Top 10 Things To See While Choosing The Best BJJ Gym in California

Martial arts have been rapidly increasing in their popularity for many years. The majority of the reasons behind this are attributed to the influence of martial arts films, which became popular among the masses. This rise in popularity causes many people to join them and start training. But among the martial arts, the art that became the most popular among people is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Developed by the Gracies, but its roots are very old in Japan. So the martial arts fans, particularly in the US, are all going for the BJJ. In this attempt, being a beginner, they get themselves into the wrong BJJ gyms, due to which they have to face a loss of their money and time. So it is very important for you to choose the right BJJ gym for you. But why is this important, and how can you do that? Let’s dive into this in detail.

It is very important for every BJJ practitioner or aspirant to choose the right Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym for themselves because of the following reasons:

The right Gym means the right training in BJJ. You might not know its importance at the start of your journey, but you will realize it soon after. The right gym means that you can understand the instructions clearly and train comfortably. If you get stuck in the wrong gym, then you need to change it as soon as possible. The longer you stay there, the worse it will become for you with time. The wrong gym can have many meanings depending on the individual.

The gym is always subjective. One gym that is popularized a lot cannot be the best for everyone. For some, it will prove to be the best, while for others, it might prove to be the worst gym. This means that you should not believe the rumours and go to the popular gym in the town.

You might not feel comfortable, or you may not enjoy training in a gym. This is very important because you are not there for one or two days. Instead, you are devoted to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and growing yourself from white to the black belt. So the journey is very long so which is why the gym must also be very good.

All BJJ gyms will provide you with support and assistance throughout your career. The environment may not be cooperative. So you need to see the environment, the people training there, the trainers, and other things that are necessary for supporting you, because without this, it is very difficult for you to continue your BJJ journey.

The gym might not be clean and hygienic. It is possible that they are not following the proper hygiene or cleaning protocols. So if you get yourself in such an environment, you will get many bacterial infections, so be aware of such BJJ gyms.

There are a number of things that you should consider when you are choosing the best gym for your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey or career. It is a very common myth that a BJJ gym is important only when you are just starting and not when you have trained for some years. This is absolutely wrong. The choice is very important for every practitioner, and it does not matter if they are starting or experienced grapplers. The following are given some of the most important things that you must take into your consideration while choosing the BJJ gym for you. These are given with the logic and facts, helping you better understand the concept.

• The first and foremost important thing to ponder upon is the instructors. If you don’t find the instructors understandable, if you are not comfortable with them, if you are not able to keep up with them, then what’s the point of all other things in the BJJ gym being so good? It does not matter how good a BJJ gym is unless you are getting your purpose out of it.

• So it is very important for you to ensure that the instructors are very good, and you can continue your journey with them for a long time. You should check their qualifications and their experiences. You can ask this directly from the instructors if you find this suitable, or from other academy people. The more qualified and experienced they are, the more chances you have to learn and understand the BJJ concepts deeply.

• The second thing you all must observe in any BJJ gym is the cleanliness. Ideally, all the facilities must be clean, and the overall environment must be well maintained. There must be no dirt because the increased dirt will increase the chances of infection to a much higher extent.

• It is not an uncommon thing for BJJ athletes to get infected during or after grappling in a BJJ gym. This is a very common thing, and people need to take care of that.

• So hygiene is very crucial for any BJJ grappler to maintain before, during, and after the training. So choose a gym that follows proper hygiene protocols. Moreover, the gym must have proper ventilation, which is very important, especially during grappling or training. Everything must be clean, but especially the mats. The recovery is very important for every BJJ grappler, and for this reason, you should see the gym that has facilities supporting the comfort and recovery of the BJJ practitioners.

• The third thing you need to notice is the safe and supportive environment. It is probably the most important thing that people often overlook and don’t give any importance to. To rise in your BJJ journey, you need to have some people who can support you and assist you. There is always a time in a practitioner’s journey when they don’t feel like doing the training. This might have a number of reasons, such as a great setback in which they lost to someone less skilled than them.

• Also, there can be family reasons or stress due to which they are not able to perform as required. In such situations, they need an environment that is filled with support. They need someone who can motivate them and support them so that they can start performing again.

• Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that is widely known to provide a supportive community to all its practitioners. If you are not finding this support in any gym, then make sure to stay away from such gyms because they will waste your time and money, and you will not be able to learn anything effectively.

• You must feel safe in a BJJ gym. In the United States or California, bullying is very common. So you should see that you are getting pumped by your training partners and other gym colleagues instead of getting bullied. You train with your training partner, and if they are good and supportive to you, then you will learn much more in a short span of time. They should not focus on themselves or winning against you. Instead, they should continue their journey with you, in which they will support you, and you will support them. So in this way, you must feel overall safe and supported within the gym.

• The fourth thing you must consider while selecting the BJJ gym in California is the flexibility in class schedule and the variety in the classes they offer. These are, in fact, two separate things that make a gym much better than others.

• The first one is the flexible schedule of classes. It is very rare that people leave all other things just to train in BJJ. Instead, most people do other things, such as their job or studies, and train BJJ in the remaining time. So they are doing the two things in one day. Now, if they join a gym that offers classes in only one time slot of the day, then it will make it very difficult for the Jiu Jitsu practitioners to train. In such situations, there comes the concept of the flexible schedule of classes.

• Being flexible means that people can take classes at more than one time slot of the day, and it ranges from morning to night. It means that if you take admission in such BJJ gyms, then you can take classes in the morning, afternoon, evening, or also at night. This makes them flexible, and it is also very easy for you to train while doing your other duties in a day, such as studies, a job, or other daily chores, which are very necessary for you to do.

• Another thing is the class variety. This is super important. BJJ gyms can have categories such as beginner, medium, intermediate, and advanced levels. So you have to choose the gym according to your level of skill in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Some gyms are general, which means that they are offering classes for every skill level grappler in BJJ. These gyms are much better than others because you can continue your journey for a long time in these.

• On the contrary, if the gym is focused only on the beginner level, then after a few months, you are no longer a beginner. The more time you stay there, the worse it will be for you because you are not learning anything extra there. You need to switch the gym, and then for switching, you have to go through all the struggle for finding the best gym again. So the better idea is to choose a gym that offers a variety of classes for all skill levels because you can promote yourself to the higher belt ranks in the same gym.

• As time goes on, you become friends with the people around you in the gym, and this makes it easier for you to train in BJJ. Also, you start enjoying more. If you keep on switching after a few months, then you will not be able to get these things, and also you might not enjoy them as well.

• The fifth thing you need to know about a gym is about its community. It is often said that you have a great influence on the company in which you live. A company here means the people around you, your friends and family, around whom you spend a lot of time. A community in any place is very important for a person. It should be aligned with the goals of a person.

• Imagine you are living in a community which are against BJJ or does not give any importance to the martial arts because they do not recognize its true significance. But you are the only one in such a community who loves doing Jiu Jitsu and wants to earn a big name in it. So can you thrive there? Just think for a second. No! You cannot.

• Now, many people think that the community is also an added benefit, and if it is not good, then you will not have any disadvantage. This is a myth and nothing else. A good community will have good benefits and effects on your performance in BJJ, and a bad community will have a worse effect on your BJJ journey.

• So you should observe the community in a BJJ gym very closely. See that if the people are having a positive mindset and working towards a goal. They must be striving towards their aim. If you can find these things in a BJJ community in any gym, then you can start your journey there.

The sixth thing you must observe is the location. While choosing the gym for your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, choose the one that is closer to you. This is necessary because you are not training once ot twice a week or so. You should try to train regularly with only one or two rest days a week. If the gym is far from where you live, then it will be difficult for you to get there every day. Hence, the chances for irregularity and non-disciplined behavior will increase. On the other hand, if the gym is closer to you, then you will easily reach it daily. The chances of being regular and disciplined will increase, and you will enjoy a good BJJ journey. So choose a gym nearer to you.

Another thing you must consider while choosing the best BJJ gym for you is the training partner. They are certainly one of the most important aspects to look for. To make this easier, most people take their friends with them to the gym so that they can train together. Since they are both friends, they will support each other, and this will help both excel in their journey. You should see who will be your training partner and know about their nature. See if they are friendly and cooperative or not, because this has a lot to do with your learning. So choose the BJJ gym accordingly.

• The eighth thing you must see is whether your goals are aligned with the BJJ gym or not. Different gyms have different goals and targets. If they do not have any of your goals, then you will not get any benefits from them. Your time and money will be wasted. So, try to find the gym that trains students according to your goals and targets.

• For example, you might have a goal of learning self defense through training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Not all gyms focus on training students for self defense. So if you join an academy or gym that focuses on preparing students for the competition, then you will not be able to fulfill your goals. So this is very important for you to consider.

• The competition is one of the most important things that you should see in a BJJ gym. It does not matter whether you are training to make a professional career or not. You should choose a gym that also conducts various competitions. The reason behind this is that you learn a lot of things when you start competing. You learn about other grapplers’ strategies. This gives you an idea of how you can improve your grappling strategy. Moreover, you also learn about the moves and techniques that you were not familiar with before. So you find a lot to learn when you start competing.

• The competition gives you a real and pressurized environment in which you need to pass through to win at the end. If you can be successful in that, then you will be able to get your other goals as well. So join the BJJ gyms that conduct competitions.

• The last thing in our list of top things to see while choosing the BJJ gym is the structured curriculum and organization. A structured curriculum means that the gym has a syllabus or outline or a complete plan of action that they are following. It must not be like they are randomly following the techniques. They must have a planned schedule, and there must be a reason for that schedule. For example, for beginner classes, they must start with the basics, then intermediate, and then advanced techniques. This is how the pattern should be in every gym. So that pattern must be present.

• Moreover, the organization must be structured, meaning that there should be discipline and everything happens according to a proper plan, not randomly. You should be able to communicate freely with the instructors or other people. The instructors and others must be open to every type of question.

Finding the best gym in a state like California is not easy because it is a very big state and has a lot of big BJJ gyms, which are considered the best in the world. But if you follow all the above things, which are described, then it can become very easy for you to choose the best gym. It is very crucial for you to start your journey in the best gym because it is not a short but a very long journey. So if you are also thinking about joining the gym, then make sure to check all the above things before making a final decision.

It is very important for every BJJ practitioner or aspirant to choose the right Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym for themselves because of the following reasons:

• The right gym means the right training in BJJ

• A famous BJJ gym cannot be good for you

• Comfort and enjoyment

• Support and assistance

• The gym might not be clean and hygienic

The following are given some of the most important things that you must take into your consideration while choosing the BJJ gym for you:

• The instructors: their qualifications and experience

• Well maintained and clean facilities and environment

• Supportive and safe training environment

• Schedule flexibility and class variety

• A positive community progressing towards a goal

• Location

• Training partners

• Your goals and aims

• Competition

• Structured curriculum and organization