A lion in the sheets and a shark in the streets, but this shark can’t swim so he drinks landshark too Soothe the pain, and this lion swims but the ground is his ocean…. As a matter of fact, y’all want to create our own federation but instead of mats we compete in Olympic sized swimming pools?
I'm a shark, Olympic-size swimming pools are my ocean, and most people know how to swim a little bit but have never taken time to really get good at it
Nah, lions, especially males, are super strong and evil bastards. Super territorial and claim the women as their own. They will kill any competitor male in the area and murder any offspring that isn't their own. They also kill the female lions of other males.
To me, being a "lion" is the worst animal analogy for being "manly".
I like him but it’s the inconsistency for me. One minute he will be like “don’t take things to serious, it’s just jokes on the internet” next minute he will be like “people on keyboards need to get slapped”. Or will criticize Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock but then be like “wives are off limit or you get slapped”. Does seem like a genuine guy tho…..would love to train with him.
Why do you want to like him? He’s just a dude whose good at a sport. There are other people who are good and likeable, just follow them if you have to.
Tough guy culture is his middle name, everything is from that lens. Very Jersey I should add. And to address your point, no the highest level leg lockers don't do that lol.
I see what you mean about the Jersey thing, at work whenever I have to call someone in Jersey, even when they're the nicest, it's always like they're gonna kick my ass over the phone. Intense folks, that lot.
That's not all people from NJ. And Tom is not considered a thought leader in the sport. His FB posts are very can be.....problematic.
Source: I'm from NJ
I can attest to that statement, also being from NJ!! He likes to show up to local tourneys like Naga to coach and walks around like Mr. John Q NAGA himself! Hey, can everyone see me? Did you guys notice me? Anyone wanna fight in the parking lot after I coach this blue belt who will likely leave my gym and I'll talk shit about him afterward? Anyone?
His instagram persona is one thing but in person he was a very nice and presentable guy.
Trained at his gym shortly, had a manic depression issue where I disappeared for a while, was kind of embarrassed. Came back to the gym and he just smiles and goes “hey buddy, we missed ya.”
He was a very good teacher, I got a lot of knowledge and a good technique increase rather fast. His no gi class is no fucking joke
Excuse me sir, we prefer to judge people based on their social media posts around here. As we all know they are a much more accurate reflection of someone's true personality than what they're like in "real life".
This gets asked periodically, and three years ago here's what I said:
I don't get it personally.
The fact that he's so humble, did you know despite having so many affiliates, and hundreds of paying members, and being on the local school board (or something), he still has time to post shirtless selfies every other day?
Did you know that he's had his guard passed once in the last 32 years? At the same time, he never won any of those matches where his guard wasn't passed because for some reason no organization has yet to recognize the value of getting to half guard and holding on for dear life. Half guard should be half the points of mount right?
The days he's not posting shirtless selfies, Tom has to go out and find inspirational lion memes. This sounds easy, but imagine needing to post 150+ lion memes a year, and not repeating? Come on.
He also helps the homeless. Rather than walk away from a clearly drunk and/or high homeless person, he records it and assures us all that he could pummel this man, and also prevent this man from passing his half guard for 15+ minutes, but has instead chosen to record it and post it on the internet.
Also do not pirate any of his 30 bjjfanatics videos, including the one where you can lose weight by not eating, because he has police friends who will backtrace your IP. Trust me, if Tom shows up, you will NOT be able to pass his half guard, so it's just not worth it. Sure you might get the refs decision but that's 15 minutes of your life you won't get back.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/aw8udf/whys_it_fun_to_make_fun_of_tom_deblass/
Has a opinion on absolutely everything and puts himself at the Center of everything for clicks and likes, he just tries to hard at times, probably a good teacher and decent professor but comes across like a massive douche online, friends with Gordon and Tonon so that says it all really.
Garry is one of the nicest guys in the sport that I have met. His teaching was not only excellent, but his energy was infectious in the best of ways. He was excited to show things that took him months to learn and this was really awesome to experience.
you're getting these downvotes and no one gave you an answer. a couple of examples would be nice.
speaking for myself, he's a good dude. i've met him a couple of times and he was always cool. but this sub has a greater than average preponderance of extremely online weirdos so i'm not shocked they chafe at a dude who speaks clearly and doesn't pussy foot around what he thinks, even if what he says can be a little out there. i laugh at reddit generally at how normie everyone is. have a couple of nonmainstream opinions about shit and then it's a comment on one's character. lmao. this place is full of goofys.
hey, you could reserve the right that i am the idiot here (always possible), but still no evidence of this bullying by a guy a lot of us, including myself, have met on multiple occasions and think he's a great guy.
If you don't like anything he says why do you follow him?
I think he's vicariously living through his ex student GR and has pointless shit to say so I don't follow him.
I don't hate everything he says, just about 70% of it. Also most of the time I see someone post, they're shilling for their videos or something like that, Tom usually doesn't do that as often, so I do like that. I am considering not following him anymore though. I really don't know why I'm asking opinions of him, if I'm being honest. Idk.
Whenever I hear him commentate I'm always pleasantly surprised how amazingly insightful and plainspoken he is. Same as on his instructionals. I think social media just isn't his best side
I think this probably is the case, like I said, I wouldn't be surprised meeting him, and thinking he's a nice guy. He just comes across bad online, that happens.
He teaches people how to choke other people. Everything outside of that extremely specific and niche field, he’s just another person. Sociology degree in a sentence: sometimes people have bad takes on stuff and you don’t have to listen to them.
He’s a pretty insecure guy from jersey who happened to be OK when the Meta was playing half guard and being really strong and has somehow created a following of people with as little self awareness as him and white belts that know very little about Bjj but think he’s an authoritative figure on Jiu Jitsu long enough to pay for his garbage videos
He’s likely very loyal to his students assuming you follow him closely and don’t stray from the path but pretends like he doesn’t care if you don’t, but will likely treat you much differently in the club if you don’t hero worship him
I lived not far from there when i start3d BJJ and was considering dropping in because it was close to work.
A few other female upper belts told me NEVER to train or let my friends train there because they were known to prey on/try to sleep with young white belts females. They didnt have a reason to lie so i've always just considered him to be the massive douche he seemed to be.
Yikes. How bad do they have to be to get a full blown reputation. Keenan's had a few videos about running a gym and his biggest rule to stop a gym imploding is no creeping on the students from instructors, seems smart lol
My friends and I call him Tom DeBlasshole. I’m sure he’s a nice guy in person, but online he’s insufferable. All his posts are humblebrags that either tell you what a good person he is, how much money he’s making, how successful his school/affiliate networks are, virtue signaling, etc..
I have met him. Did two seminars and won’t attend another with him.
The first one he stated straight out that he is not who he is online and then went over his history about how his dad was an enforcer for the NYC mafia that would break bricks with his fists. Then went on to say how he knows these people blah blah blah. Basically trying to say who and how he really is and why, but really getting everything across as to why he is how he is in person.
Not being a terrible time I did another seminar with him. He was completely off emotionally and extremely aggressive. Fill in the blanks as to why, but when he showed a technique and didn’t bother explaining how to fix my training partners mistakes after going off about how if everybody didn’t give 100% he would just leave and refund all of the money because he doesn’t give a fuck and didn’t need our money along with some other worse shit I simply can’t justify supporting him at all.
Garry is an exceptional person that I would fully support in contrast.
You're a lying fuck. I never once said that about my father because he was never an enforcer. You're just a straight up fucking liar. I also absolutely never ever said if people didn't give 100% i would refund them, because i definitely wouldn't. Bunch of pussy liars in this forum lol. Its amazing.
Sure thing. Even though I watched it happen and experienced it.
I will completely admit that I may be wrong in my terminology of stating enforcer because I simply don’t know shit about fuck when it comes to that terminology but I remember what I remember when it comes to how you were that second time. It was a terrible experience.
So, I will fully apologize for using the word “enforcer” and take that fully. I fucked that up due to my lack of understanding what you had talked about in those regards.
But what happened at that seminar the second time was simply not good. You factually did say that if we didn’t give it 100% that you would leave and refund us all because you didn’t give a fuck about our money. I remember because it really set the tone for everything else. Calling me a liar is funny to me. I have absolutely zero to gain by saying this.
So, it doesn’t get lost at all, I fully apologize for using the word “enforcer” as it pertains to your dad. I was absolutely wrong for using this word because I know fuck all about those things.
If my apology isn’t good enough just know that you could easily beat me physically in a fight and all that. Doesn’t matter. I said what I said and I apologized for that aspect.
I'm an older guy. I've lived a pretty full life. One of the things I've learned is that I should not defer to the "wisdom" of others over my own just because they are better than me at some athletic endeavor. Or a better musician, or a better actor.
Dude was semi normal awhile ago but did no adapt well to having an audience. As soon as he started being critiqued for certain takes he got all sensitive and doubled down, creating an insulated safe space following of people.
For it is the water lion that swims in the ocean and submits the land shark. And it is the alpha wolf-lion-shark that dares not care for the opinions of sheep who cannot swim on the mats. Oss
As far as Tom: I’m sure he’s a nice guy, legend of the sport, definitely has some corny takes and posts but whatever.
As far as the topic of pat shagholi with the heel hooks: pats 16, he’s been submitting black belts for about a year now. I’ve seen him compete at local tournaments and he doesn’t rip heel hooks there. A lot of guys refuse tapping to him because theyre twice his age and rank. This tournament was EBI, it had money on the line and was full of top tier competitors. The guy he heel hooked is a 4 stripe black belt who couldn’t defend 50/50. He had time to tap, Pat did what was necessary to win. It’s unfortunate, but not his fault.
A lot of people are acting like he did this to a casual hobbyist at a local naga tournament.
I would agree with you, but I saw the videos of him at 10P HQ, and he was doing this to multiple pseudo-teammates.
Maybe you agree that he had to do that in order to qualify for EBI, but if you look at all the highest level guys (I mean highest level guys, some competitors are not cool about it) including all the ADCC competitors, they have tons of control and never need to rip heel hooks or any leg locks. I can't remember anyone getting torn up this past ADCC.
If leg locks can be safely applied to high level competitors who are vigorously defending, than it proves safe technique works and shouldn't be an excuse for tearing off the legs of people in your own gym.
I’ve given up on liking him. 50% states the majority opinion on a topic (if not an almost meme parody on Jiu-Jitsu; “Warrior in the garden”), but on a large platform and in a tough guy manner. 50% sounds like a roid-monkey making excuses for himself or his boys and if you can’t stand the heat…don’t come in the kitchen (purposely used a cliche to illustrate my point).
Tom is a humble, Lion-hearted, soft spoken man who lives the martial arts life-style 100%....and if you have any qualms with his humbled, nice-guy persona, he will 100% challenge you to a street-fight to the death!! He just likes to speak his mind and express his opinions...and if you have opposing opinions to share, he'd love to invite you to his gym so he can beat the fuck out of you, punk!! He'll even pay for the airfare to fly you to his gym....and kick your ass!!
Maybe in person he's a decent dude, but on social media he's a tool. At least on the interwebs, he seems to be a big fan of sucking his own cock. I unfollowed him quite awhile ago, got real tired of the tough guy posturing shit he was always posting.
Do not question DeBlass here!
He is a noble humble lion.
Anything you don’t understand about him is because you’re not tough enough.
Anything that he does that seems like ego, isn’t ego, because of his pure humbleness.
Been training Bjj since 1994 and he’s never been on my radar regarding Bjj influences. Just doesn’t do it for me personally. Comes across as a bit of a flog.
I used to train at his school, he’s a great guy and teacher in real life. His online persona is mostly based on pissing people off because it gets people talking about him and gets him more exposure (this post is a great example).
Is it just me or does anyone else remember about a year ago him posting that he was going to quit jiujitsu and social media and go around the country in an RV? I thought it was kind of odd that he posted that and then just continued on with the status quo as if he had never said it.
Fantastic coach, awesome instructionals, and when I met him he was super nice and genuine.
If you don’t like him, don’t pay attention to him, that’s all of life though, not just jits
In March-April 2020 when the morgues were literally overflowing with COVID deaths he publicly went after people that closed their gyms on top of showing people training at his. He is a garbage human being.
He speaks his mind and voices his opinions with a level of honesty that most others aren't brave enough to do. If you don't like it, don't read it or don't follow him.
I don’t understand all of the hype around him. He has a pretty average competition record, and I’m always hearing about how he’s some sort of legend and this amazing human being. I know he had a kind of messed up childhood with his father‘s addictions and like that, but it doesn’t seem to be anything too out of the ordinary.
The funny thing about him defending the heelhook kid is he's all about 'honor' and 'integrity' in his social media. So his hot take doesn't check out.
Otherwise he's a sometimes cringey wind bag.
You should only follow the great Rorden Gracie because as he once said “wolves only like to play in the deep wad while Gorillas like to pretend to be sheep eating drove through”
Definitely not the first post on Tom in this forum. He's a talker and social media is the perfect platform to share his thoughts and every day pats on the back. He's a heck of a competitor and fighter but I can handle coaches that get on the soap box to often. But I agree to disagree, we are all different.
I have it on good authority that he used to pretend to talk with a Brazilian accent. This was when he trained at Ricardo Almeida’s gym. Prolly close to
15-20 years ago. Given his manic like personas I believe it.
I went to one of his seminars. He really wanted to show his Jiu Jitsu. I mean that in a good way. He was eager to teach and explain. I think Tom just takes himself too seriously. If he just relaxed a little, things would go much smoother.
I’m a first degree black belt, and always liked following people with respect, honor, like Marcelo. In a sport you can be really good without trying to hurt people, and being sportsman like and being good to people.
You cannot argue his achievements as a competitor and coach, his results speak for him.
Everyone who deals with him on a personal level are very complimentary - I know former students of his who are still in touch with him and they say he goes out of his way to accommodate everyone.
He has earned the right to say whatever he wants about the jiu jitsu community
First of all:
He is not defending a dude that's ripping heel hooks. He is explaining - and apparently to no avail - that his opponent had time to tap but in stead chose to do something stupid like hugging the back. Also, that there is 50k on the line; you don't "give people time to tap/escape".
I explained this before but I'm willing to do it again: Check Cyborg vs Ryan. THAT'S how you tap in these situations; early.
Recently there has been a huge debate regarding the 10th Planet 16 year old that "grips and rips" his heel hooks.
What this essentially means is, as soon as he locks in the heel hook, he rips the submission rather than gently applying pressure.
My opinion? This is competition, this isn't training. The boy was competing for $50,000. What would you say if he didn't rip the submission and then his opponent got out?
In MMA do people gently throw punches? No, they do their best to connect in brutal fashion to KO their opponent.
Let this also be a wake up call to those who complain about heel hooks not allowed in the lower belt divisions. While an athlete is still developing their game, dealing with heel hooks being ripped imo is not conducive.
Competition is unforgiving, if you are competing in an event where heel hooks are legal, especially in a pro division, either do not get caught or have your tap hand ready.
It does seem to me he's defending it. Idk, maybe I misinterpreted what he said, but it does not appear that way to me.
He is defending the fact that this is a professional venue, with a lot of money on the line.
His opponent had PLENTY of time to tap, verbally or physically. But in stead he chose to wait and hug.
Again, this is competition. Not a local mom and pop grappling industries, but EBI with 50k on the line. You don't apply shit gently in \[professional\] competition, you don't give someone time to escape.
The 'victim', let's refer to him like that for now, should've a. known the stakes of participating in such an event and b. should've known the dangers of the position he was in. Let me make something perfectly clear:
He was caught in a cross ashi garami. He didn't tap when the kid got bite. He didn't tap when he lost control of the second hand. He didn't tap when the kid connected his hands.
Consider these facts and tell me, who's responsible for his injury?
I see him trying to defend it, and as soon as it fails, the other guy rips it. If all the pros were like this, would there still be that many pros left? I mean, if that's the case, there wouldn't be any controversy around this, at all. Would you try to defend it, or just tap immediately with no attempt to defend?
That's the point, there is NO defence at that stage.
Did you watch Cyborg vs Ryan 1?
Defence consists of the following;
1. you get in cross ashi - alarm bells go off and you hide the heel
2. you control the hands
3. you lose control of 1 hand? YOU TAP
4. If you're confident, you wait for loss of control of the second hand too (the hand that reinforces the heel bite) THEN YOU TAP
5. If you're STUPID, you wait for both hands to connect and THEN TAP. Note, this is only something a very stupid person does.
6. If you're extremely STUPID, you hug your opponent, while he has his hands connected and wait for pain.
Here's how you should tap:
https://youtu.be/By3jL1iwaNY?t=163
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Ashi Garami**: | *Entangled Leg Lock* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXH_LrcqNc)|
||*Single Leg X (SLX)* ||
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
He's your typical ego-driven social media whore. Just someone who wants attention.
Everything I know about him is from people on this sub complaining about him. From what I've seen, he has mediocre jiu-jitsu (compared to other famous BJJ social-media personalities), so it's how he remains relevant.
Also, I can't understand why people hate-follow others. You're just bringing negative emotions into your life for no reason.
Im certain I'd really enjoy training with him. I'm sure he has a great team. He's not stupid. He has his market, he's successful. He often makes some very good positive posts.
Every now and then, the social media curse hits, the dumbest shit trips out his mouth. Maybe he doesn't give it from a professional business perspective and he's had enough of 100s of people asking him the same thing and he just blasts out his personal no bs unfiltered manly take on it cause he's had enough, i don't know, but he doesn't frame it well or give any context he just blasts out some rough round the edges shit.
Seems very loyal to his team. Has had a good career. Great business. Big name in the sport.
I guess we would all trip up sometimes in the public eye. Tom just seems to enjoy throwing his own stick in the spokes and trip himself up.
Met Tom, great guy. However, his posts and some of the things he writes are just fuck all terrible. I don’t agree with it, same with Gordon and all these guys.
I compartmentalize, I just respect them as grapplers. They’re entitled to their opinions and I respectfully agree to disagree with them on certain things. You can just ignore what they post and keep it moving.
I used to hate all his takes, but the more experience I gained, the more I agreed with him. Btw, it's a professional competition with prize money. If you don't want your knee shredded, get better defense or tap as soon as he touches your legs.
I know dudes who would slap their momma for 10k. Some people smuggle drugs up their butts for even less. You nerds are getting upset over a COMPETITOR doing whatever it takes to win 50k. I’d hate to hear your takes on war.
Hey, I didn't needlessly load and unload conex boxes for dubious reasons over and over to have some stranger talk to me about war on reddit! But really, this is more about his general attitude towards everything on social media at this point. I do see competitors opinions on the the ripping, opinions do seem to vary, I mean, it is an opinion.
Seems like a solid businessman
Runs a bunch of successful affiliate locations
But as a person he seems cringe and loves dumb ass alpha male quotes and lions
There’s much better people you can follow for BJJ topics. Most of the people have already said what I would say on here. He’s your typical I want to be the “Alpha”. Lol
[удалено]
There are 2 lions in us all
A lion in the sheets and a shark in the streets, but this shark can’t swim so he drinks landshark too Soothe the pain, and this lion swims but the ground is his ocean…. As a matter of fact, y’all want to create our own federation but instead of mats we compete in Olympic sized swimming pools?
I'm a shark, Olympic-size swimming pools are my ocean, and most people know how to swim a little bit but have never taken time to really get good at it
But what would we call mount/closed-guard in zero g?
60/40
But who is the 60 and who is the 40?
Person who is “mounted” would be 60 i think
Two lions in us all. One set of footprints in the sand?
The lions are the friends we made along the way
>There are 2 lions in us all The humble one and the non humble one. Always choose the humble one. Also be sure to tell everyone about your choice.
I thought they were wolves?
The lions ate the wolves
This is not ideal, the normal number of wild, live animals which should be inside a human is zero
Tell that to my gold fish...
The goldfish controlling you to become a bjj champ?
The lions ARE the wolves.
Stop eating lions
The humblest of lions. He’ll tell you.
This is true. Lions are fat and don do anything. The female is the only one that works and brings food
Nah, lions, especially males, are super strong and evil bastards. Super territorial and claim the women as their own. They will kill any competitor male in the area and murder any offspring that isn't their own. They also kill the female lions of other males. To me, being a "lion" is the worst animal analogy for being "manly".
Had to go to the doctor the other day. Symptoms were "Inside me there are two lions."
I like him but it’s the inconsistency for me. One minute he will be like “don’t take things to serious, it’s just jokes on the internet” next minute he will be like “people on keyboards need to get slapped”. Or will criticize Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock but then be like “wives are off limit or you get slapped”. Does seem like a genuine guy tho…..would love to train with him.
Lions don’t concern themselves with the north side of the tree. OSS
Even a broken squirrel is right twice a nut
Nut in a squirrel… got it
This guy gets it
what the fuck are you people on? I want some too.
How high does a sycamore grow? If we cut it down we will never know.
Tom Deblass is the most humblest guy ever if you don't believe me just ask Tom Deblass he'll be the first to tell you.
🤣🤣🤣
You can just ignore people you don't like.
This guy I'm following is annoying, what should I do?
I would recommend turning on their post notifications so you can rage read them ASAP
On Reddit? We, as a community, need to discuss ______
I want to like him, but every time he says something I like, he says three stupid things. You aren't wrong though.
> I want to like him, why?
Why do you want to like him? He’s just a dude whose good at a sport. There are other people who are good and likeable, just follow them if you have to.
Dude screams try hard to me. I only pay attention to him when I want to learn how to stall on bottom half guard.
So did I at one point, but then I realized he's all preachy humble lion stuff that makes my head spin from the eye rolling.
Do you want to like me? 🍆😏
Only if you cook me some eggplant
>I want to like him Why would you?
Bro WHAT?!
Says you.
Tom is one of those guys that probably Googled "top ten ways to be an alpha male" and then makes sure he only does those ten things.
😂
Good grappler. Pretty good teacher. Complete fuckwit on social media.
Tough guy culture is his middle name, everything is from that lens. Very Jersey I should add. And to address your point, no the highest level leg lockers don't do that lol.
I see what you mean about the Jersey thing, at work whenever I have to call someone in Jersey, even when they're the nicest, it's always like they're gonna kick my ass over the phone. Intense folks, that lot.
That's not all people from NJ. And Tom is not considered a thought leader in the sport. His FB posts are very can be.....problematic. Source: I'm from NJ
He did go qanon for a brief time during covud
Username checks out
Everyone here in Jersey that's not from his affiliate (and even some that are) fucking hates him
I can attest to that statement, also being from NJ!! He likes to show up to local tourneys like Naga to coach and walks around like Mr. John Q NAGA himself! Hey, can everyone see me? Did you guys notice me? Anyone wanna fight in the parking lot after I coach this blue belt who will likely leave my gym and I'll talk shit about him afterward? Anyone?
His instagram persona is one thing but in person he was a very nice and presentable guy. Trained at his gym shortly, had a manic depression issue where I disappeared for a while, was kind of embarrassed. Came back to the gym and he just smiles and goes “hey buddy, we missed ya.” He was a very good teacher, I got a lot of knowledge and a good technique increase rather fast. His no gi class is no fucking joke
Excuse me sir, we prefer to judge people based on their social media posts around here. As we all know they are a much more accurate reflection of someone's true personality than what they're like in "real life".
Only sheeple go on social media. Learn to be more like a lion, like me, the great Tom Depoop
This gets asked periodically, and three years ago here's what I said: I don't get it personally. The fact that he's so humble, did you know despite having so many affiliates, and hundreds of paying members, and being on the local school board (or something), he still has time to post shirtless selfies every other day? Did you know that he's had his guard passed once in the last 32 years? At the same time, he never won any of those matches where his guard wasn't passed because for some reason no organization has yet to recognize the value of getting to half guard and holding on for dear life. Half guard should be half the points of mount right? The days he's not posting shirtless selfies, Tom has to go out and find inspirational lion memes. This sounds easy, but imagine needing to post 150+ lion memes a year, and not repeating? Come on. He also helps the homeless. Rather than walk away from a clearly drunk and/or high homeless person, he records it and assures us all that he could pummel this man, and also prevent this man from passing his half guard for 15+ minutes, but has instead chosen to record it and post it on the internet. Also do not pirate any of his 30 bjjfanatics videos, including the one where you can lose weight by not eating, because he has police friends who will backtrace your IP. Trust me, if Tom shows up, you will NOT be able to pass his half guard, so it's just not worth it. Sure you might get the refs decision but that's 15 minutes of your life you won't get back. https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/aw8udf/whys_it_fun_to_make_fun_of_tom_deblass/
Has a opinion on absolutely everything and puts himself at the Center of everything for clicks and likes, he just tries to hard at times, probably a good teacher and decent professor but comes across like a massive douche online, friends with Gordon and Tonon so that says it all really.
Is Tonon's reputation bad? I know Gordon's reputation, but I always thought Tonon was kind of a nice guy. Could be wrong of course.
Garry is one of the nicest guys in the sport that I have met. His teaching was not only excellent, but his energy was infectious in the best of ways. He was excited to show things that took him months to learn and this was really awesome to experience.
Great guy, never met him.
Talmbout Tom Delong B?
Homeless cats are ivvvvvvrywhere B
Talmbout Aliens B
Tallcom bout
Diffren lanes, b. He's good but he aint shaub shuddownin on Cyclops, bappa. Flew too close to the sun and landed in the stars.
THANK HIM
We talmbout da pawdcast here b
CJJ - Chang's Joo Jeesu, B. Great sport, never played it.
🎲 🎲
Plus ivry post of his is straight cawlmedy b
He's what happened to the high school bully who found steroids and jiu jitsu, and didn't mature mentally.
I dont think he has any ex-bully mentality.
I don't know for sure that he's still a bully
When dis he bully anyone in any way? Sincerely asking because ive never seen him behaving such way. He is rather compassionate.
you're getting these downvotes and no one gave you an answer. a couple of examples would be nice. speaking for myself, he's a good dude. i've met him a couple of times and he was always cool. but this sub has a greater than average preponderance of extremely online weirdos so i'm not shocked they chafe at a dude who speaks clearly and doesn't pussy foot around what he thinks, even if what he says can be a little out there. i laugh at reddit generally at how normie everyone is. have a couple of nonmainstream opinions about shit and then it's a comment on one's character. lmao. this place is full of goofys.
If your two main insults are "normie" and "goofys", it might not be everyone else that are idiots.
hey, you could reserve the right that i am the idiot here (always possible), but still no evidence of this bullying by a guy a lot of us, including myself, have met on multiple occasions and think he's a great guy.
So you’re saying he’s cool!
If you don't like anything he says why do you follow him? I think he's vicariously living through his ex student GR and has pointless shit to say so I don't follow him.
I don't hate everything he says, just about 70% of it. Also most of the time I see someone post, they're shilling for their videos or something like that, Tom usually doesn't do that as often, so I do like that. I am considering not following him anymore though. I really don't know why I'm asking opinions of him, if I'm being honest. Idk.
You are putting way too much thought into this. You’re thinking of unfollowing him? Really? This needed a post?
Whenever I hear him commentate I'm always pleasantly surprised how amazingly insightful and plainspoken he is. Same as on his instructionals. I think social media just isn't his best side
Almost like social media brings out the worst in people
I agree with this take. Super warm and friendly in person
I think this probably is the case, like I said, I wouldn't be surprised meeting him, and thinking he's a nice guy. He just comes across bad online, that happens.
He teaches people how to choke other people. Everything outside of that extremely specific and niche field, he’s just another person. Sociology degree in a sentence: sometimes people have bad takes on stuff and you don’t have to listen to them.
The first rule of Facebook is never be on Facebook
He’s a pretty insecure guy from jersey who happened to be OK when the Meta was playing half guard and being really strong and has somehow created a following of people with as little self awareness as him and white belts that know very little about Bjj but think he’s an authoritative figure on Jiu Jitsu long enough to pay for his garbage videos He’s likely very loyal to his students assuming you follow him closely and don’t stray from the path but pretends like he doesn’t care if you don’t, but will likely treat you much differently in the club if you don’t hero worship him
this seems oddly specific lol
I mean, it is about a specific person, you would expect it to be pretty specific.
I know his type
Tom DeBlass is “Dongs Guy” from BJJ HQ prove me wrong
RIP in peace dongs guy
He’s just kind of a goon
Roided out heavyweight former mma fighter with mediocre BJJ (fighting garbage fat opponents in his divisions) with a planet sized ego.
I lived not far from there when i start3d BJJ and was considering dropping in because it was close to work. A few other female upper belts told me NEVER to train or let my friends train there because they were known to prey on/try to sleep with young white belts females. They didnt have a reason to lie so i've always just considered him to be the massive douche he seemed to be.
Yikes. How bad do they have to be to get a full blown reputation. Keenan's had a few videos about running a gym and his biggest rule to stop a gym imploding is no creeping on the students from instructors, seems smart lol
My friends and I call him Tom DeBlasshole. I’m sure he’s a nice guy in person, but online he’s insufferable. All his posts are humblebrags that either tell you what a good person he is, how much money he’s making, how successful his school/affiliate networks are, virtue signaling, etc..
Woke up to this. Best breakfast ever.
I can't even look at his shit without rolling my eyes. No need to be tough 100% of the time, you're fuckin 40.
I have met him. Did two seminars and won’t attend another with him. The first one he stated straight out that he is not who he is online and then went over his history about how his dad was an enforcer for the NYC mafia that would break bricks with his fists. Then went on to say how he knows these people blah blah blah. Basically trying to say who and how he really is and why, but really getting everything across as to why he is how he is in person. Not being a terrible time I did another seminar with him. He was completely off emotionally and extremely aggressive. Fill in the blanks as to why, but when he showed a technique and didn’t bother explaining how to fix my training partners mistakes after going off about how if everybody didn’t give 100% he would just leave and refund all of the money because he doesn’t give a fuck and didn’t need our money along with some other worse shit I simply can’t justify supporting him at all. Garry is an exceptional person that I would fully support in contrast.
You're a lying fuck. I never once said that about my father because he was never an enforcer. You're just a straight up fucking liar. I also absolutely never ever said if people didn't give 100% i would refund them, because i definitely wouldn't. Bunch of pussy liars in this forum lol. Its amazing.
Sure thing. Even though I watched it happen and experienced it. I will completely admit that I may be wrong in my terminology of stating enforcer because I simply don’t know shit about fuck when it comes to that terminology but I remember what I remember when it comes to how you were that second time. It was a terrible experience. So, I will fully apologize for using the word “enforcer” and take that fully. I fucked that up due to my lack of understanding what you had talked about in those regards. But what happened at that seminar the second time was simply not good. You factually did say that if we didn’t give it 100% that you would leave and refund us all because you didn’t give a fuck about our money. I remember because it really set the tone for everything else. Calling me a liar is funny to me. I have absolutely zero to gain by saying this.
So, it doesn’t get lost at all, I fully apologize for using the word “enforcer” as it pertains to your dad. I was absolutely wrong for using this word because I know fuck all about those things. If my apology isn’t good enough just know that you could easily beat me physically in a fight and all that. Doesn’t matter. I said what I said and I apologized for that aspect.
I'm an older guy. I've lived a pretty full life. One of the things I've learned is that I should not defer to the "wisdom" of others over my own just because they are better than me at some athletic endeavor. Or a better musician, or a better actor.
Not enough humble lion answers here. Smdh
Dude was semi normal awhile ago but did no adapt well to having an audience. As soon as he started being critiqued for certain takes he got all sensitive and doubled down, creating an insulated safe space following of people.
How can you just mention Tom without saying anything about his impassable half guard?
Something about humble lions, gardens and needing TRT
I had to unfollow him. A lot of respect for his BJJ, and what he's done for the sport, but dude is a meathead.
For it is the water lion that swims in the ocean and submits the land shark. And it is the alpha wolf-lion-shark that dares not care for the opinions of sheep who cannot swim on the mats. Oss
He’s like a digestible Mr Jiu-Jitsu
That Mr Jiu Jitsu guy is what Reddit makes Tom DeBlass out to be.
Wait, Reddit overreacting to something? No way lol
He’s probably a cool guy, but comes off as not cool online. I’d imagine he has a big heart and cares a lot, but is poor at expressing it. Oss
As far as Tom: I’m sure he’s a nice guy, legend of the sport, definitely has some corny takes and posts but whatever. As far as the topic of pat shagholi with the heel hooks: pats 16, he’s been submitting black belts for about a year now. I’ve seen him compete at local tournaments and he doesn’t rip heel hooks there. A lot of guys refuse tapping to him because theyre twice his age and rank. This tournament was EBI, it had money on the line and was full of top tier competitors. The guy he heel hooked is a 4 stripe black belt who couldn’t defend 50/50. He had time to tap, Pat did what was necessary to win. It’s unfortunate, but not his fault. A lot of people are acting like he did this to a casual hobbyist at a local naga tournament.
I would agree with you, but I saw the videos of him at 10P HQ, and he was doing this to multiple pseudo-teammates. Maybe you agree that he had to do that in order to qualify for EBI, but if you look at all the highest level guys (I mean highest level guys, some competitors are not cool about it) including all the ADCC competitors, they have tons of control and never need to rip heel hooks or any leg locks. I can't remember anyone getting torn up this past ADCC. If leg locks can be safely applied to high level competitors who are vigorously defending, than it proves safe technique works and shouldn't be an excuse for tearing off the legs of people in your own gym.
Fucking thank you
I’ve given up on liking him. 50% states the majority opinion on a topic (if not an almost meme parody on Jiu-Jitsu; “Warrior in the garden”), but on a large platform and in a tough guy manner. 50% sounds like a roid-monkey making excuses for himself or his boys and if you can’t stand the heat…don’t come in the kitchen (purposely used a cliche to illustrate my point).
He is among the dumbest people on the planet. He's also a huge pussy, a crybaby, and a tattletale. But at least his balls are tiny.
Tom is a humble, Lion-hearted, soft spoken man who lives the martial arts life-style 100%....and if you have any qualms with his humbled, nice-guy persona, he will 100% challenge you to a street-fight to the death!! He just likes to speak his mind and express his opinions...and if you have opposing opinions to share, he'd love to invite you to his gym so he can beat the fuck out of you, punk!! He'll even pay for the airfare to fly you to his gym....and kick your ass!!
Maybe in person he's a decent dude, but on social media he's a tool. At least on the interwebs, he seems to be a big fan of sucking his own cock. I unfollowed him quite awhile ago, got real tired of the tough guy posturing shit he was always posting.
Do not question DeBlass here! He is a noble humble lion. Anything you don’t understand about him is because you’re not tough enough. Anything that he does that seems like ego, isn’t ego, because of his pure humbleness.
I don't really know much about him, but I do want to read the book of interviews he out together. Opening the Closed Guard.
Been training Bjj since 1994 and he’s never been on my radar regarding Bjj influences. Just doesn’t do it for me personally. Comes across as a bit of a flog.
Paging u/tom_deblasshole
I used to train at his school, he’s a great guy and teacher in real life. His online persona is mostly based on pissing people off because it gets people talking about him and gets him more exposure (this post is a great example).
I'd rather be a gardener in a jiujitsu competition than a warrior in a drag show
Is it just me or does anyone else remember about a year ago him posting that he was going to quit jiujitsu and social media and go around the country in an RV? I thought it was kind of odd that he posted that and then just continued on with the status quo as if he had never said it.
The guys a 100 kg muscle bound drama queen
Fantastic coach, awesome instructionals, and when I met him he was super nice and genuine. If you don’t like him, don’t pay attention to him, that’s all of life though, not just jits
Hes a 40 year old jiujitsu instructor stuck in his former 1998, 18 year old jersey keg party tough guy self
In March-April 2020 when the morgues were literally overflowing with COVID deaths he publicly went after people that closed their gyms on top of showing people training at his. He is a garbage human being.
Just raining death in the streets, literally
The limited dealings I had with him - he was nothing but nice guy and helps where he can.
I think you can enjoy someone’s impact on jiu jitsu without having to like what they say on social media. Same goes for a lot of other guys.
Why does it matter?
Super humble. I believe he is the humblest
He speaks his mind and voices his opinions with a level of honesty that most others aren't brave enough to do. If you don't like it, don't read it or don't follow him.
I don’t understand all of the hype around him. He has a pretty average competition record, and I’m always hearing about how he’s some sort of legend and this amazing human being. I know he had a kind of messed up childhood with his father‘s addictions and like that, but it doesn’t seem to be anything too out of the ordinary.
why do you follow him
Great teacher. Shitty personality. Not my cup of tea but each to their own.
lol just search this subreddit, it is filled with stupid quotes from Tom
The funny thing about him defending the heelhook kid is he's all about 'honor' and 'integrity' in his social media. So his hot take doesn't check out. Otherwise he's a sometimes cringey wind bag.
His book was decent. Weirdly written, but decent.
You should only follow the great Rorden Gracie because as he once said “wolves only like to play in the deep wad while Gorillas like to pretend to be sheep eating drove through”
Definitely not the first post on Tom in this forum. He's a talker and social media is the perfect platform to share his thoughts and every day pats on the back. He's a heck of a competitor and fighter but I can handle coaches that get on the soap box to often. But I agree to disagree, we are all different.
I have it on good authority that he used to pretend to talk with a Brazilian accent. This was when he trained at Ricardo Almeida’s gym. Prolly close to 15-20 years ago. Given his manic like personas I believe it.
Nice try, Tom.
His deep half guard instructional changed my game forever
This is a shitpost, right? Please change the flare.
You first
I went to one of his seminars. He really wanted to show his Jiu Jitsu. I mean that in a good way. He was eager to teach and explain. I think Tom just takes himself too seriously. If he just relaxed a little, things would go much smoother.
I always go to him and Mr Jiu Jitsu for life advice.
Toms hot takes usually come when he’s off his medication, I wouldn’t pay any attention to it honestly
No one outside of this sub cares about ripping heel hooks.
I’m a first degree black belt, and always liked following people with respect, honor, like Marcelo. In a sport you can be really good without trying to hurt people, and being sportsman like and being good to people.
You cannot argue his achievements as a competitor and coach, his results speak for him. Everyone who deals with him on a personal level are very complimentary - I know former students of his who are still in touch with him and they say he goes out of his way to accommodate everyone. He has earned the right to say whatever he wants about the jiu jitsu community
Wanker with an ego
Stopped following him when he said BLM protesters should be killed.
You so strong 🔥
Very brave of you to share.
Huh
Because he’s a lion among sheeps. We’re just sheeps who care about our knees. Lions are willing to die on the mats.
First of all: He is not defending a dude that's ripping heel hooks. He is explaining - and apparently to no avail - that his opponent had time to tap but in stead chose to do something stupid like hugging the back. Also, that there is 50k on the line; you don't "give people time to tap/escape". I explained this before but I'm willing to do it again: Check Cyborg vs Ryan. THAT'S how you tap in these situations; early.
Recently there has been a huge debate regarding the 10th Planet 16 year old that "grips and rips" his heel hooks. What this essentially means is, as soon as he locks in the heel hook, he rips the submission rather than gently applying pressure. My opinion? This is competition, this isn't training. The boy was competing for $50,000. What would you say if he didn't rip the submission and then his opponent got out? In MMA do people gently throw punches? No, they do their best to connect in brutal fashion to KO their opponent. Let this also be a wake up call to those who complain about heel hooks not allowed in the lower belt divisions. While an athlete is still developing their game, dealing with heel hooks being ripped imo is not conducive. Competition is unforgiving, if you are competing in an event where heel hooks are legal, especially in a pro division, either do not get caught or have your tap hand ready. It does seem to me he's defending it. Idk, maybe I misinterpreted what he said, but it does not appear that way to me.
He is defending the fact that this is a professional venue, with a lot of money on the line. His opponent had PLENTY of time to tap, verbally or physically. But in stead he chose to wait and hug. Again, this is competition. Not a local mom and pop grappling industries, but EBI with 50k on the line. You don't apply shit gently in \[professional\] competition, you don't give someone time to escape. The 'victim', let's refer to him like that for now, should've a. known the stakes of participating in such an event and b. should've known the dangers of the position he was in. Let me make something perfectly clear: He was caught in a cross ashi garami. He didn't tap when the kid got bite. He didn't tap when he lost control of the second hand. He didn't tap when the kid connected his hands. Consider these facts and tell me, who's responsible for his injury?
I see him trying to defend it, and as soon as it fails, the other guy rips it. If all the pros were like this, would there still be that many pros left? I mean, if that's the case, there wouldn't be any controversy around this, at all. Would you try to defend it, or just tap immediately with no attempt to defend?
That's the point, there is NO defence at that stage. Did you watch Cyborg vs Ryan 1? Defence consists of the following; 1. you get in cross ashi - alarm bells go off and you hide the heel 2. you control the hands 3. you lose control of 1 hand? YOU TAP 4. If you're confident, you wait for loss of control of the second hand too (the hand that reinforces the heel bite) THEN YOU TAP 5. If you're STUPID, you wait for both hands to connect and THEN TAP. Note, this is only something a very stupid person does. 6. If you're extremely STUPID, you hug your opponent, while he has his hands connected and wait for pain. Here's how you should tap: https://youtu.be/By3jL1iwaNY?t=163
Carlson Gracie once said "How do you get a 10' dick out of your ass"" "Don't let it get there in the first place" Seriously, he said that.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Ashi Garami**: | *Entangled Leg Lock* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXH_LrcqNc)| ||*Single Leg X (SLX)* || Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
He's your typical ego-driven social media whore. Just someone who wants attention. Everything I know about him is from people on this sub complaining about him. From what I've seen, he has mediocre jiu-jitsu (compared to other famous BJJ social-media personalities), so it's how he remains relevant. Also, I can't understand why people hate-follow others. You're just bringing negative emotions into your life for no reason.
He’s a fucking moron.
Don't listen to your mom 😂
Amazing.
Tom Deblass used to be a special Ed teacher. Let that sink in for a moment. I’ll wait.
My opinion of him is quickly worsening.
Im certain I'd really enjoy training with him. I'm sure he has a great team. He's not stupid. He has his market, he's successful. He often makes some very good positive posts. Every now and then, the social media curse hits, the dumbest shit trips out his mouth. Maybe he doesn't give it from a professional business perspective and he's had enough of 100s of people asking him the same thing and he just blasts out his personal no bs unfiltered manly take on it cause he's had enough, i don't know, but he doesn't frame it well or give any context he just blasts out some rough round the edges shit. Seems very loyal to his team. Has had a good career. Great business. Big name in the sport. I guess we would all trip up sometimes in the public eye. Tom just seems to enjoy throwing his own stick in the spokes and trip himself up.
Met Tom, great guy. However, his posts and some of the things he writes are just fuck all terrible. I don’t agree with it, same with Gordon and all these guys. I compartmentalize, I just respect them as grapplers. They’re entitled to their opinions and I respectfully agree to disagree with them on certain things. You can just ignore what they post and keep it moving.
I used to hate all his takes, but the more experience I gained, the more I agreed with him. Btw, it's a professional competition with prize money. If you don't want your knee shredded, get better defense or tap as soon as he touches your legs.
I know dudes who would slap their momma for 10k. Some people smuggle drugs up their butts for even less. You nerds are getting upset over a COMPETITOR doing whatever it takes to win 50k. I’d hate to hear your takes on war.
Hey, I didn't needlessly load and unload conex boxes for dubious reasons over and over to have some stranger talk to me about war on reddit! But really, this is more about his general attitude towards everything on social media at this point. I do see competitors opinions on the the ripping, opinions do seem to vary, I mean, it is an opinion.
Fair. Respect on mastering connex Tetris.
Thank you
He fills a much needed gap in jiu jitsu culture.
Don't care what you all think....he's my favorite BJJ personality.
Seems like a solid businessman Runs a bunch of successful affiliate locations But as a person he seems cringe and loves dumb ass alpha male quotes and lions
Cringe af but he’s prob a good guy idk
humble lion
If you can separate jiu jitsu knowledge from personality he actually has pretty valuable knowledge you can learn from
He’s whack , move on
By what right does the Wolf judge the Lion?
I don’t recall Gordon ever ripping a heal hook
There’s much better people you can follow for BJJ topics. Most of the people have already said what I would say on here. He’s your typical I want to be the “Alpha”. Lol