Training with Regular Partners vs Migrating

[Landon DuMar]

Thx Kiko. I'm not sure exactly what kind of response I was looking for, other than general opinions and whether people overall prefer one or the other. But I think the most obvious answer is, "do both." I wonder what the best ratio is, though?

There's way too many factors to take into consideration to answer that. Are you looking to be a better competitor in terms of tournaments? How much are you being challenged at your school? How much at these other places? Are the guys you face home and away close to your competition weight? Are you getting instruction at these other schools or just doing open mats? How much personal attention are you getting at your school? Are you going to different schools when away or the same ones? Where do you enjoy training more? How does inproving your conditioning factor into this? Those are just the ones off the top of my head.

[Harry Evans]

@Landon I have found as well that people go harder when you visit to prove something. It's kinda nice to practice like that, you are right, because it's more similar to a tourney. On the other hand, I also agree that it is really nice to build a relationship with an instructor. Let them watch you fight everybody all the time and break down your game, in a way that nobody in the world could possibly do in a single day.

One thing, though. It sounds like your school is not adequate to your needs. Please do not take that as me being a prick - I do not mean to insult anybody. I just mean that there are two problems. First, there is always turnover in students, but there should always be a core group of people who train hard and really care. It sounds like that group is you, and you alone. Second, you are a white belt, but you are outgrowing your entire school? There should be a progression of student levels in your gym. A whole range of white belts, a whole range of blue belts from new blue to about to earn purple, etc. You should be able to just move up to tougher partners, as you slowly notice that they are not dominating you anymore as much. If that is not the case, you should look around. Boston has a lot of MMA and BJJ gyms. Good luck!

[Landon DuMar]

@Harry

Thanks, no offense taken. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your thoughts.

We only do MMA and nogi at my school, we do no belts. I've been training for 3.5 years. I just won advanced @ 169.9 lbs at NAGA in Springfield, MA. I am aware of the problems you addressed, and I've been working on trying to figure it out. We've only been open at our new location for 2 years. We have some great guys, I've just progressed a bit further than them. My biggest issue is I'm very close with my instructor and he has nearly 15 years experience. He has so much teaching to offer me, and is an amazing instructor. I train at a school in Boston 2x per week, which has been a good improvement for me. I'm working on a balance, and with me going back to school in the fall, I'll be living in Boston and I will be finding a new balance then. There's many factors that I take into consideration to where I want to train, and limits I have based on location, availability, what's offered, etc.

[Harry Evans]

I have to say, the other schools I have seen have mostly been great, and the classes and open mats have been a ton of fun. But I am spoiled, because I honestly think after all of those places that my gym is the best I have ever seen, so I probably get the most from training at home with my team. As much as we tone down our aggression in training, everyone's technique is so good that often it seems like the easiest fights are either at other gyms or in tournaments. It's just really nice to be able to go pick up a new move, or a different way to look at angles every once in awhile. I always wonder, though, whether it would be better (assume I hit the lottery) to hop around and train at different schools for awhile, or train my ass off at home and travel every here and there.

@Landon Interesting, that actually sounds better than I imagined. Once you get to Boston, I'm sure there will be a good BJJ school nearby. I know I'm forgetting a good one, but off the top of my head, there is Kenny Florian's place, Gracie Barra (my school's rival, but I have to admit a great school), and a few others. Not sure where the nearest TPJJ location is.

[Landon DuMar]

If I could I think I'd hop around to different schools, but I'm sure eventually I'd miss my home school and the guys there. I think training regularly under one instructor and every once in a while hopping around might be what's best to do, but maybe not the most fun sounding or in practice either, but the grass is always greener. If I was to hop around, I'd want to spend at least a month or two at a place so I could start to get a feel for it before moving on. The situation you've got now where you can train other places frequently sounds awesome, and I'm enveous of it.

The nearest 10p is Hartford. There's a few good places, but my mine stipulation is that where ever I train I want plenty of nogi classes, since I don't like doing gi. I've trained at the Gracie Barra for a while, very nice guys, just too much gi. I currently train at TapouT in Boston a few days, and I'll probably pick it up there a little too. I'll have to just travel around a bit and see what I like best.

[AJ Camacho]

@AJ Thanks man, that's a nice article. I completely agree with every point he makes. So, are you saying you would train with the same guys, but use tourneys to get the benefits of outside opponents?

Tournaments, seminars, drop ins while on vacation... whatever get you out there. It's totally different grappling against strangers. I find that when up against better BJJ players I tend to rely on Judo and Sambo attacking the legs whenever they stick one out.. which is weird because at my gym I'm the rubber guard player guy.