Thought on paying for grading

[Chris Herzog]

Wait.....so you want to "test" under someone but don't want to show them the respect by attending their seminar to learn from them?


Seems legit.

[John Mejia]

Wait.....so you want to "test" under someone but don't want to show them the respect by attending their seminar to learn from them?


Seems legit.

LOLOLOL. I didn't even look at it from that point of view

[NameLikeNoOther]

Notice I didnt say to get a belt I said to get graded.

... all I want is to get my blue belt ...

Maybe I have misunderstood, so do want to be evaluated or 'get the belt'?

The obvious answer to original question, is go to the seminar, be humble, participate, and ask for feedback from the coach and others.

[vdesire]

Bollox, he just entered metamoris 3 so he could sell more books. Oh and he charges a fortune for membership for this site. And when he turns up for seminars he'll give anyone a blue belt if they pay for it. Oh no wait I got him mixed up with Royce Gracie

[Brent Smith]

I really disagree with charging for belts/grading. Not really a fan of testing either.

[Andrew Sarasin]

That's the thing about having to pay extra for these things, it creates a conflict of interest but its a business and it seems to be the business way for a lot of places unfortunately. I'm not going to the seminar/grading, I don't feel I should get it (blue with a gi) anyways and if I did I'de feel like I didn't deserve it especially since Ive been injured for the past 3 weeks of not rolling anymore and on and off because of injuries from getting hurt by guys way bigger than me.

I joined up & trained for years until I reached that level & was awarded my blue.
I'm incredibly proud that my 10P JJ blue belt didn't have anything to do with money.
Where as I look at my Karate blue belt and can tell you it cost me about $150 all up.

[Andrew Sarasin]

They are not private lessons, it's a group of people paying to be evaluated to see if they can get their blue belt. We have to know 2 of almost everything like passing the guard, submissions from guard ect and its gotta be crisp. But there is a "seminar" before whatever that means. To me a private lesson is one on one and that's not it if that's what your thinking.

I totally get what your saying that its about learning but after 3 years and 2 months (with 1 month because I moved back to quebec and didnt have a job + 1yr and a half break because of dislocated elbow elbow was still hurting until a year has passed, i thought JJ was done for me than I said fuck it, im going back to JJ since it was in Judo (for 3 month) where i got a dislocated elbow.

As for why don't I only pay for the grading? because its both the seminar and grading or nothing, you can't just go to one of them and pay less or whatever.

I can see paying a coach for a private lesson to evaluate your abilities and provide advice on how to improve, but not just to 'get a belt'. In my opinion you should learn as much as you can from a coach, who really cares about the belt it is what you can do in the ring, mats, cage, street that really matters. In my opinion the belt is more a symbol of the relationship, commitment and years of service to your club or coach you learn from. Russian boxing coach says there are really only two ranks: you can fight or you can not fight. I just worry about learning new techniques and constant improvement.

Why don't you take his seminar and skip the grading if you can't afford to both?

[Andrew Sarasin]

Not at all, I thinks its weird that our head coach can't be the one giving our blue belts. Brown and black I understand but not blue. He (Phillipe Dupont) is a black belt in sogo riu jiu jitsu which is basically a mix of judo/ BJJ and self defence from what I have herd, I don't see that as being unqualified to give a blue in BJJ since he knows that stuff very well. He is the one doing the courses for preparation for the grading.

I agree with your way of thinking, I wish it was more like 10th planet here, especially since 10p is no gi..

I wouldn't want to get ranked under anyone that I didn't formally train under. That's just my personal preference. I hope I'm not raining on your parade here.

I care a bit more about lineage than rank. So I mean, say you do get your blue from Firas. Someone asks, "you train under Firas?" No. You don't. You paid $70 bucks for him to tell you that he thinks you're at blue belt level. And then he goes on to forget that you exist. That's not really lineage.

But like I said, I care about lineage more than rank. So if you care more about rank, then why not give it a shot? You're basically buying a rank, but at least it's from someone reputable.

[Chris Herzog]

Not at all, I thinks its weird that our head coach can't be the one giving our blue belts. Brown and black I understand but not blue. He (Phillipe Dupont) is a black belt in sogo riu jiu jitsu which is basically a mix of judo/ BJJ and self defence from what I have herd, I don't see that as being unqualified to give a blue in BJJ since he knows that stuff very well. He is the one doing the courses for preparation for the grading.

I agree with your way of thinking, I wish it was more like 10th planet here, especially since 10p is no gi..

If he is not ranked in BJJ he is not qualified to rank you in BJJ. Doesn't matter if the art he practices is a combo of arts or not. It's not BJJ.

[mountveggie]

I used to train at a gym that would automatically give people blue belts when they paid for their 2nd year's membership.

In other words, if there was a promotion ceremony on the 366th day (after you first joined the gym) - you were gonna get your blue belt (you just had to attend a minimum number of classes to fit "the criteria"). People who were freakin' awesome were only going to receive their blue belts on that specified day, and people who sucked ass received their belts on exactly the same day. The same rule applied to everyone - Pay for that 2nd year, get a blue belt at the very next promotion.

I though that was idiotic, and left after 365 days.

Finally got my blue (at my current gym) a whole lot later, but lemme tell ya - it sure as heck meant something. Plus, I can safely travel around the country and have fun rolling slow with any white belt, knowing that I'll tap them more than they'll tap me (which is important cuz you don't want your ego to get in the way, thinking you have to go ape shit crazy when you're rolling with lower belts, just to "protect your rep").