BJJ Near Me (part 1 of 3) - Choosing a Jiu Jitsu Gym for Experienced Students
Choosing a Brazilian jiu jitsu gym is an important decision. You’ve probably searched “BJJ near me” and, if you live in an urban area, you’ve probably seen an overwhelming number of options. If you’re a BJJ competitor or want to reach your full potential in the sport, finding a gym with quality instructors and skilled training partners will be critical for you. The following considerations will help competitors and experienced students assess the different jiu jitsu programs near them.
What are the instructor’s competitive accolades? An instructor’s competition record is one of the best indicators of their skill. If your instructor has done well at IBJJF tournaments (particularly at Worlds or Pans), ADCC events, or certain professional invitational grappling tournaments, it’s very likely that they are a skilled jiu jitsu practitioner. But be wary of misleading claims. It’s not uncommon for people to claim that they are a “World Champion” when they win a small bracket in a division for older competitors, or to claim, for instance, that they are a bronze medalist after participating in a three-person bracket and losing their only match.
Does the gym produce skilled students and successful competitors? Another strong indicator of a technically proficient gym is a skilled student body. Skill is obviously relative to each student’s training time. In general, it’s a good sign if the white belts at a gym try to execute identifiable, fundamentally sound jiu jitsu techniques and the colored belts give you a variety of challenging training rounds. Also consider whether the gym has produced successful competitors both locally and at higher levels, and whether the instructors are invested in helping competitors reach their goals. If you’re serious about competing, find an instructor that will help you choose events to compete in, make short-term and long-term plans to prepare for those events, and attend your competitions to coach you.
How much training and teaching experience does the instructor have? Your instructor’s rank and cumulative training time is by no means the most important determinant of their teaching ability. However, some gyms offload most of their classes to students with limited teaching, training, or competition experience and the head instructor has a very limited presence.
Is the instructor invested in helping students improve? The best BJJ instructors prioritize the skill development of their students. This includes being active during class and helping each group with the details of the moves, answering student questions, and identifying mistakes or areas that need improvement and helping students make the needed adjustments.
Is the class content modern and sufficiently diverse? BJJ is an ever-evolving sport. As with any other profession, continuing education is essential to keep up with new trends and techniques. Unfortunately, some instructors teach jiu jitsu as it was when they stopped learning or training seriously. There are, of course, fundamental techniques that need to be recirculated in the curriculum of any BJJ gym. But the details of those techniques should be up-to-date, and modern techniques and trends should be regularly explored in classes. If nogi classes at a prospective gym never include takedowns, leglocks, buggy chokes, false reap attacks, wrestle-ups, et cetera, if gi classes never include modern forms of passing such as cross-gripping or long-stepping or guards such as De La Riva or lapel guards or if the same set of techniques is taught on repeat (beyond fundamentals classes), you may want to consider a gym that provides more contemporary instruction.
Continued in part 2, located here.
-OGA Staff
Oregon Grappling Arts offers adult and kids’ jiu jitsu classes six days a week in Portland, OR. All classes are led by black belt head instructors Hannah Sharp and Eddie Jamrog. If you or your child is interested in checking out Brazilian jiu jitsu, feel free to reach out to us. All prospective students receive a three-day free trial.
You can read more about our adult jiu jitsu classes here.
You can read more about our youth jiu jitsu classes here.
You can learn more about coach Hannah Sharp here and coach Eddie Jamrog here.
Our homepage is located here.
Contact us through our online form here or via email at info@oregongrapplingarts.com.
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