The Sign of a good jj club

[superman]

Hi everyone,
Im a new member and hoping to start jiu jitsu soon i have blackbelts in kyokushinkai and taekwondo and im currently studying judo.... But it does take me a long time to find a club... I just want to be trained by the best in my area so i look around, not such a bad thing..... Just wondering if anybody has any tips on what makes a good JJ club, what i should look for or if anyone knows any good UK clubs please let me know....

Thanks alot guys
:cool:

[Ryan]

I guess Ari would be a great person for this but I can tell you that you should know what you want going in. Do you want a club where everyone is close/friends? Do you want a club that is Gi or no Gi? Self Defense, Competition or MMA? Does the club instructors have good lineage? Think of some things that are important to you and look for that.

There is a local Okinowan Karate club that is extremely close and family oriented. The club always has parties and even take vacations together for seminars and other club practices. This would be like Ari organizing a trip for the Submissions 101 family to go on a 5 day trip to California and go to Eddie Bravo and Royce Gracies academies.

[OutwardRooted]

If it's run down and delapidated looking, it's usually a good sign that they take their training more serious than they do their appearances. Like we say here, "Ju Jutsu ain't pretty. It's effective."

[superman]

Yeah im not looking for a good looking club im looking for a good jj club that can push me to the best of my ability.....Back in the day i always used to have mates in different martial arts and they would tell me about good clubs and stuff...But now they have all dropped out and moved on and im still goin as committed as ever....

I would like a close knit club.. ive got experience with gi in judo so no gi would be an advantage....I need to compete and even though i already crosstrain i would like some more mma experience...

So Now i have to realy look for a club myself and the more i have looked over the last few weeks im starting to find out there aren't many jj clubs in my area... alot of different karate and taekwondo a few kickboxing clubs but not many jj or even that many judo clubs really....

The search continue ;)

[Ari Bolden]

"If it's run down and delapidated looking, it's usually a good sign that they take their training more serious than they do their appearances. Like we say here, "Ju Jutsu ain't pretty. It's effective."

I don't know about that one Outward. Some could argue that a good club keeps their place clean and in good working order. It means they are on top of the ball. Run down and delapitated could also be signs of physical damage, poor dojo management skills, infested with ringworm or staph because no one cares about the place.

I think I've got one of the cleanest and nicest dojos in my city and I can assue you that I take my training seriously. The whole "run down broken dojo" thing is always popularized in the movies (Rocky) where the people 'get down to their roots" and train in pits, barns or inner city gyms to get REAL training.

I realize you were trying to speak in generalities but that's one I just don't agree with. It doesn't mean that there aren't great schools out there that train in shit holes but I don't think that should be the basis of picking a school at all.

I think one should look at:
1) students attitudes (reflection of the teacher)
2) the teacher and his style and ability
3) the reason for taking an art (self defense, sport, both)
4) the gym itself (is it clean and well kept)..physical clutter can bea sign of mental clutter
5) location, fees, and schedule
6) high pressure sales tactics, mcdojos or other 'we are the best rex kwon do school because..."

my 2 cents