School and Head Instructor History
EMAC is one of four jiu jitsu schools in Bangkok. Unlike in many western cities, all of the BJJ schools in this city apparently belong to the same association so they don't view each other as competitors.
Pat runs EMAC and is the head coach there (my apologies to Pat for not asking his last name). He's a purple belt under Adam Shahir Kayoom at Bangkok BJJ. Adam used to be the head coach at EMAC, but Pat became the primary instructor there when Adam started Bangkok BJJ. The two schools are probably a 30 minute drive without traffic and a 100+ minute drive during rush hour.
First impressions
As I've mentioned before in this blog, I found navigating Bangkok and finding specific addresses difficult. While EMAC has a street address, the building is down a small alley off this street. I finally found the multi-story building by asking the security officer of a nearby building for assistance.
EMAC is located in an office building, and you can easily walk the stairs or take the elevators. Once inside the EMAC space, I was greeted by very nice front desk staff who was fluent in English. I left both my belt and my gi pants at the hotel, but the school rented clean pants and a belt to me for 50 Baht (about $1.55 USD). Every gym in BKK will rent you a gi, so I would probably only pack my belt if I were to travel here again. Frankly, it's cheaper to rent a gi at the gym than it is to pay the hotel to launder your gi.
Pat was running the Sunday class I went to, and he was very friendly and welcoming.
Facilities:
The gym is located in a multi-story office tower down an alley off of Surawong Rd. The building's main lobby has a concierge, who will not stop you from going directly to the elevators. Like most of Bangkok, the gym has exactly the amount of space it needs - - - without wasted extra square footage.
EMAC consists of a large hallway that includes a reception desk, a change area with cubbies for your clothes, and a couple large showers. The mat room is probably 400 square feet and overlooks a highway. The mat room also includes a glass wall so that visitors can watch classes without being disruptive to the class.
Quality of instruction:
The warm up included skill drills designed to build muscle memory and prep students for the technique to be taught that day.
Pat showed four or five techniques that linked together in a chain: take down à mount à back transition à armbar. He did a great job of explaining the technique and working individually with students during the drill period. He was definitely patient while working with folks individually.
Cleanliness and Hygiene:
EMAC seems very committed to a clean and hygienic training environment. As an example, it offers a gi-laundering subscription for students to ensure their gis are washed after every class.
The laundering subscription is a great idea because it is an additional revenue stream for the gym, while also reinforcing the need for everyone to wash their gis.
Gym culture
EMAC epitomizes the BJJ axiom to "leave your ego at the door". While it's very clear that both the instructor and the students are really committed to training hard, they aren’t emotionally committed to “winning” each roll or two-point partial training drill.
The gym primarily has blue and white belts, which means Pat has really created this very positive gym culture.
Pricing:
Monthly fee: 1,500 baht (about $47.50 USD)
Daily mat fee: 300 baht (about $9.50 USD)
Gi pants rental: 50 baht (about $1.55 USD)
Summary:
Technically skilled instruction
No students with smelly Gis
No-ego-gym that focuses on training
The Verdict: For someone new to BJJ or a lower belt - this would be a great and affordable place to train. This gym would present purple and brown belts leadership opportunities they may not get in a larger gym.
A quick disclaimer: I am just a lowly purple belt, and I do not understand everything there is to know about BJJ, running a BJJ gym, or teaching (anything). This review is my opinion based on my impressions on the day(s) I happened to visit. If I write a review that the owner of the school wants me to remove, he or she should just let me know.
Renting out a gi is a great idea, especially if it is cheap. Is that common elsewhere, or does this cater more specifically to the business people and holiday goers that presumably pass through in Bangkok in large numbers, so are just looking for a drop in approach to training?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is there a bit missing at the end of 'quality of instruction'? It says Pat was "patient and..." Unless you were about to say something really mean, so he swooped in and choked you first? ;p
Bangkok BJJ and EMAC are the first two schools Ive visited that that offered gi rental. When planning my next trip, I'm going to start asking schools I intend to visit about gi rental because my gi seems to take up half a suitcase.
ReplyDeleteThanks for catching the incomplete sentence. It's fixed now.
Have you ever tried one of those ripstop gis? That is probably what I'd go for if I wanted to do a big training trip, as I presume they pack up fairly small.
ReplyDelete