Rigan Machado or Caique or Fernando Vasconcelos

[cascagrosa]

I recently moved to So. Cal and am looking for a gym to train at...Cost and students are the biggest deciding factor.

I'm down to three gyms...For those who have trained any of them, who are the top students at each school and what are their accomplishments (ie, First Place, Light Weight - Mundials - Black Belt division, etc.)?

What do you think about the instructors teaching style and do you feel one is more effective than the other? How often do the main instructor teach the classes? Do the instructors continue to teach the latest and greatest from Brasil or is it the same recycled over and over?

Finally, any info on cost would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[SweepEm]

dude, you can't go wrong with any of the 3 that you named.

All are quality schools with lots of good guys to train with.

I know guys at all of the schools.

check out the thread I just posted from our School,
Rey Diogo.
Team Carlson Gracie

[Grahf1]

As far as students go, I think Fernando just started teaching not too long ago, so he might not have as many purples and browns as the other two.

I think Fernando got his BB from Rigan.

[Hakoko]

Rigan and Roger have a good school. Very good level of guys there. To great instructors

Caique also has good guys. Alot of the top fighters left the Gracie Academy to train with him. He is also a great instructor.

Fernando is the young lion. He's a world Champ, and has good fighters. When he and Bob Bass owned a school together, their team got some serious attention. Some tough guys left the Machado school to train with Fernando. He also has great wrestling training. He was a great high school wrestler, and trains with one of the best.

Like it was stated before, you really can't go wrong with any of these schools. All prices are all comparable. It's a tough choice, glad I don't have to make it

[Flash]

Originally posted by Hakoko
Caique also has good guys. Alot of the top fighters left the Gracie Academy to train with him. He is also a great instructor.

I've participated in some seminars taught by Caique. He's a really nice guy and a great instructor - he really emphasized learning how moves "flow" from one to the other rather than learning stuff in isolation.

[cascagrosa]

thanks to all the responses...but not quite the responses i was looking for...

what i was looking for was who the top students at each belt level are currently for each school. for ex. when i trained with rigan in redondo back in the days, the 'cascagrossa' at each level were, IMHO:

blue - ricco rodriguez
purple - thiago vella, egan inoue
brown - bob bass
black - fernando vasconcelos

when i trained with ralph,

blue - bj penn, cameron earle
purple - dave camarillo
brown - none
black - nino

like many lower level practitioners (blue and below), i feel my jiu jitsu skills improve, not only from the instruction by the instructor but, more so from the help of training partners.

i've been away from jiu jitsu for more than 5 years b/c of work. i was recently laid off and plan on returning to jiu jitsu. as i've been away from jiu jitsu for so long, i am curious about who the top students at each level have been recently (who consistently places in tournaments).

therefore, i'd appreciate your opinion on who the current cascagrossa's are for each school.

Rigan:
Costs: ??
blue - ??
purple - ??
brown - ryan gregg?
black - paulo guillobel

Caique:
Costs: ??
blue - ??
purple - ??
brown - ??
black - ??

Fernando:
Costs: ??
blue - ??
purple - ??
brown - ??
black - ??

[Grahf1]

Good question.

[RicksonFan18]

Those guys you mentioned are all badass. but why dont you train with the best.


RICKSON GRACIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hakoko]

Actually Bob Bass received his BB before Fernando. Maybe, you are talking about his little brother Joe Bass.

[cascagrosa]

You're right it may have been Joe...anyway, I never rolled with Bob or Joe but Fernando's Jiu Jitsu was very clean...similar to Feitosa's.

Thiago had one of the best guard passes I ever saw. I think he was the only guy I saw pass BJ's guard if I remember correctly. Whenever I rolled with him, he pancaked me to the ground. Thiago really knew how to utilize his weight to make you feel like he was a 1000 pounds.

BJ's guard was impossible to pass...the day BJ received his blue belt Ralph sparred with him and if I remember correctly, Ralph never passed his guard...he may have been taking it easy but if he was, it sure didn't seem like it.

Dave Camarillo's jiu jitsu was the fastest and most techical I've rolled against. If you made a slight mistake you were dead. Cameron was the strongest jiu jitsu I went against. IMO, these two emulate Ralph's style of Jiu Jitsu to perfection.

All I remember about Ricco was that he was over 300 pounds and not too muscular. He always caught me with the wrestlers head and arm choke/crank.

[cascagrosa]

...does anyone know any other forum where the purple, brown and black belts of BJJ hang out that can answer my question?

there used to be a really good forum intheguard.com but they seemed to have gone back to training...

[Grahf1]

cascagrosa -

www.nhbgear.com is a great place to ask this question about the students from each school.

A lot of ppl from the machados and caiques school post there.

[brothaman]

>>>>All I remember about Ricco was that he was over 300 pounds and not too muscular. He always caught me with the wrestlers head and arm choke/crank.<<<<

man, I hated that Head Crank.

bm

[Roy Gaflaer]

WHY WOULD YOU TRAIN ANYWHERE BUT THE ORIGINAL GRACIE ACADEMY IN TORRANCE!!!!!!!!!! learn from the men who were taught by the master and inventor of Gracie Jiu jitsu Helio Gracie!!!! Forget those other generic "jiu jitsu" schools!

[SweepEm]

When you are the only show in town, it's supply and demand.

But now that Caique and Royce have left, it's lost the allure.

Generic Schools?
wake up.