Choosing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym, for me, has always been kind of a big deal. Between being locked into contracts at crappy gyms and having an ultra-authoritarian coach call me a traitor when I switched teams after completing a six-month contract, I’m painfully aware of the consequences of making a poor decision. (These stories aren’t limited to me—I’ve heard them from athletes, mostly women, all across the world.)
 
These days, I’m a bit obsessive about making a good decision, and will take my time doing so. I created a geeky spreadsheet before settling on an amazing gym in Minneapolis (which was the best place I’ve ever trained), and another one this year.
 
In 2011, as a 32-year-old white belt, I started out with a list of 15 gyms. I visited 11 of the 15, and quickly took eight off the list. With five “maybes,” I’d soon narrowed down my list to just two places. I ended up training at the gym that had more classes and a better vibe (and didn’t want me to sign a two-year contract), but I think I would’ve been happy at either. These days, as a baby blue belt, I’m working through a list of 17 gyms using similar but modified criteria that I used five years ago. Your selection process may not be as extensive, and you may have entirely different criteria—and sport. But maybe mine will help you gain a bit more clarity on what you’re looking for, whether you choose to crack open Excel or not.
 
Basically the way I do this is by opening up a spreadsheet and making a list of every gym I’m considering. Then I write criteria categories on top, and fill in the details for each gym as I go. I highlight positives in green, negatives in red, and keep the neutral answers yellow. I tally up the numbers for each gym, and then I attend sample classes in each gym on my list that I’m still considering. (Told you it was time-consuming.)
 
Here’s what’s on my list:
 
Distance
 
I once quit a gym that was cycling distance from my house and drove to another one (consistently) even though it was 20 minutes away. But in my experience, anything longer than a half hour assures I’ll rarely show up.  For this category, I write the miles from my house to the gym, and how long it’ll take me to get there, based on Google maps data that shows me when I’d need to leave to get to classes about 15 minutes before they begin. Usually there’s a range of time that Google estimates (like “26 to 45 minutes”). Everything in Phoenix is pretty spread out, but an average drive that’s longer than a half hour gets a red light on my spreadsheet.  If it takes around a half hour, that’s a yellow light, and anything less than that gets a green. If the average is over 45 minutes, I’ll cross the gym off my list. Of course, once the list is narrowed down, I can look at this more closely and see if I’m giving up a gym I like more because of three extra minutes on the highway. But there’s probably no point in visiting a gym I know I won’t realistically train at consistently because it’s a two-hour round-trip drive.
 
Instructor
 
This isn’t just based on reputation—there’s often bad blood between competing gyms—but on the vibe I get from the coaches themselves. I’ll even look at how they interact with folks on social media. But if I have friends who’ve trained under a specific coach, their opinion carries a lot of weight. Obviously what people are looking for in a coach depends on the person. Some people fetishize “old school” coaches who have a ton of rules and structure, and kick out any student that’s non-compliant. I personally prefer coaches who don’t get their panties in a bunch if I want to go to an open mat or attend a seminar at another gym, so that’s one of the things I try to feel out as well. Usually a red light in this character is a deal breaker for me.  I’ve definitely tried to suffer through classes with coaches I couldn’t stomach in the past, especially when assistant coaches were solid, but these days if I don’t like the head coach, I don’t want to train at their gym.
 
In addition to the instructor, I also look at the overall class vibe. Is it too cult-like for my liking? Tiny classes that are cliquey? People interrupting drill time to chat with one another and make immature jokes? I look for gyms that are fun and relaxed, but also focused, and that have solid instruction. Your mileage may vary, of course.
 
Cost
 
Obviously, if you can’t afford to train at a gym, you shouldn’t go there. I also try to look at the cost in light of what the gym offers. Some include seminars with high-level instructors in their fees, and other additional perks, which is something I take into account.
 
In the past, I’d look to see how long the contracts were for, since there’s always the chance that I’ll have to break one for some reason. Most BJJ gyms do have contracts (or charge you a lot more for month-to-month), but I’ll draw the line at, say, two-year contracts for gyms that consistently switch instructors.
 
I give a bonus point to gym that list their prices on their website, and are upfront about additional costs (such as a one-time sign-up fee, mandatory equipment, patches, etc.) for reasons that I explained last month.
 
Number of classes
 
I try to factor the cost based on the number of classes—obviously a gym with 30 classes a week will cost more than one with six—but I also look at the number of classes to see if I’d reasonably be able to attend as often as I want. If there are only three classes a week, I know I probably won’t make all three because of my unpredictable work schedule, so that’s a red light for that category. Gyms with eight or more classes get a green light, and four to seven are yellow (so long as one or more are on the weekend).
 
Types of classes
 
A lot of gyms offer fundamentals classes, but some are only available for new students or white belts. Keeping my fundamentals sharp (as a baby blue) is really important, so green light for gyms that offer a basics class that anyone can drop into for a refresher two or more times a week. (Gyms with one such class get yellow).

I also look for women’s classes. Ironically enough, the presence of women’s only classes can be a red flag for me, depending on how they’re run. If they’re used to get women involved, and those women later transition to the co-ed classes, they’re good. If women are essentially funneled to women’s only classes, that can be helpful for competitors, but may not be as good for, say, self-defense. There’s also the possibility that women’s classes are filled with beginners, or taught by beginners, so students may not receive the same level of training. These are all things that I look for.
 
I used to look for gyms that offered both gi and no-gi classes, but now I prefer the gi, so that’s what I look for. I also make a note of which gyms specialize in something else. An MMA school that has BJJ classes on the side has a different vibe than a pure BJJ Academy. A karate school that has BJJ classes on the side is different still.

How these things play out in the gyms depends on the circumstance, but it’s something to take a look at and try to figure out before signing up.
 
Student Diversity
 
Some people want to train at gyms with only the most athletic-looking dudes in their prime. I, on the other hand, am looking for a good student makeup that includes people of all ages, genders, and sizes. That shows me that people are less likely to brutalize each other in class and that longevity is a thing that exists in that gym. As a 5’4 woman in my late 30s (who may or may not be injury-prone), that’s somewhere I’d feel more comfortable training.
 
Affiliation
 
This isn’t a huge deal to me, but it’s something I look for. I’d probably be a bit more careful to join a gym affiliated with someone who has a bad reputation nationally, and some affiliates run a tight ship and make sure instructors have specific types of training and even hold them up to high ethical standards (though this is never a guarantee, because instructors can be sneaky, and it’s hard to cut the cord when receiving a huge chunk of change from an affiliate gym).
 
Tournament Success
 
This is something I looked for in 2011 that I don’t care about nearly as much anymore. Coaches who have students that are successful in tournaments do typically offer more effective training, though, and I’ve found that gyms with kids’ classes where kids compete often have a better, more family-oriented vibe. (Of course, if you have kids, this category may even be a deal breaker.) Kids classes at the gym also often mean that instructors have fingerprint clearance cards and background checks, too.
 
Dressing Rooms and Showers
 
I like taking showers after class because skin diseases are gross, so a shower in the gym is an added bonus. If there’s a designated dressing room for women, that’s a good thing, too, because it’s less weird than being the one girl locking the bathroom door, for example (especially when the lock keeps breaking and it’s not a priority to fix it). I’ve sometimes gone to gyms in my gi just to avoid women’s locker room drama, so it’s not a deal breaker, but it is something I look for.
 
Free classes?
 
If there are no free classes, I’ll find out the fee for a drop-in, but it’s a bit of a red flag for me that shows a gym might be unwelcoming to outsiders. I’ll never sign a contract without attending a class, so I’ll pay for it if I really want to visit that gym. One free class is a yellow light, because it’s hard to get a good impression of a gym in just one class, but is better than nothing. A week (or even three classes) gets a green light.
 
Tallying It Up
 
This can be done as a science (literally giving weighted points to various categories), or you can do it by feel, crossing out deal breaker gyms as you go. In 2011, I had a “pros and cons” section, where I’d leave comments about things that stuck out to me—lots of small people to train with in a given class, an emphasis on badass judo throws, fun warm-ups, a coach that does a bad job of pairing people appropriately for drills, and so forth.
 
Obviously not everybody has to go through this extensive exercise. Plenty of people just visit the gym around the block and then train there for years and years. But sometimes thinking about what you’re looking for can be useful, and putting a lot of time and thought into finding gyms that meet your criteria certainly can help you find a perfect fit.