
And you've only been training 3 years imagine what it's like for guys that have been training 20 years. 
While I didnt really care for the article I dont know what the problem is with lining up in order of experience. I have been training for over twelve years and thats the way its always been done.Doesnt Judo have this line up in rank system too? All the judo classes I have been to have this aspect.
killthetraitor - Not written by me but a good read.
"Yesterday, as we all lined up in rank order after class - a new tradition that my teacher has decided to add in our school, I ended up in the front row next to James(a brown belt and one of our other contributors to this site). Behind me stood all of the students that partook in that class today - some new faces others just newer faces; others that started after me."
read the rest at www.BJJSML.com
gb does the same thing
whats your point?
attrition happens in any activity.
most MA schools line up by rank.
raleigh - whats your point?
attrition happens in any activity.
most MA schools line up by rank.
Yeah I'm sure the old drunk at the bar could say the same about the drinking crowd
lol i like how nobody read the article. It has nothing to do with lining up by rank.
elburrogrande - lol i like how nobody read the article. It has nothing to do with lining up by rank.
They're better of the article was kind of pointless. Lining up by rank is a much more exciting topic
I think people are saying, there are a lot of things that are universal to ALL martial arts, which people who have only studied BJJ tend to think of as "unique" to BJJ.
For example, hemorrhaging students is pretty much the norm in dojos of ALL styles; the longer you stay, the more people you see leave.
For me, there is not ONE single student still there from the day I started BJJ. That entire student body is gone. One by one, everyone stopped coming and was replaced by others, and then still others --just like in any other dojo.
I read the article before I made my first post.
I've seen so many people come and go.
JohnKreese
My Journey to Black Belt(Post#2): I've seen so many people come and go.
Yesterday, as we all lined up in rank order after class - a new tradition that my teacher has decided to add in our school, I ended up in the front row next to James(a brown belt and one of our other contributors to this site). Behind me stood all of the students that partook in that class today - some new faces others just newer faces; others that started after me. I was now one of the "higher ranked" students in the school. One of the "senior" students.
It wasn't long ago that I was the "new" guy. The one that everyone thought would quit. I was terribly out of shape, not physically gifted, constantly got crushed by everyone... you get the point. I have a weird tri-annual way of assigning "generations" to people who started to train. The criteria goes by the months in which you sign up. If you sign up from January-May, June to August and September to December, that's your generation accompanied by the year you started training. I know it's weird... but bare with me, I promise my insanity will relate to the point I'm trying to make. Anyway, I started to train in June of 09(June 6th to be exact). From my "generation" there are only two of us left. The two of us who are still training are the ones everyone thought was going to quit. The two biggest, most out of shape guys - we stuck it out. I wish I could say that we progressed at the same level, but this guy crushes me every time we roll. He left me in the dust!
Throughout the years, one-by-one they all stopped training for a variety of reasons: money, family, relocation, injuries, etc. Some stopped training after receiving stripes on their white belt, others after a few classes. Some even made it to blue belt. Only two of us made it to purple belt. We weren't/aren't the most naturally gifted fighters(naturally good looking, yes. haha) - we made it because we never gave up. We trained hard, often, through injuries, we drove to the school when there was a foot of snow on the ground. We trained long enough to develop our games, and long enough to execute techniques we thought we'd never be able to hit on people. We trained because we love to train and we wanted to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - not for a belt or to prove something to the world.
I've seen a lot of people walk through those doors and disappear silently. They were of all ranks, sizes and skill levels - some training longer than me, some less. They stopped for their own reasons. We didn't. We defied their odds and their assumptions.
-----
So...again, what are we missing here OP?
raleigh - I've seen so many people come and go.
JohnKreese
My Journey to Black Belt(Post#2): I've seen so many people come and go.
Yesterday, as we all lined up in rank order after class - a new tradition that my teacher has decided to add in our school, I ended up in the front row next to James(a brown belt and one of our other contributors to this site). Behind me stood all of the students that partook in that class today - some new faces others just newer faces; others that started after me. I was now one of the "higher ranked" students in the school. One of the "senior" students.
It wasn't long ago that I was the "new" guy. The one that everyone thought would quit. I was terribly out of shape, not physically gifted, constantly got crushed by everyone... you get the point. I have a weird tri-annual way of assigning "generations" to people who started to train. The criteria goes by the months in which you sign up. If you sign up from January-May, June to August and September to December, that's your generation accompanied by the year you started training. I know it's weird... but bare with me, I promise my insanity will relate to the point I'm trying to make. Anyway, I started to train in June of 09(June 6th to be exact). From my "generation" there are only two of us left. The two of us who are still training are the ones everyone thought was going to quit. The two biggest, most out of shape guys - we stuck it out. I wish I could say that we progressed at the same level, but this guy crushes me every time we roll. He left me in the dust!
Throughout the years, one-by-one they all stopped training for a variety of reasons: money, family, relocation, injuries, etc. Some stopped training after receiving stripes on their white belt, others after a few classes. Some even made it to blue belt. Only two of us made it to purple belt. We weren't/aren't the most naturally gifted fighters(naturally good looking, yes. haha) - we made it because we never gave up. We trained hard, often, through injuries, we drove to the school when there was a foot of snow on the ground. We trained long enough to develop our games, and long enough to execute techniques we thought we'd never be able to hit on people. We trained because we love to train and we wanted to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - not for a belt or to prove something to the world.
I've seen a lot of people walk through those doors and disappear silently. They were of all ranks, sizes and skill levels - some training longer than me, some less. They stopped for their own reasons. We didn't. We defied their odds and their assumptions.
-----
So...again, what are we missing here OP?
We're forgetting to mention that Andre Galvao completely tooled some white belt named marteen at the worlds before this guy even knew what a collar choke was
I can relate a little bit to the author of the article. I was just noticing this in class last night when I realized i was the most advanced student on the mats. I was left wondering what had happened to the guys I used to go to war with every night.
everyone i started with 12 years ago is no longer on the mat when i train.
new guys all the time. some have been around for 8 years or so, so that's a pretty good constant. aside from that, all new faces.
So let me get this straight. 2 nonathletic, out of shape guys defy odds and become purple belts in 2 years? If these were the runts of the litter, I hate to see the talented ones.
heshmat - So let me get this straight. 2 nonathletic, out of shape guys defy odds and become purple belts in 2 years? If these were the runts of the litter, I hate to see the talented ones.
i know pretty impressive. at that rate they will be black belts before i reach brown and ive been training since 2003
heshmat - So let me get this straight. 2 nonathletic, out of shape guys defy odds and become purple belts in 2 years? If these were the runts of the litter, I hate to see the talented ones.
No doubt.
2-3yrs Purple Belts? Same pace as BJ Penn to winning Mundial as Black Belt but these are 2 chunky unathletic people? Is this the mainstream norm?