Grappling
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu Jitsu Brasileiro
The Gentle Art
TUE 6pm - 7pm Adult BJJ Fundamentals (Gi)
TUE 7pm - 8pm Adult Wrestling
TUE 8pm - 9pm Adult BJJ (No-Gi)
WED 6pm - 7pm Women’s-Only Open Mat
WED 8pm - 9pm Adult BJJ (Gi)
FRI 7pm - 8pm Adult BJJ (No-Gi) “The Lab”
FRI 8pm - 9pm Open Mat
SAT 10:00am - 11:00am Women’s-Only BJJ
SAT 11:00am - 12:00pm Adult BJJ (Gi)
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling but especially ground fighting. It was derived from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan Judo in the early 20th century.
After years of studying traditional Japanese Martial Arts including Judo the Brazilian Gracie family began to develop a Martial Arts taking the most effective techniques of what they had previously learnt. BJJs emphasis is the ground fighting techniques and submission holds such as chokes and joint locks.
It promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant using leverage and proper technique; most notably, by applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat them. BJJ can be trained for self defence, sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Sparring (commonly referred to as 'rolling') and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition.
BJJ came to prominence with is success and dominance in the early years of the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts.
To develop as all-round fighters, most of our students also participate in our MMA Striking Class!
The Fighting Arts Academy is affiliated with Arlans Siqueira BJJ and as such is a recognised club within the International Brazilian jiu-jitsu Federation.
Arlans Siqueira is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu professor and 4th Degree Black Belt under Roberto Ferreira Da Silva, founder of Beto & Cia jiu-jitsu. Arlans is known for his passion and charisma as well as for being the first person to teach BJJ in the UK.
Read about our grappling lineage and history here
Gi BJJ
(With the Kimono)
For over 20 years Arlans has maintained a very high standard of teaching ranging from beginners to advanced competitors and has been a driving force in the growth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in England. Over the years Arlans has put together a team of expert instructors – all trained to the highest standards of jiu-jitsu.
Marco (Black-Belt) & Darius (Black-Belt) are his main BJJ coaches at The Fighting Arts Academy.
No-Gi BJJ
(Without the Kimono)
No-gi Jiu-Jitsu (without the kimono) and the leg-lock game is gaining in popularity within the grappling community. The most feared no-gi grappling team in the world ( The Danaher Death Squad ) used a mastery of the leg-lock centric game to dominate its competition.
For a considerable amount of time teaching leg-locks was frowned upon by BJJ purists. However nobody can deny their efficacy. With the IBJJF now introducing leg-locks (including heel-hooks and knee reaping) into higher-belt competition. Progressive clubs are introducing them into their curriculum.
At The Fighting Arts Academy we are fortunate that alongside Marco, one of our Coaches (Andrew) is a leg-lock wizard.
Andrew who also runs the Combat Sportswear Brand – 50/50 Lockers – teaches no-gi at the academy. He is also a regular feature at 10th Planet London.
Wrestling
Our Wrestling Classes, led by ex-pro MMA fighter Gica Apostu, offer unparalleled training to enhance your martial arts journey. Designed to complement our Gi and No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, Gica’s expert instruction employs a blended approach, integrating the best techniques from freestyle, Greco-Roman, and other wrestling styles. Our comprehensive curriculum covers essential skills such as takedowns, pins, tie-ups, and clinch work, ensuring students develop a versatile and effective grappling game. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced grappler, our wrestling classes will elevate your skills and boost your confidence on the mat.
Open Mat
If you’re new to Jiu Jitsu you’re probably not familiar with the term open mat. You may have seen it on the gym schedule, or you’ve overheard teammates ask each other if they’ll be there or not.
A BJJ open mat is the one day of the week where there is no structured class. By that, I mean literally no structure. Students get to warm up themselves and there's no demonstration of techniques.
Most of your teammates will be rolling, drilling moves, practicing new things they’ve been working on, generally being social, and likely talking about Jiu Jitsu. Sometimes during open mat, you might even have people drop in as visitors, and you can have some new people to roll with.
Open mat is a place for self-directed learning and improvement of your game. A big part of that is talking to your instructors. Whether it is asking questions, developing strategies, rolling (sparring) or finding the time to drill.
Fundamentals Class
You can never work on the basics enough. Our fundamentals class is a time to focus on the details hidden within the basics. A solid foundation is the key to success in combat sports and this session gives everyone a chance to give their fundamentals the care and attention they deserve.
Women’s-Only Class
From a self defence perspective (and due to unfortunate imbalances in today’s society), we think it is important that our women students learn to deal with male aggressors in combat…
We therefore encourage our female members to participate in the broader class timetable wherever possible.
At the same time, we recognise that there are some situations where women just want to train in an all women environment with a female coach…
To ensure our sport is accessible to all we have recently introduced a “Women’s Only BJJ” classes Our Women’s-Only BJJ class is taught by Coach Vava who is a purple belt under Grand Union BJJ and has been training for around a decade.
We are delighted to have Vava lead our women’s-only BJJ classes where she will be assisted by Blue Belt Kay.
