It’s a shame to see that Comal Jiu Jitsu has closed. I’m not of the mind that it is a good thing when jiu jitsu gyms close in my community. I don’t think of other jiu jitsu gyms in my community as competitors, I think of them as simply people who love jiu jitsu & people who are chasing their dreams by following jiu jitsu. I respect all of them. I don’t have personal relationships with really any of the other gyms in town but when I see them at tournaments, I always give them the head nod; when I meet their students out and about, which I do all the time, I’m happy to talk to them about jiu jitsu. I’m never trying to pull them away from their gym, I just say I hope you’re having a great time with jiu jitsu. Different jiu jitsu gyms offer different flavors; ice cream’s got different flavors and jiu jitsu has got different flavors. They appeal to different aspects of the demographics in this region, so I think it’s a shame that Comal Jiu Jitsu has closed.
I know that they are a part of the Rodrigo Pinheiro ecosystem of jiu jitsu gyms in this area, I have total respect for their jiu jitsu. We’ve competed against many students from those Rodrigo Pinheiro gyms, both the adult level and at the kids’ level, and they can roll, I have no doubt that they can roll and that they know jiu jitsu well. Obviously, our styles are not identical but total respect for them. It’s definitely a shame to see someone open a gym and just not be able to make it work. I don’t have the full story on what didn’t work, maybe the rents were raised but I think it’s a shame that they just weren’t able to make ends meet.
It’s not the easiest thing in the world to run a business, so, we send our support to all jiu jitsu gyms. Sometimes people come to a jiu jitsu gym, they look at a price tag and they’re like: ‘oh it’s a scam’ or something like that. I can say for certain that there is really no jiu-jitsu gym that can really be running a scam, because it wouldn’t be a smart scam. It isn’t a great scam because I’m gonna go sit on a mat and let you put your arm around my neck and let you choke me and I’m gonna have to trust you to choke me and not break my neck or not put me unconscious. I put myself in compromising positions with my students every day, so if I were scamming them, it’s not a very smart scam.
Almost everyone I’ve ever met who’s running an academy is just a guy who’s chasing his dream they’re doing okay, they’re making ends meet, they’re feeding their family, they’re putting their kids through school, but I haven’t really met a gym owner who’s purchasing his second mansion.
It’s sad to see that whoever was running Comal Jiu Jitsu just couldn’t make ends meet and couldn’t make it all function. I wish them the best of luck if they relocate in the area, maybe to another studio or something like that. We all hope things work out for them.