Gracie st Louis JW Wright 
Are there really 400-500 students?
Alliance HQ is the best place I have trained at....The level of instruction provided is amazing, black belts teach at every level (kids, fundamentals, intermediate, and advanced). I think you'd be hard pressed to find that elsewhere. Plus, how many gyms have a blackbelt owner and that person rarely teaches a class. At Alliance Jacare is on the mat almost every day.
I trained at a gym in NJ while I lived there and prior to joining Alliance a short while ago I trained at another gym in the ATL. The general attitude of the gym is great, very relaxed and family friendly and it is amazing to see that Jacare still teaches the kids and knows their names.
Agree with Sister that there is no coddling, but if you need coddling then you have no business in a gym (no matter the type of gym).
shen -
Are there really 400-500 students?
NO
colbjj - Gracie st Louis JW Wright <img src="/images/phone/apple.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>
does he still look like ricky shroder?
Not to hijack the thread but we just did an interview with Jacare. We talk a lot about some of the topics brought up in this thread. If you're interested check it out...
www.openmatradio.com/category/podcasts/
Thanks for allowing the shameless plug!
bjh13 -SisterSteel -
Well if you are in dire need of being hand held and coddled then Alliance is most certainly not for you.
This thread is in reference to all decorated competitors who have medaled at major IBJJF sanctioned events. You quite evidently do not fit that league regardless of what school you choose to belong to. So be quiet.
It isn't about wanting to be coddled, it's about receiving instruction I am paying for. As Hillary pointed out, not everyone is or wants to be a professional competitor, and my concern was if I'm not a gifted and decorated competitor then the high level instructors at the school like Jacare wouldn't even know I exist. Apparently beginners and those who aren't athletic aren't welcome at Alliance HQ based on your statement, so I'm going to say Alliance HQ isn't anywhere close to the best place to train in the US no matter how many champions they are producing.
I am at a Alliance affiliate a few hrs away, but I can say right now you DEF get attention at the main HQ school. And like all of Alliance, you are going to be pushed (no matter what your goals, be it competition or personal improvment) to maximize and exceed and that is what most people need nowadays anyways. And I have had lunch w the man and he has talked extensively about the importance of using jiu-jitsu to help people grow and get better. He definitely gets more satisfaction seeing someone who has shit genetics and no work ethic get good through hard work then to have a phenom come in and clean house at tourneys.
So in a nut shell, there is no coddling at all and you are expected to work hard. People will be cool to you as long as you are not a prick and everyone is expected to treat each other with respect.
And SS, I think I actually met you last year when I came in for the instructor's course. Early congrats on the purple, as I know you will pass it w the work you put in.
It is easily the best place in the U.S. I mean the guy in the front row on the far right sitting is the best!! Lol
CJJScout -Closer to about 270-300shen -
Are there really 400-500 students?
NO
SisterSteel -SleepBomb - is the sister steel? if so, is she turning black?
I've always loved some black in me. You should try it sometime. Make sure its fully funtional.
Hopefully you've all been around this forum long enough to know that you can't take Sister Steel too seriously on here. I'm just surprised after the amount of comments she's made on here that this thread hasn't been moved to Tapout, or After Dark or whatever they call it now
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.
I'm not a professional competitor. I'm really not even a good athlete. I started BJJ in my mid 30's, have a full time job, and have built amazing friendships with many of the people in that picture. They've all given freely to me to help my development on and off the mat.
Thanks to them and Jacare running a solid program I have medaled in a few tournaments. These are the only times I have EVER medaled in ANY kind of athletic competition. Last time the second person to congratulate me, after the guy who took gold, was Jacare.
Somebody said something about not being coddled. I've never been coddled, but I've never been abused either. This is a heavy contact activity and I'm going to get some bumps and bruises. If that bothers you, you won't enjoy BJJ anywhere and may want to take up another activity.
Sure, it's going to be a while before I get to black belt because I can't train every day but I'm realistic about that as are the rest of the people who aren't full time on the mat.
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.
Alliance Atlanta had a guy who started sometime in his 50s and had never done anything athletic in his life. From what I understand his wife didn't think he should be doing this. The guy never competed in BJJ until he got his brown belt. Then he figured he should compete at least once because he was going to get a black belt someday and all the other black belts had some competition experience.
Nobody pushed this guy to compete, but he went to a tournament and lost his first match. Not satisfied, he continued training and got some extra help from the toughest guys at school before going to Brazil for the Masters and Seniors tournament.
He flew home with a gold medal.
SinceUFCnumber1 - I'm not a professional competitor. I'm really not even a good athlete. I started BJJ in my mid 30's, have a full time job, and have built amazing friendships with many of the people in that picture. They've all given freely to me to help my development on and off the mat.
Then the place sounds great. That was my point.
It isn't bout being coddled. There are schools that focus completely on competitors, and leave the beginners and fundamentals classes to be instructed by blue belts and purple belts, where the person that owns the academy doesn't even recognize you and you might see him twice a year at the belt ceremonies. That is the kind of place I would want to avoid, and that was the point I was trying to make.
It sounds like, based on your descriptions and not Sister Steel's, like Alliance is a great place to train competitor or not and I'm glad to hear it.
Just my opinion here, but...
I'm not quite sure how the "best" place to train could involve the very real possibility of getting anally raped in a broom closet by SisterSteele.
Seems like that might dampen the vibe some.
Shen, a lot of people would pay extra for that possibility. You should think about it when you're marketing your school.
BTW, in real life SS is a cool person to train/hang with. And as far as I know, there aren't any broom closets.
Danger Dave - Shen, a lot of people would pay extra for that possibility. You should think about it when you're marketing your school.
That is truly classless.
At the Shendokan, we still believe in the OLD-FASHIONED ways.
We believe that any sexual abuse of students should be a private, shameful thing of incrementally transgressed boundaries --Not some loud, in your face mega-dojo "Come get sodomized" advertisement to the world!
Others can do as they wish, but at the Shendokan we will keep our abuse hidden in the dark corners where it belongs.
Good day.
I've never been to Alliance HQ's evening classes (I tried once but a business meeting screwed it up) but the daytime classes I attended a couple of years ago were great. Pretty small--maybe a dozen people?--and even as a visitor I got lots of extra attention and help.
I've trained all over the world and I've never been anywhere that wasn't totally welcoming. The jiu-jitsu community really is fantastic. Even at the Shendokan, they only locked me in that closet once.
shen -
Just my opinion here, but...
I'm not quite sure how the "best" place to train could involve the very real possibility of getting anally raped in a broom closet by SisterSteele.
Seems like that might dampen the vibe some.
Shendokan doesn't have anal rape prevention in it's curriculum? How have you survived this long?
trianglegrrl - "Even at the Shendokan, they only locked me in that closet once."
Well, call us old-fashioned, but we know how to treat a LADY when we see one.
BTW, Sorry for accidentally using the "C-word" when you tapped me in front of my students... I had a LOT of cough syrup w/ Codeine that day and wasn't my usual self.