Jiu Jitsu Near Me - Finding the Right Gym for You
I get asked the question "Where should I train?" quite frequently. From friends or family who are just wanting to get started in jiujitsu or students and training partners who are moving to a new area and just don’t have very much background on the jiujitsu community and what to look for when trying to find a reputable gym to train at. In this blog post I’ll share with you some of the key things I look at to determine what a good school in your area might be, as well as some other well known team dynamics that generally stand true that we can try to leverage to answer your questions. Even for a well traveled Black Belt like myself, I don't know every gym and every Black Belt there is out there, so we have to use what we can find to our advantage.
Another dynamic to keep in mind, for better or worse, is that there can be a lot of pressure once you've been at a gym for a long period of time to stay at that gym. You may get to a point where you feel like you've outgrown a gym if you pick one without considering all the facts, and then you're left in a rough position and need to figure out what your next steps are going to be. This isn't the end of the world, but something to think about if you plan to set roots some where.
First let's start off by asking yourself some key questions so that you're setting yourself up for success. We will address each of these questions and why I have them listed later on. You'll have to weigh each of these options in importance to your situation as we progress through them.
- What have other people said about the gym?
- What is your main goal in starting training?
- How far are you willing to travel?
- Are you on a specific budget (will provide more details) ?
- What type of schedule can you support for training?
- Do you need child care or training for your children?
- Are you interested in training other martial arts or specific versions of jiujitsu?
- Are you interested in fitness or other classes?
- Are you interested in competing one day?
- Who do you know in the area that might train?
Reviews
The first stop for anyone looking to do business with a local business. Reviews here are just as important as anywhere else. Many 5-star reviews shows that the gym has been around for some time and that they generally provide the services their business is supposed to. We can use this to weed out gyms that are maybe not run very well or are very new. This obviously isn’t 100% because there can easily be a new gym that is amazing.
I would suggest though, that you read many of the reviews in detail to understand if the main features of the gym highlighted in positive or negative reviews align with the things that you put value on. For example, if you’re mainly interested in training for MMA but you don’t see mentioned of MMA in the reviews maybe there is a better fit out there for you. Obviously, this is just meant to serve as another guide post and a good first step to filter out some early if you have a large number of options in your area.
Understanding your Goal
Understanding why you want to do Jiujitsu in the first place will help you key in on the right gym and will help inform your other answers to the questions above. Many beginners mainly want to get started to get into better shape while learning a new skill or for self defense purposes. Many gyms will answer that call, but if you have more specific training needs (MMA, Gi vs No-Gi, Kids, Culture, Etc) then you'll need to keep those things in mind.
How Far Are You Willing To Travel?
This largely depends on the area you are in. Some rural areas might only have one gym and you have to train there because some training is better than no training, even if it doesn't perfectly match your goals. Other, more urban areas, have far more options but the option that might fit you best could be further than other gyms nearby. If you're looking for convenience of travel then you will be limited to those gyms in your general area.
Specific Budget
Having a budget is always a good idea and I commend you for paying attention to your finances. With that said, you should strive to understand the average cost of jiujitsu as well as the additional value you'll get from possibly paying for a slightly more expensive membership. Jiujitsu gyms typically want you to sign-up on a contract for a set amount of time and at a certain rate. Most gyms have a trial period you can try (typically a week) to allow you to answer a lot of your initial questions about the gym environment itself, which I will write about in a future post. Just for reference though, my area is approximately $175 - $200 a month for a good gym with lots of options and great instruction.
Gym Schedule
This will likely be the first hurdle you face, even with just trying out a trial period with a gym. You want to make sure you can make the most out of the trial period as well as your membership once you start paying for it. Having a schedule that doesn't match up with your ability to get to the gym is going be a large hurdle for you. If you have a flexible schedule it will make it easier on you to get to the gym you want to train at.
Children
As all parents know children have to be accommodated for before you can try to take on a new hobby like this. It can be a challenge balancing everything and making sure your kids can get to where they need to be and have care while you go and train. The schedule plays a big role in this, but some gyms also have children's classes that run at the same time as adult classes or they have some form of child care that will allow you to train with your children in the other room. This can be a great way to get the family all trying to develop themselves with the same hobby if everything works out and you want them to train too.
Other Martial Arts
If you're looking to train a specific type of jiujitsu or possibly supplementing your jiujitsu with another martial art then you need to pay attention to these option when you look at gyms and their websites. If you think you may try to get into MMA in the future then you may want to look for a gym that has at least some striking to help you move toward that goal. There are also some jiujitsu teams and gyms that mainly focus on training in the gi while other might focus on training in "no-gi". For me personally, I'd pay top dollar for a gym with really great wrestling and judo training, just because that's what I really enjoy at the moment.
Fitness or other Services
Some gyms also offer additional fitness services to include things like yoga, cardio kick boxing, cryo-tanks, smoothie bars, saunas, and any other additional features a gym may want to add. Many small jiujitsu gyms (most of them) don't have these features but if they do maybe you're interested in them. Another dynamic with these features is how they impact the rest of the school, which may not always been in a positive way. If a gym puts more emphasis on fitness than martial arts it may start to leave the jiujitsu practitioners in a state of missing new talent or may just have a lack of support. Something you can gauge when you give a trial a go.
Competition
If you think you may want to compete in jiujitsu one day then picking the right gym can be very important. Some gyms might compete sporadically without any of the actual coursework built around the goal of those students reaching their competition goals. Researching the instructors and their success in competition or their students success in competition is a good way to understand if they cater to that goal. I'd usually recommend looking for the later because an instructors success in competition doesn't mean the students will be able to follow suite if the correct environment doesn't exist. You can try to key in on the teams affiliation as well and understand if that gym competes generally. This one just comes down to deep research.
Ask Friends
Much like my friends and family asking me for recommendations I would also recommend to you to do the same. Reach out to your network on social media to see if you happen to know someone you didn't know trained, chances are that you do. Obviously, make sure that you trust their recommendation and that their tastes are in line with yours before you sign up on day one (always do the trial). This can be a great way to cut down on research time and key in on a specific area. This is exactly how I found my gym that I've trained at for 8+ years, and it worked out great.
For this situation please consider me a friend and reach out for assistance in finding a gym. I love to help out and would be happy to look in your area for/with you to help you find an option (free of charge). Just shoot me an email covering some of the details above and your area and I'd be happy to recommend a few gyms that look good to me that would be worth trying out the trial for. I'm not sure how many requests I'll get so I'll do my best to get back to you!