i wondered what the deal was with all the anti-tpjj comments i see on the internet, so i contacted a guy who'd left a comment on one of eddie's youtube vids. i contacted him because he avoided insults and his tone was almost pitying (towards tpjj). his comment said that tpjj is the laughing stock of the jiu jitsu world, that this was what united all the other schools.
so, i e-mailed him asking for the reasons behind the mass negativity. he replied that his teacher was 4th degree and had promoted 30+ blacks, all of whom teach. he then pointed out that tpjj schools are "notorious" for having purples run them.
another sticking point for most everyone else, he said, was the names for techniques. he had no problem with strange names (he mentioned the d'arce) but complained that a lot of tpjj you can't teach children.
he also said that eddie's promotion of his music and marijuana had no place in jiu jitsu dvds, and reactions ranged from ridicule to anger that they would be connected.
eddie's win over royler is seen as lucky, and people say eddie thinks this because he didn't compete again. the guy also says that if we were to follow eddie's logic, everyone should follow leo viera.
the general opinion is that tpjj black belts aren't real black belts, because if they wore a gi, purple belts could tap them.
his personal opinion is that the rubber guard is a "stagnant game", where you hold a guy down for a "lame triangle or omaplata". he thinks that jiu jitsu should be flowing, have an exchange of sweeps and counters.
some of what he said surprised me, both the content and his tone: some of it i was expecting. i personally like the rubber guard, it's upped my percentages significantly. i don't know about "an exchange of sweeps and counters" i was just sick of having guys 2-5 stone heavier than me getting on top and gnp. i was unsurprised by the gi comments, and wondered which tpjj black he'd rolled with.
overall though, it did give me an insight into what everyone else is thinking.