Shanghai BJJ

Gym Name: Shanghai BJJ (SHBJJ)
Website: http://www.shanghaibjj.com
Main Instructors: Tony Lima (BJJ Black Belt), Stanley Tam (BJJ Purple Belt), Ryan Melchiano (BJJ Purple Belt)
Location: Shanghai, China

The Google friendly gym that is Shanghai BJJ was one of the first gyms I found when I started looking for a gym to train at in Shanghai even before I had moved to Shanghai.  Although I found a few other gyms while looking for a gym to train at in Shanghai a few things stuck out in my decision to lay down the money to train with them.

First Impressions:

When I emailed the school, I got a response exactly 1 hour from when I had sent the original email from Ryan Melchiano, one of the three instructors featured on the website.  I had asked about training with them even though I had no idea how long I would be in Shanghai for.  The response was as if talking to a friend, “Good to hear from you. Come in when you get to town. Hope to see you at SHBJJ”.  No sales pitch, no bullshit, just a simple response that instantly made me realize I wasn’t dealing with a sales pitchy, rexkwondo, McMartial Arts Gym.

Putting the I in Team:

When I made it to my trial class, everyone was very welcoming and it was encouraged to include everyone as Ryan Melchiano introduced the two new white belts and said “After class get to know them, introduce yourself, make them feel welcome”.  This is the attitude you need in a gym while Vagabonding in a new city.  I knew nobody, and instantly I was part of the team, personally meeting about 10 of the students as we shared stories once the class was finished.  They say you can’t put I in team, but I was definitely part of the team after this.

I Got Schooled:

Although I could hang in there with some of their Blue Belts (still losing both on points and submissions), I got a chance to roll with Stanley Tam, another one of the Instructors featured on the website and currently a Purple Belt.  Stanley is about 10 pounds lighter than me, but I have never felt the weight of a person while rolling like Stanley put on me.  This is the type of instructor I am always looking for, someone my size that has the knowledge and technique that makes you fiercely competitive no matter the size of you or your opponent.  After we had finished rolling, he was encouraging and helpful offering a few tips on our session.

After checking into a few other places, including a Muay Thai Gym call Oz Body Fit, I ended back at Shanghai BJJ signing up for a 3 month Membership.  A 3 month unlimited membership costs ¥2,400, which comes out to be ~$125 USD per month.  Which for a MMA gym,  is around the upper-middle level when it comes to cost.

The first class I attended was an advanced gi class, where we went over 4 techniques.

1. Guillotine Choke Defense from Standing to Take Down. (Defense + Takedown)
2. Side Control Escape when arm is stuck between opponents elbow and leg from bottom. (Defense)
3. Side Control Arm Bar from Back. (Attack)
4. Side Control Roll Sweep from Back. (Sweep)

After techniques, we did positional rolling and then an hour of rolling, where I once again was schooled by some pretty dominant Blue Belts.  I blamed my lack of Gi experience on this, and got to roll No-Gi where I was able do a lot better.

The second day of training was the Striking class which is only once a week and seemed to be more focused on cardio, more so than technique and seemed to combine mostly Muay Thai mixed with some weird variations of Karate and Savate.  Although I am biased when it comes to stand up techniques, favoring Muay Thai,  my philosophy is to enjoy the techniques taught and put 100% effort into learning them even if they involve spinning and jumping to kick.  The day ended with some sparring and then an open mat session.

Overall Review:

First Impressions:
(4.5/5)

Gym Facilities:
(3.5/5)

Instructor Knowledge:
(4/5)

Membership Fees:
(3/5)

Vagabond Friendly:
(5/5)

Overall Rating:
(20/25)

My overall thoughts on joining Shanghai BJJ are quite good.  They are an open and friendly environment specializing in BJJ.  They offer a class that seems suitable for all experience levels that will help you reach your fitness goals whether they are to fight in tournaments or just up your fitness level in a fun and inviting way.  They encourage their students to welcome new students not only to class but to Shanghai making me feel like I already am gaining some friends in this giant city where I don’t know anyone.