NW Jiu-Jitsu Club-Seattle, WA

**Samfoo** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 2:20am

Originally Posted by Towtruck

Ah, the secret is out.

Add another vote for Gracie Barra. I've been training there for 9 months, and the folks are awesome all around. Rodrigo, Mamazinho, Cindy Hales, Micah, and all the rest of the crew will have you doing things you never thought you could. It changed my life, that's for sure. Great people, great training. Plus, we share space with a Capoeira school, which is super fun to watch, if you know what I mean. Check us out at http://www.bjjseattle.com .

If you're looking for something a bit more MMA/No-GI focused, however, check out http://www.ringdemon.net . That's Eric Dahlberg, and the guy is a BEAST. He brings his guys over to train with us sometimes as well. Go to his site and check out his resume. I learned my second favorite guard pass from him. Amazing talent, super helpful.

I've heard nothing but good things about Brian, however. His guys can hang at tournaments, they're super technical, and they're nice folks. All the older guys say he 's great.

There really aren't any assholes in this town when it comes to BJJ. It's sort of a small scene, and everyone knows everyone else, so the **** gets weeded out REAL quick. There's no really heavy school rivalries or anything. Everyone's just super focused on training and improving. It just depends on what part of the area you live in, and what you want to focus on.

You really can't go wrong, as long as you go.

Roger that. Do you normally train at Tully's? I'm always in Ballard, but we may have met. What's your name?

**Towtruck** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 9:18am

Originally Posted by Samfoo

Roger that. Do you normally train at Tully's? I'm always in Ballard, but we may have met. What's your name?

My name's Griff. You do look sort of familiar, if that's you in the pic. I'm a big guy, usually wear a black Atama or Sirius gi. If you know who Big John Sylvester is, picture him with hair, sideburns, and a black gi.

These days I normally train at Tullys. From about mid-January to Mid-April I was doing the mornings M-W-F at Ballard, and T-TH evenings at Tullys. Those Friday morning Competition Training II classes were FUN AS ****. Being unemployed for three months with nothing to do but train ruled, I tell ya.

Alas, I finally had to get a job. Ballard hasn't worked for me since. I work in Bothell and live in West Seattle, so I spend a lot of time in the car. Right now, I'm doing Judo at Seattle Dojo twice a week, and doing Saturday mornings at Tullys. I've been trying to get together with folks outside of class to train, but it's tough to get everyone's schedules right. Hopefully my shift changes soon, and I can go back to doing more JJ.

Did you do the Tournament last week?

**Oscar Goldman** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 10:47am

Originally Posted by Towtruck

My name's Griff. You do look sort of familiar, if that's you in the pic. I'm a big guy, usually wear a black Atama or Sirius gi. If you know who Big John Sylvester is, picture him with hair, sideburns, and a black gi.

These days I normally train at Tullys. From about mid-January to Mid-April I was doing the mornings M-W-F at Ballard, and T-TH evenings at Tullys. Those Friday morning Competition Training II classes were FUN AS ****. Being unemployed for three months with nothing to do but train ruled, I tell ya.

Alas, I finally had to get a job. Ballard hasn't worked for me since. I work in Bothell and live in West Seattle, so I spend a lot of time in the car. Right now, I'm doing Judo at Seattle Dojo twice a week, and doing Saturday mornings at Tullys. I've been trying to get together with folks outside of class to train, but it's tough to get everyone's schedules right. Hopefully my shift changes soon, and I can go back to doing more JJ.

Did you do the Tournament last week?

Hey Griff, we know each other. We BS'ed at the Pac NW tournament and the one last week. I'm the tall skinny guy in my late 30s from Brian's club that is doing Judo / Japanese JJ right now mostly. I'm 6'2", about 185, short brown hair, pretty new white belt.

I wasn't fighting last week because I was in bed all week sick.

**Samfoo** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 12:54pm

Originally Posted by Towtruck

My name's Griff. You do look sort of familiar, if that's you in the pic. I'm a big guy, usually wear a black Atama or Sirius gi. If you know who Big John Sylvester is, picture him with hair, sideburns, and a black gi.

These days I normally train at Tullys. From about mid-January to Mid-April I was doing the mornings M-W-F at Ballard, and T-TH evenings at Tullys. Those Friday morning Competition Training II classes were FUN AS ****. Being unemployed for three months with nothing to do but train ruled, I tell ya.

Alas, I finally had to get a job. Ballard hasn't worked for me since. I work in Bothell and live in West Seattle, so I spend a lot of time in the car. Right now, I'm doing Judo at Seattle Dojo twice a week, and doing Saturday mornings at Tullys. I've been trying to get together with folks outside of class to train, but it's tough to get everyone's schedules right. Hopefully my shift changes soon, and I can go back to doing more JJ.

Did you do the Tournament last week?

Good times. We met at the Machado tournament in April. I watched your first match.

I was going to compete at Grapplemania, but I got injured the week before.

**Towtruck** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 7:56pm

Originally Posted by Samfoo

Good times. We met at the Machado tournament in April. I watched your first match.

I was going to compete at Grapplemania, but I got injured the week before.

Wow, this is cool. I remember both of you guys.

I just didn't train enough for Grapplemania. This work schedule's really screwing me up. I trained the Saturday before, and just didn't feel right about doing a tournament. Just as well, there wasn't much of a heavyweight gi turnout.

Supposedly there's going to be another one in July, which probably means September. I want to do that. I'm also thinking about taking a swing at the next Judo tournament they do. However, I need to learn all these rules first. They say my Newaza is good, and my takedown defense is good too, but my throws suck, and I have no idea what they're saying, ever.

Judo is super confusing.

**BSDaemon** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 8:50pm

At a glance, the grappling.us program seems to be allright... It's definitely no IBJJ.

The testing is done in person, the standards for promotion seem to be in line with the rest of BJJ, There's no funky belt system and no outragous claims being made. As long as he's not churning out black belts that can't hold their own I don't see a problem with his program.

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 6/23/2006 9:44am

Originally Posted by War Phalange

If you end up living near Auburn, check this school out:

www.fosterbjj.com

I train there and the place is awesome. The MMA class isn't in full gear yet, since it's fairly new, but the BJJ is very solid.

I used to train there myself from March-June of 2004. I had to quit for some personal reasons and then I moved to Bellingham. My original goal was to find a new job in that area so I could start back training there again. Unfortunately the job market in that specific area is pretty harsh right now and it looks like I will be staying in Bellingham for a while longer. I'm still looking and keeping hope alive.

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 6/24/2006 12:20am

Well, I'll be in Seattle in about a week, and now I know where to continue my BJJ training, thanks! You'll soon be rolling with me, so watch out!

I'm a pincher and a sore loser!

**Oscar Goldman** · Posted On: 6/24/2006 10:41am

Originally Posted by SFGOON

Well, I'll be in Seattle in about a week, and now I know where to continue my BJJ training, thanks! You'll soon be rolling with me, so watch out!

I'm a pincher and a sore loser!

PM me when you get to town if you need anything or have any questions, I've lived here a long time.

I don't know if you're still doing standup or just BJJ, but if you want to trade your TKD for Kyokushin, the club here is great and costs about $10/month.

**Bluecifer** · Posted On: 8/27/2007 5:59pm

Wow, this is a great thread and forum for me to have stumbled upon. I just moved to Seattle 2 weeks ago and am looking for a good place to train. So far both Gracie Barra and Aaron Fields place sound good. Anyone hear anything about Marcello Alonso's place?