Basically, I bought a good reputable BJJ school from my friend and will run it myself full time. We are in an area that doesnt have much other schools.
Our current spot is 800 sq ft, but due to the confiuguration of the area, the mat space is small and cramped.
I'm looking for a new building to move into and I was thinking about 1200-1400 sq ft as a facility would be good, until I saw the units and they look way larger than I imagine. I'm starting to think now, I might not need as much space and thinking if I had 800 sq ft in an open rectangle space, I'd be fine. Even 900 sq ft -1000 would be an improvement
How big is the gym you guys train at, as far as sq ft for the mats?
Don’t know square feet but we have 3 full size competition mats all linked up next to eachother which also have an extra 2 mats bordering around each one. It’s fucking huge. We routinely run classes of 70+ without any problems.
carcaju - Don't know square feet but we have 3 full size competition mats all linked up next to eachother which also have an extra 2 mats bordering around each one. It's fucking huge. We routinely run classes of 70+ without any problems.
What is a full size competition mat? Not being snarky.
carcaju - Don't know square feet but we have 3 full size competition mats all linked up next to eachother which also have an extra 2 mats bordering around each one. It's fucking huge. We routinely run classes of 70+ without any problems.
What is a full size competition mat? Not being snarky.
If he's talking about IBJJF competition mat, thats 32/33 Zebra style tatami mats (3ftx6ft) for one competition area.
I'm just curious as to the square footage of most gym's mat space
some gyms are huge
some gyms are small
I'm curious about all sizes but I'm mainly interested for those who train in a smaller/medium sized school.
carcaju - Don't know square feet but we have 3 full size competition mats all linked up next to eachother which also have an extra 2 mats bordering around each one. It's fucking huge. We routinely run classes of 70+ without any problems.
What is a full size competition mat? Not being snarky.
If he's talking about IBJJF competition mat, thats 32/33 Zebra style tatami mats (3ftx6ft) for one competition area.
I'm just curious as to the square footage of most gym's mat space
some gyms are huge
some gyms are small
I'm curious about all sizes but I'm mainly interested for those who train in a smaller/medium sized school.
some of the gyms i've taught at or been a part of that all worked and produced some good students / fighters. the number of students was roughly the peak that the school could handle based on the mat space, times of operation and when i trained there (the sport was obviously a lot less popular in the 90s)
MMA gym (40-50 students?) - Roughly 600sqft. Rectangular. Had additional puzzle mats for the yoga room when it was available (rarely was)
MMA gym (~30 students) - 450sqft
MMA gym (~130 students) - maybe 500sqft of mats + a 12x14 ring.
MMA gym (~200 students) - 1200 sq ft and a full cage + 14x14 boxing ring
We have 24x32 mat space (768 sq ft) with wall mats all around. It’s enough room for about 16 students in class at a time. Anything more can get really crowded.
OP, how big are your classes or how big do you expect them to get? That should help dictate how much mat space you need.
classes are about 8-10 on a smaller day, and about 15-20 on a larger day. only 10 ppl (5 pairs) can safell roll at a time
I'm expecting when I expand, I would hit about 30-40 students in the first few months. Many people have come to our smaller location and loved it it but ended up not staying due to the space and how crowded it was
Mat space is probably around 600 sq ft. Average class is anywhere from 8-20+. We can do about 6-8 pairs rolling at a time, anymore and you risk running into each other.
When I had my facility, it was 7000sf of training space, including about 600sf of mats.
The place I've been teaching lately is 13000sf (mostly parkour gym) with around 1200sf of BJJ mats (not counting all the gymnastics and tumbling mat areas).
When I had my facility, it was 7000sf of training space, including about 600sf of mats.
The place I've been teaching lately is 13000sf (mostly parkour gym) with around 1200sf of BJJ mats (not counting all the gymnastics and tumbling mat areas).
Wow, what kind of gym was that? DId 600 sqft of mat space feel comfortable enough to train on with a medium sized group?
Seems like to me, back in the day, it was more common to see smaller to medium sized gyms. In Brazil, small gyms are still the majority, and they even produce high quality competitors.
Nowadays at least in the US, people seem to see a small gym and automatically think "umm, not really good." This kind of mindset seemed to become more precedent in the last few years with the onset of much larger, megagyms like UFC Gyms, Gracie Barra HQ, American Top Teams, etc.
Is that just me or do you guys notice such things too?
JKD/BJJ/MMA. We originally split the place with a fencing gym, and after they moved we split it with a crossfit program (and later, CT's first Parkour gym).
Prior to that we just had some puzzle mats in a carpeted karate school (carpet over cement). Our own place was a huge upgrade.
In for this. Some training partners and I have been thinking about opening a gym but renting space is sooooooo expensive in our town. We’ve found a spot that’s about 650 sqft of mat space but a lot of the guys I train with think that is too small.