Looking to teach BJJ in a new club? Read this!

rpmmabray

Hi all,
Rising Phoenix Martial Arts Academy is a new club formerly from Bray Co. Wicklow but is moving to a new location in Loughlinstown Co. Dublin in the coming weeks. The club will hold classes in Kickboxing & Olympic Taekwondo and we believe that Brazilian Jiu jitsu is a much needed addition to not only the us but the community. So this is an opportunity for anyone who maybe was thinking about teaching BJJ but possibly didn't have a location or the funds to start a club to teach their own class. We would like a credited belt holder with minimum 2 & a half-3 years experience. Our times are flexible so if you have a hectic schedule thats no problem So guys let me know if theres anyone out there interested and we'll get talking.

All the best,
Ben Forsyth
Call: 086 067 1700 email: rpmmabray@gmail.com

Barry.Oglesby

Just a bit curious, but why have another BJJ gym right beside one of Ireland's biggest ones? It would be a bit of a challenge for anyone looking to teach beside next gen.

rpmmabray

Hi Barry,
Next Gen is moved to Mounttown ind. estate. I train there (by the way, thanks for running the sub comp on saturday, was a great day!) I've already talked to Darragh about it and he was ok with it, he even offered to do it himself but that guy does too much and is too nice to admit it. I see your point though

Barry.Oglesby

Southside geography is pretty alien to me. I thought NextGen had moved just down the road from Loughlinstown. Obviously there are differing degrees of "just down the road" though.

Best of luck with it and I hope it does well. Put the word out on the coaches network and you might have more luck.

rpmmabray

lol thanks Barry, where can I find the coaches network?

Barry.Oglesby

rpmmabray wrote: »

lol thanks Barry, where can I find the coaches network?

All the coaches in Ireland got together and started a membership only website so they could communicate with each other. Some other people have joined up since but only a few. Your best bet is to log onto it here and see if you can get membership. It's pretty exclusive though.

SanoVitae

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

All the coaches in Ireland got together and started a membership only website so they could communicate with each other. Some other people have joined up since but only a few. Your best bet is to log onto it here and see if you can get membership. It's pretty exclusive though.

David Jones

I established next generation in Loughlinstown in 2002, we moved last November to the current location and coexist with warriors may Thai who were also looking to move from bray at that time. Geography wise we are 10 mins from the old place ie the leisure centre. Can I just ask ben why you are looking to offer something you guys aren't qualified to teach? If you have already been in bray open as an MMA school, who has been teaching your grappling up to now? I have a huge issue with tkd and karate background individuals who are looking to jump on the mma gravy train. Why not open a Thai and tkd school?? Anyway best of luck with it, i sincerely hope you find your belted individual to teach the grappling aspect of your mma programme. Just a bit of a strange choice of location I would have thought.

SanoVitae

David Jones wrote: »

Can I just ask ben why you are looking to offer something you guys aren't qualified to teach?

Isn't this the way nearly all MMA gyms start though? From what I understand, many were started by BJJ coaches who expanded by recruiting specialists in the various martial arts favoured for those who do MMA (e.g. wrestling. boxing, muay thai etc).

David Jones

My points were
1. RPMMA were already established as an mma gym in bray, who was the grappling coach? Was there one?

2. Something about bjj for the community? The area already has a long established bjj school, surely Bray where there is none is the perfect location?

Most reputable mma gyms have been opened by people who have fought mma and can coach at least two of the ranges. Yes I do think you should have fought (ie put your own ass on the line more than once under pro mma rules) before opening an MMA club or offering MMA classes. TKD, kickboxing and Muay Thai really only address one..... Standup. Muay Thai does have clinch but no takedowns or throws. MMA is a little more complex than throwing 3 or 4 arts together half assed. Although with the amount of clubs around these days you would think the opposite were true.

Like I said good luck with venture, I just hope it's not a cash in offering paying customers a chance to "train UFC" we have one if those in Blackrock already.

SBG Ireland

fair play david, more people have to start calling a spade a spade round here. new gyms seem more concerned about their t-shirts n haircuts rather than how to finish a single leg or any other 'ufc' techniques.

yomchi

Random question but generally in line with John's post, there is a new club opened up beside Barry on the ballyboggan road I drive by there most days and it has a sign outside with all the UFC logos on it, surely this is illegal? Would it be like Finn Harps advertising itself as Manchester United or something?

Just curious.

dunkamania

Would this not be a civil matter, instead of a criminal one?

darced

This post has been deleted.

_oveless

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Maybe they wouldn't produce fighters at all?

yomchi wrote: »

Random question but generally in line with John's post, there is a new club opened up beside Barry on the ballyboggan road I drive by there most days and it has a sign outside with all the UFC logos on it, surely this is illegal? Would it be like Finn Harps advertising itself as Manchester United or something?

Just curious.

Wow surely they are going to be sued into the poor house?

Dave Joyce

fair play david, more people have to start calling a spade a spade round here.

Why not open a Thai and tkd school??

Totally agree with your sentiments here BUT it's also concerning the number of MMA clubs (and I don't mean the properly established clubs) opening up who offer Muaythai classes with little or no knowledge of the art. It takes more than a couple of weeks training in Thailand to be a Muaythai instructor

SDTimeout

The aspect of the " MMA Gravy train " is a very interesting one. Clubs being established that may have a very good level of Thai. Yet market themselves as an " MMA " club. The whole club ethos is around Thai yet they are mad to break into MMA. So why is Thai the only thing urged onto the fighters ?

Are we allowed to " name and shame " clubs ? I don't believe that events should be allowed have people from clubs like this. If you're paying to go to MMA Events then you should be expecting a good well rounded MMA Fight. Sure people prefer to dictate where the fight should go. I accept that, yet going in completely ignoring a whole aspect to MMA is ignorant and just a club trying to make a quick buck.

Furious-Dave

dunkamania wrote: »

Would this not be a civil matter, instead of a criminal one?

To my knowledge, it's business law rather than criminal, in that they are using another companies logo, possibly without permission, to advertise their own.

'The club in question may have full permission to use the 'UFC' logo in which case I apologize for any offense caused.'

yomchi

_oveless wrote: »

Wow surely they are going to be sued into the poor house?

That's what I thought!

Barry.Oglesby

Dave Joyce wrote: »

Totally agree with your sentiments here BUT it's also concerning the number of MMA clubs (and I don't mean the properly established clubs) opening up who offer Muaythai classes with little or no knowledge of the art. It takes more than a couple of weeks training in Thailand to be a Muaythai instructor

Reminds me of a guy who trained here who refused to train with Paddy because he was going back to Thailand and didn't want to pick up any bad habits...

Yes there is a gym open down the road from me (about 100metres) but I don't know who they are. They have a big sign that says Fight Club UFC on it though.

rpmmabray

David Jones wrote: »

I established next generation in Loughlinstown in 2002, we moved last November to the current location and coexist with warriors may Thai who were also looking to move from bray at that time. Geography wise we are 10 mins from the old place ie the leisure centre. Can I just ask ben why you are looking to offer something you guys aren't qualified to teach? If you have already been in bray open as an MMA school, who has been teaching your grappling up to now? I have a huge issue with tkd and karate background individuals who are looking to jump on the mma gravy train. Why not open a Thai and tkd school?? Anyway best of luck with it, i sincerely hope you find your belted individual to teach the grappling aspect of your mma programme. Just a bit of a strange choice of location I would have thought.

Hi Dave, thanks for the reply. Yes we were an established club in Bray and are only hoping to expand martial arts further. Gary Redmond, who I'm sure you know, was our grappling coach in RPMMA, but has left us to persue his own endevours. I am getting a few coaches on board and am ensuring that they are all qualified in their field to maintain the integrity of each martial art. I only wish to further develop martial arts and MMA in Ireland and have no intentions of teaching something which I or anyone one as a part of Rising Phoenix is not qualified to teach as I think, and know that you will agree, that this is a recurring and all too apparent problem these days. I thank you for your support David and wish you the best.

Kindest regards,
Ben Forsyth

paul moran

FYI. The "MMA" school in Blackrock is closing down on the 31st of December.

If there is anybody offering BJJ classes in the a.m. I'd be interested. There's all of these gyms on the southside and no-one with scheduled BJJ classes in the morning ;-)

SanoVitae

paul moran wrote: »

If there is anybody offering BJJ classes in the a.m. I'd be interested. There's all of these gyms on the southside and no-one with scheduled BJJ classes in the morning ;-)

I'm based on the southside and would also be interested in morning BJJ classes.

There's a definite gap in the market for them - nudge, nudge, wink, wink :D

Chris89

Darragh runs morning-ish classes on Tuesdays and thursdys, check the timetable

Www.nextgenerationireland.com

SanoVitae

Chris89 wrote: »

Darragh runs morning-ish classes on Tuesdays and thursdys

Morning-ish as in Lunchtime?!

I was thinking more 7 or 8am - I doubt there is currently the demand for classes that early though, right?

Chris89

That is an unholy hour of the morning to be rolling around on a mat.

SanoVitae

Chris89 wrote: »

That is an unholy hour of the morning to be rolling around on a mat.

I don't disagree! It's just that with one kid and another due very soon, it's going to be very difficult for me to roll as much as I'd like if there are only evening classes available. Plus, my working hours often make it impossible for me to attend evening classes.

NG-DOC

SanoVitae wrote: »

Morning-ish as in Lunchtime?!

I was thinking more 7 or 8am - I doubt there is currently the demand for classes that early though, right?

no demand, and as far as i'm aware there is no bjj gym in ireland offering classes at these times.

Tim_Murphy

NG-DOC wrote: »

no demand, and as far as i'm aware there is no bjj gym in ireland offering classes at these times.

Us hardier folks here in the West train in the morning a few days a week. 6:30/6:45 ish generally. :eek: Sets you up for the day.

NG-DOC

Tim_Murphy wrote: »

Us hardier folks here in the West train in the morning a few days a week. 6:30/6:45 ish generally. :eek: Sets you up for the day.

nice. how many people do you get at a session? i have no desire to ever do anything other than sleep at 6.30am.

Tim_Murphy

NG-DOC wrote: »

nice. how many people do you get at a session? i have no desire to ever do anything other than sleep at 6.30am.

It varies really. Generally only the hardcore/slightly mental though.

David Jones

Dawn rolling? Strange wolves gym? Where is Kevin Moran? Probably sleeping ahead of tomorrows 6am roll.

And ben of course I know Gary he was one of many blue belts who thought I had nothing left to teach him so went off and started teaching in 2003. I believe he is still a blue belt. :rolleyes:

Barry.Oglesby

Miiiiiaaaaooowwww!!!!!!

Tim_Murphy

David Jones wrote: »

Dawn rolling? Strange wolves gym? Where is Kevin Moran? Probably sleeping ahead of tomorrows 6am roll.

LOL, Kev can usually be found hanging around the wild boar stall in Eyre Square these days.
Pre-dawn rolling is with Strange Wolves alright Dave.

SanoVitae

David Jones wrote: »

And ben of course I know Gary he was one of many blue belts who thought I had nothing left to teach him so went off and started teaching in 2003. I believe he is still a blue belt. :rolleyes:

Is it safe to roll with such sharp claws?!

David Jones

No ill feeling or cats involved but Gary was one of the best athletes I have had through my gym but most likely caught the "he showed that 6 months ago, why are we drilling it again" I could do that oh and I could charge for it too.New setups happen sometimes for very legitimate reasons, like accessibility to training venue as with next Gen Arklow opening but sometimes not as with another of my blue belts teaching in bray but unofficially as regards chris and myself are concerned.

rpmmabray

I have great respect for you David, I am a student of Darragh's, so in the grand scheme of things I would not be studying Jiu Jitsu if it wasn't for you so I owe you a big thank you:D. I didn't mean to upset the waters as far as having BJJ lessons in the club. I am running the new club as a martial arts academy primarily focusing on kickboxing and olympic taekwondo and would love to add BJJ into the mix. I have as much respect for each individual martial art as everyone else as well as the belief that mixed martial arts is a broad spectrum which needs to be treated as such so I acknowledge everyones opinions. We will not claim to be an MMA gym, thats not our aim and my aim individually is definitely not to make money:( it never has been and never will be. I have been involved with martial arts for 15 years, my dream was always to teach and continue learning myself and I don't take abuse of the martial arts or its teachings lightheartedly.

Barry.Oglesby

rpmmabray wrote: »

We will not claim to be an MMA gym, thats not our aim and my aim individually is definitely not to make money:( it never has been and never will be.

But you're called RP MMA.

I'm not getting involved in this one way or the other I'm just thinking that it's a curious username for someone who doesn't want to be an MMA club.

rpmmabray

Old name:p As I said, new academy, new coaches, new objectives:D http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000135706624 Feel free to add us.

SanoVitae

rpmmabray wrote: »

Old name:p As I said, new academy, new coaches, new objectives.

Your profile name is only a month old! You also might want to delete the extra "m" from your email address then

rpmmabray wrote: »

email: rpmmabray@gmail.com

rpmmabray

:rolleyes: haha I would have made the same point, look I'm not trying to get into a debate or anything like it, my intentions are good and the new email SanoVitae is risingphoenixmaa@gmail.com, i'll create a new user name to keep you all happy ok like I said add the club on fb and see what were all about

Liam_B

no demand, and as far as i'm aware there is no bjj gym in ireland offering classes at these times.

Madness, just madness!!! eh wait a minute ....we train at 07:30am!!!;)

just-joe

Completely irrelevant to the thread but I wonder whether training early in the morning is better? Your mind is more productive, you are more alert, and you're not mentally or physicially tired etc

I can just remember some maths teacher saying "morning is better for learning so thats why the maths classes are always in the morning".

6.30am is a bit ott though obviously

Liam_B

Your mind is more productive, you are more alert, and you're not mentally or physicially tired etc

If you can get in an extra session of sparring or drilling ,you do feel set for the day until The 3 O Clock slump kicks in...then you start questioning who's bloody idea was this.

rising_phoenix

rpmmabray wrote: »

:rolleyes: haha I would have made the same point, look I'm not trying to get into a debate or anything like it, my intentions are good and the new email SanoVitae is risingphoenixmaa@gmail.com, i'll create a new user name to keep you all happy ok like I said add the club on fb and see what were all about

SanoVitae

rpmmabray wrote: »

the new email SanoVitae is risingphoenixmaa@gmail.com, i'll create a new user name to keep you all happy ok like I said add the club on fb and see what were all about

Why then is there a photo of you on your Facebook page in front of a big sign which says Rising Phoenix Mixed Martial Arts? It also has the email address (rpmmabray@gmail.com) listed on the sign.

I don't really care what you call yourself or whether you change your profile name just to keep us "all happy". I genuinely wish you the best of luck and hope you go on to build a great club. It's just that if you're continually contradicting yourself, advertising yourself as one thing and then denying that you are that thing when asked about it in this thread. It's only going to hurt you and your business.

I happen to go to Bray every weekend and have seen this sign. Needless to say, I assumed you were an MMA gym and was keen to check it out. If others, like me, are attracted to your gym because they are led to believe it's an MMA gym, when it is fact not, then there are going to be a lot of pissed off people going away from your gym.

Just my 2 cents - make of it what you will.

Best of luck,

Paul

Barry.Oglesby

XTREME LOLs!



As SV said above I couldn't give a toss what you call yourself but it sounds like you're being a bit economical with the truth. First spouting off about BJJ "for the community" and then backtracking when Dave called you out.

I'm not being a piss ant, but a lot of us love this sport and want to see it done to a high standard. Currently, in your area, one of the highest quality competitors in Ireland has a club and is coaching. Based on what I saw from his competitors on saturday, your "community" doesn't need another BJJ Gym.

I think we've moved on a bit from the days when people in Dublin like me had to start a group just to get training in.

cowzerp

I dont know the geography of the area but if Dave is close to your club and you want to see BJJ grow then i would send people wanting to learn that art at a high level to Dave, As your not an MMA club you dont need it so i think ya should focus on teaching what your good at at a high level and producing some champs..


Personally i feel the only time i think its ok to establish an MMA club in an area without been a well rounded coach is when the area has none and you are honest about yourself and your club been new and beginners who are looking to learn MMA and develop over a few years into an MMA gym, this would also need outside help in the weak areas as you tube just does not cut it!!

rising_phoenix

Listen Guys, as I explained before, We used to be an MMA Gym when we had a grappling coach. That pic is from a few months ago, our coach left and I am trying to make a new start teaching only what I know in the form of the new Kickboxing and Taekwondo academy in Loughlinstown and was interested in getting a BJJ coach to add to the club. I don't mind being constantly put down, I can deal with it, I stand by my comments, I just want to teach, and I am sorry to have angered you all

SanoVitae

You invited me to add your club on Facebook to see what you are "all about" - I did so and was merely giving you feedback on what I saw on the page.

cowzerp

rising_phoenix wrote: »

Listen Guys, as I explained before, We used to be an MMA Gym when we had a grappling coach. That pic is from a few months ago, our coach left and I am trying to make a new start teaching only what I know in the form of the new Kickboxing and Taekwondo academy in Loughlinstown and was interested in getting a BJJ coach to add to the club. I don't mind being constantly put down, I can deal with it, I stand by my comments, I just want to teach, and I am sorry to have angered you all

Im certainly not putting you down, are you still looking for a BJJ coach?
my point is you should teach what your good at which seems to be what your doing, without getting your answer to my question, if your getting a BJJ coach in then that smells of looking to cash in on the MMA/BJJ craze!

The reason i say this is you know there is a quality BJJ school down the road from you, as i said i dont know the area so it could be far away and i am just thinking of my town and if someone moved in stepping on my toes..

Best of luck with your school and above all keep it honest..