Adults · Gi & NoGi

BJJ Gym in
Cork City

Gi and NoGi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Ballyvolane, ten minutes from Cork city centre. Classes six days a week, lunchtime and evening, coached by Ben and Barry.

Complete beginners train alongside competitors on the same mat. No experience needed. No fitness needed. Your first class is on us.

 (01) · The art

What is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling art built on leverage. You learn to control another person from the ground up — position first, then submission — using technique rather than size or strength. It is the reason a smaller, calmer person can handle a bigger, stronger one.

There is no striking. Every round ends with a tap, and every tap is information. That is what makes it trainable at full intensity, week after week, without wrecking yourself.

Gi

Gi jiu-jitsu in Cork

Training in the jacket. Grips matter, the pace is slower, and the details are unforgiving — which is exactly why it builds the cleanest technique. Most people start here.

Gi runs four days a week at our Cork City gym, lunchtime and evening. Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri.

NoGi

NoGi grappling

Shorts and a rash guard. Nothing to hold, so everything moves faster — scrambles, leg entanglements, wrestling into position. Closer to what MMA looks like on the ground.

NoGi runs Monday and Wednesday lunchtimes, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, plus Saturday open mat.

 (02) · The method

How we coach

Our adult classes are built on evidence-informed coaching, drawing on current research in skill acquisition and athletic development rather than tradition for tradition’s sake.

Plenty of jiu-jitsu is taught the way it was taught to the person teaching it, and no further questions asked. We’d rather know why a thing works before we put a room full of people through it.

Whether you’re stepping onto the mats for the first time or building toward your next competition, the coaching is structured so you progress with purpose.

Competition

Built for the tournament

We put a strong emphasis on preparing members for competition jiu-jitsu, and classes are designed with tournament conditions in mind so you learn to perform under pressure rather than only in the comfort of your own room.

Sessions are meant to challenge you, sharpen your game, and build the kind of grit that only comes from training smart and training consistently.

Everyone else

You don’t have to compete

Most people here never enter a tournament, and that’s entirely fine. The same coaching works whether your goal is to compete, to get fitter, or to learn a skill for life.

What you get either way is a supportive, hard-working room that pushes each other forward — and coaching that knows the difference between someone preparing for a medal and someone who started three weeks ago.

 (03) · Walking in

Your first class

Nearly everyone is nervous walking in. Here is exactly what happens, so it’s one less thing to think about.

What do I wear?

Shorts without pockets or zips, and a t-shirt or rash guard. That’s it. You don’t need a gi to start — we’ll lend you one if the class is a gi session, and you can buy your own once you know you’re staying.

A warm-up, then technique — the coach shows a position and you drill it with a partner. Then live rounds, usually five minutes each, where you try to make it work against someone resisting. You’ll be knackered and you’ll have learned one thing properly.

No. Classes are designed with competition in mind because training under pressure makes everyone better, but entering a tournament is entirely your choice. Plenty of people here have never competed and never will.

Worried you’re too old, too unfit or too inflexible? Those are the three most common reasons people never start, and none of them hold up. We answer all of them on the beginners page, and pricing is covered on the membership page.

Start Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Cork.

Ballyvolane Commercial Park, Unit 24, Ballyvolane, Cork, T23 E685. Free parking on site, ten minutes from Cork city centre. First class on us — message ahead so we know you’re coming.

083 465 1592 · aontachjj@gmail.com