No phony

I'm kinda picky about my Martial Arts. I refuse to support anybody fake. I'm funny that way.

Recently, I tried a class in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. This name is a registered trademark name for the version of Brazilian fighting taught by Rorion Gracie. He is the eldest son of the art's creator, and has a school in California.

How did I know the local club was a real one? Simple. That info is available online. There are all the authorized Belt holders in the world, and academies. Easy so far.

Does this guarantee that the program is decent? Nope, but it does prove that as far as Gracie Headquarters is concerned, the local club is for real.

Next, and perhaps more importantly, what makes this guy good enough to teach? Well, besides being a Blue Belt in Gracie stuff, he's also a Black Belt in Hapkido. I'm not interested in Hapkido, but it does mean the guy is a Black Belt in something. I wouldn't want to take a class from a Blue Belt. That's a pretty low rank.

So off I go to take a free trial class. The head guy was very welcoming. His Hapkido class was running when I went in, and he was wearing his Black Belt. When the class switched to Gracie stuff he switched his belt to Blue. It's his class, and he's a Black Belt, but he still wore the appropriate belt for the activity. What does that show? Honest guy, in my opinion.

He turned out to be a good explainer, demonstrator, and has a lovely teaching manner overall.

Total marks so far? I'll give him an 'A'. Can I learn from this guy? You bet.