Happy Saturday to all. I am currently looking at several BJJ gyms in NYC and was wondering if anyone has had particularly good or bad experiences with any of them. I either have already attended or will be attending a practice class at each gym in the next week. My primary goal is to find a traditional program to advance to a blue belt over the course of a year or so. After that I’d reassess my goals. Experience is very limited - I’ve tried a 4 week intro course to BJJ at NYJJ (listed below) and enjoyed the experience. The gyms I’ve seen or will see so far:
Renzo Gracie in midtown
NYJJ in Noho
NYSanda in Hell’s Kitchen
Ronin Athletics (almost next to NYSanda)
Fighthouse (near Penn Station)
Alliance (near Union Square)
Modern Martial Arts (8th and 47th)
NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsy (also near Penn Station)
Thanks in advance for any input you could provide on your experiences at any of the above.
Thanks Danew. Membership for all is within $60/month range, so my choice will likely turn on which establishment I’ll be most likely to stick with the program. In the future, I’d be happy to discuss my experiences with anyone doing similar research.
As a suggestion, most places will let you take a class, or at least watch one. You should take advantage. The fact is they are all teaching really great BJJ. You becoming good will depend on your effort, talent, and your comfort level with the teachers and facility. You should see about how they stack up with the latter before choosing.
FightinIrish, I think you’re right. From what I saw last week, every evening class for every level at Renzo’s was packed.
Danew, excellent suggestion and that’s the exact plan.
Again, thanks for your input.
I’ve dropped by Renzo’s a couple of times, and nowhere else in the city (or really even the country) will you come in and have any one of 3 or 4 Gracies teaching class on any given day.
The level of talent is VERY high, plus John Danaher teaches there I believe, and he is one of the best-kept secrets in the world of BJJ. Reputedly a phenomenal instructor. It is VERY expensive though.
NYBJJ has an excelent bjj teacher,
a Danahar black belt, it doesnt hurt that it is super local to me.
like 3 minutes away.
I have rolled at Renzo’s a few times, there is not a class that is not large, and full of good partners.
It has some of the best teachers,
John Dananher being one of the best, as mentioned before.
It is expensive, maybe too much so,
the depth of the classes is excellent.
[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
NYBJJ has an excelent bjj teacher,
a Danahar black belt, it doesnt hurt that it is super local to me.
like 3 minutes away.
I have rolled at Renzo’s a few times, there is not a class that is not large, and full of good partners.
It has some of the best teachers,
John Dananher being one of the best, as mentioned before.
It is expensive, maybe too much so,
the depth of the classes is excellent.
kmc
[/quote]
I gotta ask bro- why do you look like you write in inches instead of paragraphs? haha. It drives me nuts!!
I’m trying a class out at NYCBJJ tomorrow night and hopefully at Modern Martial Arts on Friday.
An unexpected curveball (though it probably shouldn’t be in this economy) is that my firm is laying off people this week. If I survive the axe at work, I hope to make a decision by the end of the week.
Again, continued thanks for helpful and sometimes hilarious input.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
kmcnyc wrote:
NYBJJ has an excelent bjj teacher,
a Danahar black belt, it doesnt hurt that it is super local to me.
like 3 minutes away.
I have rolled at Renzo’s a few times, there is not a class that is not large, and full of good partners.
It has some of the best teachers,
John Dananher being one of the best, as mentioned before.
It is expensive, maybe too much so,
the depth of the classes is excellent.
kmc
I gotta ask bro- why do you look like you write in inches instead of paragraphs? haha. It drives me nuts!![/quote]
I guess its not all the sentences, or thoughts make full paragraphs. Sometimes I want to separate the thoughts out a little bit , but I guess it can get old too.
There are many good schools that you have listed and I am sure that you would get good instruction at any of them but Renzo’s is rightly thought of as one of the best facilities in the world.
One thing to bear in mind is schedule flexibility. At Renzo’s you will find a lesson pretty much any time you want. Other places you might have issues of trying to fit your life round their schedules.
Cockney, that’s exactly what I’m discovering. I had a great experience at NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu this week, but they have about half as many classes as Renzo’s. I can say the same thing about Alliance as well.