I've been to three clubs in Perth. In comparison, 80/20 is a very friendly club, with a great culture. The classes are around 10-15 people (but I think the club is currently growing), and Dion (the instructor) states everyone's name at the beginning of the class, which helps the new guys learn names.
The classes start with a warm up, then light drilling then instructions on a them of thew week (e.g. back attacks, or starting from mount). This weekly theme is really helpful because by the end of the week all the little parts are adding together in your head. As someone who has done about 18-24 months of BJJ over the course of 3 years (with breaks) I feel like I remember very little that I've been taught, but this method that is used at 80/20 is very cool and I think unique. I've learn (and recalled during rolling) more in my short time at 80/20 than I have ever before.
Dion is a great teacher, giving advice to the class, important details, paces the instruction with drilling, then more instruction building on the last bit. While drilling or rolling, if you have a question, Dion is happy to explain and jump in to show you what you need to know. Others in the club walk around and help out too (I'm not sure of their official roles, but the culture is supportive).
I don't want to say anything negative about other clubs, so I've omitted that, but I believe 80/20 is a great club out of the three I've been to.
Oh, and as a GI person before coming to 80/20, I thought that no gi would not be for me, but I really really like not having to do the washing every night and to be honest, it's just as fun and good for exercise as gi. I notice also, there is less (i.e. no more) sore knuckles from doing all the GI grips.
Don't hesitate to give 80/20 a go. I'd go back in a heart beat if life circumstances permitted me to go back to training.
Posted 2 years ago
