I have no prior martial arts training and I want to train in bjj. I live in Northern Va and I wanted to know if anyone could recommend a good gym?
http://cvillebjj.com/ http://revolutionbjj.com http://www.richmondbrazilianjiujitsu.com/ I think Lloyd Irvin has schools in VA as well.
Northern VA is pretty vague. I'm guessing none of the above schools will be helpful for you. If you list the preferred location you will probably have at least a couple schools within a half hour or less.
I think most of those other schools are in the Richmond area. Most people don't call that Northern Virginia, but I guess it depends on your definition. How about Tony Passos' school in Sterling, VA? It is close to Dulles airport. Tony is a De La Riva black belt and a great instructor. Link to the school is: http://pfmacenter.com/ If that's the area you are looking for, send me a PM. I train there so I can let you know which class times are best for an intro. Of course the intro class is free, so I would highly recommend stopping by at least once to check it out. I have seen a lot of different schools in my training, and Tony's is one of the best.
Thanks to eveyone who took the time to respond to my thread. By No VA I mean Alexandria, Falls Church, Arlington area. So far I have found two gyms that sound good...One Sprit Martial Arts and Llyod Irving academy. Any thoughts, recommendations or experience with either gym?
i trained at capital jj for 2 years before leaving the DC/MD/VA area. brown belt instructor. has 2 academies in (on in old town alexandria and one in loudon co). leo dalla has a school as well there is another thread with a bunch more places. im gonna direct you there. you pretty much can't go wrong with any of the schools in NoVa...its becoming somewhat of a hotbed for BJJ & MMA
I think you'll find that Pedro Sauer and Lloyd Irvin have VERY different approaches to teaching. If you have no prior experience, you should probably try both and see which one is a better fit for you. It sounds like you may be a little too far out to consider Tony's school (http://pfmacenter.com/), but if the drive is feasible, I think you should check that out as well. You would probably find the teaching method different than either Pedro's or Lloyd's. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference. The best gym for you is going to be the one that you feel most comfortable with.
If he is driving out to OSMA, then he should totally come over and visit us at Tony's. We aren't to far from OSMA.
