I agree with this to a large extent. I’m a blue that is working on getting my purple. I don’t want my purple until I’m unquestionably a purple, but at that point I’d be happy to get it.
cues up Danaher instructional
Shen, you are famous around here for your good sense of humor and it would be funny watching you deal with bjj class shenanigans. Do you let the humor flow in class?
Never. I am always serious. Ask anyone. Nap, snap or tap 24/7!
No… I do, of course, kid around but I do not TRY to be “the funny instructor”, at all. That’s not my thing. People being too funny when you’re trying to learn, can be annoying. There are places for it, but it shouldn’t interfere with the teaching. I probably joke around less than many instructors.
Not everyone has the same sense of humor as you and some people frankly don’t have any sense of humor, at all. You will have both of those types as students, so it’s important to keep that in mind. I’m just there to teach BJJ, not make it about me trying to be “funny”.
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Somewhat related i HATE schools that play background music during class. We are here to learn not get our groove on. My two cents anyways.
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One school I taught at had crossfit, Muay thai & BJJ classes at the same time WITH music going, in one large open space. You had to do a soft yell to be heard at all.
Been there. A MMA school I taught at played rock concert music levels some nights and there were times I lost my voice from teaching.
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I scream at people if they turn the music up loud.
You have to be able to hear verbal taps. It’s not a fucking club. Go dancing or something if you want loud noise.
I play classical or video game soundtracks in my 11am. It’s smaller, like 6 people, so music helps bring the energy up a little bit. But it’s there to be background noise to help you focus, not be a distraction. Like department store level volume
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I like and agree with this.
We used to have this (then) purple belt(now a blackbelt) Scott at our gym and he was a gym rat, very stalky, but a pretty cool laid back guy. Easy to approach, but he wasn’t too jovial. Jiu jitsu was like church(to him and many of us).
So, now that the foundation has been laid, one time Chris Brennan was teaching a technique, and part of the process Chris says “and then you have to turn down”, and proceeds to demonstrate.
Scott, who by the way is also an older guy(50’s), raises his hand. Nothing unusual and Chris loves it when people have questions. Scott, in a completely serious voice, repeats what Chris said, and when he gets to the turn down part, Scott says…“Turn down for what” in a somewhat Lil Wayne impersonation but not too obvious.
Coming from him, and his delivery, no one expected that shit. I was the first person to laugh and then immediately the entire class erupts in laughter as everyone “got” his joke.
Edit-just read this. Totally a “you had to be there” moment to appreciate lol
2nd edit including the pic of “Turn down for what” guy Scott so you can see you wouldn’t expect that from him by looking at him.(Far left)
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I’m like Iron Eagle on the mats. I fly faster and roll better with a killer soundtrack. It’s proven science.
he must have been murdering the white belts going through the 2nd time around
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Lol- funny shit. The best thing I ever witnessed in regards to a promotion. White belt always asking about blue belt. Professor is annoyed after a few months.’promotion day is here. Students getting stripes then belts. Blue belts getting handed out then his name is finally called. He walks up and gets his Fifth Stripe on his white belt. . Funniest shit of all time
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Ha ha thats hilarious.
I have the opposite story. A humble, quiet, hard working white belt was more than ready to get promoted along with others.
Everyone (that should) gets promoted except him.
He says nothing. I was very surprised. A couple days pass and coach calls attention to class. He is so apologetic and acknowledged his mistake and that it was his pleasure to promote him.
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Spoken like a guy who loves to tell people, “I’m a blue belt, but I should be a brown belt. I dont really care about belts”
I’d rather be a black belt who worked his ass off and was awarded the rank by an instructor I greatly respect AND I can fuck up all these other lower belts and posers.
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Remove a stripe and use him as an example for to the other students.
FWIW, the student I posted about originally, came to class on Tuesday… wearing his Blue Belt.
He did it all on his own.
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Nah, that’s not the vibe I get from that. Sounds like someone who doesn’t want a belt he can’t carry or back up.
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Real story, a girl asked us if we were going to bump her to purple last year. She’s firmly a decent hobbiest blue, in no danger of purple, we said no.
She quits the gym over something else, ends up stalking one of our students, crazy shit. She’s mid 20’s but either has aspergers or autism, something where she just has no idea how to read social situations
Someone says “did you see she got her purple belt? Must be from one of the other gyms in town”
People at the other gyms both message and ask when we gave her a purple belt. She just straight up promoted herself lol
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Well that probably is one of the quicker ways to “achieve” black belt lol
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This is EXACTLY what my buddy running a top academy in Brazil talked to me about. Dorks have ruined BJJ. This may have happened in the past, but someone would beat the living shit out of this person. Now these dorks have infiltrated and if you touch them they run to Reddit to ruin your reputation and sue you. Fags!
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Oh wow. LOL.
We had a white belt do that. He walks in one day with a Blue Belt. My teacher goes, “What’s this blue belt?”. He was a TRUE pathological liar and told us all that he went to China to help train Royce Gracie for a fight and Royce gave it to him when they were there.
-It was one of the WORST, most easily proven false, string of lies I have ever heard a person say. --I mean Royce Gracie had an MMA fight in China? When? So he brought YOU, a white belt who sucks, to help him “train”…?
I asked him what city… he even couldn’t remember.
The guy was a sad, sad case really, sooo many lies. It was funny until it became pathetic. Last time I ever saw the guy he was “leaving town” because of a situation involving the Cartels or Mafia, I don’t remember. It was all nonsense. A month later I find he is a bouncer at a club 5 blocks away.
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