Etiquette

We are very proud of the mat culture at  Gracie Barra MK and consider it to be particularly beginner friendly. Your coach will partner you with a more experienced member for your first sparring sessions, so you can feel comfortable that no submission is going to be applied recklessly. Safety and technical practice are the #1 concern when training in Jiu-Jitsu Be on time for class If you come in late, let the instructor know and join the class without disrupting them. Show respect to higher rank students and to those who are senior in age to you.Be attentive when the Instructor is speaking and teaching.

Self-control and good sportsmanship are a must in the class. Mutual benefit is a major theme in training and sparring and allows for a strong TEAM concept to be developed. Jiu-Jitsu is to be used in daily practice, competitions (regional, national and international) and in last resort self-defence situations. Any activity or behavior not in accordance with the guiding principles of the schoul can result in your termination as a student.

The highest ranking student will conduct the instruction and unless identified to do so, students are not to teach. You are to work together with your partner so that a mutual benefit of training is achieved If at anytime during training you are endanger of being injured through an applied technique or approach another groups training space, firmly tap your partner 2 times or say STOP and this will initiate your partner to immediately STOP applying any technique.

If a throw or take down is being practiced ask your partner if they are confident in break falling, if not, practice the move without releasing your partner or pay special attention to placing them on the ground safely. Unless otherwise specified you will start from your knees. Standing takedowns can be dangerous on a crowded mat so only do them when it has been specified. We mix the sparring  so that people of different weights ,abilities can learn from each other .. no bullies please the other members are watching The fullowing techniques are prohibited for all ranks during normal in-class sparring.

  • Straight cervical neck cranks
  • Small joint manipulations (fingers and toes)
  • Fingers or hands in the mouth or ears
  • Attaching the groin
  • Hair pulling / grabbing
  • High velocity slams from the guard
  • Pinching or crushing the trachea (windpipe)
  • Face crushing (face choking)
  • Striking or uncontrulled dropping of body weight of any kind

The following techniques are prohibited for White through Blue Belt

  • Heel hooks or twisting foot locks
  • Knee bars
  • Toe hulds
  • Wrist locks
  • Over guard guillotine

Belt Rank in Jiu-Jitsu is as fullows:

  • white, blue (I-IV)
  • purple (I-IV)
  • brown (I-IV)
  • black (I-VII)
  • red
  • black (VIII)
  • red (IX)

Promotion time depends on the commitment, athleticism and character of the student. The fullowing are approximate times for promotion (student attending class 3-4 x per week).

  • White to blue: 1-2 years
  • Blue to purple: 3-4 years
  • Purple to brown: 3-4 years
  • Brown to black: 3-5 years
  • Black +: each degree takes 3 years of active teaching and or competing

Time is not the sule criterion for rank; it is possible that an individual may not improve in rank if they do not make improvements in the areas below. Ranking is based off of three criteria:

  • Technical ability: this is a measure of how well you perform or repeat techniques under low stress. (i.e. show me how to do an arm bar)
  • Sparing / fighting ability: this is a measure of how well you perform techniques under a high stress or a dynamic environment (sparring). (i.e. completing a successful escape from a common headlock during sparing)
  • Personal character: this is a measure of how well you fullow the guiding principles of the schoul. (How well liked or respected are you by your fellow students, instructor, and community?)

It is recommended  that members attend scheduled seminars. These experiences allow for additional learning opportunities and student evaluation.

Personal Care

Hygiene: Attention to personal hygiene is a must. Students should be clean and free of foul orders. In order for the class to maintain the highest standards of hygiene the fullowing rules must me fullowed:

  • Finger and toenails must be trimmed short.
  • Hair if long must be pulled back and secured.
  • A daily bath and use of under arm deodorant is required
  • No lubricants, analgesic cream, and or skin creams may be worn that may place an inconvenience to the opponent or allow an unfair advantage to the wearer of such products.
  • The kimono and or training attire shall be washed and thoroughly clean prior to every use.
  • The uniform shall be in good condition and have no foul orders including tobacco smoke
  • Earrings and all others body piercing, wrist and ankle bracelets and rings with exceptions to wedding bands are prohibited. Wedding bands can be worn as long as they are covered with athletic tape
  • Be alert for open wounds, rashes etc on yourself or your training partner
  • Mouthguards are optional but recommended. It only takes one stray elbow or knee to hurt you.

Tapping

  • To indicate to your partner that you are submitting (usually to a joint lock or choke) you tap.
  • Use the palm of your hand to tap your partner firmly a number of times until they release the huld.
  • It is important to tap the person rather than the mat where possible. With many people rulling around on the mat your partner may not notice one more sound of something hitting the mat. They will however notice a tap on the body.
  • If you cannot tap with your hand, tap with a foot, or submit verbally.
  • Make your tap firm and continuous until they release. A single soft tap does not mean you are any less submitted than if you tap strongly. But you do run the risk of your partner not noticing and doing you damage. So when the time comes to tap (and it will come regularly), tap like you mean it!
  • When your partner taps you, stop immediately. Even if you don’t think you have a submission on. It may be that they have caught a toe in your gi or twisted their hand in a funny way. It may be that they have noticed that if you continue with your next move you will be in danger from another pair on the mat. A tap is the best way for them to say “Stop and stop right now!” So never second guess a tap; when your partner taps, you release.

When should I tap?

Ideally you tap when you are in danger of joint damage or unconsciousness, from a lock or a choke. The credo is tap, snap or nap. Having said that, to start with you may not know when you are in danger and when you are not. This will come in time.

Many beginners find themselves “tapping to position”. That is to say finding themselves so uncomfortable in a bottom position that they tap to relieve the pressure even though there is no submission huld being applied. This is to be expected. With more experience you will start to realize that certain positions, while extremely uncomfortable, are not doing damage and you will become more able to survive in them without the need to tap.

You will also learn some things you can do to make those positions more bearable. As time goes on you all also learn to identify at what point a submission is locked in. We recommend you tap earlier in a submission rather than later. If you wait until there is pain there is always the risk of damage, however small. You will soon learn when an armbar is locked in and be willing to tap before it is inevitably applied. This will go a long way to protecting your joints. The words to live by are tap early and tap often!

Applying Submissions

Especially as a beginner, submissions, even in sparring, should be applied slowly and with contrul. This can be difficult. When you start out you will spend much of your time defending. When that long awaited submission opportunity does arise the temptation to go after it at full speed and power will be strong. This is how people get hurt.

It takes a good second or two for your partner to go through the stimulus/response decision making loop and tap.

Submissions applied with too much gusto do not allow for that time and lead to your partner taking time off the mat. Not only that, but as mentioned above, position is everything! One of the things good position gives you is the ability to sink a submission in a slow and contrulled manner. If the only way you can get a submission is to snatch it at full speed, then sorry to say you didn’t really deserve it in the first place.

Basic Positions

Simply put, the strategy of BJJ is; get position, keep it, keep it, keep it, keep it, attack.   Positional dominance is everything.  This section is designed help you become familiar with the basics of BJJ terminology.  Below are the basic positions you will hear your coach talk about:

Guard

Here the person on his back has his opponent in his guard.  There are many variations of guard but the first variant you will learn will be closed guard – with your legs around your opponent’s waist controlling his body.   There are many attacks you can use from this position, both joint locks and chokes as well as sweeps to reverse the position.  Your opponent will attempt to “pass guard” or get around your legs.

Mount

This is a very dominant position for the top competitor.  Where striking is permitted it allows you to strike with weight and authority where your opponent can not.  In a pure grappling environment you can use your weight to control your opponent while you setup submissions and wear them down.

Side control

There are again, many variations of side control.  It is one of the most frustrating positions to be caught in as it seems to magnify the weight of your opponent and they have many attacks as well as the ability to easily transition to other positions.

Side Mount

Side mount is sometimes a transitory position between mount and Back Mount (as the opponent turns on their stomach to get to their knees) but it is also a position in its own right.  It presents the top arm of the opponent for attack as well as offering various chokes.

Back Mount

One of the most advantageous positions to gain – it offers a variety of chokes, some transitions to armbars and it is very hard to dislodge someone who has you in the back, or rear mount.  Note the leg position – the person on top will actually have his feet “hooked” onto his opponent’s thighs. 

Front control

Front Control (or North/South) is a great hold down position.  It often arises as the person in side control moves away from their opponent’s legs so as to reduce the risk of being put back in Guard.  From here you can comfortably move to side control on either side of the body, hold your opponent down and suck some of the energy out of them, or begin to set up submissions.

 

Competitions

There are regular grappling competitions run by various organizations that you will be able to participate in.  While competing is not by any means compulsory, we do encourage you to compete.   Win or lose (and especially lose) competing is a fantastic learning tool.   It tells you exactly what you need to work on and what is working.  It provides a very clear focus for you.  It is also a useful tool to start understanding how you deal with pressure situations and to improve that response. 

One competition can often do as much for your development as 3-6 months training.
 Source John T Will BJJ Black Belt
"...BJJ is not for everyone. It requires a solid work ethic and the tenacity to continue in the face of adversity if one is to make any serious progress. BJJ is not a theoretical art in that one cannot achieve skills without suffering defeat upon defeat in the course of daily practice.
Tapping to an opponent is a regular part of the BJJ learning experience, particularly in the formative years of training; and frankly, many people are simply not equipped to deal with this.
If however you are the type of person that accepts that we only truly learn and grow by undergoing a process of trial and error; if you understand that we must lose, and lose often before we really begin to learn, then perhaps you are ready to take your first steps toward embracing this dynamic and most logical of arts. As goes one of the early Machado credos, 'leave your ego at the door - for this is a place of learning!’”  John B. Will
BJJ is a competitive art in as much as it utilizes full resistance sparring to test and develop technique.  But it is also a co-operative art in that these same sparring sessions, and the conversations you have with your training partners and coaches about them, are what will give you a high degree of effectiveness on the ground.
It is only once we lose our fear of defeat that we are ready to try new things and it is only by trying new things that we learn.
So welcome, as John says, BJJ is not for everyone, but those who make the step find it one of the most fun, rewarding and challenging pursuits on offer.