Converting from a MMA school to a BJJ and Boxing Gym

[Exilict]

This ended up being very long, I am sorry.. Will rep on good responses.

Ok guys I have made an important decision in my life here... I am quitting my gym. Basically because its a Mc.Dojo. I don't want to talk bad about it, because in all honesty its a pretty good place. There are 2 American Top Team Certified fighters there, and we have some guys from American Top Team coming up to teach a few classes, but after that I am going to be quitting the gym. (I have to say, I dont agree with what American Top Team is doing with their "Certified Training" bs)

I would expect that my transition from an MMA school to a BJJ school (Gracie-Barra) should go smooth. I have about a year of MMA training, as well as 1 year previous "Grappling" from a TMA school.

My Questions :

In a traditional BJJ school how much of the class is "Conditioning" the reason I ask is this is one of the major reasons I am leaving my MMA school. I lift 5 days a week, one day is an intense underground strength training that REALLY kicks my ass. On average I do 30 miles on the bike every day, followed by weight training. I have VERY dedicated to my workout routine (Dropped almost 100 pounds since I started) and DO NOT want to change what is working for me! However, I also do not want to get to the gym, Bike 30 miles, then lift for an hour, take a hour and a half break then flip tires for 2 hours straight.. I just can't do it, and I am looked down upon because I do my conditioning outside of class... I'm tired of that!

How do I go about this? I have never been "Ranked" before in JJ, and I got my TMA black belt at like 14... So to be the low ranking guy in class is something brand new to me. I don't want to tell everyone in the gym "Yaaaa I'm form this MMA school" but at the same time its VERY obvious I am not new.. Although I will be brand new to the Gi.... How do I deal with this?

Finally, I am also going to be going to a boxing gym 2x a week. Straight golden glove boxing. I go to a Kickboxing school now, and will continue to go there. I love it, and will continue to compete in Kickboxing, however... I do not feel that Kickboxing and MMA are a good match.. I need to improve my hand speed, and mainly my head movement. So I feel a boxing gym would be better. Is there a HUGE difference between Kickboxing / Boxing? What to expect? etc etc etc

All information is helpful.. Going to make the switch around the 1st of the year... Going to cost me like $200 more a freaking month too!

-C

[craigers2007]

While I do not personally attend a Gracie-Barra school, I have a friend that is an assistant instructor, so I'm somewhat familiar with how they do things.

There probably won't really be a straight 'conditioning' aspect to it. You'll 'condition' by free rolling and live practice and doing your movements and whatnot.

If you've never done Gi before, expect a little extra difficulty for awhile. It took me a little bit to get aclimated to all the grips and control that wearing gis allows for. I find it also slows my scrambles down a bit too, but once you get used to it it's not that big a deal, and I think you'll find that your no-gi grappling will improve as well.

As far as boxing/kickboxing... I can't offer any opinions on that, sorry!

[Dmaul]

The traditional format of a BJJ school is 1 hour of training technique and 1 hour of rolling.

In the technique hour, the instructor shows moves and you drill them. Not a hard workout. Maybe b4 that there is a warm up and after the technique there is some light positional training.

Then the rolling hour is all sparring. Either there is a round timer set to go off and you just spar with people or the instructor matches people up or its totally informal and people just roll at their own pace for however long.

But it does vary from gym to gym of course.

The thing about Gracie Barra is that it is very structured and traditional. They stick to a curriculum and their classes are very much planned out. Call them up and ask them what to expect in the classes.

[AnGrYgUmBaLL]

Kickboxing is a better match for mma than boxing is. Boxing stances and movements are different than what'd you'd learn from an mma school, but if you wanna improve on hand speed and head movement then no doubt it doesn't get better then a good boxing gym.

As far as bjj and conditioning, most schools will start out with some light warm-up, followed by 1 or 2 techniques (positions, subs, defenses) followed by live training. Im sure its not much different than the way you learned bjj at your mma school. So for someone with good stamina it shoudln't be terrible doing all that conditioning.

[HardGainer82]

The traditional format of a BJJ school is 1 hour of training technique and 1 hour of rolling.

In the technique hour, the instructor shows moves and you drill them. Not a hard workout. Maybe b4 that there is a warm up and after the technique there is some light positional training.

Then the rolling hour is all sparring. Either there is a round timer set to go off and you just spar with people or the instructor matches people up or its totally informal and people just roll at their own pace for however long.

But it does vary from gym to gym of course.

The thing about Gracie Barra is that it is very structured and traditional. They stick to a curriculum and their classes are very much planned out. Call them up and ask them what to expect in the classes.

This has been my experience almost exactly.

[ira_est_a_donum]

there is usually a warm up /onditioning part..usually 15-20 minutes long.....but its moderate intensity and bc you do outside conditioning work and training then just take it real easy and go slow...this is what i do for bjj warmup...you can make it hard or easy if you want to...i do it just to break a sweat and be warmed up...some of the guys use it as their "workout" and go at it pretty intensly doing more reps...then there will be instruction and some drills related to the instruction usually 30minto max an hour long..moderate to easy pace generally...then free train/rolling 30-1 hour with what time is left...generally speaking of course...

since you havent trained Gi before... best to start at the bottom...and youll soon get promoted as you show progression with your experience...just be humble and dont mention or speak of your previous experience unless asked... and take it easier during the warmup... if anyone asks about why you arent going full during the warmups..just mention that you do condition work and lift outside of school and are somewhat sore and just want to warm up and get limber to prevent injury during instruction and sparring... and say hey anytime you wanna workout youre welcome to train with me outside of school...