Gym Cliques

Alphac

Hey, not sure if this has been discussed here before. Apologies if I am running over well trod paths.

I know whatever your interests gyms are made up of all types of personalities. Not everyone will be on the same page and some may simply just not get along. Think we should all be able to account for that and get on with the show. Likewise people connect and make groups of friends, which is one of the best things about being in any club! There are subtleties here that make the difference between sounding like an angsty school-girl and recognizing, and dealing with, an actual problem.

I think the difference is when intent shifts toward an elitism that divides the crowd into "us" and "them".

Is this something you just shrug off and go train, or is it a sign something is going wrong?

cletus

No idea what you're taking about tbh. I presume this is some specific thing that's happening in your own club, rather than a general observation.

People get on with some people, don't get on with others. Only time I had something like that affect my training was avoiding certain people for sparring/rolling

RoboRat

Like Cletus, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The only possible reasoning is that sometimes in a club certain belt grades like to roll together, this is nothing to do with being a clique, it's down to the fact that they test each other and as the old saying goes... Iron sharpeneth iron.

Alphac

Not that I am trying to distance myself from the issue - but not something that happens where I train, was a friend discussing this with me. She felt that there was a core of guys at the centre of the gym and found it hard to integrate with them, more specifically that they didnt want her to. Like you guys I haven't come across this (everyone I encounter whether in my club, at comps or open mats are super friendly) so thought I would post to see if others had experience dealing with it.

Seems not, which might be a good thing.

arybvtcw0eolkf

If the question is how do we deal with cliques in the club, well I've honestly not really come across too many. If any at all tbh, and I'm training a very long time.

You'll probably find that guys with lots of competition experience will favor training with like minded and experienced people, esp coming up to a competition. I know I do, but its not a clique thing but people who are not fighting (yet, hopefully they will) have little benefit to me (at competition time).

Other than that just stick it out in the club, allow time for friendships to form. For me I find competition is a great way of building a bond with your club training partners.

I think its also natural for novices to see a 'them and us' when they look at higher grades and might be a bit stand off'ish, a little shy. And tbh, that just goes back to forming frienhships and bonds. These don't happen over night so give yourself some time.

I hope that helps, if I understand the question correctly.