Short Review:
PNW Jiu Jitsu is a no frills, high instructional, close knit community all in a brand new clean facility.
If you want a school that has great value (instructor to student ratio), a friendly community, all in the Silverdale area I would highly recommend them. They run a limited yet diverse class set such as: kids, womens, adult, and No Gi. (Full review covers thoughts from Adult and Fundamentals classes only.) Full review below:
Facility -
PNW Jiu Jitsu is tucked away east of the 3 in a warehouse suite area of Silverdale. It is attached to what looks like a CrossFit / Traditional Gym in the same warehouse suite, so the parking is ample if a little dark, but the interior is clean and bright and plenty of room.
Mat area is a good size. More than enough room for drills for multiple groups (we averaged 4 groups give or take when performing king of the hill type drills). Although it's a new gym, you can tell that the area is cleaned regularly. Recommend going a few mins early to change as its not a fully loaded posh gym with gigantic bath areas. However the instructor coverage is way important in my opinion. Small price to pay for the intructor to student interaction.
Staff / Structure -
Probably the biggest factor for me in choosing a Jiu Jitsu school. I travel a fair amount for work, so it gives me the chance the experience different schools. The staff at PNW Jiu Jitsu has been particularly great. Head Instructor Alvin Martino was very welcoming, and also does a great job saying "the why" while teaching. You can tell he has great trust in his staff as he helps with instructor coverage, if not teaching techniques himself. Seeing head instructors stay hands on is a great sight to see, and there are multiple instructors every class making sure you arent lost. Everyone from the front desk to the owner Cody Smith was very happy to welcome another jiujitsu practitioner to their facility. Its also nice seeing people invested in jiujitsu also working there instead of some hired help that wouldnt normally care.
George Cronin Jr. does a great job in sticking to a strutured environment, all while taking questions during instruction. He seems to run off of a rubric system which is more than I can say for some schools. PNW has more of a cohesive thought, instead of drilling techniques off the top of your (instructorss) head. There have been multiple times where I have experienced, "I dont think we covered it" and teach virtually the same class multiple times a month. PNW doesnt seem to do this.
***note. This is not to say repeating techniques is not welcomed to me. What this does show is how classes are NOT tracked. We expect high levels of organization with any sort of certifications and training, and you should too when learning from a martial arts school.
Its also of note that all the classes at PNW run on individual timed drilling, as in each person has a set amount of time to work out concepts / techniques before switching with partners. Having my own set block of time I felt less rushed. When time is blocked for both people as a whole, you might feel pressed to do things quickly as to not take time away from your partner (at least I do). Conversely I also had times where I bearly did my share of the time because my partner insisted on drilling their turn more. I like PNWs structure much more.
Overall:
My experience with BJJ schools is a bit more larger in scale. Although PNW Jiu Jitsu isnt big brand name, the quality in actually learning is top notch, one of the most hands on ive seen. How well you recieve training is individually dependent. What I can say is that PNW emphasis on learning, high interaction, all in a structured environment. This philosphy might have to make me rethink my own situation as I've been training for about 5 months now (going 2-3 times a week holidays aside) and im pretty sure my home coach doesnt know my name. Maybe its just how it is with larger schools, but PNW has an emphasis in training within a welcoming atmosphere. Highly recommened.
Edit: To any staff from PNW Jiu-Jitsu. Thank you so much for the opportunity to train with you guys. I have to unexpectedly leave the area due to a work emergency, however I look forward to seeing you guys in the future. Thank you for everything! read more