16 Yr old Gracie Jiu Jitsu school owner and Instructor

http://www.bjjee.com/featured/16-yea...n-mississippi/

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, Houston Cottrell, 16 years old, is the youngest certified instructor with the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, and now head instructor and owner of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Madison.
His academy is Mississippi’s only Gracie Academy-certified training center.

Cottrell teaches both adults and children, with the Gracie bullyproof program.

Houston_Cottrell_IK_t670

He told Jacksonfreepress:
“Our program teaches kids physical self-defense and how to defend themselves verbally,”
“When you know you can defend yourself physically if necessary, you can focus on defending yourself verbally first. You can tell the bully not to do that again and stand up to them without hurting the bully.”
Cottrell’s own parents train at his academy.
“Taking courses together gives families something to do together and have in common, and that’s something that’s needed today,”
Cottrell also offers private lessons by appointment.
The academy:

gracie mississipi

His bio from his academy website:
‘Houston Cottrell is a certified Gracie Jiu-jitsu Blue Belt under the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. Having completed an extensive instructor certification program in July 2014 he became the youngest certified Gracie Jiu-jitsu Instructor. Houston is passionate about teaching and this certification means that Houston will be teaching the exact same techniques that are taught at the Gracie Academy in Torrance using the same teaching methodologies and guidelines that Grandmaster Helio Gracie outlined. He is excited to bring the “Gentle Art” as well as the Gracie philosophies to Mississippi.
Houston has taught both adult and children’s classes in various martial arts since he was nine years old and also holds a black belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate.”

Saw this on FB. Hmmm...

I mean like, if this 16 year old blue belt can convince adults to pay him, more power to him.

Outside of what he is doing right, what are his competitors doing wrong or not doing?

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Originally Posted by NotReady

I mean like, if this 16 year old blue belt can convince adults to pay him, more power to him.

Outside of what he is doing right, what are his competitors doing wrong or not doing?

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Guess they're not keeping it playful :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Arman Fathi

Guess they're not keeping it playful :rolleyes:

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Lol but seriously tho. Like, are there any other black belts or brown belts in that town or nearby? If somebody told me "yeah, your gym is cool and all, but I'm gonna go train with that 16 year old blue belt down the street" I would have to take a very long, painful look in the mirror the next morning.

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If somebody told me "yeah, your gym is cool and all, but I'm gonna go train with that 16 year old blue belt down the street" I would have to take a very long, painful look in the mirror the next morning.

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Amen brother.....esp to the instructors who run a gym where everyone has to obey his/her every whim and he makes them kill each other for the next stripe or belt....

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Originally Posted by HerbChao

Amen brother.....esp to the instructors who run a gym where everyone has to obey his/her every whim and he makes them kill each other for the next stripe or belt....

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Exactly. By nature of being so young and a junior rank, this kid might be offering the type of humility and manners some classical jiu jitsu meatheads might not be able to provide.

Don't get me wrong, I have mixed feelings about this at best, I'm really just trying to make sense of it myself.

Meh, we have blue belts that run affiliates in 10th planet. He probably doesn't do the selling. It is what it is.

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Originally Posted by sean applegate

Meh, we have blue belts that run affiliates in 10th planet. He probably doesn't do the selling. It is what it is.

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That's a good point. I guess both the Gracie Academy and 10th Planet offer distinct and very unique styles that your average BJJ school doesn't really touch on, at least not anywhere near to the same degree.

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Originally Posted by sean applegate

Meh, we have blue belts that run affiliates in 10th planet. He probably doesn't do the selling. It is what it is.

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Yeah, but do they charge as much as everyone else?

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That's a good point. I guess both the Gracie Academy and 10th Planet offer distinct and very unique styles that your average BJJ school doesn't really touch on, at least not anywhere near to the same degree.

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I've had that convo with some other folks too when they ask me about my long term goals with jiu jitsu and I tell them it's to eventually either start a hotbox/moon or participate in the running of one. If this was traditional jitsu (esp GI) NO WAY could I think to do it as a blue (even a purple is tough, one of the instructors I train with now started the school as a purple but he had prior wrestling experience and was already a phenomenal athlete). You basically need to be a brown belt to launch your own traditional jitsu school minimum. But with 10th Planet (esp once you mix in a leg lock curriculum) now you can offer a unique service/product (and having a laid back atmosphere helps too).

10th Planet Vista started out as The White Belt Academy.

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Originally Posted by JHouse

10th Planet Vista started out as The White Belt Academy.

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Yeah and if I remember correctly they had a copuple "decent" guys come out of that place:cool:

I've been to a Ryron Gracie Seminar at his school. It is by far the nicest facility I've seen. He looks young, but he is in college now. His dream of starting a school just came faster than most bc he obviously has the money to do so. That being said, he was super cool when I meet him and he is doing everything Rener and Ryron are asking him to do so I have no prob with it. I took privates with B Mac when he was a blue and we all know how that turned out. (Moon of Year)

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I've been to a Ryron Gracie Seminar at his school.

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I've attended a Ryron seminar too last year when he came by MA, you can def tell he's a beast. I build my defensive/survival skills off what he and Rener do.

"Ironically, Helio Gracie taught his first jiu-jitsu class when he was only 16 years old, and so did I. Aside from everything else, to see a young man of the same age deliberately and whole-heartedly choose to pursue the path of empowering those around him, while most kids his age are addicted to snap chat and video games, is not only acceptable but also commendable in so many ways"

Rener Gracie

http://www.jiujitsutimes.com/affilia...ach-jiu-jitsu/

Our school started when I was a Blue Belt. I don't have any problem with that. If the kid is game then go for it. Everyone will know what they are signing up for. The difference here is that I was almost 30 years old and was married with 2 kids when our Moon went official. At 16, I hope he is surrounded by good people with honest hearts.

Running a school as a Blue Belt is hard. You don't realize how terrible you are for a long time. You beat up scrubby white belts. Plus the pressure of needing to defend your legitimacy can lead you down some dangerous ego paths. I came through it, but I fell for some of those who traps for a little bit. And I've seen several of our other young affiliates do the same. Some of us make it through the fire and are refined; most do not.

Cool story, Brandon.

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Originally Posted by HerbChao

I've attended a Ryron seminar too last year when he came by MA, you can def tell he's a beast. I build my defensive/survival skills off what he and Rener do.

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The meat of my defensive thought processes and game come from those two. Offensively, they have some nice things too but nothing I've found that isn't/couldn't be taught at any other school or lineage. After investing time to learn different types of games from different sources though, being 100% unbiased, I haven't seen anywhere that puts the emphasis on defense and survival that they do. From what I read in an interview, it's the main reason Ronda Rousey has one of them in her corner every fight. It's strictly because if shit hits the fan and she gets on the ground on the bottom or gets her back taken, she has a defensive specialist in her corner. That's their thing, and more power to them. On that note, I haven't gone anywhere that teaches offense like 10th planet. It's a whole 'nother level in that regard. Take a look at Ben Saunders last fight and Brian Ortega's last fight. Both guys pretty much won because they had great guard games and utilized their styles to dish out elbows. Totally different ways of doing it. Ortega was defensive and blocking punches, creating holes for his opponent to fall into where he'd meet an elbow. Saunders completely immobilized the dude with the rubber guard and made him his bitch in the clinch. Both methods were effective, because both guys are high level at their style and believe in what they do. Take what you like from all sources, be open-minded always. That's why I appreciate using both sources as foundations for my game.

If you go to Great Britain, it's funny to see that a blue belt running a Gracie affiliate is within a few blocks of Roger Gracie's academy where Roger himself teaches with an army of black belts. Obviously, who would you choose to train with? Regardless, if he can have enough students to keep his doors open, more power to him. Same with the 16 y.o. More power to him if he can keep his doors open and at least he's taking the curriculum from a source that really no one can deny is pretty legit. Politics aside, at the end of the day, when I watch a UFC fight, I'm team jiu jitsu. 10th planet, Gracie Academy, it's all good in my book.

Kid is chasing his dreams. Let him do it. A lot of 10P Moons were started by Blue Belts. Yes, he is only 16 years old, but I remember Avery killing everyone in competition and in the gym when he was 16 years old. Maybe that kid is as legit.

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Originally Posted by Arman Fathi

If you go to Great Britain, it's funny to see that a blue belt running a Gracie affiliate is within a few blocks of Roger Gracie's academy where Roger himself teaches with an army of black belts. Obviously, who would you choose to train with?

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I am going to assume that the Blue belt might be charging less than Roger, and I think that would have a lot to do with people's first initial decision as hobbyist Jiujiteiros. I think once a person realizes they are more serious about their Jiu jitsu, they would probably make a move to a more well known school, but l think a lot of hobbyists/casual players would stick it out with their original school to avoid the percieved pressure of a high performance school like what Roger has to offer.

Just sharing my thoughts.