Am I a sandbagger???

How does one sandbag with nothing at stake?

LOL You should go back. Wear some pink spats and a bright yellow rash guard. make things awkward for everyone.

Nelson, there's nothing wrong with saying, "Technically, I'm a white belt by rank, but have been training jiu jitsu off and on, for upwards of 5 years.". That'll give the coach an idea of where you're at, and throw guys at you accordingly. If you do well with the first guy, maybe he should give you a tougher guy, or vice versa. But, dang if you were rolling guys up, maybe the coach should have recognized that from the beginning, and set you up with the purps. You'd have a fun time learning from them, and they can see where they stack against you(in front of coach). I love the guantlet!

go back and be like in all seriousness "Idk man, I think I might be like the next prodigy"

Hahahah! Nice Justin.
But for real Nelson, if you do well against their guys and try like you, you'll be invited back with open arms, because they'll be like, "dang this guy can offer us something we don't have", be it high level competition, techniques, or solid coaching.

Originally Posted by Jeremy Gates

so have you or do you train at a 10p school or were serious about learning alot from seminars? i think most people who take a free class are legit beginners. that being said it sounds like you did really well against alot of the guys at the gym you attended. i mean.. i could see why they called you a sand bagger. i dont know your full situation so i cant say

Taking a trial class has nothing to do with being a beginner it is about trying a new gym and since Nelson recently moved that's exactly what he was doing. He used to co-run a hotbox before he moved but never trained at an official moon so what he told them was pretty accurate. So they really had no reason to be butt hurt or call him a sand bagger. As it has been stated you can't be a sandbagger with nothing at stake.

The solution to your problem is to get ripped and where a rashguard a size to small that way they won't question your skills.

i just think he should have explained hes been training for 5 years on and off. 5 years is a long time and he has a real good concept of what hes doing

Thanks for the input guys. Johnathan is dead on. He and I have been Ronin a long time. The problem with saying "I've been grappling for 5 years" but I have no rank is that guys are like "yeah whatever". So I don't even bother.

The only time I dropped into another school I got the biz even after I told them how long I had been training. At the time I had been training 11 months and first had to roll 2 seven minute rounds with the black belt instructor who smashed me. Then I couldn't roll with just anyone. I had to roll with all purple belts. I just felt good to leave only being tapped by the instructor.

So sounds like you simply held your own and that some egos were crushed. I don't think you should change your approach if you ever drop in again. Deep down I think some schools will go hard on you just because they want to anyways.