Going to be in San Francisco and LA - doubts

[Aprentice]

hey all

i live and am from Fortaleza, Brazil, and im going to be in california from 3 to 11 january only in LA (staying in el segundo) and in san francisco (still dont know where im staying, but a hotel in a central area) and with a lot of free time

ive been training for a year now, and although im not a professional or anything, jiu jitsu has become a big part of my life. I train twice a day and participate in every competition if im not hurt.

I have some doubts and want some tips and I was hoping you guys could help me!

1) Where would you recommend that I buy things like mouthpieces, headgears, rashguards, etc? i am getting many for me and my friends

2) what else would you recommend buying? I think the only thing that isn't worth buying in the US is a gi, from what ive researched

3) I want to train! Do I have to take a gi all the way from here? Can I rent one or something? If not, i guess I will end up buying one.

4) where do you guys train? where do you recommend that i train that is close to el segundo LA and to central parts of san francisco?

5) how does it work if you want to train just a couple of days?

6) I would like to train with a legend of jiu jitsu, if possible even a private lesson I would be willing to pay... Who do you recommend and where?

7) If someone here wants to recomend me a place where i can roll for free with people, like an open mat, and just meet jiu jitsu people in general, I would really appreciate. Rolling with someone from here would be great too!!

8) any other recommendations in general for a 25 year old brazilian guy who likes grappling and other stuff too!

thank you very much!!

[nyne]

Bring a GI. I don't know of any schools that rent them. I know some judo clubs do that for students if its a university or something but down here it's not a normal thing for BJJ schools.

Drop ins vary from gym to gym. 10-20 bucks is probably normal. I live 40 mins south of san francisco (closer to San Jose). There are lots of great schools in this area. You could basically go to a different on every day and never run out of schools during your trip.

I train at AKA Sunnyvale. It's a Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu school. I know Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu in san jose has a marathon roll one day a week that is open to 5 bucks for everyone. It has a really good turn out. Regularly drop ins are a little higher there I think.

If your'e staying in SF, Ralph Gracie is there as are are a few other really good gyms. Down by me, Caio Terra, Ralph Gracie, Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu, AKA San Jose has Leandro Viera.

... In southern california. Yeah... there's a TON of great schools also

[snoop dogg]

train at ralph gacies in San francisco. good school with a few pan champs there. also check out cobrinha's in LA

[stile0]

There is an On The Mat (OTM) store in the city.. I'm not sure if they are inside Ralph's school or still at Fisherman's Wharf or at both, but you can go there to buy gi's and anything else.

SF has a lot of schools.

www.romulomelobjj.com
www.ralphgracie.com
http://carleygracie.com/
http://www.sfaikido.com/brazilian_jiu_jitsu.html Clovis Silva
www.bayjiujitsu.com
http://barrabrothersacademy.com/

[lts5025]

When you're in San Francisco, the subway (BART) makes getting around to other cities pretty easy. Lots of great jiu-jitsu to the east of San Francisco, so take a ride out to Barra Brothers in Pleasanton, Cesar Gracie in Pleasant Hill, Combat Sports in Dublin.

For private lessons, I would recommend Kurt Osiander in SF or Cobrinha in LA.

There is also a lot of excellent judo in the San Francisco area, if you're interested.

[Aprentice]

Thank you very much guys!

I will look into cobrinha and osiander.

the problem is exactly that there are so many options, i was kind of looking for a direction, someone say "do this, do that" lol

if I were going to a somethingfield town with only one jiu jitsu place, this woudlnt be a problem, and i would simply be looking forward to practicing there...

thank you very much for the info! I will buy an american gi i think ;)

Any other recommendations?

What is the best mouthpiece brand?

Anyone want to invite me for a roll

[OldManbjj]

Head over to Oakland and go see Rocha if you can manage that.
http://www.oaklandbjj.com/

In SF, definitely Kurt. Go see Kurt. I think he had a flood though so I hope he's back up and running.

[Nicholonious]

Originally Posted by OldManbjj

Head over to Oakland and go see Rocha if you can manage that.
http://www.oaklandbjj.com/

In SF, definitely Kurt. Go see Kurt. I think he had a flood though so I hope he's back up and running.

The Academy is up and running.

[Stev3]

Originally Posted by snoop dogg

train at ralph gacies in San francisco. good school with a few pan champs there. also check out cobrinha's in LA

Think there's a Gracie academy around Berkeley too

[100%Jiu-Jitsu]

Will you have access to a car? If not, you should be aware that public transportation in Los Angeles is terrible. So, while Cobrinha's academy is awesome, it will probably take you over 2 hours to get there taking buses and metro. The same is true for Xande Riberio's and Shawn Williams' academies, which are around the same area.

The biggest names closest to El Segundo would be Nino Schembri's school in Manhattan Beach or Kron Gracie's school in Culver City. With a car, you could reach those places in 15 or 20 minutes in good traffic. But with public transit, I bet they'd each take over an hour too.

Most "big name" schools will sell you a "day" (maybe $10-$30) or "week" pass (maybe $50-150). If you want to find a place where you can drop in without paying a mat fee, your best bet is to call or email some smaller academies and explain your situation. I'm sure there are some in the LA area that would be happy to let you stop by for free, but they may not be close enough to you for it to be practical.