I have only positive things to say about Upstream BJJ and its owner, Seph Smith, both when it comes to the overall atmosphere and the quality of his teaching skills. In fact, both aspects are at such a high level that I feel that I should break them up into two separate reviews:
Atmosphere/General Feel
UpstreamBJJ has a very family-like atmosphere. Sure, you could label this a cliche, and say that every gym enforces a policy with a family vibe, but I stand behind my claim that it is different here. The members are all very close and Seph is very loved as the coach. It's very informal, yet that does not break the structure of a well planned curriculum. Seph doesn't waste time on pointless warm ups or stuff that has no correlation to your Jiu JItsu improvement, he goes straight into the meat and potatoes and starts the class of with a quick intense warm up and starts the drilling right away. He is very friendly and you always have the feeling that you can ask him anything. Seph has a very analytical mindset and is able to break up complicated chunks of information into basic concepts that you can sort of piece together on your own once he gives them to you. Nora, the assistant coach is also very friendly and knows how to get along with people, which makes for a positive atmosphere where you feel like you are in a group of people working towards a common goal, instead of the military boot camp feel a lot of the other academies have. To further bring my point across, I visited his academy all the way from Serbia, knew absolutely nobody in Richmond, and straight off from day one I felt like I had been training there for years. A lot of people can be polite and friendly, but it takes a special kind of person to get you to feel so at home when everything around you is foreign, in the most literal sense. I had a blast training there and will plan my next trip to America to include a lot of training at UpstreamBJJ. The members are all very cool people and were a blast to hang out with.
Quality of teaching
As for the second part of my review, I believe that Seph's skills really do not need a purple belt like me to comment them or review them. You can easily find out everything about the level of his jiu jitsu by a simple google search. To put it shortly, I'm not even from America, and I knew that there was nobody even close in Richmond and the immediate vicinity. He has taken part in creating the most impressive Jiu Jitsu DVD's alongside Ryan Hall, which have probably had more influence on a lot of people's games than their academies themselves. Now imagine on of those DVD's which are just a snippet of their knowledge, in live form that can answer any of your questions. Be it passing, guardwork, or simple concepts about Jiu JItsu, the man is an absolute vault, and I felt it first hand when he smashed me over and over again with 0 effort. Trust me, I know enough about grappling to be able to tell when someone is at a wizard like level, and he is one of them, for sure. To be a grappler anywhere near Richmond and not take the opportunity to train at UpstreamBJJ would be at the very least foolish in my opinion.
As you can see, I literally cannot say enough positive things about the academy or its coaches. Training there has been one of the most positive experiences of my life, and I recommend it to everyone passing through Richmond.
PS. The children's program is great as well!
Instructors
Facility
Classes
Atmosphere
Posted 9 years ago
