The Traveling Gym Reviewer

Latest in this pillar

• Swollen Knee, Gracie Barra North, and a Tennessee Invite

  A day that started with playset construction and drop-knee drilling, ended with new black belts, blood in my mouth, and an invite to Tennessee.

• Why I Bought a Plain White Gi With No Affiliation

  A plain white gi — no academy back patch, no team logos, no lineage signal — is the most versatile $120 you can spend in BJJ. Here's why I finally caved.

• Mapping Every BJJ Gym Near Me by Drive Time

  I scraped Google Maps for the drive time from my home to every BJJ gym in my metro, bucketed the results, and learned more than I expected about how to plan a tour.

Reviewer FAQ

+–How do you pick which gyms to visit in a city?

I start with the affiliate locator pages I have first-hand context for (Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Gracie Barra), layer in IBJJF-registered academies and other lineages as I tour them, then fill gaps from OpenStreetMap and word-of-mouth. I try to visit at least one big affiliate and one indie per city for contrast.

+–Do you actually roll, or just observe?

I roll. Every review on this site is from a class I sweated in. If a gym only let me observe, I label it 'observation only' and don't rank it.

+–What does a typical drop-in cost?

$25–$45 in most US metros in 2026. Some affiliate gyms waive it for traveling members. I list the exact fee on every gym page.

+–How do you write an honest review without burning bridges?

I tell the gym up front what I'm doing. I send the gym my draft before publishing. I correct factual errors. I don't soften vibe or culture observations — those are the whole point.