Did the BJJ Police meet their match?

The BJJ police have been in action again this weekend, hunting down instructors who claim to teach BJJ, but have they met their match this time?


Here's the deal - a certain Yorkshire karate club has listed on Facebook their entire week's schedule. It's quite a list featuring karate, fitness, weapons etc all the usual trad martial art (TMA) activities. But nestled in the Sunday morning class is something known as STAV (a martial art of Norse origin apparently) and then the description, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Neeenaaaneeeenaaaaa!!! Wail the sirens of the BJJ police who politely inquire to the head instructor as to who is teaching these BJJ classes. Here is a snippet of their conversation (edited by me for brevity, but spelling errors are as written by the original poster) as follows:

BJJ POLICE 1: Hello, I am interested as to who teaches your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lesson, what rank they are and who they train under? Thanks.

INSTRUCTOR: hi who are you and what do you do in matial arts

B1: I'm a purple belt in BJJ. Who teaches your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class, what rank do they hold and who awarded them that rank?

I: the bjj jujisu is a new class s just starting , we already have three 10th dan s in jujitsu a master in judo ,a 5th danin judo 8th dan master in wado 6th dan master in shotokan ,6th dan in bujitsu a master in stav . and a few 2nd and 3rd dan pluss afree style master europian champion in free stye , seems to be a lot of question from a purple belt, do you live near here now . do you want to train here or why the questions?

B1: I am concerned about any clubs which claim to teach the art which I have busted my ass at to earn the rank I hold (do you realise how hard it is to get a legitimate purple belt in BJJ?). I find it pretty annoying when people who have not gained any rank in BJJ decide they can teach it. So, who teaches your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class? What is their rank in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and who promoted them to that rank?
I don't understand why these questions are so difficult to answer. You asked me about my rank and I responded quite simply.

[now it gets nasty...]

I: listen your a puple belt im a 6th dan and your annoying me now i dont care what you think so just get on with your own business you've got a lot to lean i know how hard it is a lot more than you so get on with it and by the way i dont care if you understand , your instuctor should teach you more respect a purple belt in any style is just a beginner as far as im concerned
. stick to your art mate

B1: I have not shown you any disrespect at all. I asked you simple questions which, if you had legit BJJ credentials, should have been easy for you to answer. As it stands, it is clear you have just called a lesson "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" to attract students and make money.

[the BJJ police now start posting messages on the karate club's Facebook group
in reply, a number of the karate students sign up to EFN and start trolling the forum]

BJJ POLICE 2: How do you think it will look like if we as you say, dojo storm this place straight off the bat? this way we are giving him his chance to explain his bjj credentials.

KARATE GUY: just try dojo storm , ill roundhouse kick the lot of ya

B2: [posts silly photo of a person doing a karate kick]

KG: thats funny init pal, but ive actually broke peoples ribs with my patented spinning roundhouse

[lots of online laughter emoticons]

BJJ POLICE 3: Why are these blokes always fat bastards as well? Surely if you're training every day you should be in pretty good shape, they never are!
How can you sit there and take someone seriously when they can't even run up a flight of stairs without being out of breath.

[my favourite silly quote coming up here]

KG: pal i might not be able to run up a flight of stairs, but i can break 6 boards with a single strike

cue more online derision, accusations fly, insults dealt. At one point one karate member scans youtube and rates the BJJ police 1's fight videos all one-star (out of five) this person also claims that her karate instructor is also a BJJ 'Grandmaster'! More BJJ forum members (including yours truly) chip in with their comments and it continues still. You can read the whole thread (sadly some of the trolls have deleted their best posts) here.

What started off as a fairly innocuous silly giggle at a Facebook group has ballooned into this soap opera that has captivated the entire BJJ community for ooh, three days now.

To sum, you say potato, I say potartoe, let's call the whole thing off.

byMeerkatsu

in BJJ, bogus, websites

May 19, 2009

Did the BJJ Police meet their match?

The BJJ police have been in action again this weekend, hunting down instructors who claim to teach BJJ, but have they met their match this t...

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The BJJ Police

The BJJ web forums have been abuzz with a recent influx of so-called bogus BJJ schools. Well, they are not bogus per se, rather, they are martial arts schools who claim to include BJJ as part of their syllabus. Like a red rag to a scary bull, various members of the BJJ community have taken it upon themselves to enquire as to the legitimacy of these schools. Some call it a witchhunt, but the BJJ police defend their motives as preserving the purity of the sport...

One martial arts school, based in Rochdale was spotted to claim to teach BJJ together with many other arts that were combined into a whole system. When questioned about the main instuctor's background, the owner replied that he had no formal training in BJJ, just a couple of seminar attendances and watched a few videos. He has since removed all references to BJJ on his website. But before doing sdo, insisted that the term 'BJJ' was not copyright, so he had every right to use it if he wanted.

Another instructor, based in Southampton, also claimed to teach BJJ. The BJJ police enquired as to his credentials and, after a few heated exchanges, the instructor revealed a rather mysterious and unverifiable background. The story goes like this - our man did train in BJJ from a legit school and got to blue belt. Then he left the club to train with a Brazilian black belt who only taught private lessons, but who has since disappeared never to be heard from again. But before the master left, he presented a black belt to his private student. No one in the BJJ community has ever heard of this BJJ instructor. The chap decides he wants to open up a school and apparently gains the accredition of a well known master called Tinguinha. He also claims he is a brown belt under Tinguinha. A few emails from our BJJ police discover to Tinguinha himself discover that our man is not cleared to represent him, but that he did suggest he downgrade his level to brown as his black belt is unverifiable. This is all very strange to the BJJ police, who confront the club owner, who in the end, apologises profusely for alluding to rank and alliegances that do not yet exist. He also alters his website accordingly.

There are probably loads more examples of these exchanges, a visit to any ofthe forums where BJJ is discussed, such as EFN or Bullshido and you can pick up any one of a number of on-going dramas. In most cases, the main ire of the BJJ community is the claim of teaching BJJ when they have no formal rank or record in the sport. Watching a few videos and attending a few seminars does not make you an instructor.

Unfortunately, BJJ is a martial art that has no overall governing body. Anyone can claim anything and in some cases they do. That's why the BJJ police on these forums feel it is important to chase bogus instructors to verify their claims. Anyone who has spent years, sweating blood and tears, on the mat, earning their belts from a recognised instructor, can breathe easy. The BJJ police are on your side. Everyone else, better run or hide.

Of course these situations are different from bonafide BJJ practitioners who are also instructors in traditional martial arts and who feel it appropriate to combine the two disciplines together. Why? I'll explore that in another posting soon.

NOTES:
1. How do you prove genuine BJJ credentials?
Simply state your instructor lineage. For example, mine would be - blue awarded by David Adiv - Royler Gracie - Helio Gracie.
My instructor, Nick Brooks, would be - brown belt from Roger Gracie - Renzo Gracie - Carlos Gracie Jr.

Further evidence of credentials would also include a fight record in all competitions, but since mine is so dire, I'll leave that out for now ;)

byMeerkatsu

in BJJ, bogus, websites

February 13, 2009

The BJJ Police

The BJJ web forums have been abuzz with a recent influx of so-called bogus BJJ schools. Well, they are not bogus per se, rather, they are ...

Read More