Bay Jiu-Jitsu

Bay Jiu-​Jitsu fosters a fantastic learning environment. All the instructors I have worked with are very patient quite articulate with regards to explaining technique. Personally, I have had great learning experiences with Stephan (owner and head instructor), Nolan, Devan, Yukito and Stephen (Steve). What sets this school apart from many others is the amount of attention focused on each student. Pretty much, every instructor is good about answering questions as one goes over drills with their partner.
The one tip I would definitely give any beginner: If you are struggling with any type of injury, find a sparring partner who will be willing to work with you so you can work around those injuries. When I didn’t choose the right sparring partner, I put myself in situations that strained certain tendons. It’s just a matter of knowing when to tough it out and knowing when you should give your body time to heal/​recover.
Also, if you have any questions/​concerns about anything, definitely speak with any instructor, especially Stephan, and they are perfectly happy to listen and address those concerns. And if you don’t know how to execute a certain technique, ask them. They truly care that you perform each move properly. They are all very approachable.
In short, Jiu-​Jitsu can be a fantastic experience and Bay Jiu-​Jitsu is the place to help give you that kind of experience. Even if you have been to other Jiu-​Jitsu gyms/​dojos (or any martial arts facility), I strongly recommend giving Bay Jiu-​Jitsu a shot!

Everything I was looking for and more. Coming from a very shallow knowedge of anything about BJJ, I have been impressed about the education that Bay Jiu-​Jitsu has given me. ALL of the instructors have been extremely helpful and patient. I went to a class that appeared to be more advanced, but it was still not threatening as a beginner. I know after the first of the free trial sessions that I would like to come here as much as possible.
If you are all interested in BJJ, I high recommend this place. The staff is friendly and helpful. The students are tough, but sooooo helpful and nice.
5 thumbs up!

Great Jiu Jitsu Academy… All the instructors are great with kids! and they really learn and have fun! I highly recommend this place!

Signed up for a class online. When I showed up, the place was closed. No cancellation or notification.

I cannot sing enough praise for Bay Jiu-​Jitsu. Big thumbs up to Stephan Goyne for the amazing job creating a friendly atmosphere where jiu-​jitsu is taught to one and all while enabling and encouraging its study and practice as both an art and a sport. The academy is a big part of what made my last two visits to the Bay Area the amazing times they were. I will go back every chance I get in the future.
As always when visiting an unfamiliar academy, I braced myself for the onslaught I’ve come to expect when I’m the outsider who doesn’t know anybody. But Deven, whose class it was at the Japantown Bay Jiu-​Jitsu branch my first day, put all tension to rest the moment I stepped onto the mat to introduce myself. He graciously welcomed me in, loaned me a gi, and I had a splendid time that I regularly returned for throughout both my last two trips to San Francisco. While the style of each of the different instructors is quite different from the next, all of them are equally gracious and the students are so friendly and easy-​going it’s hard to believe there are so many hard-​nosed competitors among them. I couldn’t have felt more at home.
Stephan Goyne is a slick black belt who does a stalwart job teaching both jiu-​jitsu fundamentals and the intricate new-​school tricks, but what I think is his niftiest accomplishment in building Bay Jiu-​Jitsu is the broad variety of teaching styles he has assembled in one place. Each class I attended by a different instructor focused on a unique niche that that instructor has studied, tested and tweaked to perfection. Most of the ones I met also bring with them different backgrounds, like judo or sambo or wrestling or submission wrestling, which enriches their jiu-​jitsu and further distinguishes the drills, positions and variations they teach. It was an engrossing and motivating experience for me in what I feel is the funnest way to keep in shape, but for people with competitive ambitions this confluence of styles, disciplines and visions is a major competitive advantage: it’s easier to surprise and harder to be surprised when your game is so multifaceted.
I was fortunate to have stayed just a half hour’s walk from the Japantown academy, but I did make a point of visiting the smaller Mission Street gym, which I also had a blast at. I never did get over to the Oakland branch but many of the classes are taught by the same instructors I met in SF and I hear the facilities are spacious and just as well-​maintained and comfortable as the other two.
I give Bay Jiu-​Jitsu five stars for every day I’ve been there since dropping in off the street as an old blue belt two years ago and returning as a purple a little over a month back. I recommend it for beginners, hobbyists and competitors alike.

I have been attending Bay Jiu Jitsu’s Tue/​Thurs 7am class (I like to call it ‘barefoot boot camp’) twice a week for almost 3 months now. All I can say is ‘wow!’ I considered myself to be in decent shape before and was looking for something low impact but still beneficial as a cross training for my main passion, surfing. This class is it.
Since starting with Thiago and Bay Jiu Jitsu I have noticed my strength and stamina steadily increasing, along with improvements in my day to day energy levels and my overall quality of life.
Thiagos morning classes are a great combination of aerobics, core training, and flexibility/​stretching exercises that have really made a noticeable improvement in my day to day fitness as well as in my surfing. My sessions in the water have gotten longer, my movements more explosive, and my recovery time shortened, all due to attending Thiagos class twice a week.
Thiago does a great job of choosing exercises that are easy enough for beginners but still challenging enough for those who already consider themselves ‘fit’.
I highly recommend this class and will be attending as long as I am a resident of San Francisco.
Many thanks to Thiago and Bay Jiu Jitsu for helping me achieve my fitness goals in an enjoyable and safe manner.

I have been attending a boot camp class with Thiago Pierri as a coach, the class is so awesome, my body has changed a lot and I am feeling so healthy! The class is so intense and the exercises make whole muscles move a lot. The instruct is nice and keep watching up and helping carefully. The Gyn always offers very good conditions with equipment necessary and clean space to work out.

I started boot camp classes with Thiago about 2 months ago. I was worried about the time being so early, 7AM, but I realized that that’s an amazing reason to wake up earlier. Thanks Thiago for making my mornings more exciting. I already fell my health and body working better and more efficiently. The physical reward for the workout is priceless!!!

Have you ever seen Sho’nuff? Really??? Sho’nuff is the Shogun of Harlem. If you don’t know about Sho’nuff then you must watch the movie «Last Dragon». Anyway, one day I was walking around J-​Town and I see the man, the myth, Sho’nuff. It was Sho’nuff all the way from New York. I couldn’t believe my eyes so I followed Sho and his entourage down the street. They were heading for Bay Jiujitsu. Man, I was telling myself, I can’t miss this opportunity to see Sho in action so I followed him & his posse inside Bay Jiujitsu. When we all got inside it appeared that there was a morning class going on. The bulletin board stated that the morning class started at 10 am. It was around 10 minutes past 10 am and I had to move out of the doorway as two other students trickled in late. Sho walked right on up to the mat area and here’s what transcribed inside with Stephan Goyne (owner and head black belt of Bay Jiujitsu).
Sho: «Am I the Meanest?»
entourage: «Sho’nuff!»
Sho: «Am I the prettiest»
entourage: «Sho’nuff!»
Sho: «Am I the baddest mo-​fo lowdown around this town?»
entourage: «Sho’nuff!»
Sho: «Well who am I?»
entourage: «Sho’nuff!»
Sho: «Who am I?»
entourage: «Sho’nuff!»
Sho: «I can’t hear you!»
entourage & I (out of fear): «SHO’NUFF!!!»
Sho: «THE SHOGUN OF HARLEM!!!»
Stephan: «uhhh, hey bro we’re trying to have a class right now…»
Sho: «The sign outside says this here school is for instructions in the martial arts.»
entourage: «we thought we might get some lessons.»
entourage: «yeah where do we sign up?»
Stephan: «Listen bro I see what you’re trying to do and I’m not going to fight you so you might want to leave now.»
After that it got crazy! Sho jumped Stephan & all I saw was azzholes to elbows and Sho was tied up like a pretzel kid!!! He made Sho’nuff say «matte» (It’s like saying ‘uncle’ — Bloodsport quote). To make sure it wasn’t a fluke Stephan let Sho back on his feet to try again.
Stephan: «Go ahead, come at me bro…»
Sho’nuff came at Stephan again and it was like WWE prime time kid!!! ‘figure 4’s, ‘Tombstones’, & ‘the three amigos’ even ‘indian burns’… Just crazy moves. Sho tapped out again. After Sho left Bay Jiujitsu in defeat I signed up straight away and been there ever since this event happened which was around May 2014.
In all seriousness Bay Jits is a legit school for all levels & peoples. Go see for yourself!

While Bay Jiu-​Jitsu offers great mixed martial arts classes I urge you DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THE MEMBERSHIP! I have to say, it’s not Bay Jiu-​Jitsus fault that their membership processing department is a total scam, but it is. When you sign the year contract the only way you can get out of it is if you move away, get seriously injured and have a doctor fill out a disability form, or you die. The payment processing company will take no other reason into consideration. Plus, READ THE FINE PRINT! The membership automatically renews for another full year if you don’t actively let them know you want to cancel the auto renewal. And get the cancellation confirmation in writing from them! I’ve read horror stories about the payment processing service on the better business bureau website.

I dropped in while in town to squeeze in a quick roll. What I found was a welcoming environment with a good group of guys. I liked Stephan’s approach of rotating training partners, and also really enjoyed the vibe — everyone was helping one another, nobody was there to rip an opponent’s arm off, and overall the level of jiu jitsu was high. I’ll definitely come back next time I’m in town.

Best all around Jiu Jitsu academy in SF. It’s a clean, brand new space in a great location. Everyone is welcoming; they train hard, but no one is out to hurt each other. Stephan, the head-​instructor, is a legit black belt under Eduardo Rocha, who got his belt from Royler Gracie. If you’re a beginner, you’ll fit right in. Stephan stresses fundamentals and there are white belts aplenty of all ages and abilities. For more experienced grapplers, there are several bad-​ass blue and purple belts to learn from. Stephen also hosts frequent seminars with jiu jitsu all-​stars; since I’ve been there he’s had Royler, Jeff Glover and John Will come by. Finally, there are more women training here than I’ve seen at any other academy. There is a blue-​belt who routinely schools me.

It’s really a great gym, the second gym I have seriously trained at.
Classes:
Classes are pretty organized and structured, we go through the moves enough for muscle memory and to allow us to be comfortable when using them in sparring. Stand up practice is pretty frequent, and there are morning judo classes on Saturdays which really help with getting comfortable with takedowns. There’s always open mats after the classes as well! Training hours are great, usually night time so after work and early on weekends so you still have the rest of your day to do other tasks.
Instructors:
Very knowledgable and will listen and watch you to be able to help you execute your technique correctly and offers great constructive criticism.
Teammates:
Very very supportive and most teammates show up to competitions and tournaments even when they’re not competing just to support the team! There’s a great family vibe here.
Mats:
I thought there wouldn’t be that much room to spar but we make it work even with a ton of people showing up. Mats are cleaned often, if not everyday (I am a frequent yielded of the cleaning supplies).
It’s a great environment and one of the reasons why I’m choosing to stay in the city for the summer although school is out!

You know all that stuff you see in movies about how true martial artists are supposed to defend the weak and avoid violence whenever possible? I think that’s actually true for Bay Jiu-​Jitsu.
Yesterday I was robbed literally across the street from this place. Three people ran over when they heard me screaming and immobilized the robber without hurting him — even after the robber punched and bit (!) them. I could hardly believe it, until one of them said he had to get back to his kids who were across the street for a class at Bay Jiu-​Jitsu. That’s when I realized they were all trained specifically in the art of subduing violent attackers without harming them. I don’t think they even let the robber hit his head on the sidewalk. As a result, no one got seriously hurt, I got my phone back, and when the cops arrived they had a very simple case.
So, yeah. Does what it says on the box. In real life. What do you send a jiu-​jitsu gym to thank them for catching a robber?

Love how welcoming everyone has been to a newbie like me, especially since I’m a girl. Sometimes I’m the only girl in class, but there’s no machismo or douchebags. There’s a good mix of levels, from whites to browns. The guys and instructors are really helpful and patient. I look forward training every week!

This review is only for the Acroyoga class.
I’m physically fit — I workout 4 times a week, and have for over a decade. I took the «beginner» acro-​yoga course, but it was taught like an advanced course.
The class had very little oversight — it was basically taught by the students and not the instructor. I have no doubt that the instructor was good at acroyoga, she was just not a good TEACHER. No care was taken to the safety of the students.
I left the class with a hurting calf and a numb foot — which I just had diagnosed as a lower-​back L5/​S1 sciatica. I’m looking at a couple months of recovery, physical therapy and limited mobility.
I can’t and won’t go back to this class ever again. Nor would I recommend it to anyone.

Horrible! Horrible! I happened to walk by and was intrigued by Jiu Jitsu, so I decided to give it a try the next day. Stephan was business man nice. He explained to me the kind of training I’ll be receiving at the gym and proceeded to explain to me the yearly pricing and how many time I get to train a week. He then proceed to tell me about the yearly pricing, I just shoke my head but wondered why he was telling me the yearly pricing when I haven’t even done a day of this. He also rented me a day for the day for 7.00. I find out later that other gyms loan you a gi for free for first timers.
The training was actually easy to understand. I did not get the move down however my partner was very helpful.
Things got bad when practice time came. In a nut shell I got «choked out» a high number of times in each round. Though I understand that being «choked out» is part of jiu jitsu, I have to wonder where the martial arts spirit is? If you see your partner getting beat 4 times in a 2 min span, isn’t it partly your responsibility to help/​explain to your partner on what he is doing wrong? To my surprised I found the instuctor sittng against the wall on his phone and talking to other students instead of giving me any bit of advice.
In a nutshell: Instructor tried to sell me on yearly pricing on my first day, went 4 rounds and literally 20 taps, and no aid from the instructor. You don’t my money or my time. Easy decision.

I currently train at Marcelo Garcia’s in New York. Whenever I go to San Francisco for business trips, I always roll at Bay Jiu-​Jitsu. From my experience training in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, I have to say that Stephan’s instruction is some of the best that I have ever received. He is knowledgeable and clearly articulates his instructions.
This is my go-​to gym in San Francisco.

I have been wanting to get into BJJ for a long time but always made excuses about finally going and signing up for a class. I found out about Bay JJ on Unilocal and decided to test out the 3 classes at an introductory rate of $ 30.
I felt it was worth it since its $ 10 bucks a class and no commitment is necessary. I went to my first class and I was completely blown away. I thought people would be there and I would get my ass kicked for a good hour or so, but it was not like that at all.
Everyone there is extremely helpful and friendly. After tapping to almost being choked out during a sparring session on my 4^th day there, the person who made me tap explain everything to me. Why the choke happened, what I could have done to avoid it, and how to do it to someone who has me in that position.
I love the atmosphere and since my first day there I have not been able to stop going. I am completely sore and thought I was in good shape since I play a lot of basketball, but this works those other muscles.
I bought the unlimited pass and I am very excited to improve and make some new friends. Stephan is awesome guy and totally open to assisting anyone with questions. He is very patient and I can tell he wants everyone to improve and get better.
I had reservations about learning BJJ and was hesitant because I was weary about joining a place full of douche-​bags and getting beat up the whole time. Bay JJ is not like that at all and this is also the FIRST martial arts I have EVER done and I love it!
Stephan is the MAN

== Factors Breakdown ==
Attitude /​Machismo: None. Totally friendly, humble, etc.
Quality of instruction: Legit.
Is it just guys?: Nope.
OK for beginners?: Definitely.
Are classes cramped?: Sort of.
Cleanliness /​Odor: It’s a tidy place.
Convenience: Nearby garage, street parking, 38 Geary MUNI.
In one word: Intense.
== Class Structure Breakdown ==
Pre-​warmup: On-​your-​own stretching.
Warmup: Brief stretches, jog, pushups x situps, elementary moves.
Main activity: Instruction, drills, rolling /​sparring.
End: No conclusion. Just change, grab your stuff, and leave.
Formalities: No bowing, no phrases or vocab to memorize.
== Bottom Line ==
Limited space, but it’s clean. A welcoming and learning atmosphere.
== Details ==
A friend asked me to find out the class schedule. I walked in to see four people stretching, just hanging out. Nobody said anything, so I went over to the table trying to find a printed schedule. I was then approached and greeted by a man who started asking general smalltalk stuff but segued into offering for me to take a class. I thought he was going to say that I could watch, but I guess observation is hands-​on around here.
I walk by this place not infrequently, but it’s just about always closed when I happen to be in Japantown. So I took this opportunity to finally see what this school is about, despite only having walked in in street clothes and with a fresh meal in my stomach. I got to borrow a gi which was somewhat comically fitted — the top was a bit oversized and the «pants» were nearly shorts. The ragtag outfit actually helped me feel more informal (read: comfortable) in this new environment.
I joined the end of what seemed to be a line against the wall, and not long afterward other students introduced themselves to each other and to me. This is when I learned that some whom I assumed to be veterans of this place were there for their third or even first class, just like me.
There was still a little downtime in which music was playing from what might’ve been an iPod. I don’t know what you’d expect to hear in a place like this, but I was totally into the Hall & Oates, Peter Cetera (Karate Kid), 70s, and 80s jams floating in the air. When the music was turned off, class began. I honestly don’t remember if anything was playing during class — I was just too absorbed with the physicalities.
It turned out that the guy who suggested I jump into class was the instructor, Stephen. When he was talking to me initially, I first thought he might run the place, then his relaxed demeanor made me think he was one of the students. Approachability of staff is a big factor to me.
The small handful of us plus the instructor jogged around the room for a few laps then did some laps of various technical footwork. From this point till nearly the end, students kept gradually flowing in to join class. We proceeded with pushup and situp type moves plus fundamental Jiu-​Jitsu motions like how to fall, stand up, get up from kneeling, attempt to escape, etc. The instruction was light at this point and more about watching and imitating movements.
Following these preliminaries came the primary phase of the class, teaching us the moves for the day. I got the feeling that Stephen still taught toward the mixed levels of students present, even though the moves were referenced from a posted set of beginner’s charts (which I could only squint at from across the room).
During the practicing and rolling is where the mat space made its limitations evident. Often I’d see pairs nearly roll into each other, and I ran into the (cushioned) walls or just plain off the mat quite a few times. I didn’t notice other pairs hitting the walls; then again, the only person I was really paying attention to was the one trying to choke me and /​or snap off my arm.
Apparently, you’re free to simply get up and leave at any point during the open roll time. It wasn’t different at the end of the instructed class either. I don’t remember much of an announcement that our time had concluded; either way, people began collecting their belongings, changing, and departing. Rather than view these aspects as a lapse in organization, I’ll chalk them up to the relatively informal, quite comfortable environment in this establishment.
Will I go back? Yeah, just give me time first to heal away these random bruises and marks I woke up with the next day.