Moving to NYC and trying to choose where to live around BJJ — gym/neighborhood recommendations?
My partner has been offered a transfer to his company’s NY office and we’re trying to figure out where to live, and BJJ is honestly going to be a pretty significant factor for me.
I’m a female brown belt, primarily train no-gi, and BJJ is a big part of my life. I currently live about 10 minutes from my gym and train around 4x a week, so I’m very used to being able to train consistently without a huge commute. I know NYC will be different, but I’d really like to find a gym where I can train regularly and become part of a good community.
I’m less interested in simply finding the “best” gym and more interested in good training + genuinely good vibes/culture.
I’d love opinions on:
- Which gyms have the best culture/community?
- Which gyms have particularly good no-gi?
- Any gyms you’d avoid because of the culture?
- What neighborhoods would you consider living in if BJJ was a major factor?
I’ve thought quite a bit about Renzo Gracie because I’ve trained at a few different affiliates before, but I’ve never actually trained at any of the NYC locations, so I’d be interested to hear what the different academies are like.
I’d especially love to hear from people who have actually trained at or visited different gyms in NYC. Basically, if you were moving to NYC and BJJ was a big part of your life, where would you live and where would you train?