Thriving BJJ Scene in Germany: Discovering Leading Gyms in Prominent Locations

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has taken root and flourished in Germany, attracting a diverse community of passionate practitioners across the nation. As the sport gains momentum, several exceptional BJJ gyms have risen to prominence in various cities, offering top-tier training and fostering a vibrant martial arts landscape. In this article, we will delve into some of the leading BJJ gyms in Germany, highlighting their specific locations and esteemed instructors.

1. Checkmat Germany - Berlin: A Champion's Haven

Checkmat Germany, situated in the bustling capital city of Berlin, has become a premier destination for BJJ enthusiasts seeking world-class training. Led by accomplished black belt instructors, the academy places a strong emphasis on technical proficiency and excellence in training. With a particular focus on MMA techniques, Checkmat Germany in Berlin attracts practitioners aspiring to complement their BJJ skills with mixed martial arts expertise. The academy's reputation for producing skilled competitors and champions cements its status as one of the finest BJJ gyms in Germany.

2. BJJ Globetrotters Germany - Hamburg: A Global Community

BJJ Globetrotters Germany, located in the vibrant city of Hamburg, stands as a unique hub that welcomes practitioners from all affiliations and backgrounds. Led by experienced and diverse instructors, the academy fosters an inclusive and open-minded training environment. With a primary focus on BJJ training, BJJ Globetrotters Germany in Hamburg encourages practitioners to explore various aspects of the art without a specific emphasis on MMA. The academy's global network and emphasis on camaraderie attract those seeking to expand their horizons and connect with BJJ enthusiasts worldwide.

3. Gracie Barra Germany - Munich: Traditions of Excellence

Gracie Barra Germany has left an indelible mark in Munich, solidifying its position as one of the premier BJJ academies in the region. Led by skilled black belt instructors, the academy upholds the traditional values of BJJ while promoting character development and technical proficiency. Although some instructors may have experience in MMA, Gracie Barra Germany in Munich primarily focuses on BJJ training and carries forward the renowned legacy of the Gracie family. The gym's structured curriculum and track record of producing skilled practitioners have contributed to its widespread popularity.

4. Renzo Gracie Germany - Frankfurt: Embracing Tradition and Innovation

Renzo Gracie Germany in Frankfurt is a prominent BJJ gym renowned for its blend of traditional teachings and modern training methodologies. Led by experienced black belt instructors, some of whom may have expertise in MMA, the academy offers high-level BJJ training in a friendly and encouraging atmosphere. Renzo Gracie Germany in Frankfurt encourages students to explore their creativity while staying true to the fundamental principles of BJJ. The gym's dedication to preserving the essence of BJJ while incorporating modern techniques appeals to practitioners seeking a balanced and comprehensive training experience.

5. Arte Suave Germany - Stuttgart: Fostering Artistry and Technical Mastery

Arte Suave Germany in Stuttgart epitomizes the finesse and artistry of BJJ, emphasizing technical precision and creativity. Led by accomplished black belt instructors, the academy encourages practitioners to explore their own expression within the art while maintaining a strong foundation in BJJ. Although some instructors may have experience in MMA, Arte Suave Germany in Stuttgart primarily focuses on cultivating artistry in BJJ. The gym's dedication to nurturing the artistic aspect of BJJ sets it apart in the German martial arts landscape.

6. Pound for Pound Gym - Munich: Forging Champions

Pound for Pound Gym, located in the vibrant city of Munich, has earned a reputation for forging champions in the BJJ community. Led by highly skilled black belt instructors, the academy places a strong emphasis on technical excellence and competition readiness. With a particular focus on honing BJJ skills for both sport and self-defense, Pound for Pound Gym in Munich attracts practitioners aspiring to become well-rounded and successful in various arenas. The gym's commitment to producing champions and fostering a supportive community has contributed to its prominence in the German BJJ scene.

Conclusion: Embracing Diversity in the German BJJ Community

As the German BJJ community continues to thrive, the diversity of gyms and their specific locations showcases the widespread and dynamic nature of the sport. Each gym mentioned above, from Checkmat Germany in Berlin to Arte Suave Germany in Stuttgart and Pound for Pound Gym in Munich, brings its unique philosophy, expertise, and approach to BJJ training, catering to practitioners with diverse goals and aspirations. From champions' havens to global communities, traditional academies to innovative hubs, and artistic expressions to technical mastery, Germany's BJJ gyms offer a rich tapestry of excellence for BJJ enthusiasts to explore and embrace in various prominent locations across the country.

Which BJJ Gi Should I Buy?

Every brazilian jiu jitsu player from white to black belt loves to buy a new gi - the main uniform in bjj which looks a bit like the judo gi and sometimes referred to as the kimono (wrongly)

Unlike 20 years ago today there is a whole range of gi's available sold both online in stores such as budovideos.com as well as at competitions such as the many IBJJF events where you can often buy at discount prices cool gear.

There are many companies that produce BJJ gear with the top brands including Manto, Koral, Hayabusa, Shoyroll, Scramble, Grips and many others varying in price and quality.

From my personal experience it makes sense to try a few different gi brands to get a feel for the different quality available. In any case you are going to need 2 or 3 gi suits for training so inevitably you will be looking for variety.

MY ADVICE:

 - Stay await from Koral and Gracie Barra GI if possible. Koral has been on the market a long time but the last experience I had with their GI was not a good one and the same goes for Gracie Barra. Both disappointed me in terms of quality although to be fair I think Gracie Barra now produce their GI's in partnership with Storm.

- Good to start with cheaper suits initially. You don't need to invest in the latest Shoyroll or Hayabusa gi to start bjj. There are plenty of more basic GI that are normally sold locally. Check with your instructor what he recommends as a starter GI. Tatami produce some cheaper suits you should take a look at as well.

- If you like to look good, make sure the colors of the GI, your current belt and rash guard match. There are plenty of different gis that work. Personally I think black gis go very well with purple and brown belts while blue belts go well with white. I think personal preferences play a big part as well but those are just my 5 cents!

Lucio Sergio Dos Santos

For those training in the UK, you probably know Lucio Sergio Dos Santos. I have had the pleasure of training with him and I can attest that he is truly one of the best bjj players I have had a chance to learn from, really great guy and a monster on the ground!
Check out the video below about him.

BJJ Seminar Moscow Russia

Guys, a couple of brazilian jiu jitsu seminars coming up in the next few months if you are interested. very exciting when we have great guys coming over to teach.

Max Carvalho Seminar 21-22 April 2012, organized by Gracie Barra Hungary and Axe Capoeira
http://axecapoeira.ru/?p=737



Ralek Gracie Seminar 29 April 2012
http://www.ilmma.ru/news/news79.php

This will be at the Moscow Center of Martial Arts, Chertanovskaya Metro is the closest one.

Sport Club Lion (Gracie Barra) is also organizing several seminars and also a summer camp for BJJ in Suzdal. Plenty of opportunities here.

Short summary of the announcement below, but follow the link to the Sport Club Lion website as well and call for details:
http://sportclublion.ru/portal2/component/content/article/19-introscroller/243-anons-sobitiy-kluba

Здравствуйте!

 1-3 июня состоится семинар по бразильскому джиу-джитсу и грэпплингу черного пояса по бразильскому джиу джитсу, трехкратного победителя ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, ветерана Pride и UFC Дина Листера.

 1-15 июня состоится кшатра на севере Индии.
 Тренировочная програма: - «2 + 1» - два дня тренируемся, один отдыхаем (трек или поездка); - подъем в 5 утра, купание в горной реке - 7.00 Зарядка. Макс Дедик (Пробежка, Йога, медитация «Столб») - 1я тренировка: Леонид Гатовский. Грепплинг и Бразильское Джиу-Джитсу - 2я тренировка: Макс Дедик. Кросс и ОФП + «Ударка» (Ичи-Геки) - мастер-классы выдающихся бойцов – участников Кшатры; Отдых: - каждый 3й день – трек (поход по горам) - поездка в Маникаран и встреча с рекой Парвати
- Большой поход с ночевкой на Хрустальную Гору в конце путешествия - «Свит Лодж»
- Индейская Баня в Гималаях - Разговоры у костра; Го – Игра Самураев 19-25 июня состоится семинар по бразильскому джиу-джитсу и грэпплингу черного пояса по бразильскому джиу джитсу, многократного победителя и призера чемпионатов мира по бразильскому джиу-джитсу, панамериканских чемпионатов по бразильскому джиу джитсу, турниров IBJJF и ветерана ADCC Бруно Бастоса.

 Ну а гвоздем нашей летней программы станет лагерь в г. Суздаль, который состоится 3-13 августа и инструктором в котором будет ветеран UFC, Pride и Dream, двукратный чемпион Бразилии по бразильскому джиу джитсу, двукратный победитель панамериканского чемпионата по бразильскому джиу джитсу, черный пояс 4 степени по бразильскому джиу Маркус Аурелио.

Более подробно с информацией о готовящемся лагере можно ознакомиться пройдя по ссылке. По вопросам участия в семинарах и лагере просьба обращаться по телефону +7-985-233-11-72

Training In Moscow with a Great Instructor, Leonid Gatovskiy

Those of you looking to train in Moscow Russia at a great club with an awesome instructor, consider Sport Club Lion. The Head Instructor there is Leonid Gatovskiy, the first BJJ black belt in Russia under Renzo Gracie and certainly one of the most able grapplers in Russia today.

Please check out the video below:





Sport Club Lion is the number 1 Gracie Barra Academy in Russia and has some true talented fighters already on its team list. Great academy and super instructors.

Please see below an interview with Leonid Gatovskiy, my teacher.



 The BJJ Moscow Open Cup is behind us, a great event and a crowd of more than 150 competitors from all over Moscow.

I think the events just get bigger and bigger and the academies are literally full. In a couple of years I think we are going to see crowds of 300-400 people as is in the big BJJ events in the UK and it will become a big sport.

MMA is growing and bjj and grappling is an important element that many enjoy. Russian grappling and brazilian jiu jitsu has a great future ahead, lots of very good and talented guys now learning the martial art, sparring and I think the level is improving fast. We should see some strong results in the Europeans next year. Well, I might even go too!

Roger Gracie in Moscow 23-24 April 2011

Dear All, on the 23-24 april 2011 Lion Sports Club, top BJJ academy in Russia ( Gracie Barra) will hold a seminar by Roger Gracie, one of the most accomplished BJJ players and grapplers in the world today. This is going to be an enormous event!

The cost is 3000 RUR for two days. 15:00 start.

I think there are going to be at least a hundred people at least at this event. BJJ is growing fast in Russia and it is a great privilege to see such an accomplished practitioner, a legend at the club.

I think there maybe some grading as well and I will be sure to make some great photos.

Clubs in Moscow, Russia for Judo and BJJ

Please see updated article here: click link 

For those looking to do some training in Moscow, I decided to write a little about this. When I first thought to do some Judo training, I was very surprised by how difficult it is to find a decent club where you can train at a time convenient for you.

Of course, as anyone else, I started googling for likely suspects on the Internet. What I was surprised to see that actually there are under-5 decent judo club websites devoted to Judo in the whole of Moscow and near Moscow region. None of these are in the centre of Moscow, and the majority require you to take a bus once the underground stops being available for the rest of the journey. The reason for this is that many of the dense populated areas are outside the city centre and given the extremely high property and rent prices, this is where they locate.

I would add that not only do their websites dont work, but it typically is just a phone number which when you call:

90% of the time: no answer!

5% of the time: the person that you start talking to doesnt know anything about the club, times etc

and finally! 5% of the time: you actually are lucky enough to speak to somebody, but more often that not you find out that what was written on the Internet has changed, there is no training etc etc

It is better to call though, because if you do turn up and dont call, you run a danger that nobody will be there and no one will know anything about this.

The other thing I thought really deserves a mention are facilities. When I lived in the UK and trained there for judo, the one thing I never thought was worth complaining about are the facilities. Normally clubs use fitness clubs which allow people to practice judo without purchasing a fitness club membership which normally is considerably more expensive.

In Moscow however, this is different. Having reviewed all possible websites, there are no serious clubs that use fitness centre facilities. By "serious" I mean that many of the fitness centre courses have 1-hour long sessions, once or twice a week which is not nearly enough to learn anything really about jiu jitsu or judo.

Instead, most clubs use state owned facilities whether these belong to a school, police, sport stadium etc. The fact is though that unless these facilities have been redone with private money, they tend to be dreadful, with no showers, changing rooms etc.

Now the places I normally go to but that of course does not mean that there arent other great places to visit.

For Judo:

1. Moscow Kodokan 7:00-8:30pm Mondays and Fridays. The address is Chistoprudniy Bulvar 14.

Good facilities and very nice teacher. Lessons are focused much more on sparring rather then on technique. There is also far more newaza (groundwork) than is normally, with 3-4 randori fights as part of the session.

Again, they dont have a website, but it is a good school and there are plenty of other martial arts classes in the same building including Aikido, Karate, Wushu, Sambo etc as well as Yoga. The owner is an ex-world champion judoka Sergei Kosorotov, a very well known figure.

The Sambo that is practiced here is combat Sambo. Most of the students are beginners but the teacher is very good. Sometimes we judokas spar against sambokas for practice.

Here is a RUTUBE link about the club

Here is a link to their latest websites - Moscow Budokan is another option here taught by Kosorotov himself, not sure if I am a fan of his teaching methods though, a bit controversial:

http://www.budo-sport.ru/

2. Shabolovka. Mitnaya street 42/44. (tel. 236-03-66 )

This is a state facility where facilities are not to a high standard at all (I mean if you don't mind water from melting snow dripping from the roof on to your head while you train, then go here).

Nevertheless, this is a very spacious place to train and the teaching is very good, highly technique-focused. Training is monday, wednesday and Friday in the evening starting at 8:30 pm. Also morning lessons are available 8:00 am to 9:30 am on Mondays and Fridays.


This one is included in the Russian Judo Federation website list at www. judo.ru

Many of the data there is clearly out of date however. The other website to check is www.judo-moscow.ru but the situation with their list is just the same.

I used visit these guys on Tuesdays and Thursdays and was very satisfied here until the instructor had to leave and the group was moved to the present schedule.

It seems like this place is more for higher level guys and girls who are still in their teens and train during the day. It really does feel like noone owns this facility when you get there. In the video you can get a sense of what the club is like.


3. Dmitriy Nosov School. (940-72-89)

A number of locations available and I have heard some good things about this club. Please take a look at the website for more information here

The Nosov club offers several classes in three different locations and I understand Dmitriy himself actually sometimes teaches the celebrity class near Tverskaya.

They are also doing quite a lot to motivate their guys organizing interclub competitions and also awarding grades unlike all the other schools that don't do this for casual adult fans.

As you can see from the video, the club is growing quickly and they are organizing gradings and competitions which is a lot more than many others are doing at this point.

4. Several Others - here are a few links to some other places where you can practice Judo

http://judoforall.ru/bronnaya-sloboda.html - four clubs including Shabolovka with time table, instructor details and address. I am going to visit Bronnaya Sloboda club soon, to find out more.

http://oneginclub.ru/docs/242/ - this is my fitness club but I am pretty sure there are maybe only 2-3 fitness clubs in Moscow that offer Judo so if you are looking to casually try the sport out and also be a member of a fitness club, this could be the place to go. Situated in the centre of Moscow, it is also much more convenient compared to may other choices. Not great club for serious Judo/BJJ player as the classes are mainly for beginners.

Brazilian Jiu Jisu

Now, I have much to say about BJJ in Russia but I will leave this for my next blog. What I will do is just give contact details of the only 2 clubs I know in Moscow:

1. Lion Sport Club: http://sportclublion.ru. Krilatskoye Metro Station

This is the only Gracie Barra official school in Russia with a brown belt teacher, Leonid Gatovskiy (highest ranked in Russia). Very good facilities - changing room, showers and weights room included.

Lion Sports Club is a fast growing gym in Moscow and I think in a few years will produce some very strong athletes both in BJJ and MMA. The new training schedule is here: http://sportclublion.ru/portal2/sport-club-jiu-jitsu-muay-thai-dates-trenings

Good teaching and quite a bit of emphasis on no-gi training, MMA and standup than is usually the case.

Muay Thai boxing classes are also available at the gym as well as mixed martial arts.

If you want a really solid BJJ and grappling teacher, I would say this is the club to go to. It is certainly the largest BJJ-focused club in Russia regularly organizing open grappling tournaments that gathered in the past more than 100 competitors from all over Moscow and beyond.

Leonid Gatovskiy himself is an outstanding grappler and BJJ player and has competed in many tournaments in Russia and abroad taking gold in each one. He is also a black belt in traditional jiu jitsu.

Daud Adaev is a purple belt there and is a supporting instructor.

The club also annually travels to Poland for a jiu jitsu training camp under the Gracie Barra Draculino banner.



I think if you live in the area, this is a good place for BJJ and Judo for kids. Currently the club offers both Judo for kids and Jiu jitsu/Combat Sambo for teens. The instructors are very professional so anyone considering which club to join should certainly consider Lion.

The cost is a bit higher then most other clubs but the facilities and the teaching quality is worth it.

Click here to see the facebook page of the club.

Also would like to mention that for the first time this year, Leonid Gatovskiy has promoted himself four of his students to blue belt. It is always great to see promotions of these four guys who have really earned their new grades. Well Done Guys!

2. Capoeira Club at metro Baumanskaya. (Axe Capoeira) Please visit: www.axecapoeira.ru
The club is located on police premises.

Very poor facilities and the teaching is a bit of mix between bjj, sambo and judo. For a beginner however still a good start since all the techniques are relevant. For me this one was very convenient, so also worth it.

The teacher is a blue belt in BJJ, but a lot of the teaching is done by experienced Sambo practitioners. I have found these lessons were extremely useful as I had a chance to revise some of the common leglocks that can be useful.

3. Capoeira Camara Moscow - this club I have not been to but the teacher is the Sambo guy from Axe Capoeira. Here is the link

These guys also appear to be located at Baumanskaya offering 4 lessons a week in the evenings. For those who live in the area I guess another option for BJJ.

I think its great that this blog exists and this is one of the most visited web pages by foreigners who come to Moscow and are looking for a club to train. So many major cities in the world it is hard to find an english website that gives this, so for Moscow, I decided to make this myself and welcome people to train. Russian Judo Federation sucks, so I guess we have to do their work for them.

A great group of guys have setup mmablog.ru so I attach the link to their club list as well as I think it maybe helpful http://mmablog.ru/content/zaly

PS: thank you very much and please let me know if any of the information here is not accurate and of course if you have anything to add, feel free