18/04/2026
100%
A recent article from BJJ Eastern Europe talks about someone opening a jiu-jitsu gym in a town of 10,000 people, even after being told it would fail.
And I completely agree with the main reason why it worked. Community.
Over the years, I’ve seen people invest a lot of money into gyms. Big spaces, top-level mats, great locations. And still fail.
Not because they didn’t have skill. Not because they didn’t have resources. But because they didn’t build a community.
I’ve said this for a long time. The most important part of a jiu-jitsu business is not the space, not the equipment, and not even how good you are as an instructor.
It’s whether people want to come back.
I’ve taught in many places, and I’ve seen how powerful that is.
I remember teaching in São Paulo, traveling across the city just to run classes. What stood out to people wasn’t just the training, it was the commitment.
And over time, something interesting started happening.
People who already knew each other from school, from life, from different circles, started reconnecting on the mats.
I even had situations where people who had crossed paths in real life, like a firefighter and someone he had helped before, ended up training together in the same room.
That’s what jiu-jitsu can create.
But it doesn’t happen automatically. It has to be built.
And I’ve also seen the opposite.
Places where I was able to build a strong group, but the business itself struggled because the person running it wasn’t well connected to the community.
That matters more than people think.
If I were to start a gym today from zero, the first thing I would look at is not the location or the equipment.
It’s the people.
Is there a sense of connection? Is there trust? Is there a foundation to build something real?
Because at the end of the day, techniques bring people in… but community is what makes them stay.
What do you think? Is community the most important part of a gym, or is it something else?
