Training at Gracie Barra

This post could prove boring for those of you not interested Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or my participation in it. So I will keep it short. I've settled on Gracie Barra in Northern Chicago as a place to train. Its big, has lots of higher ranks, blue, purple and the occasional brown belt. That may not mean much to you, but to me it means pressure to improve in the way only sparring with more experienced players can do. Another great plus is that there is a huge diversity in body types, and styles to work against. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, like judo, wrestling and boxing are performance oriented martial arts. By that I mean that progress through the ranks is not soley a matter of knowing a set of techniques, but is primarily a matter of successfully using the techniques you know against your opponents consistently. Anyway Gracie Barra seems like it will be the place for me to train.