Hey guys, hope everyone is doing well! Well I'm carrying on with my Judo and I'm hoping to get into BJJ (going to try the MMA Academy Liverpool's free month trial at bjj (gi)). But I'll carry on with my Judo as I can only get to 1 class a week due to university commitments. However, I graduate from uni soon and I'm looking at jobs in Lancashire, UK so I'm wondering about trying these gyms so I was wondering if anyone could give me any in-sight into them please! http://www.sukataacademypreston.co.uk/ http://burybjj.co.uk/ http://www.pmaa.co.uk/ http://www.graciebarrapreston.co.uk/blog/ and obviously if anyone could recommend any other gyms (preferably East Lancashire) then that would be great! I'm open to Judo, BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, JKD, Kyokushin Karate or any others that spar. I've looked at each and would like to attend the bjj classes, the problem is however, I would like to carry on Judo lessons and the Pendle Martial Arts place seems to be offering Judo classes (either now or in the future) but their head coach is a 1st Dan (in Judo), not that I have any problem with that, but my current coaches are a 4th Dan and two 3rd Dans. Would I just be better looking at another Judo gym/dojo altogether?
Try them all but sukata has an absolutely great rep. Really. The coach at BJJ Bury is from SBG and will be excellent training.
Pretty sure the Liverpool mma academy has a good friend of mine in it. He says it's amazing. If you're heading to Lancashire I'm sure there's some CACC there too.
Yeah, one of my friends has recently started and says it is structured there very well and headed by Jason Tan! Unfortunately, I can't afford the £100 a month that my friend is paying now, but I guess it'll give me a good taste of BJJ! Oh well I'll keep an eye out for some Catch then! Don't suppose you know whereabouts? I'll have a look anyway like! Cheers for the reply!
There's Força Combat Academy in Ormskirk, or Team Kaobon and Next Generation in Liverpool, all belting gyms.
Ormskirk is a bit out the way for me unfortunately. Kaobon, I've seen a few places advertising this but I don't have a clue what it is! I'll look into it! Next Gen, I will definitely give a go since I think they are also offering a free trial but they don't do gi bjj, which I was looking for but I still might give it ago regardless! My friend told me it is a good gym and I would like to give the MMA or muay thai from there a go anyway!
http://www.nextgenerationmma.co.uk/m/index.html#timetable From the looks of it they do offer gi bjj. re judo shodan, a lot of judoka get their blackbelt and not bother grading further, so a Judo shodan can still be a very good coach, don't discount the class without physically checking it out.
Ah yeah, unfortunately, I could rarely attend the 1hr Gi bjj class on a Saturday. Which is a shame since I hear good things about the bjj there! Yeah, I guess you're right about the shodan(s?). The brown and black belts I do randori with or newaza with seem to want to teach me more than actually throw/submit me. Cheers for the reply, it is still a while off but I'll check them out when I get around to it!
MONDAY 18.30*– Competition BJJ WEDNESDAY 18.30*– Competition BJJ THURSDAY 19.30 – 20.30*– Beginners BJJ SAT11.00 – 12.00*– BJJ (Gi class) From the looks of the timetable, every "competition" class, and every BJJ class not listed as nogi, will be gi. I'd message them to double check though.
See, I wasn't sure about that myself and I asked my mate who used to train there and he said he thought it was for the no-gi fighters but I'll defo ask them about it! Ta for the reply!
Don't give the Dan too much importance. It doesn't say as much as some people like to think. Especially, if there are competitions. My own Judo-teacher is "only" as 2nd Dan (going for his 3rd by the end of year) and that not even *that* long. I never asked him (could do that), but I imagine part of the reason is, that during his competition time, and he did that a lot, he would focus more on training that would add his chances during competition and not "waste" his time training for gradings (knowing him, I can say he would want a *very good* result not a "hmm, yeah, ok" result ) Little sidenote: My former HKD-coach told me he holds the 1st Dan. At some point I listened to some other coaches talk and learned that he actually holds a 4th Dan. I got curious and asked him about it. He shrugged, saying: "That only says, I could show my program at some day, but nothing about what I can do." My other teachers are exactly like that as well. Second sidenote, HKD again: When we were doing one kick one of the coaches told me I was doing rather well and that he saw people with a Dan doing it hardly better. Sounds nice, right? Problem is: I'm still not satisfied with that kick, because I'm doing it badly. So that makes those Dan-holder... well, let me put it this way: If I were to hold a Dan, I would want to able to do the kicks (and everything else) properly; which I didn't at that moment, but was only wearing white anyway.
Next Generation have the advantage of being able to pay as you go for £5 a session. Their Birkenhead gym offers gi as well http://www.martialartswirral.com/#!schedule/c1dbg and I think if you pay the £60 per month fee you can train at both gyms. The MMA Academy is good, but too expensive for me. I did a Luta Livre seminar at Kaobon a few years back and the coach was excellent.
Yeah, I think you're right. I didn't mean to disrespect anyone for being 'only' a 1st Dan like! It's nice to hear your instructors don't put too much emphasis on their Dans like rather than showing it off (not that there would be anything wrong with that I guess!). Ta for the reply, I hope I can keep an open mind about it in future
Yeah, the MMA Academy will be too expensive for me too I think, at least right now. I'll probably just try the month free trial to see if I like it and then maybe head over to Next Gen. Hmm, I didn't know that about being able to train at both gyms, I'll look into that! I've heard about Kaobon a few times now but unfortunately it's a bit out of the way for me. I might see when I start driving. It is good to know there's quite a few places in the Liverpool area that offer Martial Arts! Cheers for the reply!
Where abouts in Merseyside/West Lancs are you bud? I'm based mostly in Ormskirk these days, but travel into Liverpool on a daily basis for boxing and hot yoga. I don't train at Next Gen or MMA Liverpool, but happy to give lifts if it's on my way.
Hey, sorry for the late reply! I live Crosby ways so it's kind of out the way really! I go to uni in Liverpool so it's no problem getting to gyms in the city centre itself, just the other gyms that are a bit further out of the way I have problems with! Thank you so much for the offer though, I really appreciate it! Where do you go boxing, if you don't mind me asking? My friend goes to Salisbury ABC and he said it is a good gym and also very cheap.
No worries. I box at Rotunda ABC on Lambeth Road. Open gym 9-12 Mon-Fri, conditioning classes Tue/Fri 4:45-5:45, seniors (18+) classes Mon/Wed/Fri 6-8. £2.50 a pop, very friendly gym with lots of experienced coaches and boxers.
Hi there, come across this post by total accident, did you manage to find a club? I train at PMAA and have trained under John for the past 23 years, I am slightly biased but I genuinely think he is one of the best coaches around. I would urge if you do get chance to come and give us a try. Though John is a 1st Dan in Judo he has been in the Martial Arts business a long time and only on Sunday he was awarded his BJJ Black Belt by Lucio Sergio Dos Santos. I train Judo under him, it is early days for the class but we have only been going 2 months and are growing week by week. By all means come down and give us a try if you find yourself over our neck of the woods. I hope that gives a little insight into the Club. For more info check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PendleMAA/?ref=bookmarks Regards Cat
