Training In Brazil

Nice article here from Grapple Arts web site.

Notice the differences between training in USA and Brazil:

I found the jiu-jitsu much more "feint" oriented as opposed to straight ahead pressure. The majority of the techniques were explained in the context of setting it up with pressure to one direction and then reversing to take advantage of your opponent's reaction. The softer, more flowing style of jiu-jitsu was described by Ari as more pure jiu-jitsu - that is to say in Brazil, there was less influence of other arts like wrestling in the jiu-jitsu.

No one had stripes on their belts. The majority of the blackbelts were not competitive wunderkind - rather, guys who just had been training for a long time.

I felt that people were less concerned with "who tapped who" or needing to establish the pecking order than in North America.

And in my experience, England is even worse than USA for this attitude so forget "who tapped who" and just train to get better and have fun.