help me out, training in london?

colinm

colinm

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so i just decided about 5 minutes ago to study abroad next semester in london. right after i submitted the application, i thought to myself....shit, where am i going to train? i currently train bjj under renzo, and i remember hearing that roger has a school in london. doesnt braulio live in london as well? does he have a school? i know bjj.org has listings, but i wanted to hear directly from any sherdoggers that train and live there. i am also open to training another art like judo, but id prefer to stick with bjj. also, i like a serious training environment and a competition oriented academy...so in other words, i prefer rolling with tatoo'd, cauliflower ear'd active competitors. i dont have much information on the exact location ill be in, other than " its centrally located between the london school of economics, kings college..." thanks a lot in advance...ill now be getting drunk in celebration.....
 
I know you want to stick to bjj as much as possible, but the budokwai is one of the most reputable Judo schools in the world. Neal Adams hails from there as do a slew of other world champions. To not go there at least once would be akin to going to Japan and not visiting the Kodokan, or to Ireland and not having a warm Guiness Stout.

I spent some time in London. You are going to love it there.
 
You'll struggle to find a school that has a purple or above instructor in England. Gracie Barra would most likely be your best choice, have you asked people at Renzo's school if they have trained there? I know of Kings College, you should have a fun time, London for outsiders is probably pretty fun. I don't know if America is much different, but if your used to not speaking to people as you pass and being as grumpy as possible to your fellow Londoner, you should fit in fine :).

With the newly named black belts, it would be cool if BJJ expanded more across the UK. Maybe, ten years from now the situation will be better, BJJ is getting huge & hopefully the blue's will be browns or blacks by then.
 
thanks for all the info. so i take it that roger brooking and roger gracie have the premier bjj acadmies over there? doesnt braulio estima teach out there too, or am i making that up? if any of you guys train at gbuk or roger brooking's place, how often are the classes taught by roger gracie/brooking? do they normally have an assistant instructor teach?

bubbleboy, i was actually considering doing some judo while over there. a semester abroad = a semester off, so i may train both. i hear international judo is great, so i may as well take advantage of the opportunity.

i havent talked to anyone at renzo's because i made an impulse decision to go last night and just filled out the application and submitted it...next time i train i will ask.
 
braulio estima does teach over here just not in London. Check out this thread at SFUK.net for training times and contact details. Chokeproof was my first instructor before he moved to london to train with Roger so I believe him when he says " roger spends most of his time teaching there" I am pretty sure thats where Jude (can't think of his surname), one of the new uk blackbelts, trains. Can't say I know London too well as I've never been so cant help you with how close it would be, if I remember right though Roberto Attala (sp?) ran a club at one on the Universities. He's left for Holland now but I believe it is still running under a brazilian brown belt.

As well as Rogers club there is also Gracie Barra London which is actully based at budokwai I believe
 
thanks blandy, this makes things more interesting. so, we've got roger gracie academy, gracie barra london under philipe souza, and roger brooking's place....mauricio gomes ive heard is there also. i was looking around the gb london website and its only 10 pounds a class, classes are held at the budokwai so i can catch some judo there as well, so this is tempting. then again. roger gracie is practically my idol and it would be hard to pass up training with arguably the best pure grappler in the world when he is in his prime. decisions, decisions...keep the info coming guys.
 
blandy said:
As well as Rogers club there is also Gracie Barra London which is actully based at budokwai I believe
Click to expand...

Well there you have it Colinm. If Gracie Barra is based out of the budokwai then it would appear that you are set to do both bjj and judo at the same place. Hopefully you'll be somewhat nearby.

Note: The biggest thing I noticed about London when I was there was how OLD it seemed. I don't mean the people, I mean this sense of history that we just don't have in the USA. Maybe those of you living in the UK don't realize that. You dudes are surrounded by history. After spending some time in Istanbul and London, back to back, and then returning to the United States, everything just seemed so PLASTIC and cheap to me for a few weeks. Like one giant Wal-Mart.
 
Roger Brooking teaches most of the classes at Master Team, when he's not teaching though he has some browns to take over, I've only trained with one but he was excelent.

I'd advise you try the lot and see which is best for you - I do know that Master Team is cheaper though which is always nice.
 
ive actually been there before BB (years ago on a vacation with the fam), and i know what youre talking about...i like how older cities are just a seemingly randon collection of jig jagged streets, not a grid like here in nyc. i like the old world architecture as well. im really looking forward to getting out of new york, the change of scene is much needed. plus studying abroad give me an easy out for this bumfuck internship ive found myself stuck in....which reminds me, i need to get out of here and get to class.

where's superbeast at? doesnt he live/train in london?
 
you guys are the best, thanks so much.

just out of curiosity, where are you training superbeast?
 
Right now I am mainly sparring with guys after kickboxing class, haven't been up London much following the bombinbs, I am going to go to Carlson's next Tuesday probably. Roger Gracie's place is a bit far for me to travel, Brooking is cheaper and provides equal quality. Roger's place can be a bit iffy about "teaching outsiders" unless you are training with one of his relatives or a Gracie affiliated club though.
 
colinm, coming from Renzo's school, you should be welcomed with open arms at Roger's place. I still can't get over all of the training in London now, when I lived there like 6 or 7 years ago there was next to nothing. For BJJ I would check out Roger's and Brookling's places if it was me. For mma training, you can't beat London Shootfighters. I've heard that Atalla's student who teaches at Rio Grappling Club UK is pretty good, but it was Atalla who told me so he may be a little bias ;) Atalla left Holland and is in the US now (PA, NJ, then to Hawaii, then back to PA), but should be heading back to Europe at the end of November (he is planning to open a school in Spain, just an FYI). No matter where you train you'll probably be happy with the choice.
 
If you want to train hard, give Carlson Gracie's a try. The gym is located at Royal Oak and another will be opening soon at Liverpool street.

Carlson's is also cheap-
 
go to brooking's place (master team) it has good brown belts (one was just promoted, he is pretty good) and plenty purples to train with... plus you get to train with me, and not many have that previlege :D

like superbeast said I heard that roger's place is not exactly the friendliest place to go if you are a new guy.

it also depends on were you are staying. north and central london go to master team. BTT in central london as well, carlson more to the west, and rogers place is pretty much west side... I don't know anywere im the south or east...
 
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