Any input on Gracie Garcia Jiu-Jitsu Academy VS. Urban Kings Gym? [London, GB]

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jonjonjon

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Hi all, I'm new here. And as most, I start with a question. :)

I recently moved to London (Great Britain) (from Norway), and am interested in trying out BJJ. I have almost no prior experience with BJJ/Submission Wrestling, but I find MMA interesting, and what small BJJ I've tried was fun and exhausting.

My main goal of the training is to get fit. Bonus goals is to have fun, learning and hopefully make new friends/contacts in London.

I used to go to the gym 3-4 times a week, but the last couple of years I've been quite lazy (met my girlfriend, got a new job, etc. you know the drill). I've been working out irregularly, and my shape is not the best atm. (thats what I'm hoping to change).

Anyways…based on my location in NW2, I've found two gyms (Gracie Garcia Jiu-Jitsu Academy and Urban Kings Gym) that are reasonably close (~20-30 min with the tube/overground).

I know that Urban Kings has "a lot more" (ie, weights, treadmills, sauna, etc.). The pricing is a bit more expensive, but not really by that much.

Gracia Garcia:
<prices removed, as it apparently is "bad practice" posting them publicy>

Urban Kings Gym
<prices removed, as it apparently is "bad practice" posting them publicy>

Does anyone have any experience from any of the two? I've tried google, but I have not been able to find much.

All input would be much appreciated. Thanks. :)

EDIT:
Btw. if this post is in the wrong forum, please move it to the correct one.
 
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Well, that's two gyms I've never ever heard of... welcome to the forums.
 
not really cool posting gyms prices online imo.
 
@TriangleMan
Thanks! :)

@DCLXVI
Actually, before I moved here I was thinking about joining Roger Gracie, since he had a gym in Kilburn. But unfortunately it's closed down/merged with the one in Notting Hill. Other than that my research impression of Roger Gracie is great.

I then read about London Shoot, and immediately it sounded great. But researching it a bit more I've read that the environment/mood is not that friendly (maybe it's grown to large? Feel free to tell me otherwise). Also it's quite crowded? I've heard/read almost the same about Fight Factory.

All of them is about 1 hour+ away from me with public transport.

Do you have any personal experience with any of them?

btw. according to the Urban Kings website one of their BJJ trainers &#8211; Jude Samuel &#8211; went from Roger Gracie's to them. And according to Gracie Garcia Jiu-Jitsu Academy website,*Nilton Garcia has a black belt from Roger Gracie.

@Hellboy31 / Everybody
About posting the prices. I removed the prices from my post, no problem. I don't want to "step on any toes", especially when I'm considering joining one of them. But why is it bad to post them? Should they not be public? Is not that a good thing for the consumers? In Norway that is quite common practice to post online. I see here in the UK that some does, and some dont.

EDIT2:
Looks like Roger Gracie at Notting Hill is about ~30 min away by bus. Must have been just been checking the tube, and not bus.

EDIT3:
I guess the best thing is to go and check them out with my own eyes, and then decide. But I must admit I am a bit nervous (never done any organized martial arts before), and would like to be as prepared as possible. :p
 
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jonjonjon said:
@TriangleMan
Thanks! :)

@DCLXVI
Actually, before I moved here I was thinking about joining Roger Gracie, since he had a gym in Kilburn. But unfortunately it's closed down/merged with the one in Notting Hill. Other than that my research impression of Roger Gracie is great.

I then read about London Shoot, and immediately it sounded great. But researching it a bit more I've read that the environment/mood is not that friendly (maybe it's grown to large? Feel free to tell me otherwise). Also it's quite crowded? I've heard/read almost the same about Fight Factory.

All of them is about 1 hour+ away from me with public transport.

Do you have any personal experience with any of them?

btw. according to the Urban Kings website one of their BJJ trainers &#8211; Jude Samuel &#8211; went from Roger Gracie's to them. And according to Gracie Garcia Jiu-Jitsu Academy website,*Nilton Garcia has a black belt from Roger Gracie.

@Hellboy31 / Everybody
About posting the prices. I removed the prices from my post, no problem. I don't want to "step on any toes", especially when I'm considering joining one of them. But why is it bad to post them? Should they not be public? Is not that a good thing for the consumers? In Norway that is quote common practice to post online. I see here in the UK that some does, and some dont.

EDIT2:
Looks like Roger Gracie at Notting Hill is about ~30 min away by bus. Must have been just been checking the tube, and not bus.

EDIT3:
I guess the best thing is to go and check them out with my own eyes, and then decide. But I must admit I am a bit nervous (never done any organized marital arts before), and would like to be as prepared as possible. :p
Click to expand...

I train at London Fight Factory and I think its a friendly place. Its got a team atmosphere that many gyms don't. There is a new branch in Bethnal Green which is also very good. Its got less people there but you will get more attention.

The one thing that I would say that I hear most from people visiting LFF is that the standard is very high and that no one is an easy roll right from white belt upwards.

Its without doubt a jiu jitsu school that offers other martial arts ie wrestling, boxing, thaiboxing, mma and not an mma gym.

I don't know much about London Shoot Fighters but from what I know they concentrate a lot on no-gi.

Carlson Gracie gym is also meant to be very good and produces good guys.

One of the gyms you haven't mentioned is Mill Hill BJJ. I think its in the top 3 gyms in the country. Top notch instruction, excellent training partners and extremely friendly. They get on with everybody from every team. If I had to move to another gym (discounting Braulios as it is in Birmingham) then thats where I would go.
 
jonjonjon said:
@TriangleMan
Thanks! :)

@DCLXVI
Actually, before I moved here I was thinking about joining Roger Gracie, since he had a gym in Kilburn. But unfortunately it's closed down/merged with the one in Notting Hill. Other than that my research impression of Roger Gracie is great.

I then read about London Shoot, and immediately it sounded great. But researching it a bit more I've read that the environment/mood is not that friendly (maybe it's grown to large? Feel free to tell me otherwise). Also it's quite crowded? I've heard/read almost the same about Fight Factory.

All of them is about 1 hour+ away from me with public transport.

Do you have any personal experience with any of them?

btw. according to the Urban Kings website one of their BJJ trainers
Click to expand...
 
Hellboy31 said:
You know what, I apologize. It might be a purely American thing - Most BJJ gyms that I've been to in the US don't make it a practice to make that information available until a person comes in and checks out the place. Most offer a free trial to come and see if the gym is for you. I actually think it's a good practice so people don't opt for the cheapest place or the one with the biggest name.

However this may not be the case in Europe so excuse me for the critique
Click to expand...
just because gyms don't want their prices posted doesn't mean it's not ok for those who know what the prices are to post them
 
KarateFist said:
just because gyms don't want their prices posted doesn't mean it's not ok for those who know what the prices are to post them
Click to expand...

If the gym owner doesn't care, of course it's ok. But most gym owners don't give out that info over the phone so why would they want it posted online?

But "ok" is a relative term - I was saying it's not really cool. People are free to do whatever they want, I was just giving an opinion.

As I said before though, my opinion was from what I've seen in the US. If it's a different situation in Europe then my original response is irrelevant anyway.
 
What gym owners want and what is OK are not necessarily the same thing at all. Personally I don't think it's remotely cool not to be open about prices.

It's like the sleazy tactics used by health clubs to snare you in.
 
Hellboy31 said:
As I said before though, my opinion was from what I've seen in the US. If it's a different situation in Europe then my original response is irrelevant anyway.
Click to expand...


it's an american thing to be more concerned with money
 
ozyabbas said:
I train at London Fight Factory and I think its a friendly place. Its got a team atmosphere that many gyms don't.
Click to expand...

I dropped in at LFF one night this summer and that was my experience. I did both the beginner and advanced classes back-to-back (and ended up probably the sorest I've been since I've started BJJ, apparently everyone was gearing up for some comp that weekend). The beginner class was pretty big (about 2 dozen white belts) but everyone seemed pretty friendly and I got a chance to chat with a couple of them. The advance class was also pretty crowded but everyone was similarly friendly.

If LFF is convenient to you I would just try to not be intimidated by the size of the classes and try it out for a week or two.
 
Thank you all! TFF is a bit too far (1 hour+). But my impression is improved, if that helps. :)

I think I will try these gyms, and just see for my self how they are/feel, and how easy the transport is. All of them are ~30 min away by public transport from my location.


If anyone have anything to say about anyone of these, please do so. I want a healthy, fun and learning environment. I want to do this for fitness/fun, and not to be a pro fighter. I'm too old for that now (28 yo). :)

I'll try to report back when I have been there. Bear in mind that I have no prior experience with organized MMA before, so I dont really know what to expect (besides internett research).
 
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jonjonjon said:
Thank you all! TFF is a bit too far (1 hour+). But my impression is improved, if that helps. :)

I think I will try these gyms, and just see for my self how they are/feel, and how easy the transport is. All of them are ~30 min away by public transport from my location.


If anyone have anything to say about anyone of these, please do so. I want a healthy, fun and learning environment. I want to do this for fitness/fun, and not to be a pro fighter. I'm too old for that now (28 yo). :)

I'll try to report back when I have been there. Bear in mind that I have no prior experience with organized MMA before, so I dont really know what to expect (besides internett research).
Click to expand...

The bottom three would be the best bet to check out.

I have been to Roger Gracies, would train there myself if I was closer
 
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outonbail said:
it's an american thing to be more concerned with money
Click to expand...

Sure, bro :rolleyes:

BJJ guys make me laugh (I am one before anyone starts), it's bad enough these gyms charge these fucking extortionate prices to train, they then don't want to tell anyone what they are until they can give you the face to face hard sell.

And it's not one or two guys, it's pretty much everyone in the BJJ community, it makes me laugh, it's like some sleazeball practice that every BJJ is just born with or something.
 
robotsonic said:
Sure, bro :rolleyes:

BJJ guys make me laugh (I am one before anyone starts), it's bad enough these gyms charge these fucking extortionate prices to train, they then don't want to tell anyone what they are until they can give you the face to face hard sell.

And it's not one or two guys, it's pretty much everyone in the BJJ community, it makes me laugh, it's like some sleazeball practice that every BJJ is just born with or something.
Click to expand...

come on man. no need for that.

You would use the same strategy if it was how you put food on the table to feed your kids.
 
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