Switching BJJ gyms is still a somewhat controversial topic. Whilst many in the west and more modern practitioners don’t see a problem with switching, there is still an unspoken loyalty to your original professor. There may be many reasons why you leave a gym and I think these days most people can accept changing teams.
However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows, sometimes drama arises and things can get out of hand very quickly. More often than not it is a breakdown in communication and friendliness between student and instructor that ends in the most chaotic changes of allegiance. If a student just moves to another city then there will not be any issues, it is when someone feels they have been wronged is when bad blood starts to rise up to the surface.
Overall though, there will be many reasons why you would want to change gym and really nobody should have a problem with cross training at several BJJ gyms unless there is a specific reason you shouldn’t.
Table of Contents
Reasons You Should Leave
1 – The Gym Just Doesn’t Suit Your Style
Firstly, not every gym is the same. Atos is a super competitive gym with multiple world champions. If you are a casual guy or just simply don’t care quite as much as these athletes, then this gym wouldn’t be for you. This also works the other way, if you’re an active competitor, you might not want a gym full of casual weekenders.
2 – The Coach Is A Bad Person
Sadly sometimes this happens. You might think that your coach is a very nice and welcoming person until you see the real side of them after 6 months. It’s no secret in BJJ that there have been sex offenders, domestic abusers, fake black belts and sometimes just horrible personalities running academies. You can’t know any of this when you sign up, so once you realize it’s best to get out of there as fast as you can.
3 – Moving City / State / Country
Once the commute becomes too long, when you’re spending more time driving than you actually are on the mats. It may be beneficial for your work/life balance for you to find a new academy. You can even visit your old one every few months if you miss the people too much.
4 – The Service Is No Longer Worth The Money
This can happen one of two ways, either the quality in coaching declines because the owner can no longer be bothered to teach properly. Here you may find yourself being taught by a lower belt or someone who simply has the same attitude as the owner as they are paid very little. Another way would be that the price is increased by too much or you’re forced to buy an expensive gi. You might have thought it was decent value for $75 per month, but if it became $110 you might feel there are other better gyms in your city for less than this.
5 – The Gym Has To Close Down
A sad fact in BJJ is that not all gyms make money. Some gyms end up going out of business simply because there are not enough people to support them. When this happens you have to find the next best thing available.
What is a Creonte?
Creonte is a slang term so it will not be found in a Portuguese dictionary. Apparently, this term originated from a Brazilian soap opera in which a character named Creonte would keep switching sides and changing who his friends were. Creonte is a derogatory word and can be compared to calling someone a Judas or traitor.
The idea behind this term is when schools were more competitive and techniques were not as widely known. If you can imagine that your opponent had no idea that half guard was a decent attacking position and then you used this in a tournament. They would not know the correct defense and would lose. By switching teams, you would take this knowledge with you and make your enemies stronger. This is why cross training and switching gyms was originally frowned upon.
BJJ Tribalism
In the video below, dirty dozen black belt Chris Haueter explains his opinion on the topic. He explains why you are not owned by your professor and how you are free to do what you want.
Chris Hauters opinion is more of a modern day thought. It addresses the average black belt and why you should follow your own path, rather than that of someone else who may not know your best interests.
However, with that being said, it is still seen as a bad practice so leave your gym if you are a top level competitor. You are training with other competitors on the same team – to leave can be seen as a betrayal by other athletes on the team. This is not to say you should never leave, but you must be up front about why you’re leaving and not try and pull any dirty tricks on your ex-teammates as it will be bitterly remembered.
High profile examples of changing BJJ gym
Below are 3 different modern day examples of people switching gym. Not all are positive but mostly there are mixed feelings involved. There are always 2 sides to a story, nothing is black and white in BJJ.
Kurt Osiander from Ralph Gracie to Empire
When Kurt Osiander left Ralph Gracie to start his own gym, it left a lot of people shocked. After the dust settled it was clear to see why he left. The Ralph Gracie association wanted a more structured and managed approach to how things were run, this would not work for Osiander as he is just not this kind of person.
Whilst there may have been some friction between the two at the time, Osiander speaks fondly of Ralph in our interview with him. They still may not see eye to eye, but at least there was no backstabbing involved.
Dillon Danis from Marcelo Garcia to Unity
Now a rising star at Bellator, Danis was once believed to be an elite BJJ competitor after a long standing rivalry with Gordon Ryan.
His then professor Marcelo Garcia suspended Dillon Danis from his academy and he never returned. Garcia was not happy with his behavior at all and got sick of the drama and nonsense associated with him.
DC DeAngelis from Atos to Legion
Most recently, high level competitor DC DeAngelis left the BJJ tournament powerhouse Atos and decided to move to Keenan Cornelius Legion gym. Due to the way DeAngelis left there was no drama with this move. He explained in advance to his coaches and teammates why he would be leaving and has not double crossed them.
Perhaps they were disappointed or upset that he left, but because he was up front and honest with them there are no issues with this as DeAngelis looks to start his own gym and make more money from BJJ rather than sparring hard for days on end with very little chance of making it to the very top.
