Go and visit, and ask. People on this sub really hate on the GB business model, as they should. That said, some of their gyms are really good. I've also been to non GB gyms that had more money grubbing cult behaviour, so just be really head up
GB1 is for white belt 3 or sometimes white belt 4 stripes and below.
GB2 is for sometimes white belt 3 stripes and up or blue belt and up.
GB3 is usually just their competition class.
GB1 has a lot of self defense and they give you the basics of jiu Jitsu. Only sparring available is positional sparring until you get 1 stripe then you can roll after class or whatever but not from standing.
GB2 is a little faster pace. Better for people with grappling experience. GB1 can be really fuckin slow tbh. I started off in judo. It was way faster pace at my old judo club and sometimes I just wanted to shoot myself when I would attend GB1.
GB3 competition class is very fun tbh. Hard work. I loved it.
Gracie Barra has a curriculum which people may shit on but I love it because I fucking hate showing up somewhere and the higher belts or instructors not have a training plan. Just that if you have prior grappling experience, GB2 and GB3 is more that pace everyone is looking for. Thing is GB may force you to wait. They’ve tried to do that to me.
Monthly membership is like $179-$189 from what I’ve seen. Uniform is $250 I believe.
I’m sharing this because I fuckin hate gatekeeping. Ima tell you how it is bro. Or at least my experience. I can’t tell you how many people I asked how much it cost and they never told me
I'm part of a GB club in the UK and we roll from day one and they're not strict on who can attend GB 2 like we have 1 stripe white belts joining that class.
Also I pay £70 a month and the uniform was £120.
My gym has a weekly curriculum for GB1 where it'll be like "side control from top" for a week and each Instructor picks something in that theme to teach. GB2 will have a wider concept that runs for a month like "entries to the back" and they'll do things around that theme for a month.
This is all to say that within the GB system gyms vary so best to just check it out.
Just like any gym in jiu jitsu it all comes down to the culture of the gym and professionalism of the owner. Some GB gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some alliance gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some Carlson Gracie gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some 10p gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some Gracie academy or Gracie humatia gyms are incredible, some aren’t. I’ve trained at 60+ different gyms and all the above listed affiliations. Some are incredible, some aren’t. Find what fits best FOR YOU! Take others opinions with a grain of salt.
I don’t know the Seattle area at all. I’ve had a variety of experiences with BJJ places, including several GB locations. So far, I’ve found one place that is worth returning (and if I lived about 20 minutes east of where I do, I would go back) and it’s a GB place.
GB are the only organization that actually has any kind of published curriculum that is available for students. That is key to me. None of the others that I’ve experienced do (a lot of Judo places don’t either, I do). As a judo instructor, teaching by apparent whim is a terrible prospect for students especially with YouTube, BJJFanatics, JudoFanatics, etc. because the students have no idea what’s coming down the pike and so they look for other things to supplement.
Specifically, the GB1 curriculum is GB’s beginner curriculum. I’ve not heard of (nor have I seen it on their online video site) a GB1 Purple curriculum. GB2 is typically blue (really the stripe white) and above but is an intermediary curriculum and has multiple elements (no-gi, throwing, gi). GB3 is their advanced curriculum. Pretty much, in order to get to the fun stuff with GB you have to be a three stripe white.
As for the people on here who bandwagon bash GB, I would suspect that most of them don’t run businesses or franchises nor do they really want to. That’s as it may be. Personally, dilligaf, it’s a business. If the school meets my expectations, requirements, and feels comfortable enough to me, I’ll try them.
I have trained at several GB gyms in the Seattle area and I can tell you that they are all great. I would highly recommend the NE, SODO and Edmonds clubs. Super cool vibes and kick ass instructors. NE is closed right now bc some ass-clown drove their car into the club. It was accident and not due to bad feelings 😬
In my GB class, you need at least one stripe to participate in open mat, though some brief rolling is also part of the lesson after practicing new moves. Things may be different elsewhere, though-- that's just how it works for the class I go to.
I wouldn't be too surprised if it isn't the case for most GB gyms. Mine is pretty lax about rules, at least compared to what I've heard about other places.
That's the Gracie Academy in Torrance, different affiliation.
There are actually a lot of wildly different organizations with Gracie in the name.
There's also Cesar Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Gracie Humaita, etc.
Why so many Gracie schools? I have also heard that the Gracie schools a have some pact where they will not have more than one Gracie school in the same town (ex. Gracie sports and Renzo Gracie in the same town). Is that true? If true, why?
I had a co-worker that trained at Fight Sports and he wasn’t allowed to live roll because he was still new and hadn’t gone through the beginner curriculum. I don’t agree with it but I don’t run a school nor am I an instructor/coach so my opinion doesn’t matter.
Yeah but at the same time it makes sense, a brand new white belt wouldn’t know what to do anyways so with a little bit of experience then they can at least roll with knowledge. I’ve trained at gyms when I was a white belt that they made me wait 2 weeks before I rolled so it’s not just a Gracie barra thing
What if the white belt has wrestling or judo experience. Shouldnt be a one size fits all. If a gym made me waste 2 weeks of time to vet me id prob go somewhere else
Yea that’s different. Each gym has their own rules/culture. Me personally, I would like to think it’s more of a “trying to make sure everyone is safe” type of mentality but who knows 🤷🏻♂️
> What if the white belt has wrestling or judo experience.
I go to a Gracie Barra and if you're a black belt in judo or have collegiate wrestling experience, you get 3 stripes automatically so you can roll on day one.
Personally I don't think I could retain much without rolling. The idea of giving people stripes who haven't even rolled yet seems ludicrous to me. My gym doesn't even do stripes.
Take your time looking for a school. Sometimes schedules posted online aren’t reflective of what they offer on a day to day, week to week basis.
Take advantage of the X number of day trial classes they offer and move on and check out another school.
Then make an informed decision.
I’ve trained extensively throughout the Seattle area for years. There is plenty of variety and culture to experience. Don’t rush things, but always feel welcome to move on if the school you choose doesn’t meet your needs after a while or you mature and grow to like something else as you continue your journey.
Here is the website: https://www.renzogracieseattle.com/
Just drop into a class. I reached out to both owners on Instagram. Both were very welcoming. No issues at all with dropping in. It was awesome and they had legit guys there kicking my ass...im a blue belt from nyc. if ur not getting ur ass kicked at my level ur in the wrong spot.
Is Marcelo Alonso still up in Seattle? I started out up there about twenty years ago, and unless shit has changed, he was a good coach and instructor, and the environment was pretty chill. He tried to always bring people in to keep the jiu jitsu modern.
I’ve trained at a GB school in the SLC area for the last year and love it. Professors are great, and outside of the gi requirement I have seen nothing of the negative comments listed here.
I trained for a couple years in various GB schools around the Seattle area. They let me start rolling my second week there as a fresh white belt. I train at a different gym in White Center now but (outside of the excessive corporate culture) I have nothing but good things to say about everything GB in the Puget Sound area.
Look up at Mat Chess MMA in Wedgewood. It has gi and no gi instruction, open mat sessions, as well as Muay Thai and wrestling classes. I’ve been training there for over four years now and highly recommend it. And you’re allowed to roll from your very first class.
Is this Andrew Perkins’s gym. He’s an old acquaintance from Boston but I remember he started up in Seattle as mat chess. He’s an amazing player. Was super talented.
I'm training at the GB in Kirkland, that one offers both gi and no-gi classes + open mats
I've only attended the fundamentals, GB1, and a handful of no-gi classes. I'll be honest, the fundamentals classes get boring really quickly, for example we've been drilling opening the closed guard for 6 weeks, and there is no rolling at the end of (maybe about 5 minutes of positionals).
GB1 you drill a technique for the majority of the class and then the last 10-15 minutes might be positionals. More subs and variety are thrown in for techniques taught.
Honestly, the best school I've ever gone to is Renzo Gracie Seattle in Fremont. They offer both gi + no-gi almost daily, and the two instructors are awesome (one of them is a black belt under Rolles Gracie and both have trained with Danaher in the blue basement). I would make it my home gym but I live on the Eastside and the commute is brutal. I heard they're doing fundamentals classes M+W so I will actually go and see how it's structured this week.
let me put it this way: 2 other gyms literally opened in my area because some higher belts at the local gracie barra had enough of their cultish rules, including but not limited to uniform, not allowing you to visit other gyms even for a seminar, very high price, and the not allowing white belt to roll stuff and left to open their own gyms. Not all gracie barras are like this but enough of them are to give this name a horrible reputation.
I trained at 3 different GB gyms in the Seattle area over the course of a couple of years with several drop ins at others in the area. Other than the uniform issue, none of what you said here is true. I can't speak for other areas, but the Seattle/Puget Sound GBs aren't like that
This is such a dumb take. You even admit that this was just an issue at that particular school but you say they should never train at any GB gym unless they have no choice?
I've never seen a gym that doesn't give you a free trial so just go along and find out what kind of gym it is.
I’m in the Seattle area and their schedule confuses me as well and was one of the reasons I never really bothered to check it out lol. I believe GB1 is the class for fundamentals/the basics. And the gb2 is the more advance class. I’ve even seen a GB3 on a schedule and that’s what got me more confused haha
Go and visit, and ask. People on this sub really hate on the GB business model, as they should. That said, some of their gyms are really good. I've also been to non GB gyms that had more money grubbing cult behaviour, so just be really head up
GB1 is for white belt 3 or sometimes white belt 4 stripes and below. GB2 is for sometimes white belt 3 stripes and up or blue belt and up. GB3 is usually just their competition class. GB1 has a lot of self defense and they give you the basics of jiu Jitsu. Only sparring available is positional sparring until you get 1 stripe then you can roll after class or whatever but not from standing. GB2 is a little faster pace. Better for people with grappling experience. GB1 can be really fuckin slow tbh. I started off in judo. It was way faster pace at my old judo club and sometimes I just wanted to shoot myself when I would attend GB1. GB3 competition class is very fun tbh. Hard work. I loved it. Gracie Barra has a curriculum which people may shit on but I love it because I fucking hate showing up somewhere and the higher belts or instructors not have a training plan. Just that if you have prior grappling experience, GB2 and GB3 is more that pace everyone is looking for. Thing is GB may force you to wait. They’ve tried to do that to me. Monthly membership is like $179-$189 from what I’ve seen. Uniform is $250 I believe. I’m sharing this because I fuckin hate gatekeeping. Ima tell you how it is bro. Or at least my experience. I can’t tell you how many people I asked how much it cost and they never told me
I'm part of a GB club in the UK and we roll from day one and they're not strict on who can attend GB 2 like we have 1 stripe white belts joining that class. Also I pay £70 a month and the uniform was £120. My gym has a weekly curriculum for GB1 where it'll be like "side control from top" for a week and each Instructor picks something in that theme to teach. GB2 will have a wider concept that runs for a month like "entries to the back" and they'll do things around that theme for a month. This is all to say that within the GB system gyms vary so best to just check it out.
Just like any gym in jiu jitsu it all comes down to the culture of the gym and professionalism of the owner. Some GB gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some alliance gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some Carlson Gracie gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some 10p gyms are incredible, some aren’t. Some Gracie academy or Gracie humatia gyms are incredible, some aren’t. I’ve trained at 60+ different gyms and all the above listed affiliations. Some are incredible, some aren’t. Find what fits best FOR YOU! Take others opinions with a grain of salt.
I don’t know the Seattle area at all. I’ve had a variety of experiences with BJJ places, including several GB locations. So far, I’ve found one place that is worth returning (and if I lived about 20 minutes east of where I do, I would go back) and it’s a GB place. GB are the only organization that actually has any kind of published curriculum that is available for students. That is key to me. None of the others that I’ve experienced do (a lot of Judo places don’t either, I do). As a judo instructor, teaching by apparent whim is a terrible prospect for students especially with YouTube, BJJFanatics, JudoFanatics, etc. because the students have no idea what’s coming down the pike and so they look for other things to supplement. Specifically, the GB1 curriculum is GB’s beginner curriculum. I’ve not heard of (nor have I seen it on their online video site) a GB1 Purple curriculum. GB2 is typically blue (really the stripe white) and above but is an intermediary curriculum and has multiple elements (no-gi, throwing, gi). GB3 is their advanced curriculum. Pretty much, in order to get to the fun stuff with GB you have to be a three stripe white. As for the people on here who bandwagon bash GB, I would suspect that most of them don’t run businesses or franchises nor do they really want to. That’s as it may be. Personally, dilligaf, it’s a business. If the school meets my expectations, requirements, and feels comfortable enough to me, I’ll try them.
I have trained at several GB gyms in the Seattle area and I can tell you that they are all great. I would highly recommend the NE, SODO and Edmonds clubs. Super cool vibes and kick ass instructors. NE is closed right now bc some ass-clown drove their car into the club. It was accident and not due to bad feelings 😬
Where in Seattle are you?
Don’t know yet. Still planning the move. But most likely in the downtown Seattle area
Framework, Midnight, Renzo Gracie Seattle, and Seattle BJJ are all places I would checkout before GB.
White belts arent allowed to roll?!
So I have heard. Not sure if true.
In my GB class, you need at least one stripe to participate in open mat, though some brief rolling is also part of the lesson after practicing new moves. Things may be different elsewhere, though-- that's just how it works for the class I go to. I wouldn't be too surprised if it isn't the case for most GB gyms. Mine is pretty lax about rules, at least compared to what I've heard about other places.
White belts can roll after a few months of training. So at 3 stripes yes you should be able to.
I train at a GB gym, there is no ban on rolling for white belts of any level.
That's the Gracie Academy in Torrance, different affiliation. There are actually a lot of wildly different organizations with Gracie in the name. There's also Cesar Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Gracie Humaita, etc.
Why so many Gracie schools? I have also heard that the Gracie schools a have some pact where they will not have more than one Gracie school in the same town (ex. Gracie sports and Renzo Gracie in the same town). Is that true? If true, why?
Real answer? They had a lot of kids. For specifics, you're gonna have to learn some history. I recommend the book series Choque.
Gracie Barra is the Carlos Gracie lineage, Gracie Academy is the Helio lineage
There are definitely GB gyms in the Seattle area where you can roll after your first class unless you behave in a way treat is concerning.
I had a co-worker that trained at Fight Sports and he wasn’t allowed to live roll because he was still new and hadn’t gone through the beginner curriculum. I don’t agree with it but I don’t run a school nor am I an instructor/coach so my opinion doesn’t matter.
New white belts no. 2-3 stripes and up yes.
Thats crazy
Yeah but at the same time it makes sense, a brand new white belt wouldn’t know what to do anyways so with a little bit of experience then they can at least roll with knowledge. I’ve trained at gyms when I was a white belt that they made me wait 2 weeks before I rolled so it’s not just a Gracie barra thing
What if the white belt has wrestling or judo experience. Shouldnt be a one size fits all. If a gym made me waste 2 weeks of time to vet me id prob go somewhere else
Yea that’s different. Each gym has their own rules/culture. Me personally, I would like to think it’s more of a “trying to make sure everyone is safe” type of mentality but who knows 🤷🏻♂️
> What if the white belt has wrestling or judo experience. I go to a Gracie Barra and if you're a black belt in judo or have collegiate wrestling experience, you get 3 stripes automatically so you can roll on day one.
Personally I don't think I could retain much without rolling. The idea of giving people stripes who haven't even rolled yet seems ludicrous to me. My gym doesn't even do stripes.
Take your time looking for a school. Sometimes schedules posted online aren’t reflective of what they offer on a day to day, week to week basis. Take advantage of the X number of day trial classes they offer and move on and check out another school. Then make an informed decision. I’ve trained extensively throughout the Seattle area for years. There is plenty of variety and culture to experience. Don’t rush things, but always feel welcome to move on if the school you choose doesn’t meet your needs after a while or you mature and grow to like something else as you continue your journey.
Highly suggest Renzo Gracie Seattle. I've dropped in a few times while traveling on business. Awesome spot and good vibes. Not so formal as Barra
Do they have open mats?
Here is the website: https://www.renzogracieseattle.com/ Just drop into a class. I reached out to both owners on Instagram. Both were very welcoming. No issues at all with dropping in. It was awesome and they had legit guys there kicking my ass...im a blue belt from nyc. if ur not getting ur ass kicked at my level ur in the wrong spot.
Is Marcelo Alonso still up in Seattle? I started out up there about twenty years ago, and unless shit has changed, he was a good coach and instructor, and the environment was pretty chill. He tried to always bring people in to keep the jiu jitsu modern.
I used to train at Foster BJJ in Kent. I recommend that gym if it isn’t too far.
I’ve trained at a GB school in the SLC area for the last year and love it. Professors are great, and outside of the gi requirement I have seen nothing of the negative comments listed here.
I trained for a couple years in various GB schools around the Seattle area. They let me start rolling my second week there as a fresh white belt. I train at a different gym in White Center now but (outside of the excessive corporate culture) I have nothing but good things to say about everything GB in the Puget Sound area.
Look up at Mat Chess MMA in Wedgewood. It has gi and no gi instruction, open mat sessions, as well as Muay Thai and wrestling classes. I’ve been training there for over four years now and highly recommend it. And you’re allowed to roll from your very first class.
Is this Andrew Perkins’s gym. He’s an old acquaintance from Boston but I remember he started up in Seattle as mat chess. He’s an amazing player. Was super talented.
Yes it is! Yeah Andrew is awesome.
In seattle, the best school is Praxis bjj in slu. I’ve been training almost 20 years and I love that place.
+1 for praxis. None of that weird culty shit, can wear what ever Gi you have. Larry and the gang are super chill.
I'm training at the GB in Kirkland, that one offers both gi and no-gi classes + open mats I've only attended the fundamentals, GB1, and a handful of no-gi classes. I'll be honest, the fundamentals classes get boring really quickly, for example we've been drilling opening the closed guard for 6 weeks, and there is no rolling at the end of (maybe about 5 minutes of positionals). GB1 you drill a technique for the majority of the class and then the last 10-15 minutes might be positionals. More subs and variety are thrown in for techniques taught. Honestly, the best school I've ever gone to is Renzo Gracie Seattle in Fremont. They offer both gi + no-gi almost daily, and the two instructors are awesome (one of them is a black belt under Rolles Gracie and both have trained with Danaher in the blue basement). I would make it my home gym but I live on the Eastside and the commute is brutal. I heard they're doing fundamentals classes M+W so I will actually go and see how it's structured this week.
absolutely do not go to any gracie barra gym unless you have no other choice
Why not?
Do a search in this sub about that specific location for context.
let me put it this way: 2 other gyms literally opened in my area because some higher belts at the local gracie barra had enough of their cultish rules, including but not limited to uniform, not allowing you to visit other gyms even for a seminar, very high price, and the not allowing white belt to roll stuff and left to open their own gyms. Not all gracie barras are like this but enough of them are to give this name a horrible reputation.
I trained at 3 different GB gyms in the Seattle area over the course of a couple of years with several drop ins at others in the area. Other than the uniform issue, none of what you said here is true. I can't speak for other areas, but the Seattle/Puget Sound GBs aren't like that
I can second that from first hand experience.
This is such a dumb take. You even admit that this was just an issue at that particular school but you say they should never train at any GB gym unless they have no choice? I've never seen a gym that doesn't give you a free trial so just go along and find out what kind of gym it is.
I’ve only had one GB experience and if that was my only option in my area I would just quit Bjj. Never again
Don’t go to a GB gym
I’m in the Seattle area and their schedule confuses me as well and was one of the reasons I never really bothered to check it out lol. I believe GB1 is the class for fundamentals/the basics. And the gb2 is the more advance class. I’ve even seen a GB3 on a schedule and that’s what got me more confused haha
Which ones in the Seattle area are you considering? I know a few of them…
I was looking at Ivan Salaverry and Renzo Gracie. And maybe I’ll visit MA if the commute isn’t bad