Well, I guess I should add my say in this post. What Mizz 18 is saying all too annoyingly true. Most of the people there are very egotistical and disrespectful of the place we train in. I won't lie and say I get a small laugh out of some of the stuff the karate class does, but saying out loud is just plan disrespectful. They should be appreciative of where we train -- plain and simple.
I have never before trained with a group of people like the school I am at. Most of the people there are arrogant and form little cliques among themselves when sparring or drills begin. When I first arrived there I felt like a black sheep, no one wanted to roll with me because I guess I don't look tuff. Standing at 5 foot 9 and 150 I am not the most impressive of people. This is the typical treatment most people get there when they are new.
In retrospect it was amusing, the first time I rolled. Why? because I ended up with the biggest (girth wise) and loudest mouth there. This guy (which will be nameless, unless #18 wants to rant about him) is your typical big mouthed, chauvinistic, I'm bigger than you so there, kind of person. We faced each other on our knees and he began to wave me onto him with a smirk and wry smile. I remember my thoughts very clearly: "this guy must think I am a chump..."
I won't get into detail, but the match took about 10 minutes before he beat me. How did he beat me? By mounting me and laying on my head with his 270 pound body weight. I realized after the one minute mark he wasn't going to move anywhere. So, I tapped to conserve the energy he was sapping from me. There was still plenty of people to roll with, so why waste my time trying to get a 270 pound man off my head.
After several classes I quickly established I was the 4th best person in the class out of 20+ people. This is when the doors to coolville were opened to me. The higher ups started to speak more to me and wanting to roll with me to test me and themselves. Thing is though, I never accepted their invitation to join the cool crew. I myself have always had a problem with arrogance and inherently don't like rude people. Everyone there is there to learn. A school should be like a family, all looking out for each other and trying to better each other in order to better themselves.
After a while, Rich (our instructor and my good friend) put me in charge of training new people. And frankly, it probably saved us a few students. I like teaching, it is refreshing and sometimes can show you little things that you are missing in your own technique. Still, it's a shame that is like this.
Last time when Rener Gracie was here, he quickly noticed who was serious and who wasn't. It's funny that their attitudes didn't change a lot even when a Gracie was here. I mean for god sakes, we had a Gracie at our school. Wouldn't you lot be a bit better and more serious.
When Rener and I were at my house playing mindtrap (which he kicked my ass in. I hate that flocken game) we were joking about some of the people there and how noticeably arrogant they were. We had one guy there who didn't want to wear his gi in class. This of course during a gi seminar.
When that class was going on, the kid kept asking questions (that had nothing to do with what Rener was talking about 1/2 the time) and interrupting him during his sentences. After that, every time he asked a question Rener would just reply with "Yeah, bro, that's right." No matter what he was asking. After that day's class, we went to Chili's (Damn I love their boneless buffalo wings) for some dinner and to relax. I asked him why he kept yessing the kid and he laughed a bit saying he wanted to have the kid learn incorrectly. Maybe next time he will actually listen closely when he realizes that everything he is doing is wrong.
The place we train for me and 18 is free, and that is something I truly appreciate, but sometimes it is just hard to go and deal with everyone there. They aren't pricks... But I don't care for large egos. When it comes to Jiu Jitsu though, I myself have been accused of being arrogant. I firmly believe that Gracie Jiu Jitsu is the best, but that is just me being stubborn. But amongst your fellow martial artist of any creed, it' s just not right.
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"A deer admires a lion. But all the members of our family are lions. So it doesn't matter which lion I admire. "
-Rener Gracie-
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