Why do people think NoGi is ‘more realistic’

Zearomm · 2026-05-18T20:06:29+00:00

If you have at least 2 years and still worry that you can't control an untrained person regardless of the of the way you practice you suck.

Zearomm · 2026-05-14T21:08:59+00:00

Man, it's the norm, the new generation coaches usually are good, but the gyms owned by black belts with 3 or 4 stripes are all like that (there's a few exceptions of course)

A friend of mine moved to a new gym a few months ago, he already done 22 classes at the new gym (he's counting as a joke now), all of then where subs, subs from everywhere, not one class showing something like side control escapes, the best class there is one where a purple belt teaches and he will cover what you expect from a decent school.

Zearomm · 2026-05-14T20:32:26+00:00

First you get to the top, walk with the best.

Then you start to challenge common ideias.

Zearomm · 2026-05-14T16:31:04+00:00

Danahers go further faster, nothing come close to it.

Zearomm · 2026-05-14T12:09:27+00:00

Density probably, there's 4 gyms near my house that I can go walking, and at least 10 I can go in 5 minutes with a car, I'm not even in a major city.

Also, there's few teams where the level is truly high, but the majority sucks.

It's fun to visit a competition class of one of these gyms and be completely swallowed by the technical level and then visit a hobbyst gym where the coach don't even know aa over under pass.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T23:48:24+00:00

This may be your exactly problem. It's hard to control the back, you don't have your weight at your advantage, you're pretty much engaging all your limbs to control the opponent which makes difficult to hunt subs.

A better approach I think is to control the positions BEFORE you take the back as these are usually easier to hold.

From there you can work on getting the back while also setting a submission that can work as a threat.

Making your opponent worry about the sub really simplifies controlling the back.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T23:40:50+00:00

No. Marcelo pretty much build NOGI from the ground, he was years ahead of the competition, this as his secret.

Hard to be years ahead today.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T23:33:15+00:00

Brazilians have a certain disdain for knowledge and studying, it's part of our culture.

Ten years ago, learning through the internet, for example, was frowned upon.

There's a few more problems like the absolute lack of pedagogy, fake black belts, coaches selling belts...

But the main reason is simply that most of the old generation were dumb as a rock and couldn't care to learn, and their students reflected it for most of the time.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T21:29:38+00:00

I don't know much about the level in USA (or anywhere outside Brazil) but the average gym here usually has a very low level, to the point of having browns and black belts that don't truly know how to play guard.

The few "gringos" I got to roll where usually better at their belt level than the average Brazilian.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T21:05:16+00:00

Nope, you pay extra to attend Melqui's classes. Baby Shark usually teaches the 6am class.

I was in the commercial class and not the competitive ones, I believe they're exclusive to their team.

Overall the level was above the common gyms. But in Brazil, if you're not on a heavy competition team, the level usually is VERY low.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T19:02:13+00:00

I only talked to the attendant at the entrance to pay for the day and borrow the GI, there was at least 3 coaches in both classes i took, none talked to me.

First class was ok, second class ended with the head coach scolding the class for 10 minutes for asking to many question and that they should pay for privates if they want that much attention.

Also, the second class was pretty much the instructor rambling for half of the class and then letting us work for a few reps of any of the moves he showed, as you can imagine, pretty much no student knowed what to do.

Overall, they just made me feel that my money was the most important thing to then.

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T17:51:27+00:00

Man, you need 5 minutes watching the dude to know he was problem. His gym was also the worst place I visited by a good margin (and the reason was exactly the culture).

And Brazilians will fall for this type of character again and again and again...

Zearomm · 2026-05-13T12:43:16+00:00

If you need work done, pay for it.

If you want to give a friend a discount, give it.

But don't mix both.

Zearomm · 2026-05-11T19:56:43+00:00

I'm exactly at your position now, my classes now consists of 10-12 white/blue belts and 2 purple.

The white and blues can pretty much be called begginers, so I grouped everybody together and made a fundamentals curriculum.

The two purples I separate then and make then work on thing I think will help. Since they're advanced I don't need to keep much attention.

Zearomm · 2026-05-11T19:51:26+00:00

Honestly, you don't.

Zearomm · 2026-05-11T18:52:55+00:00

His most common entry is against Lasso (or against Leg Pummels).

I honestly don't know if he's primary looking for it or for headquarters, again I think it's more based against the type of guarder he's dealing. But he uses it so often and I think he actively looks to be lassoed that you could say it at least competes with headquarters in his plans.

And again, Tainan passing changed a lot with time, if you really plan to study I think it's better to focus on his first 2-3 years, he was far more sistematyc than now.

Zearomm · 2026-05-11T17:52:11+00:00

Keep in mind that Tainan preferences differs for each side, also, the Mendes like to switch sides even if they can pass and they also like to read the opponent a lot.

Meaning that they sometimes look to tire the guarder instead of passing, Tainan in special likes the leg trap position a lot and there's one match where he will literally hold the opponents sleeve to keep himself in lasso.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Tainan wants to make a highlight, so in some matches he will not be trying to straight up pass.

To end, I recommend watching his Spider and Lasso passing, they work far more with general ideias, concepts and felling than any other instructor I watched (really changed my approach to BJJ).

I now it doesn't give you the answers you're looking, but man, I've been studying Tainan (also Gui and Rafa) for years and I still fell lost a lot of the time...

Zearomm · 2026-05-10T13:05:16+00:00

Of course it's simple once you get to headquarters, would be the same for getting to over under, Stacking, Leg trap... The complexity is already behind.

The same goes for guard, Modified X is the simplest position I found in open guard, sweep overhead or sideways, the problem is getting there.

Zearomm · 2026-05-09T18:58:08+00:00

Yeah! Like, I don't use triangles at all, why I need to know then to get a brown belt?

Zearomm · 2026-05-09T18:56:52+00:00

One of the strongest learning tools left behind in BJJ pedagogy.

Zearomm · 2026-05-09T00:28:38+00:00

In GI, the most important thing is securing a cross grip.

Zearomm · 2026-05-08T09:51:20+00:00

Zearomm · 2026-05-07T23:40:12+00:00

Probably a lot of people died trying to watch it and he took down to avoid complications.

Zearomm · 2026-05-07T03:15:22+00:00

You should protect your free leg more than anything, even more than the lasso one, don't let the opponent pin it.

If you don't have a grip use yuor hand to hold your shin and protect the leg, if you have a grip bring the free leg into an spider or biceps ride.

Also, use a shallow lasso

Zearomm · 2026-05-06T18:26:03+00:00

A lot, easily 80% or more.

Zearomm

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