BJJ in Chicago!

BJJ in Chicago

BJJ in Chicago

Livin' la vida bomba
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Hey Grappling Forum,

cropped-bjjinchicago.jpg

It seems like every other day somebody is asking where they should training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Chicago or where they can find competition.

I've created a free website that will answer both of those questions.


The popularity of BJJ in Chicago is a double-edged sword. We have so many academies and tournaments that often times it is extremely difficult to find the best fit for you. Unfortunately, most people do not have time to travel to each gym and tournament to try it for themselves. This is where I come in.

Brief bio:

My name is Brendan Hufford and I am currently a purple belt under Miguel Torres / Andre Maneco. I've had reasonable success in local / regional tournaments at white through purple belt and I hope to continue that trend. But, frankly, this site really isn't about me.


Current Site:

Currently, you will find an updated list of tournaments coming to the area as well as links to all of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / MMA academies in Chicago (both located on the sidebar to the right). Obviously, there are so many academies that I may have left some out. If you notice that yours (or one that you know of) is missing, PLEASE let me know by commenting below!

Recent Posts:
Poll: Which Gym Should I Visit Next?? | BJJ in Chicago!
Gym Review: Torres Martial Arts (2/3/11) | BJJ in Chicago!
The Federation comes back to Chicago! | BJJ in Chicago!

Future Plans:

Gym Tour - I will tour all (yes, ALL) of the bjj/mma gyms in the greater Chicago area. You will see videos of classes, interviews with instructors / coaches, images of the facility, and, most importantly, my experiences training at the academy.

Tournament Coverage - I will cover local and regional tournaments. I'll provide preliminary results, interviews, pictures, video, etc.

Check it out when you get a chance!

BJJ in Chicago! | Covering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Chicago and Northwest Indiana



~Brendan

[This message is SuperSuperRambo approved :icon_chee]
 
Team Dragonfire!...what you're doing is awesome!...and it looks like a lot of fun traveling and covering all the BJJ academies!!!
 
That is an awesome idea! So many schools in the Chicago area. I am sure they will all be very welcoming towards you. It would be cool if you could get interviews of head instructors of all the schools.

I personally would love to do this. The only problem I see with doing this is your going to have to be politically correct in your reviews. You will not be able to say instruction or training partners at one of the schools was subpar.
 
Awesome job! I was actually wishing I was in position to visit and blog about the local schools, but since I have my own school and some history with just about everyone around it would be impossible.

The only suggestion off the top of my head is to maybe make the pics in your gym review into thumbnails.

As GB847 mentioned, it will be a bit difficult to be honest in your reviews, but I'd try very hard to do so. It kind of defeats the point of reviews if you say all places are good or great (unless of course they are). You may consider a grading system like 1-5 stars or A-F grades or something like that. Maybe even grade on several levels like BLAH schools gets an A for instruction, C for facility/cleanliness, B for overall student attitude, and so on.

We look forward to having you at Valko. Best of luck to you!
 
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As valko said it would be great if you could be honest in your reviews. I feel that would be kind of hard to do, but at the very least you could rate all the schools using some type of scale system.

Some questions to ask instructors would be.
How long have you been in business
From whom did you receive your black or brown belt from?
How many students?
How important is competition to your school?
How do you feel about the self defense aspect of bjj? Do you guys practice it?
What is the criteria you guys use to promote?
How would you feel promoting someone to blackbelt if they never competed?

There are plenty of other questions but those are at the top of my head!
 
Bookmarked. Looks like the start of something awesome!
 
Hey man, awesome project! I am just starting my site as well, but i'm away from the Chicago area for a few months (as you can see by my sig it's for good reason :icon_chee ) If I can help in any way though, even with say the WordPress design stuff let me know. This is a great idea and is really good for the Chicago scene!
 
Thanks a lot for the replies and checking out the site. I'm really hoping to make it into the definitive guide to bjj and grappling in chicago.

i'd love to do instructor (and maybe even student) interviews as a part of the review. i have a ton of fun questions that i'm looking forward to asking.

definitely go vote on the poll if you're from the area. Right now there's a clear front runner, but this gives me an idea of where I should go after that.

I haven't done much with the mailing list yet, but if you have a minute, definitely sign up for it (click on the link on the right side).

Thanks again guys!
 
I just wanted to thank everybody who has checked out this thread. In my third day of the site, I had 40 views and I was stoked.

So far today, I have had over 200.

This is insane. I'll be updating this thread whenever I update the content so bookmark it!!

Also a super huge thanks to everybody who voted in the poll. I'm going to close it and release the results on Friday so vote if you haven't already!!!
 
Hope the site does well. It's great to hear about it and I wish it, as well as all of the schools in the area, great success!

Hope you stop by soon! Give us a call!
 
I can't wait to come out and visit you all. Especially valko and new breed. I've spent a good chunk of time lately checking new breed and valko on youtube. very excited. I'll release the poll results tomorrow. The results are very cool so far.
 
Is Pedro Vianna's gym part of the Revolution team or BTT?
 
I don't believe that he is currently a part of either. In my article on his gym, I compared the atmosphere to Rodrigo Medeiros BJJ Revolution gym at PB Fight Center, but they are not on the same team.
 
Nice! Shoot me and email and let me know when you're gonna come in. [email protected]. Unfortunately, I don't have a well behaved dog to show off like the instructors of your last two schools.
 
Make sure when touring you make it to Choke-U MMA in Valparaiso, IN. My instructor there is awesome
 
valkobjj said:
Nice! Shoot me and email and let me know when you're gonna come in. [email protected]. Unfortunately, I don't have a well behaved dog to show off like the instructors of your last two schools.
Click to expand...

haha, thanks jay. i'll send you an e-mail soon. i've been spent a good chunk of time watching your youtube videos lately. your matches with jonatas and red were awesome.
 
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