How To Start A Bjj Gym (Not That Hard) 

Did we ever get a follow up for an ebook on this info?

Yes! Trying to figure out the logistics of having a job while opening the academy.

I want to pull my retirement to open a small academy. Nervous. Fear. Of the unknown all in one. Still looking for information and know how. 🙏🏼

@Father Son Fitness2019 look for certifications such as the one by the Gracie University that are essentially turn-key and will teach you how to teach and administrate on the next level.

Lineage is a double edge sword. If you do well in comps all the way up to black belt, then lineage shouldn't matter. Otherwise, you're getting bottlenecked by only being promoted from someone connected to a Gracie. The more I dig into competing for IBJJF or World League, the more I realise there's a restrictive top down control over promotion for students to compete at the next rung. Gyms are sandbagging the hell out of their students. If the instructor is a black belt who has proven themselves in major comps throughout the years, then they possess the qualities to teach. "Lineage" schools also cost an outrageous amount, and to attend them for a decade or two could mean spending over $20,000 - $40,000 in gym costs and comp fees. Lineage is more of a scam in some ways, IMO.

Very true. Some guys are great competitors but horrible with teaching and being a reg people person. I've seen mediocre competitors that have great people skills and their teaching is great. That more important than just having surface level "knowing" plus a program for each level of student or students.

​​@@stephaniegougenheim2486 Being a good competitor, and being a good instructor/teacher are two entirely different skills. Yes, being a good competitor could mean that your Jiu-jitsu is good, but it could also be an indication of other factors, like strength or athleticism. If you have *enough* technique, then you can use your athleticism to beat the competition to the punch, or muscle your way into good strategic positions that you otherwise couldn't escape from. Furthermore, being able to replicate a technique is not an indication of explaining the technique, nor the nuances. Part of the reason we think that "good competitors are good teachers" is a cognitive bias. We see this in Judo all the time. Yes, he won a gold medal, yes, he knows how to be a successful Judoka. But does that gold medalist know how to *teach* others to win medals? No, he trained for years learning how to win, not how to teach. I get that we see a lot of instructionals from BJJ fanatics from top competitors, but those are pre choreographed and scripted technique highlights that are recorded. Not in front of a bunch of students with questions and making mistakes that need correction. There are lower belts (purple, brown) that are much better at teaching than some black belts. Good competitor =/= good instructor.

I started a gym a year ago and by far the biggest problem for us has been generating leads. It's a constant battle to bring in new people in at a faster rate than they leave and keep the lights on. Sometimes people lose commitment, move away, get injured and freeze their account etc... So you are always looking to bring in new people. Teaching fundamentals becomes most of what you do because most people are relatively new and don't make it that far. It's a hard job and isn't exactly what I envisioned when I started but it is rewarding seeing people get better and start finding success on the mat. Just my 2 cents.

Our advanced class has become a fundamentals class bc of this . We went from 6 students to 42 and I’m glad for the growth but man is it crowded now .

@@JTH43is your school doing better? Been a year since your comment. Hope you are doing well.

@@edmondlau511 Thanks man. Unfortunately we had to close our doors. It was breaking even but that’s about it. On to the next chapter

@@JTH43 Sorry to hear that. I hope your financial loss was minimal. If you could, would you do it again?

I have heard people saying it´s purple belt, at least to teach beginner classes.

I've known a white belt (Gracie combatives), who began his group before the pandemic, now still runs with a good amount of students. The guy has purple belt skill set level I swear, but we live in a heavy rural area where bjj black belt instructors hate to come visit often...So the guy has a nogi grappling without belting system.@@FH-pn1tm

There are people who are so charismatic, and so good at breaking any topic down to teach, who lead by example, and just have an infectious charisma that they could attract , keep and get good numerous students and keep them for a year, Thus if they had more than years worth of material they could simply open a school teaching a style centered around the first year of any style and make a million buck if they had a good business plan. I'm not talking about being a legit martial artist, this is about business acumen, customer service and leadership. Those things are that critical to establishing a gym and having it succeed.

Bliss.@@deejin25

White belt, rip your gi for a while and teach nogi grappling the first few years. I know one instructor (white belt Gracie combatives) whose grappling skill is that of a purple belt I kidd you not, and he began his group with only nogi pre-pandemic. He is legitimate with his lineage from a black belt in another school.

Depends on location. Everywhere can have a different cost

I'll just say that unlike jiujitsu, boxing and judo are basically free in most places so I've seen the trouble people have running programs with boutique prices

@@sirpibble They tend to be passion projects with people doing other jobs so that they can teach tma to kids who are exhausting. (a grateful parent)

Because it’s really hard work 👍

Cause they expext to hit a homerun withn 5 years. Expect less, way less. And I would suggest if you begin with a small group to take your small group and visit other grappling schools to build your name. Visit them like birds flying in flock together. Visit them from time to time, then go back to your school location.

Man😂. Keenan's stepfather is Tom Callos, a retired martial arts consultant and very successful martial arts business owner. I'm sure that really helped Keenan.

My gym does over 1 million dollars a year in revenue, I want to teach others how to do it. Just like I won many jiujitsu competitions and then taught people how I did that.

@@fritzdagger i love the transparency keenan

​@@fritzdagger 1 location does over $1 million?

@Pa Mu thanks for the input!