South Austin, TX BJJ Recommendation?

[Mrlament]

Hi All,

I'm looking to start taking some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes somewhere close to my home in South Austin, TX. Ideally I'd like to find a class that was more focused on No Gi and self-defense, rather than competition. In an ideal world, I'd like to study BJJ for a while first, then incorporate some striking training as well(again, purely for self-defense, not competition).

So far, it looks like either Relson Gracie School or Rubicon are the way to go - does anyone have any feedback or recommendations on a good, and hopefully inexpensive place to train?

Thanks,
MrL

 

[Nap snap or tap]

Here rubicon is popular. I live in Austin and I think it's the coolest place on earth. Do the free week at a few different places.

 

[Nap snap or tap]

*hear

 

[ElSteve]

I personally go to Paragon BJJ and love every bit of it. I believe out of the three big schools here, Paragon is the only place to offer Judo/Wrestling more than once a week. I think we have more emphasis on standing work than most BJJ gyms because of this, which is definitely beneficial to your self defense first mentality. Our Judo coach is a 3rd degree black belt, and our wrestling coach wrestled in college. On top of that, we have 3 BJJ black belts, and probably one more on the way within the next year or two.

I've also trained at Rubicon and have nothing bad to say about those guys. The only reason I switched was because my personal schedule fit better with Paragon than at Rubicon. I can't comment on Relson Gracie as I've never trained there, but they have been there the longest out of the south Austin schools. I've rolled with some of their guys, and they are all very solid. Basically, you really can't go wrong with any of these gyms.

I hope this doesn't spark another tired gi vs no-gi debate, but your best option for self defense is to train both. Don't let strictly gi or no-gi decide where you train. Try a free week at every gym and pick the place you are most comfortable with.

 

[Diamond Jim]

Don't train BJJ but know Tim Kennedy trains at Relson Gracie BJJ Austin.

 

[JesseLoren]

Hey my man, come check out Rubicon. My instructor is Professor Ronny Lis. He's been training for over 18 years and his lineage looks like this: Mitsuyo Maeda → Luis Fran

 

[Charles Brown]

San Marcos is fairly close and you can train at Solidarity MMA.

 

[Naszir]

I thought Solidarity closed when Dev moved to Dallas. Paragon is very solid, I can't speak to Rubicon but I know they have some tough competitors, I know Christy at the Relson school just got her black belt. There are other gyms as well. Monolith Training Center is not a BJJ school but instead offers SAMBO and judo as well as US Boxing certified coaches. We have a kickboxer who fought in Japan training and doing privates there as well. Our judo pedigree is not as high as Che Valdez's at Rubicon though, as he is a sandan and we have a shodan instructing under a godan. However, we do have international competition experience in SAMBO. Also Monolith is powerlifting gym as well as S&C.

 

[tommy the kid]

Gracie Humaitá Austin | Austin's Source for Self Defense and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | Austin's premier school for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Self Defense, MMA and Sport BJJ

donald park, royler black belt. lots of emphasis on self defense.

more east than south though.

 

[Stacked]

Check out Jeff Rockwell, he's a great guy and teaches out of Anytime Fitness, and Robert and Darrin at Paragon, Austin. Both of these schools getting along well, and train together from time to time. Check out all of the schools mentioned and compare for yourself to see how they fit your needs. Some people really liked Ronny Lis' class at Rubicon. He seems nice, but his classes weren't suited for me. I'm not into the whole praying at the end of class etc. I give the highest recommendation to Jeff, and Robert and Darrin at Paragon.

Of note- I got my purple belt from Jeff at Anytime, and Darrin at Paragon.