Jiu Jitsu In Review

Facility / Location: On a bone-chilling December night, circa 2017, I decided to check out Unity Jiu Jitsu (formerly on 37th and Madison). Having arrived early, the door was firmly shut. I'm told they were just finishing up an impromptu pro-training.  As I waited in my parka and jeans on the staircase of some questionable midtown structure, I could feel the steam seeping through the cracks of the door. Ten or so minutes go by and I'm now half-sweating.  Finally, the door swings open ... it's time.    Like a true Manhattan studio, it's  incredulously tiny .   The white mats take up 95% of the space, with the remaining being a small reception-desk and a closet equipped with a shower. That's it.  Nearly twenty or so people showed up on a Christmas holiday ready to take a two hour class. We start with guard-retention drills and move on to some spider-attacks. After we finish the drilling portion, having already felt like someone's soggy diner napki...

Facility / Location : I arrived early by an hour. Patiently waiting, I see Marcus Tinoco showing some of his patented lasso guard during the drilling class on one end of the mat, and on the other end, another black belt instructing a closed guard break for the foundation program. Marcelo's academy feels pure in every sense of the word. The bright white lights shining down provides your retina perfect resolution; the cursive yellow MG sign plastered against the wall-mat is beautifully contrasted; and everyone's energy in the academy is alike as Marcelo's. The academy gi's (not mandatory) are crisp, and the rash-guards are sleek. But of course, with such a reputation, 50-60 people have now shown up for the gi class. The mats are beginning to feel crunched. This is New York City I remind myself, and if you are not comfortable rubbing shoulders with someone, then it's the wrong to place to live, yet alone train. And somehow, someway, I couldn't get over the a...