Wow.
Reading those answers was like reading the intro to a good instructional book. You really laid it on the line and didn't "duck" any hard questions. Thank you very much. I'm going to get your Nth Dimension instructional DVD set just on the basis of these email answers (although your competition record certainly helps!).
Your comment about BJJ in America starting out as an adult sport but evolving into a younger athletes' sport is very interesting, and I agree based on what I've seen during my brief participation.
For example, the academy where I study keeps getting more wrestling students, students in high schools for the most part, and now also some judo people. Students in related arts are beginning to draw from the "competing" arts instead of deriding or ignoring them. And some of the best, certainly the most aggressive, students want to learn MMA side by side with jiu jitsu - not throwing out the need to learn BJJ, but also not willing to wait until they are "good" at BJJ before learning how it's played out when striking is part of the "game." (Of course I'm happy that the focus is still mostly on gi, since that is more suitable, imho, for the post 30 crowd.)
I think the next 10 years of BJJ in America will be very interesting as a result of the shift in focus. It's going to take mad conditioning and skills to keep up with the new practitioners coming into the sport.
I have one additional question, when you have time to answer another batch:
What is the value of taking seminars and private lessons from instructors outside your own academy?
