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San Diego's Jiu Jitsu Gym

  • Welcome to our San Diego Jiu Jitsu gym. With over 30 weekly adult Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) classes, we offer the largest adult program of all Jiu Jitsu schools in San Diego. Our Jiu Jitsu school offers strong fundamentals for beginners, outstanding intermediate and advanced instruction, and high-level competition Jiu Jitsu training for all who wish to compete.

We are also a Six Blades Jiu Jitsu affiliate (Six Blades San Diego) and under the direct oversight of Xande Ribeiro, one of the top 5 competitors in Jiu Jitsu history. 

We teach over 30 weekly adult Jiu Jitsu classes at our San Diego school. This is the single largest adult Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program in San Diego and we cater to all levels of students from Beginners to Pro. 

We offer numerous fundamental BJJ classes, so our novice students build a strong foundation to base their future development on. We also offer a large amount of intermediate / advanced Jiu Jitsu classes, including both Gi and No Gi. Our San Diego BJJ classes are based on a specific curriculum and continually build on each other. Utilizing constantly evolving techniques that are competition tested, we advance our students towards receiving the coveted black belt under Xande Ribeiro.

As one of the best Jiu Jitsu schools in San Diego, we have a strong focus on competition training and hold multiple training camps every year, as well as mini-camps for local tournaments.

We’ve regularly won Adult BJJ Team Title (we don’t offer children’s Jiu Jitsu training) at every local tournament we’ve entered in recent years. Many of our competitors have placed in the top 3 in the IBJJF Pan American and World Championships in both Gi and No Gi Jiu Jitsu, as well as in a variety of other San Diego, national and international tournaments.

Xande Ribeiro is our Jiu Jitsu Program Director. He is a 9x International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Black Belt World Champion, with 7 Heavyweight and Absolute Gi World Championships, and 2 No Gi Heavyweight and Absolute World Championships. He is also a 7x Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Grappling Medalist, with 2 Heavyweight World Championships. He is widely regarded as one of the top 5 male Jiu Jitsu competitors in history.  

Adam Bradley is our Head Jiu Jitsu instructor. He is an IBJJF Gi and No Gi medalist and prior to receiving his Black Belt, he was ranked the #1 Brown Belt in the world by Flo Grappling. He was also one of 16 contestants on Flo Grappling’s reality series “Who’s Next”. Adam is know as “The Escape Artist” for his skill in fighting out of bad positions. 

Looking for the best private Jiu Jitsu training in San Diego? We have you covered. We don’t markup our private Jiu Jitsu training here at all. Instead, once you become a member of our gym, you pay our trainers directly and we stay out of the transaction. We get your membership dues, the trainers keep what they earn, and you get huge savings. It’s a win-win-win for everyone. So if you want San Diego’s best private Jiu Jitsu at the best prices, we’re your gym.

If you’re looking for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gyms and classes “near me”, we have you covered. Members come from all over San Diego to train at The Arena. Our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym is easily accessible in Point Loma off the 8 freeway on Midway Blvd. Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Bay Park, Downtown San Diego, Golden Hill, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, North Park, South Park, La Mesa, El Cajon, Clairemont, College Area, Miramar, Kearny Mesa, Clairemont Mesa, City Heights, La Jolla, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Coronado, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach.

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Jiu Jitsu Classes | Marc V.

“Come to the Arena. It’s great BJJ instruction. All the Jiu Jitsu classes you want to take. It gives me a great opportunity for training with a high-class, highly professional, highly athletic group of instructors and also their students. Their structured fundamentals to advanced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes are great. Everybody is really cool. Down to earth. They’ll give you pointers before, after and during class. It’s easy to go to one another to get a few tips on the lesson of the day. Or even to provide any tips outside the gym.”

Jiu Jitsu Training | Sergio H.

“A lot of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools just don’t have this type of instruction. In a lot of Jiu Jitsu schools, the head instructor is only there sometimes or he’s on his phone the whole time. They don’t mess around with that here, man. They’re always teaching. It’s such a good vibe. I encourage everybody to come out here and train with us.”

Competition Jiu Jitsu

Ready to take it to the next level? Want to compete for one of the best teams in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Then become part of Team Arena. Preparing athletes for competition is the backbone of The Arena and one of the primary reasons why we do what we do here. All you need to do to start on the path to compete for us in Jiu Jitsu is to complete our “Ready to Compete for The Arena” form.

Whether you’re just beginning in Jiu Jitsu, or you already have Amateur or Professional experience, we have you covered. If you’re a Beginner, we’ll make you a skilled Novice. If you’re an experienced Novice, we’ll take you to the top of the Amateur ranks. If you’re a high level Amateur, we can get on the road to a solid Pro career. And if you’re a talented Pro who’s willing to put body, heart, mind and soul into it, we can bring you to a World Class level.

Ready To Compete For The Arena?

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu FAQ's

Looking for one of the best Jiu Jitsu schools near you? The Arena Gym Jiu Jitsu school focuses the factors most important to your success:

  • Class schedules – offers the most complete adult Jiu Jitsu School schedule in San Diego
  • Class availability – 6 classes daily between Gi and No Gi.
  • Jiu Jitsu master coaching – Classes are taught by high level Coaches.
  • Affordable Jiu Jitsu – The price point for membership is far lower than any other gym in San Diego
  • More mat space – 27,000 sq. ft. total with over 8,000 sq. ft. of Jiu Jitsu mat space
  • Community Support – At the Arena we have a great Jiu Jitsu community that will support you in your journey.

The primary goal of learning Jiu Jitsu, otherwise known as the “gentle art”, is for self-defense but it has many other benefits:

  • Good for all ages
  • Size doesn’t matter
  • Increase in strength
  • Good for cardio
  • Increase self-confidence 
  • Relieves stress
  • Joining The Arena community

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art focusing on ground fighting and grappling to gain an advantage on a potential attacker or opponent. Typically this includes chokeholds or joint manipulations to force submission.

The martial art of Jiu Jitsu originated centuries ago in Japan primarily intended for close combat using leverage and body control. BJJ or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is a branch of the Jiu Jitsu lineage tree (like Judo, Aikido and Sambo) that was developed by the Gracie family in Brazil. Due to its development throughout years of fighting competitions, BJJ is often thought to be one of the best options for MMA.

Jiu Jitsu is a great martial art for beginners.  We currently offer two fundamentals classes daily that focus on providing beginners with a strong foundation of understanding and application.

With gi Jiu Jitsu training everyone wears a gi when competing and the gi can be grabbed and used as part of the fighting. No-gi Jiu Jitsu opponents can wear whatever they agree upon and they are not allowed to yank or use the clothes as a way to get leverage or dominate their opponent. Each Jiu Jitsu training type has its virtues and is up to the individual. 

Everyone will have a different answer to this question. Many variables will determine your schedule of training, goals, availability, and current fitness level, etc. As a general guideline, we recommend training 2-3 times weekly to see gains in knowledge, application of the art, and physical conditioning. The Arena schedule makes this attainable with close to 40 weekly Jiu Jitsu classes to accommodate you.

Students of Jiu Jitsu wear a traditional martial arts uniform (kimono) referred to as a Gi. We sell quality branded uniforms at The Arena’s pro fight gear shop, along with any of your equipment needs.

In The Arena