Where is the best place in the world to open an academy?

[Aprentice]

Considering that you are a legit black belt, who has placed in worlds and/or pan ams not necessarily at black belt. Considering that you would have the initial capital to start a good academy, while not depending on that academy generating profit/income the first year. Also considering that you are a brazilian, who wants to have more quality of life. Considering that you speak english fluently, and other languages aswell.

I have been planning this for a while now. I intend to do this as soon as i get my black belt, something around 5 years from now (maybe more). I am still a blue belt

I haven't placed at pan ams or worlds or anything like that, but i have been close and I am very confident and will compete in both next year. I constantly win local and regional competitions, although now I want to start focusing more on important ones (also saving money and energy to travel for those). I am confident that i am capable of winning the most important competitions, unlesssome kind of health issue shows up

I know some people may start criticizing, but keep in mind that every person is different and that I am aware of all the financial aspects of the matter. In many ways i am considering this an extremely early retirement, but really the start of a new life

The places that are on top of my list right now are Vancouver (seems like the warmest capital in canada, which is one of the most open countries) and Denmark (scandinavia in general)... I don't mind the cold and it seems like these two places are open toward immigrants. Also Australia and New Zealand, but these places are further away and would require more than two airplanes for me to visit home.

I guess that what I am looking for would be a place that has the quality I am looking for (high quality of life, safe, lots of nature, liberal, open to immigrants) but also with space for new jiu jitsu academies and demand for that .

 

[Gambledub]

If you ever have any questions about New Zealand let me know!

That being said I would go to Australia personally :icon_lol:

 

[Toothless King]

Santa Barbara, CA

Beautiful place, awesome weather, and close enough to BJJ meccas such as Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

A couple hours drive away from Pan and Worlds.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

I say Peru. It is an underrated country especially economically. I dont there is any BJJ there right now. If there it is small.

What about India? It is an emerging economy.

 

[Leify]

In the world?

Probably in middle class areas of india or china.

 

[Aprentice]

I say Peru. It is an underrated country especially economically. I dont there is any BJJ there right now. If there it is small.

What about India? It is an emerging economy.

The problem with theses countries are the same as brazil's problems. Except that they have less BJJ so more market space i guess

 

[Aprentice]

Santa Barbara, CA

Beautiful place, awesome weather, and close enough to BJJ meccas such as Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

A couple hours drive away from Pan and Worlds.

Yes california is obviously a dream! Developed, high quality of life, safe, lot's of nature, good waves. I just don't think that US is the most open of countries when it comes to immigrants (maybe cause its so sought after). I do intend to speak to immigration lawyers about this when i go for pan ams next year though.

 

[Toothless King]

Yes california is obviously a dream! I just don't think that US is a very open country. I do intend to speak to lawyers about this when i go for pan ams next year though.

what do you mean by "open country"?

 

[Aprentice]

what do you mean by "open country"?

I mean a country that is open to immigrants, easy to immigrate to. But then again this may be an impression i have, simply because US is so sought after. Maybe US is open towards immigrants when compared to others. I don't know.

 

[lechien]

New Zealand is a good location.

Not sure about making a living of teaching BJJ however.

But who knows what would happen in 5 years time.

Yes, the plane ticket back to Brasil is expensive (I heard).

 

[mattemate]

I mean a country that is open to immigrants, easy to immigrate to. But then again this may be an impression i have, simply because US is so sought after. Maybe US is open towards immigrants when compared to others. I don't know.

Only illegal. If you try to get a visa, we tell you to fuck off. But if you sneak in, we give you all sorts of shit. Weird, no?

 

[Dirty Holt]

Guam, and let me tell you why:

You have nice weather so people are more inclined to train
You have a goldmine of fucking stud athletes
The GDP of Guam is 2nd in Oceana
Everything is dirt cheap

 

[dalexan242]

I say Peru. It is an underrated country especially economically. I dont there is any BJJ there right now. If there it is small.

What about India? It is an emerging economy.

Judo is much more common, but Yamasaki has a BJJ academy in Lima.

I tried to find a BJJ academy when I was in Delhi and there were two instructors that it sounded like only have privates part-time or something. I wasn't expecting BJJ to be big there but was hoping to find at least one actual brick and mortar gym.

 

[ijustwannasurf]

Guam, and let me tell you why:

You have nice weather so people are more inclined to train
You have a goldmine of fucking stud athletes
The GDP of Guam is 2nd in Oceana
Everything is dirt cheap

You don't think its already flooded? They have a ton of local guys running academies.
With the move from Okinawa to Guam, there's even more servicemen there. Always a good recruiting base.
Great weather, close to Australia and Japan, a culture already very into the sport.
Obviously, I've never thought about this before.

 

[SAMURAI SPIRIT]

I have thought about that question too and I think it depends on what you want. You could go to a small Caribbean island and open something up with very little money. You will have a very small group but the cost will also be very small. If you are an isolationist then this would be an island dream come true.

The other extreme to this mind set is the connectionist. These guys want a strong presence on global or national level and would be better off with bigger gyms, bigger teams aggressive marketing and websites. From what I understand the best place for these purposes does not have to be a city without BJJ. Even in places that have strong BJJ presence you just need to find a neighborhood where there is no BJJ and you are in business. I have at least 4 BJJ gyms within half hour drive and they are all doing well.

 

[number9dream]

and Denmark (scandinavia in general).

Keep in mind that the cost of living in Denmark is really high. Norway > Denmark > Sweden ? Finland in terms of cost of living (not sure if there's a perceptible difference between sweden and finland to be honest).

 

[Dirty Holt]

You don't think its already flooded? They have a ton of local guys running academies.
With the move from Okinawa to Guam, there's even more servicemen there. Always a good recruiting base.
Great weather, close to Australia and Japan, a culture already very into the sport.
Obviously, I've never thought about this before.

From what I have seen, there is 1 acadamy that has anything close to American standards. A GB would probably kill there.

 

[jcandoitbig]

Santa Barbara, CA

Beautiful place, awesome weather, and close enough to BJJ meccas such as Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

A couple hours drive away from Pan and Worlds.

where i went to school. love sb

 

[Chute Stomp]

I wouldn't fancy India. The mass of humanity and the heat would be a bit much for me personally.

How about China? Huge country with a growing middle class. I'm sure we've all thought at one time of moving to Thailand and teaching BJJ by the beach. I don't know if it's actually possible lol. Other countries in South East Asia have low cost of living, but I'm not sure the demand for BJJ in places like Vietnam, Indonesia and The Philippines. Australia would be a sweet gig to get I think.

 

[Deathstriker]

You should get opinions of people who actually live in those places mentioned. A market survey research is key before you open up shop. What is ideal is not often the case in reality.

Just an FYI on military/college students, they move around a lot so they are are not ideal stable customers.