Good luck reading all of this but its worth it:
I’ve attended a few gyms in the San Diego area as well as some local competitions for over a year now. Im into it and it became my passion after the first month.
Legion AJJ places in the top tier of gyms here regarding their facility, staff expertise, and abilities/accolades. I’ve been to Gracie gyms, Alliance gyms, Studio 540, The Arena and even Atos.
These are my observations:
First, this is the biggest mat Ive ever seen in my life. Its the size of a Wal Mart parking lot and the quality is incredible. The locker rooms are large, clean, have nice showers and the provisions like soaps & mouth wash are a nice touch.
The large bay doors are opened for class which provides a level of airflow that keeps the place from smelling like a gym bag or feeling like a sauna.
Theres REAL parking.
The above are luxuries at any gym but to my childish delight.. the most insane part of the facility is the legitimate powerlift OR functional fitness enabling weight room that members are free to use.
Benches, Squat Racks, Heavy Dumbells/KBs, Bands and even Jiu Jitsu style grip attachments if you wanna get crazy. As a genuine lifter with very respectable numbers in Squat/Bench/Deadlift/Overhead Press I can assure you this isn’t some Planet Fitness bs. You can push yourself on the weights and hit every muscle group individually or altogether depending on your style. You can make legitimate strides in your fitness or strength goals.
This is hands down one of the most underrated points of this gym. Seriously, cancel your gym membership because the staff are always here with the door open. I like to lift before class or after class, either way I get to shower off and eat a little food between.
Other perks of Legion?
Any gi, patch, color, whatever is good for class. Theres no additional fees. The pay in full option gives you a free month. Their gym sponsored gear, tees & swag are actually of a quality worth wearing in public without looking like you made it at home. The ladies at the desk are pretty. The music playlists are always on point. The production team uses something better than an iPhone 4S (there is a production team) for THE ONLINE KNOWLEDGE DATABASE.
Jiu Jitsu based perks?
Instead of shrimping out across the football field sized mat like its my daughter’s tumbling class, you drill moves for warmups. Moves you will do instinctively tp pass or sweep the other human being trying to beat you. When you spar – you start from the standing. We’re not walking around on our knees or sliding around with our asses. Every instructor has world status accomplishments. That quiet white belt will crush you if you go into a roll half hearted. That purple or brown belt will tell you what you did wrong.
The competition here is insane and Legion doesnt charge on open mats either. Brings in a lot of competition and thats just cool. It sucks going to smaller closet sized gyms where you roll with the same people for 8 months where you just figure one another out and dont get much change in opponent size or athletic ability.
The best part though?
The level of instruction. Period. As stated Ive been to a ton of places in the area – very well known establishments with tons of credentials.
A lot of places anchor on one or two good instructors. Sometimes theres a really harsh language barrier, other times the instructor gets sick or wants to take some time off – maybe they’re the owner? Maybe an out of the blue situation developed?
Dont know & dont really care because it doesnt happen at Legion. Do the 7-day trial and attend all the different classes at different times. Not only is the instructor accomplished, passionate, and able to pass-on legitimately useable techniques but even the intangibles.. the mental game, the strategy, the full 3-Dimensional & multi-layered breakdown of not only the class but after the fact. You retain the knowledge.
Lots of good schools out there with great instruction, but Ive never in my life seen or heard of a gym where theres more than SEVERAL world class jiu jitsu staff who consistently teach multiple classes in a logical, timely, understandable and digestable format at literally such a bomb ass facility.
If you made it this far congratulations. Pictures posted below of the facility as it is, as I’ve typed this.
