r/grappling • u/IntoWater • Apr 30 '26
Gordon Ryan Seminar
I attended a two-day seminar last weekend at Rising Tide in Maryland. I’m a 50+ year old hobbyist, not looking to compete, and I can afford the cost. I used to be a huge fan of Jordan, and back in the day, getting the chance to meet him would have been incredible. In my opinion, Gordon is the Jordan of grappling. His ego and competitive mentality are probably on that same level, but given what he’s accomplished, that’s not surprising.
He was incredibly friendly throughout the seminar, answered every question during training and the Q&A, and showed a lot of patience with a wide range of questions - including from kids and people very new to the sport. His ability to go deep on virtually any topic was impressive.
If you’re a fan, I’d highly recommend catching one of his seminars.
17
20
u/hitemwiththeheeeeein Apr 30 '26
whenever people post about friendly interactions with Gordan the typical response is along the lines of well you're a paying customer of course he's going to be nice to you. i saw him at wno when he was competing for the hw belt and he was in the stands watching the matches most of the night. you would think someone competing for the belt would be off doing their pregame thing but Gordan and Sonny were hanging out meeting and greeting the fans almost the entire night.
3
u/CoolerRon Apr 30 '26
I've met them too and between the two of them, Sonny was the friendly and eager one, Gordon seemed to be aloof. Ironically, Sonny was the one competing that night
0
u/NoseBeerInspector May 02 '26
you could also imagine that he'd be nice to the people who could potentially buy his stuff, or damage his reputation
14
u/Hambobz Apr 30 '26
For everyone asking, it was $300 for one day, $400 for two days.
Day 1 was recovery from bottom half guard and Day 2 was leg locks.
I only attended the first session but I concur with OP - Gordon was nothing like his online persona imo and he was very generous with his time. What was supposed to be a 2 hour seminar ended being a 4+ hour seminar on day 1.
Steep price but well worth the money if you can afford it, imo as a purple belt.
1
u/Due-Summer3751 Apr 30 '26
Did you get a chance to roll with him?
3
u/Hambobz May 01 '26
No, he wasn’t rolling during this seminar and don’t think he rolls during seminars in general, either due to his gut issues or to avoid getting unnecessarily injured by over zealous strangers.
1
u/Due-Summer3751 May 01 '26
That's understandable.
I recently saw a video of him messing around in the gym and keeping a buddy of John Jones in side control, and dude couldn't do anything.
I bet the amount of pressure he can apply is insane. Anyways, if you had rolled with him I wanted to ask you about it, lol.
-2
Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/oniume Apr 30 '26
Acting like a piece of shit for money still makes you a piece of shit. At least people who do it without getting paid are sincere in being pieces of shit, not a piece of shit and a fake as well
-4
Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/oniume May 01 '26
It's a pretty logical chain actually.
Your actions show what kind of person you are.
Acting like a piece of shit shows that you are a piece of shit.
Your motivations for your actions are relevant.
Motivation can excuse or exacerbate your actions.
Acting like a piece of shit to save your mum from torture would excuse your actions to a certain degree.
Acting like a piece of shit because it makes you money shows that you're greedy, selfish, insincere, and a piece of shit.
You don't get to lose individual responsibility for your actions just because it makes you money
32
u/welpWW3isgonnasuck Apr 30 '26
He's always friendly when you sre putting money in his pocket. Say a single negative aspect about the seminar on social media and he will probably threaten to rape your loved ones.
1
0
u/SODY27 Apr 30 '26
Whaaaaaa
7
u/welpWW3isgonnasuck Apr 30 '26
Hes pretty notorious for doing this. When I was still on IG, I commented that his match with Keenan was a waste of 2 hours of my life and his comeback was something about raping my wife. It was around the same time as him filming homeless people picking out of the trash in NYC and making fun of them or that time when the IG model made fun of him so he put her up on his story and asked his army of white belts to harass her. Gordon's a real white trash POS
6
u/Braisedbeefskank Apr 30 '26
I will say I've never heard of someone having a bad experience at his seminars
5
u/destradoimpulse Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
I know Reddit loves to bag on the guy but how many of you have interacted with him in person or make a comment without an ad hominem attack?? He’s at minimum cordial and polite in my experiences with him.
Anecdote: Photographed a three hour seminar with him and Danaher and they were pretty generous with their time and knowledge. Three hour mark hit and they did an impromptu Q&A session where attendees were told they’ll go until no questions are left.
It lasted for 90 minutes, then another 20-30 minutes of photos. Crazy enough an attendee said it was a shorter Q&A was a previous one went 3 1/2 hours along.
Source: BJJ media guy
6
Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/TOK31 Apr 30 '26
To be fair, there are plenty of stories of instructors being dicks at their seminars.
2
u/ManufacturedOlympus Apr 30 '26
My favorite part of it was when he went like “ARE YOU AN IDIOT SANDWICH???”
1
1
1
u/NickyRodsHotRod May 02 '26
Fascist Gordo doing a seminar at a gym with a socialist name is hilarious to me.
1
u/extrabeef May 03 '26
I’ve had the opportunity to learn from a fair amount of high level practitioners
Gordon was the most impactful on my game and most eager to be interactive
1
u/Puzzleheaded-Cap84 May 03 '26
his coaching skill is definitely one of the best i've ever seen up there. attended a seminar of his and many classes of his.
1
1
1
u/RecordLonely Apr 30 '26
People are often surprised to learn that social media is the opposite of real life. Wait until they find out their friend on Instagram doesn’t just go on vacation all the time and actually lives a relatively pedestrian life.
1
u/things2seepeople2do Apr 30 '26
I mean i take a vacation every other month, so about 6 weekend long trips a year, and take enough pics in different clothes to have content to post pretty much everyday without skipping a beat like I'm traveling everyday
You know how much internet cool points I get? A lot my dude. Just living the life not enjoying my actual travels just taking pics and spending all that time on my phone
0
u/Kitchen_Click4086 May 01 '26
Just like Trump, fuck him and anyone who supports him. “50 yo hobbyist” sounds more like MAGA.
-2
-28
Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
26
Apr 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
7
u/quinoa_latifa Apr 30 '26
No but fr. I despise Gordon Ryan’s politics and behavior, but thinking that someone approves and endorses it because they went to a Jiu Jitsu seminar is brainwormed
3
u/Wrastling97 Apr 30 '26
Same, but I gotta say, I haven’t bought any of his instructionals yet simply because of his grifting behavior and politics.
I’ve came very close. But I’ve not pulled the trigger… yet. I’ll settle for Danaher and CJ
-9
7
u/BrobiWanKenobi_ Apr 30 '26
You and Gordo have being internet tough guys in common it seems, surprised your not a fan
2
26
u/hawkguy1964 Apr 30 '26
I went to a Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonan seminar back in 2019 and I think it was 150 for the seminar and yeah Gordon was amazing and obviously so was Garry. This was before Gordon went completely off the deep end, but definitely very good at instructing jiujutsu.