MMA is an acronym that stands for mixed martial arts. This mix generally involves striking, wrestling and grappling. In MMA, you can punch, knee, elbow, kick, take your opponent down or throw them and then apply submissions like joint locks or chokes. People can train MMA without competing, but there are also amateur and professional levels of the sport. Many mixed martial artists train striking (e.g. boxing) and grappling (e.g. jiu jitsu) separately, as well as training in MMA.

Brazilian jiu jitsu is a martial art and sport that focuses on ground-based techniques to control your opponent. This means that for most of the time, you and your opponent are on the ground. There is no striking (e.g., hitting or kicking) allowed in jiu jitsu. The aim is to make your opponent submit, or “tap out” by forcing them into a position they can’t get out of and then using a choke or a joint lock.

MMA and jiu jitsu can be quite intense, but we will always tailor classes to the students that are in them. There is no minimum level of fitness required to start and attending classes will improve your fitness and overall wellbeing.

Many traditional martial arts focus on striking, whereas BJJ focuses on grappling, with most of the sport taking place on the ground. More traditional martial arts often focus on the “kata” – being able to reproduce a sequence of specific movements in a “drill” or pattern. This is often completed with no resistance. We incorporate positional sparring or free sparring into all sessions. Our goal is to be able to apply the techniques learned while sparring at full resistance. The type of sparring would be tailored to the class – e.g., kids classes would not always have the same type of sparring as adults. However, we think it is important for everyone to try the moves against a full resisting opponent in order to truly understand them. At any point, a person can “tap out”, essentially saying they give up. This ensures that people are not in a situation that is too uncomfortable for them, or where they feel in danger. When an opponent taps out, their partner releases any holds or submissions immediately.

No. Our academy caters for everyone from complete beginners all the way to experienced martial artists. Many of our current members and even coaches will tell you how they had no experience in martial arts before joining the gym.

There is no “too old”. Classes are tailored to the people who are in them. Keeping active and maintaining movement is good for overall wellbeing and in your induction, the coach will discuss your specific goals for starting to train.

Not at all. Whilst we have fighters and competitors, these make up only a portion of our members. Many of our students never compete, or participate in the sports as a hobby only. However, many people start the gym never being able to imagine themselves in a competitive sports scenario and find themselves a couple of years later competing at national championships! Nobody is required to compete or fight, but never say never!

There are no gradings in mixed martial arts. However gradings and belt levels are an important tradition in BJJ. There are five adult belt levels (white, blue, purple, brown and black) and six kids belt levels (white, grey, yellow, orange, green, blue) with intermediary steps in between. There is never an additional cost for gradings or belts. Your coach will give you a new belt when they feel you are up to that standard.

There are numerous factors influencing how fast a person receives their black belt, but it tends to be a much longer process than other martial arts. It will generally take someone in the UK between 10 and 15 years of consistent training to receive their black belt in BJJ.