Reddit member BJJ827 is Japanese and he shared his experience from training BJJ in the USA for 2 weeks. Interesting stuff:
“I’ve been to North America to see my friend last month. Here are 8 things I noticed after I train BJJ for 2weeks in U.S.
1. Everybody starts from kneeling or sitting position to spar. I was surprised that No one wants to do spar from standing position. Is it for safety reasons or something?
2. Everybody is wearing a strange Kanji wear/Gi. Atama(頭) means ”head”. Tatami（畳） means ”mat” Naga(永) can mean ”eternal”, but we don’t use naga by it self. It is better than this link, but I felt strange sometime for Kanji in US. ttp://matome.naver.jp/odai/2140990266295004001
3. The number of Brazilian is fewer than I expected. U.S is the melting pot, but I couldn’t meet with Brazilian guys in BJJ dojo.
4. There is no Degeiko-system. Here is link to explain what is Degeiko. http://www.kendo-guide.com/degeiko.html We can join for other dojo’s class just for 5 dollar if you pay for your ”home” BJJ dojo. Do you guys have similar system like this?
5. I love America because you guys have same culture as Hollywood movie. I competed in high school gymnasium last month. I was very excited about this, because BJJ match in gymnasium looks same as the wrestling scene from ” Born on the Fourth of July” (I couldn’t find a reference.)
6. We bow often, but I was surprised they bow in BJJ class. (I don’t mean bow&arrow choke.) I find it is kind of cool that they bow.
7. Japanese culture is popular than I thought. In BJJ gym, there are some guy who are interested in Japanese culture. They know much about Japanese classic movie(especially Kurosawa works), history,Anime,Game,or literature.
8. I’ve never seen western people get nervous about match, because you guys seem confident every time. But my American friend says he has never seen Asian people get nervous about match beause Asian people tend to hide their expression.
Sorry for my bad grammar, but I hope you find it interesting.”
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