DRAC'S FORUM

You should give credit to everybody that helps you. America is about business, and I don't want to say that there is no element of a team, but a lot of places are about business a lot. In Brazil there is definitely a larger loyalty factor.. but it's not prohibited to train at more than one place. In Brazil I used to frequently go to two academies but it was a relaxed situation because a lot of the guys from each place go to train at the other place. The black belt who graduated me, received his black belt from the mestre of the other academy, and the mestre reconizes my rank and we are all friends. The coach of my coach is also mine, and I am also a student of his, but he will leave the belt promotion to my coach.... you understand? But nonetheless, I wear the patch of both academies and I represent both.

^This..I think the biggest problem is keeping him in the dark. Most people have awkward situations and the truth is...jiu-jitsu is still young here and some people are doing it just for a work out or just as a supplement or just for this or that and then there are die hard competitors or fighters. I think Drac has recognized this and is less intense or offended.

I think if you talk to him..he will respect that and be ok with it.  Drac is HUUUUUUUGE on respect, and you should always talk to your professor about things like this so he is in the loop and he knows that you respect his feelings.

Its one thing to have a problem and talk it out with your professor, its another thing to do things in the dark or without asking how he feels about it. Trust me man, I know Drac pretty well and have heard enough or experienced enough to know how big of an issue respect is. I think a lot of people may think nothing offends him because he doesn't say anything... but thats because Drac is still new here and is still learning the culture.

There has been ALOT of things that I've personally seen people do that has offended Drac or a black belt from Brazil..that they only talked about later because they are in a new culture and aren't sure if it is considered offensive here like it is in Brazil. They try to politely tell you, or give hints..or sometimes avoid it and chalk it up as "They are in America".

Marcelo and Drac actually were supposed to work on a list with me of rules of politeness so that I could post it just so we could be informed of what these things are...but other things got in the way. I wanted to make this list because a lot of people do these things without knowing and wouldn't do it if we knew it offended them. (I'm glad you reminded me that we need to do this)

Things like "asking a black belt to roll with them". Marcelo gets offended by that..a student asked him one time and he tried to politely explain that you don't ask a black belt to roll with you...you wait for them to ask you. He said its a respect thing..when he was a purple belt..he would wait for an hour some time warming up waiting for them to ask him.

Another thing is rolling into higher belts...when you are rolling and you bump into a higher belt rolling..YOU should get up and move..not wait for them to. There are alot of little things like this that we don't know about it..and Drac doesn't get offended (gets annoyed probably) because he knows that we just dont' know..no one has told or showed us.

Anyway ,the point is,when in doubt go talk to him. He is a really understanding guy and the fact that you have enough respect to talk to him about it first will go a looooooooooong way. Drac has the utmost respect for us as students. He will literally fight for you. I've seen him go ape shit and almost fight a student that disrespected one of our students "magician". Thats because drac is loyal to us and protective of us and willing to go to war for us against other students other professors and other refs. I think we should ALWAYS show him the same respect.

Its in the rules, everyone generally does it. We don't walk to the wall..but most face away from the rest of the class and then tie it. Like I said though..drac is pretty lax, but there is a difference in doing things because you don't want to get yelled at (which he doesn't do unless some one is seriously offending him or being disrespectful)..and doing things because you know its respectful.

Ok thanks for all the advice guys. I actually have talk to Drac and told him about my situation before I ever joined or rolled on the mats at GB. I still feel shitty about it.

and to answer your question about how long I will be divided... I'm actually already part of Bushi Ban's amateur mma team and I will continue to work for them because I'm getting paid decent, they work with my school schedule, and they have helped me out a lot when I needed it. Sp I honestly don't know how long I will stay divided. I love GB, all the instructors, and all the students that have trained with me there, but my instructor at Bushi Ban was the one who I really have to give credit for giving me my basis, teaching me not just martial arts but life lessons, he is also helping guide me to become a better instructor, and we have a better relationship than just instructor/student relationship, I hang out at his house and I hang out with his kids and stuff too.

Basically what I'm trying to say is I can't turn my back on him, but I still feel shitty for training with Drac and not giving him and GB any credit (I tell people I train Jiu Jitsu at GB with Drac, but I represent BB when I'm in tournaments).

I wish when tournaments ask for what school and instructor I represent I could put it all down.

Like others have said this happens from time to time here in the US, but some places see it as very disrespectful.  The problem I have is, learning something from Drac's Curriculum, at his school, and using it in competition but not giving him any of the thanks when you win, by representing another school.  He's given you the knowledge and helped you implement it into your game but by representing another school you're saying I learned my skills here and they are responsible for you winning.  Its almost like false advertising for that other school. 

You being an instructor know that instructors get great pleasure at seeing their students succeed.  So if the shoe was on the other foot and one of your students wins at competition, but tells everyone that he learned all his BJJ or submission grappling from Colby, you might get a little pissed or even hurt.   

Both schools are very different in my opinion.  Gracie Barra is a BJJ school first a MMA school second.  Don't get me wrong I believe we have a great team in both sports, but with most of our classes focused more on BJJ with the Gi thats my opinion.  Bushiban is a karate school with some MMA as well.  As I know plenty about this school, trust me I do, you will be hard pressed to find anyone in any of those schools with the knowledge and resume' that Draculino possesses in BJJ.  Not saying anything negative about that school at all just stating a fact.  It kind of goes back to the false advertising thing because you are teaching techniques that you probably learned at GB TX, at a school with no affiliation to Gracie Barra.  So yes in my eyes its kind of disrespectful to guy that teaches you most days you are in the gym.

There is nothing wrong with going to this gym or that gym while training or teaching and trying to broaden your game/knowledge.  Everyone has that right to do so, but giving credit where credit is due I think is where the problem lies.  To be honest I had previous submission grappling experience prior to training and working with Draculino.  My game grew so much and became better by leaps and bounds and I owe it all to him and his teachings.  His system made me into the grappler that I am today, so I wear his flag with honor and respect.  When competing I do it with heart and "blood on the eyes" to represent my instructor and my gym.  In victory or defeat I give Draculino all the thanks for giving me the opportunity and support I needed to get better and better everytime I step on the mat.

Of course I want you to know that I mean no disrespect to you or any other place you train at.  I was just giving my opinion on the matter.  In a perfect world I think it would be best if you could fly both flags when you compete, but this ain't no perfect world cause I'm not rich. LOL

Last edited by Babalu (2010-04-22 15:25:14)

Im not sure, i have never trained in a Gi before, but recently signed my 6yr old up at a GB school (he has trained a year or so of nogi/mma)  and it sounded like this was somewhat of newer formality.

I don't know if it bothers Drac, but one thing I will say that annoys the living shit out of me is guys from the previous class or waiting for the next class, sitting around the mat and talking loud while Drac is giving instruction.  Not only do I feel like this is INCREDIBLY rude to Drac, or whoever is giving instructions, I get personally pissed off because I paid a lot of money to hear what is being said, not to hear someones opinion on UFC or whatever.  I'm not saying that we need to keep the place like a library, cuz God knows I talk to Babalu and Colby all the time at the front desk.  Just have a little common courtesy for our instructor and shut the fuck up when he is talking on the mat - who knows - you just may learn something in the process.

Did I mention that I am a white belt?

I train at different schools, well the other school is a boxing school so there really is no conflict. I see where the conflict could come from with drac and bushi ban. Just give credit where its due and you will be fine bro.  When i fight, i wear the gracie barra shorts, i wear the boxing gyms t-shirt but i fight for drac. Like whiteboi once said, "Garcia has drac's name tatted on in the inside of both arms" lol

^ very true.

But back to the original point. People need to understand that Gracie Barra IS a team. Its more than just a martial arts school, we are a high profile competition team as well. Drac takes that serious.

Calvin Has a unique situation and although I'm against training under a Gracie Barra Flag and waiving another Flag during competition...his situation is understandable BECAUSE he is actually an instructor there. This happens sometimes too when guys OWN the school.

BUT, I was posting the results from another tournament..And I found some other people who train at Dracs all the time that registered and fought for a different school. These guys aren't instructors there, they down own it, they are just students there. I don't know if you don't realize why this is wrong or not..but here..let me give you a simple movie analogy.

Guys, remember in Rocky 5 when Rocky takes on Tommy Gun and teaches him to be a champion? Remember when he taught Tommy all his secrets and helped him day in and day out, then Tommy finally got his shot at the title. Tommy went on to fight and fought EXACTLY like Rocky taught him to and he won the title. Then the reporters asked him who he wanted to thank and the fucker said "DUKE"! The Don King guy!. Do you remember the look on Rocky's face...do you remember how said he looked? Do you remember going...."Ahhh man, that's fucked up Tommy"... THATS YOU!!!

I mean training at different places for different martial arts, I get it. Getting your stand up here and your jiu-jitsu here and then you wrestling here....I get it. But Training your jiu-jitsu at one spot and then representing another is not cool, and if you think Monica or Drac or anyone else is cool with it your wrong.

And if training at Drac's school and then giving another school the credit isn't bad enough, I'm also seeing some kids wear other schools gi's with there parents walking in wearing other schools shirts and sweaters. And I don't mean schools far away, I mean direct competition. These guys are not only tournament competition, they are FINANCIAL competition.

I can only imagine its due to ignorance ( I don't mean as in they are stupid people, I mean ignorant to the fact that it is considered rude and disrespectful ) I'm not saying this to talk shit to anyone because all you guys are my brothers and sisters and I like the guys at our school. I'm telling this to you because people don't know whats wrong unless people tell them.

If ANY of you guys are doing ANY of this. You seriously need to talk to Drac about it, its disrespectful to your team mates and most importantly your Instructor. I know not everybody is a hard core competitor or a fighter, and thats fine, but you are still in a High Profile Competition school and you need to respect the other competitors and instructors. Could you imagine team water boy or a medic for the Rockets wearing a Spurs Jersey to all the Rocket practices or at the games?  It is absolutely the same thing. Gracie Barra is a professional Jiu-Jitsu team. If you are a student there...you are apart of that team and that organization.

right on, rocky!!

agreed...if you train bjj at a particular school, that school should be where your loyalty lies...not with someone else...

Last edited by chewie (2010-04-28 13:47:57)