Same technique from your first night — what changes is the pace, not the material. Your first class is free, and most of the people who take it have never trained before.
Not ready to book? Call us at +1 470-974-0963.
You pick any class on the schedule, you train in it, and then you decide. There's no trial period to sign up to and nobody will pitch you at the end of it.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call +1 470-974-0963.
Our mission is to help you get as good at jiu-jitsu as you possibly can — and to enjoy the process of getting there. Both matter. We don't think one comes at the cost of the other.
Jiu-jitsu is fun. The work of improving at it should be fun too. That's the gym we wanted to train at when we were coming up. So that's the gym we built.
We believe you get better at this by training with people who know what they're doing. So we don't teach you a beginner's version of it.
There's a version of learning this where you're taught a simplified escape, a simplified grip, a simplified way of standing up — shortcuts that work well enough against other people who've just started, and stop working the moment they don't. Six months in you find out the escape you were taught was never really the escape, and you spend the next year unlearning it.
We don't teach that. On your first night you'll be shown the same technique, with the same details, that the most experienced person on the mat is being held to. The difference isn't the material. It's the pace: you go slower, you get more explanation, and someone stays with it until it clicks. Getting that pace right is our job, not yours.
There's also no separate beginners' class to be parked in. We run one room. People on their first night, people who've been here since we opened, and people who compete all train in it — because the fastest way to learn what a technique is supposed to feel like is to have it done to you correctly by someone who knows.
Owen Jones, black belt, coaches every evening class. He placed 4th at the 2024 ADCC World Championships — the world championship of no-gi grappling — is a Polaris champion, and is currently ranked in the world's top ten at 145lbs. He still competes at that level.
Elliot Ward, brown belt, coaches the 6:30am classes and is on the mat alongside Owen every evening. Same curriculum, same standard, so it doesn't matter which one you can make.
Sunday 2:00–3:30pm is the free class. Owen coaches that slot. Tell us you're new when you book — weekday or Sunday.
It also means we can put you with the right partner on your first night instead of whoever happens to be nearest. If you've never trained, tell us when you book. It's the single most useful thing you can say to us.
Two things decide how fast you get good at jiu-jitsu: how often you turn up, and the quality of what happens when you do. The first one is yours. The second one is ours, and it's the one most gyms leave to chance.
You learn this sport by feel — by having something done to you correctly, over and over, until your body works out what happened. That means the information you're getting back has to be right. Your grip failed because it was the wrong grip. Your escape worked because it was the right escape. You find that out the same night, from someone who can tell you which it was, instead of a season later.
Here's the part that runs against most people's instinct: skill is what makes a partner safe. Control is a learned thing — knowing how much pressure a position needs and stopping exactly there. Two people who haven't learned that yet are the riskiest pairing in any gym, which is why we don't build a room out of them. We pair deliberately, we name the danger in a position while we're teaching it rather than after, and a coach is on the mat for every single class.
Being the least experienced person in a room where people know what they're doing isn't the problem. It's the fastest place in jiu-jitsu to stand.
The published week is all No-Gi. The difference is what's on the board, not who's allowed in.
Mon / Wed / Fri 6:30–7:30am · Tue / Thu 6:00pm
The full curriculum, taught to one standard. First night or fifth year — same material, pace adjusted in the room.
Mon / Wed / Fri 6:00pm technique and 7:00pm live · Sunday 2:00–3:30pm free class
Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings split technique then live. Sunday is the free class. Owen coaches that slot.
Sunday 2:00–3:30pm stays free. See the live schedule →
Before you leave the house. Shorts or leggings, and a rash guard or a close-fitting t-shirt. Nothing with zippers or pockets. Bring water. That's the whole list.
Getting here. 3365 W Hospital Ave, Suite H, Chamblee. Free parking on site. Come fifteen minutes before the class starts — not so we can process you, but so you're not walking in cold.
The first ten minutes. One of us will find you, take your shoes-off-at-the-mat-edge tour, and ask what you've done before. Then you'll be introduced to the person you're training with, chosen on purpose rather than by proximity.
The hour itself. A technique gets taught and broken down. You drill it with a partner, slowly, while a coach watches and corrects. Then live practice, scaled to who you're with — and on your first night that means controlled, unhurried, and with someone who knows how to keep it that way.
Afterwards. Hot showers if you want them. Nobody will corner you about a membership. If you want to join, create an Apex account and choose Lite or Unlimited, or call us and we'll sort it in about five minutes.
Lite is $120 a month. Unlimited is $165 a month. No contract, no exit fee. Your first class is still free.
Already a member? Open the Member portal to book and manage your account. New to Apex? Create an account to join — we will verify your phone, then you will choose a plan, sign the waiver, and pay.
Step 1
Step 2
Lite
$120/ month
$25 joining fee waived
Join Lite →Unlimited
$165/ month
$50 joining fee waived
Join Unlimited →None. Choose any class on the schedule as your first class, free. Tell us what you've done before when you book — even if the answer is nothing — and the coach on that night will know before you walk in.
Almost certainly not, and the honest answer is more useful than the reassuring one. Age changes two things: how quickly you recover, and how much you can lean on speed. It doesn't change whether you can learn jiu-jitsu. If anything, the technical side of this sport rewards people who can't just muscle through a position — you're forced to learn the mechanics properly, and the mechanics are the part that still works in twenty years' time. It's one of the very few contact sports people take up in their forties and are still doing well in their sixties. Tell us your age and anything your body doesn't like when you book, and we'll pair you accordingly.
Absolutely not. In fact, jiu-jitsu is unusual in this regard — most people get tired in their first few sessions regardless of fitness level, because they're moving their body in ways they haven't before. Fit, unfit, somewhere in between: everyone arrives the same. You'll build the specific kind of fitness this sport asks for as you train. Most people find it happens faster than they expected. Fitness is something the training gives you. It isn't something you're expected to bring.
On your first night, yes. So was everyone else on that mat, including both of us, and there's no arrangement of words that makes that untrue. What matters is what happens next. A coach is on the mat for every class, so nobody gets left in a corner to work it out alone. And being the least experienced person in a room where people know what they're doing isn't the problem — it's the fastest way to stop being that person. Nobody is keeping a table, either. Everyone in this sport is training with someone better than they are, all the way to the top of it.
It's the reason to come, not the reason to stay away. Think about what that record actually means for someone on their first night: the person showing you how to hold a position knows exactly what it looks like when it works against the best grapplers in the world, so the version you get taught on a Tuesday isn't a watered-down approximation of it. That's the whole point.
And a competition record doesn't put you on the mat with him in a live round. It puts him next to you while you're learning the movement, in the room, alongside Elliot. What you'd actually experience is more attention than you'd get almost anywhere else, not less.
The one thing that genuinely matters is that we know you're new. Tell us when you book.
Sunday 2:00–3:30pm is the free class. Owen coaches that slot. Tuesday or Thursday at 6:00pm is all-levels no-gi. Monday, Wednesday and Friday run 6:30–7:30am all-levels no-gi, 6:00pm no-gi technique, and 7:00pm no-gi live. Anyone 14 or older can start; under 14 is not permitted and the booking system will reject it.
A few different ways. We have rules every member follows — no slams, for example, and others — that exist purely to keep training safe. We pair people thoughtfully, based on size, experience, and what they're working on. And we coach with risk in mind — when there's danger in a position or submission, we explain it as we're teaching it, not after.
There's one more thing worth saying, because it's the opposite of what most people assume. Control is a learned skill: knowing how much pressure a position needs and stopping exactly there. Two people who haven't learned it yet are the riskiest pairing in any gym. That's most of the argument for being taught correctly from night one rather than being left to figure it out among other new people — sloppy technique is what hurts people, so teaching the correct mechanic on day one is a safety decision before it's a coaching one.
Jiu-jitsu, like any sport, carries a small risk of injury — but we focus on smart training and minimizing risk wherever we can. We have a duty of care to every member, and we want our students to be able to keep training. That's what all of this is for.
No. Every class we run is No-Gi. It's the faster, more open version of the sport, it's what our head coach competes in at the highest level, and it's what you see at the world championship of no-gi grappling. There's no gi to buy and no uniform to order.
Wear shorts or leggings with a rash guard or close-fitting athletic shirt. Choose clothing without zippers, pockets, or anything sharp, and bring water.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 6:30–7:30am all-levels no-gi, 6:00pm no-gi technique, and 7:00pm no-gi live. Tuesday and Thursday: 6:00pm all-levels no-gi. Sunday: 2:00–3:30pm free class. Saturday is closed.
Self-defense is not part of our weekly class schedule. We host focused self-defense workshops in Chamblee as periodic events. Call us at +1 470-974-0963 for the next announced date.
Your first class is free. After that, memberships are month-to-month: Lite is $120 a month, Unlimited is $165 a month. Joining fees are waived.
To join, create an Apex account, verify your phone, choose a plan, sign the waiver, and pay. Book your first class free if you haven't trained with us yet. There's no sales appointment and nothing to sit through.
No. Memberships are month-to-month. You can cancel any time, no exit fees, no awkward conversations.
Nothing — your membership is the price you pay for access, not a contract requiring you to attend a set number of times. Some weeks you'll come more than your plan suggests, some weeks less. It evens out.
If you're new, book your first class free and choose any class on the schedule. Existing members use Apex Member USA to book, cancel, or join a waitlist.
Chamblee, GA 30341
Free parking on site. Mat space, hot showers, and a coach on the mat for every class.
Pick any class on the schedule. Your first one is free.
