Alliance HQ in Dunwoody GA, USA! I'd put our medal count up against any any school in the world. Major IBJJF tournaments only (Mundial, Pan, Brazilian + European Championships)
Alliance GM - Alliance HQ in Dunwoody GA, USA! I'd put our medal count up against any any school in the world. Major IBJJF tournaments only (Mundial, Pan, Brazilian + European Championships) <br type="_moz" />
Congrats, but I'm not sure that kind of thing indicates somewhere is the "the best place to train in the US". Considering most of us are not professional competitors, I would be concerned somewhere like that would have a bit too much focus on the high level competitors and that regular people off the street wouldn't be getting much attention from the high level guys running the school.
Seeing Mr. Jim in a gi makes my heart happy.
Alliance is an amazing gym, their competitive accomplishments are incredible, and everyone there treated me exceptionally well. That being said, everyone's tastes are different. I need a gym with a non traditional atmosphere I very easily get tense (from being scared to screw up) and just shut down. This is my own personal issue and not intended to say that Alliance is a tense gym, it's to say that I have unresolved training issues. It's a pretty intimidating gym *to me*, even though I was treated very well. I'm sure, just as everyone has different opinions of "best" instructors, different goals and different schedules, will have different ideas of the "best" place to train in the US. Best is quite relative, and luckily for the great group of folks in the picture it's the best to them. :)
**Edited to clear up points of confusion.
How many black belt IBJJF medalists?
Serious question:
Can any of those people even swing a pair of nunchaku, kama or sai...?
Cause if not, they have NOTHING to smile about.
shen -
Serious question:
Can any of those people even swing a pair of nunchaku, kama or sai...?
Cause if not, they have NOTHING to smile about.
I can count five that probably could.
is the sister steel? if so, is she turning black?
Awesome pic! Proud to say I have trained with some of them, but prouder to say I can count some as friends.
IMO, it's not how the competitors or the high levels guys do, it's what kind of progress is the least talented people making that's shows how good the instruction is.
cdog1955 - IMO, it's not how the competitors or the high levels guys do, it's what kind of progress is the least talented people making that's shows how good the instruction is.This
Obviously MY gym
Hillary - Seeing Mr. Jim in a gi makes my heart happy.
Alliance is an amazing gym, their competitive accomplishments are incredible, and everyone there treated me exceptionally well. That being said, everyone's tastes are different. I personally do much better in gyms where I can joke with the instructor, ask questions without feeling dumb, laugh, and have fun, as I very easily get tense (from being scared to screw up) and just shut down. It's a pretty intimidating gym, even if it doesn't mean to be. I'm sure someone who has different training goals, or time commitments (the 2-2.5 hour classes at Alliance may not be good for a person with a family and full time job), will have different ideas of the "best" place to train in the US. Best is quite relative, and luckily for the great group of folks in the picture it's the best to them. :)
Hillary, I have trained at Alliance for a long time and its a extremely friendly and family oriented atmosphere. I was here when you visited Which happened to be right before worlds which is the most intense training (of course) for us and even at that time the training is still very friendly and fun. I remember you having a hard time with some of our blue belts, im sure the pressure you put on yourself to uphold your reputation influenced your view of our gym in a negative manner and I don't think its fair for you to come on here and act like you know what your talking about. Maybe someone with a family who trains here could shed some light on this? Im sure Ian and Mr. Jim would be glad to tell you about the family/friendly atmosphere here at Alliance.
God bless.
ttt
Eeeeeeeee. Its def hard to train when you have a full time job... Not gonna lie! I think the atmosphere is great...
I have 11 yrs w Jacare and it was def easier there in the early 2000s... Of course, i was in college. And everything is easier when u r in college.
makinlulz420 -
Hillary, I have trained at Alliance for a long time and its a extremely friendly and family oriented atmosphere. I was here when you visited Which happened to be right before worlds which is the most intense training (of course) for us and even at that time the training is still very friendly and fun. I remember you having a hard time with some of our blue belts, im sure the pressure you put on yourself to uphold your reputation influenced your view of our gym in a negative manner and I don't think its fair for you to come on here and act like you know what your talking about. Maybe someone with a family who trains here could shed some light on this? Im sure Ian and Mr. Jim would be glad to tell you about the family/friendly atmosphere here at Alliance.
God bless.
I edited the original post as my writing did not reflect the point I was trying to make. Of the 90+ gyms I've been too, Alliance is easily one of the best in people and training. I absolutely loved that I was exposed to a gym that was the strongest in areas I'm weakest. I have always been very open about my open guard and open guard passing sucking, which is why I booked the flight out there in the first place. I had no issue upholding my "reputation," or I wouldn't have gone in the first place. I could have just sat on my ass in Arkansas, saved money, and learned nothing. If you followed any of the blogs I posted here about my time training there (which were reposted by Clinton on the Alliance blog), you would see that I am nothing but thankful and complimentary of my time training there. I in no way see Alliance in a negative light, and I absolutely adore and always root for many of the people pictured.
By saying that someone with a family, I meant only in their time commitments, as some people really don't have 2.5 hours for training. Some people might be intimidated by the atmosphere, but that's because I'm extremely sensitive to that and not Alliance's fault in any way. This stems from way too serious childhood sports that I shut down, not because of anything the training partners did. Of course, I felt pressure to perform in front of Jacare, but again that was my issue and not his. By placing my personal preferences I in no way intended to say that those are not available at alliance. After reading my post, I can understand how it came off that way and I apologize. I know that is absolutely family friendly, I watched as many kids classes as possible and saw that Jacare was exceptionally understanding of those not in the classes for competition. All that I meant to illustrate with my post was that "best" is a very relative term for many people training, and that can be Alliance for many but it may not be an absolute.
Hope this post cleared up the confusion.
HoldYerGround - How many black belt IBJJF medalists?
I count 4 people in this pic with black belt medals. Everything you see around Lucas Lepri's neck is only from black belt divisions, but he's technically not a "student."
I could get you a list of all of Jacare's past students who have black belt medals, but that could take a while
bjh13 -Alliance GM - Alliance HQ in Dunwoody GA, USA! I'd put our medal count up against any any school in the world. Major IBJJF tournaments only (Mundial, Pan, Brazilian + European Championships) <br type="_moz" />
Congrats, but I'm not sure that kind of thing indicates somewhere is the "the best place to train in the US". Considering most of us are not professional competitors, I would be concerned somewhere like that would have a bit too much focus on the high level competitors and that regular people off the street wouldn't be getting much attention from the high level guys running the school.
Actually compitition is only a part of what we do. I'd say about 70% of our students are not competitors and we really only train hard for compitition from January till the Mudials in June.
We also have 2 other programs that are designed for beginners and intermediate level students that aren't compitition focused. Jacare constantly reminds us that Jiu-Jitsu was never meant for the athletically gifted. It's easy to teach those guys, and he doen't really "worry" about us. It's the weak, frail, unathletic and shy that need Jiu-Jitsu the most, and he gets the most satisfaction from empowering these students
Lots of great schools in the U.S. but the one place I would move and train without hesitation is Gracie Academy. Their recent video about self defense vs sport only cemented my already high opinion of their teaching philosophy.
There are so many schools it would be impossible to list all, but:
I would have Gracie Academy high on my list, if not the top.
Saulo's Academy.
Joe Moreira
Roy Harris
Marcelo Garcia
Renzo Gracie
Rodrigo Medeiros (for guard stuff especially)
Roy Dean
Murillo Bustamante
Paragon is up there too. Hard to argue with the crop of black belts Franjinha has produced, and also a veritable army of colored belts.
Short list (black belts) for illustrative purposes:
Bill Cooper
Jeff Glover
Tyrone Glover
Adam Benshea
Sean Apperson
Sean Conley
Milton Bastos
Katrina Weilbacher