So I trained at this place for a couple of months; long enough to see what it was like before I…read moredecided to move on.
First of all, the mat space is great. Plenty of room and situated on a slightly elevated wooden structure so that you aren't getting slammed on mats lying directly on top of concrete. The mats were swept and mopped with sanitizing solution between each class that I attended.
The students are an average bunch for Jiu Jitsu; most are pretty friendly, some are a bit reserved, and a couple are kinda dickish. In other words, a normal gym.
Unfortunately that's all the nice things I can say about the place. The men's' changing rooms were a mess; just a small, dimly-lit room with piles of old ceiling tiles stacked in corners, along with discarded odds and ends. Definitely no-frills, and no privacy. Perhaps the women's' changing areas are nicer; I never thought to look.
One thing I will say is that there are quite a few women who train here, and that women definitely receive more attention from the instructor than men do. Attractive women receive the most attention of all. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends upon on your perspective.
This place is very expensive to train at. There is a "Membership Fee" just to join, and then the minimum is $200 per month for just 2 classes a week. $300 a month lets you take 4 classes per week. This is extremely expensive relative to other Jiu Jitsu gyms in the Puget Sound area, where unlimited classes always cost less than $200 per month.
The worst part of Praxis BJJ is definitely the instruction. I could go on for a while on that subject, but I'll just hit some highlights.
Larry, the only instructor I ever saw at Praxis, is just not that good at teaching. One time where my partner and I had both hit a point where we couldn't get a technique to work for us, and we both stopped drilling and looked over at Larry, waiting for him to notice us and offer to help. I vividly remember him looking around the room at the other people drilling, with a self-satisfied grin on his face, completely ignoring us. I've honestly gotten much better instruction from purple belts who cared enough to go around to everyone in the room, answering questions and correcting improper technique.
Another thing that I found unhelpful was that techniques are taught, but the name of the technique was sometimes not provided. One class I participated in was taught a Judo throw but was not told what it is called. Another class we were taught the elbow escape from mount, but I did not learn the name of this technique until I watched a YouTube video and recognized it there.
Larry DOES spend a lot of time policing technique. I like to use the single leg underhook guard opening that Saulo Ribero teaches, but when I did this, Larry would frequently interrupt me with admonishments for using my elbow to force my partner's guard open. I kept telling him that I wasn't doing that, but he persisted. At one point when he told me to stop using my elbow to open the guard, I looked up at him and said "I'm not!", and my partner looked up at him and said "He's not!" Larry turned around and quietly walked away.
Another time the class I was in was practicing a Judo throw, and I was thrown down on the mats by my training partner, as usually happens when a Judo throw is executed correctly. Larry ran up and told me and my partner that we weren't allowed to practice that throw anymore, and had to just stand around watching other people while they practiced it. After Larry had walked away, I asked my training partner "What happened? Did we do something wrong?" My partner looked at me and shrugged. Apparently this kind of thing happens regularly enough that no one questions it.
Larry teaches SOME Jiu Jitsu to white belts, but not the whole thing. For example, at Praxis BJJ white belts are not taught Kimuras, Guillotines, or Hip Bump Sweeps. Pretty much every Jiu Jitsu gym on earth teaches those techniques to white belts. I asked why white belts were not allowed to use the Hip Bump Sweep, and was told that it was because people would post their hands out to prevent the sweep, and someone might accidentally trip on their arm. This is like saying that people shouldn't be allowed to take flashlights with them when they go camping, because someone might get a light shined in their eyes. Posting a hand out is a legitimate defense to almost ALL of the sweeps in Jiu Jitsu; you just keep people separated when they are rolling so they don't get into a pile-up.
Perhaps Larry King is some kind of a visionary genius who is simply ahead of his time, but it's more likely that his peculiar ideas regarding Jiu Jitsu instruction are NOT to be recommended to the general public.
If you live in South Lake Union, like the convenience of being able to walk to the gym, and have plenty of money, than this might be a decent spot to train at. But you should be aware that you are paying for over-priced, watered-down Jiu Jitsu.
