gyms youve trained in abroad thread

conor rowan

thought it might be worthwhile to have a thread where people post details of gyms theyve trained in abroad so that people can know wheres good to drop into when theyre travelling/living abroad. think itd be particularly worthwhile for places like thailand and big cities eg NY, london etc where people travel to frequently

so to get the ball rolling

the other night i called into www.shanghaibjj.com. seemed to be a good club with a good standard (good few blue belts training). although the focus seemed to be more on sports BJJ as the coach mentioned points a few times. the training was all gi based but i was able to borrow a club top, and the techniques taught ( which was an ecape form side control) were also based on wearing a gi, so not really too beneficial for me.
still though,it was cool to be trained by a black belt from brazil. and always good to get a roll in

conor rowan

ps this isnt just limited to mma,bjj, mt etc.

id also be interested to hear about other styles and where theyve trained eg kung fu in shaolin in china or TKD in korea

Martin25

Taky Kimura Jun Fan Gung Fu private club in Seattle.
Lamar Davis JKD Club in Birmingham Alabama.

pearsquasher

Sydney - 2 Bujinkan Dojo - one large run by 2 female instructors and a small outdoors one with possums running over your gear.

Kuala Lumpar - small Bujinkan dojo in Chinatown. I ended up teaching.

Japan - 5 trips over the past 4 years training at the Bujinkan headquarters and various dojo of Japanese master teachers as well as this Irish fella's dojo who's out in the far north in the mountains teaching the locals. Sublime.

Various seminars in the uk Liverpool, Swindon, Cambridge.

Ireland - The Liberties, Killiney, Glasnevin, Clondalkin, Rathmines, Athlone, Belfast, Artane, Lucan.

France - in July 08.

mark.leonard

UFR Gym in Antrim
Chum Sut Total Fighting Academy in Lisburne

Andrew H

Yangs Martial Arts Assoc. (YMAA) Boston, Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, Long Fist & White Crane Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan and Chin Na www.ymaa.com

Various Summer Camps held by the different branches of YMAA in Poland, Hungary and Portugal and various seminars held by Dr. Yang in Wales, Liverpool and Ireland.

I've also attended BJJ seminars given by John Kavanagh, Matt Thornton (www.sbg.com) and Phil Migliarese (www.balancestudios.net).

Im currently training BJJ with Ray Butcher (www.defendu.ie).

I've found all of the above to be excellent instructors - both home grown and foreign :-)

Andrew

toaldingham

I love visiting other academies, here are a few that I've been to:

Gracie Barra HQ - Barra, Rio
Carlson Gracie HQ - Copacabana, Rio
Brasa (Comprido's Academy) - Copacabana, Rio
Gracie Barra Lisbon - Lisbon, Portugal
Gracie Barcelona - Barcelona, Spain
Alliance BJJ - Paris, France
Roger Gracie Academy - London, England
SBG Ireland Camp - Norrköping, Sweden

This summer i'll be training in NYC, Orlando, Houston, San Francisco and Boston. All BJJ of course.

Ciaran

Clive

Brazilian Top Team HQ in Rio.

A pretty cool place to train, a good mix of competitors and recreational players.
Anywhere from 5-15 black belts on the mat on a given night, and loads of foreign students in the run up to the mundials.

Very much the "three techniques and roll" school of instruction, but I'm down with that.

I only did the gi classes so I couldn't say much about the sub wrestling, Muay Thai or MMA side of things (MMA training is only for those under contract to BTT - unless you're especially invited).

David Jones

Machado BJJ in Torrance California -Great Place to Train for Gi mainly but nogi when there is a competition coming up. Rigan and Roger Machados place.

Next Generation in California/Texas/Liverpool - Cant say enough good stuff about NG gyms, no matter where you go

TriCenter Martial Arts in Lake Forrest - Chris' brothers Zack and Jake now have a BJJ / Muay Thai Gym in California, also a crossfit centre -

RAW in El Segundo near LAX - best place to learn wrestling ever.

Boxing Works in Hermosa Beach California, didnt do boxing but did get to train with Erik Paulson. Sweet place to train and unbelievable location, right on the beach.

Beverley Hills Jiu Jitsu - Mostly Gi, and the location again, big cars, silicone blondes :eek:

Rob Carry

Suwit Muay Thai, Phuket. Good spot to train full time, and they can arrange fights on their premises. A lot of people from BJJ and wrestling backgrounds, often from the US, seem to go there to improve stand up. Nice location too.

Bangkok Fight Club, run by a guy who boxed for Thailand in the Olympics. Not a full time club, but good for people starting out and who don't have the time to train all day. Not much use for Muay Thai fighters though. Having said that, it also hosts very well regarded BJJ and MMA classes and organises fights all over the world for people who train there.

Rompo Muay Thai gym, Param 4 Bangkok. Seriously tough gym, great for advanced fighters. A lot of well regarded westerners fight out of here, including several from the Contender Asia. Wouldn't recomend it for beginners though.

Chakrit Muay Thai, Sukhumvit 22, Bangkok. Well-equiped gym with an oddly low number of people training in it. Upside of that is you get well looked after by its top notch trainers. They can also arrange fights.