Gracie Barra BJJ?

[Ivan]

I have recently been looking to start BJJ as I have just moved to Glasgow. Many of the gyms around me are either closed or too far away. I found a Gracie Barra Gym, and I attended a trial session for beginners last week. The instructor seemed very passionate and zealous about BJJ, his gym and martial arts in general. There was also a purple belt there, who I believe may have been his daughter, and I was very impressed by her overall level of fitness - she breezed through the last few minutes of the core workout, and I was just sat there weezing for a portion of it.

The price I payed in advance, because I found the class to be great (it was tons of drilling and I loved it), £40 (around $50 give or take) for two beginners hourly classes per week. The instructor also said that he would be adding a third class per week, for a total of £60. However, after delving in deeper into the gym's online footprint, I found some scathing reviews of it.

I was wondering if any of you have had experiences with this particular gym, or Gracie Barra gyms in general, and what your advice would be? I also wanted to know what your thoughts on the pricing is. I have heard Gracie Barra can be quite cult-like, but the only sign of this I came across was us bowing to a picture of Gracie at the end of class.

 

[KOKarate]

I have no experience with jiu jitsu but if you like it then just train there. Some people posted some bad reviews? So what? A strangers opinion shouldn’t affect your opinion of the place. As for cult like stuff again that’s up to you. Bowing to a picture is a bit much for me that’s not my thing but everyone’s different and while I don’t make people do it it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.

as for the price. It’s not awful it’s alright the Muay Thai gym I train at is 45 a month for 5 lessons a week. But again it’s what you like. Make your own decision And go with it

 

[Hanzou]

Congrats for living in Scotland. I always wanted to visit.

From what I'm hearing in the reviews it's a tiered system of payment that begins with a few classes and then increases over time, and gives the owner an incentive to get everyone to a certain level in order to the most money out of them. Real shame because GB is a solid Bjj school.

Was there any problem with this school?

MNBJJ – Marcos Nardini Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

 

[Ivan]

Congrats for living in Scotland. I always wanted to visit.

From what I'm hearing in the reviews it's a tiered system of payment that begins with a few classes and then increases over time, and gives the owner an incentive to get everyone to a certain level in order to the most money out of them. Real shame because GB is a solid Bjj school.

Was there any problem with this school?

MNBJJ – Marcos Nardini Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Yes for starters the school is closed, and over double the distance from where I live; an hour worth of walking. There are two closer to me, and another one at the same distance as the one I am currently attending; all closed due to 'rona, or open, but not responding to my messages/inquiries. Given the situation, I will most likely stick with this one for now. I just got back from a session, and I learned quite a lot - sprawling, and the movements for a leg grab. The coach is enthusiastic, and a lot of what the reviews said about him "being on his phone constantly" was him using different songs on the speakers for our drills which I think was quite helpful e.g. every time we hear a specific word in a song, we do one repetition of a drill or exercise. He explained things and answered questions very well, and his demonstrations for different drills were useful too. He would walk around and check to see if we were doing it correctly, or attempt to motivate us when he saw us struggling.

Almost everyone there including me is new to BJJ except for one student or two students who are more advanced us that sometimes help with demonstrations, but mostly they just train with us - and I must say they impress me. I have been to two sessions total, each one had a different student. The first one was a purple belt, she was half of my stature, but she breezed through the core exercises at the end which turned most of the class and myself, into sweaty messes wheezing for breath. The second time was someone with leggings only and no belt whom I couldn't see very well, but also another brown belt who seemed very friendly and was the same as the purple belt in terms of performance.

I asked about some of the prices. Once I advance from the fundamentals program, I am put into advanced classes. These cost an extra £5 week, and supposedly, gives me access to all the classes including no-gi, which if I understood correctly, is a great deal. The only thing that puts me off, is that they will expect you to eventually buy an official BJJ Gracie Barra Gi from them due to their uniform regulations. Online they cost, £140, but they sell them for £80 - normally not bad, but I am a student, so money is a bit tight.

Depending on how it goes, I plan to stay at least until the end of the fundamentals program, which should take about 3-4 months. After that, I will try the advanced program for 1-2 months, and hopefully by then the 'rona situation will have lifted. Then I will try some classes in other gyms, gauge their priorities and prices compared to this one, and make my choice. Do you think that sounds alright?