Best BJJ Gyms in London: What Reddit Actually Says

London has well over a hundred BJJ gyms, and picking one usually comes down to your postcode. This guide collects what Redditors actually recommend across r/bjj and r/BJJWomen threads from 2023 to 2025, area by area, and adds the competition-results counts from our database. The quotes are recent, specific, and sometimes disagree with the big names.

Verdict at a Glance

Gym	Reddit signal	Logged results	Drop-in	Best for
Roger Gracie Academy HQ	”One of the best gyms in the UK”	-	yes (confirmed)	All levels, gi pedigree (Hammersmith)
Fightzone London	”Best martial art gym in London”	-	contact first	Volume (150 classes/week), women’s team (Bethnal Green)
Los Banditos	”Best place in the uk for Nogi”	27	contact first	High-level no-gi (North Kensington)
New School BJJ	”Heard good things”, top results log	170	contact first	Competitors (Battersea, Brixton)
Grand Union at Gymbox	Visitor pick, women’s thread pick	146	contact first	Central London, facilities
Diesel Gym	Visiting blue belt’s favorite	-	contact first	No-gi, comp class (East London)
Apex Jiu-Jitsu	”Great instruction, great gym”	-	yes (confirmed)	Finsbury Park area
Carlson Gracie London	Strong women’s team name	-	contact first	Gi and no-gi (Hammersmith)
London Grapple	”Anywhere in the world… worth considering”	1	contact first	Serious training (Deptford)
The Gauntlet Fight Academy	West London recommendation	-	contact first	Checkmat lineage (Ealing)

“Logged results” counts competition result rows in our database, not medals. Big gyms with ”-” compete in circuits our scrapers cover less; read both columns together.

The Blue-Belt Trip Report

The most useful single London thread is a visitor who spent weeks rolling across the city and wrote it up:

“Diesel Gym - 10p affiliate in East London. My favorite. Best for nogi, lots of high level and unique style rolls. Go to the comp class; they’re a blast and they love visitors from out of the country. Apex Jiu Jitsu - north east London. Trained with Owen here… Great dude, great instruction, great gym with showers and lots of mat space. Grand union jiu jitsu @ Gymbox - central London…” - r/bjj, 2024

That covers three of the strongest visitor options in one post: Diesel Gym (East, no directory profile yet), Apex Jiu-Jitsu (full profile, drop-in confirmed), and Grand Union at Gymbox (full profile, 146 logged results, second most in our London data).

West London

“There are lots of good gyms in West London. There is of course Roger Gracie Academy, which is one of the best gyms in the UK. There’s also Los Banditos, Gauntlet Fight Academy, Hillingdon BJJ and more. Every gym has a free trial class too.” - r/bjj, 2024

Roger Gracie Academy HQ

The reference point for London BJJ. Beyond the recommendation above, it is the gym people return to: “moved back to London UK and went straight to Roger’s. That was all about 15 odd years ago.” (r/bjj, 2025)

Glen House, 22-24 Glenthorne Rd, Hammersmith | Gi + No-gi | Drop-in: yes (confirmed) | Full profile. There is also a City location, Roger Gracie Moorgate.

Los Banditos

The strongest single no-gi endorsement in the dataset:

“If you are doing a pure Nogi trip then I would highly recommend Los Banditos! IMO the best place in the uk for Nogi and the level there is insane.” - r/bjj, 2025

150 Barlby Road, North Kensington | 27 logged results | Full profile

The Gauntlet Fight Academy

The Ealing option from the same West London thread, Checkmat lineage. 1A Haven Green | Gi + No-gi | Full profile

East and Central

Fightzone London

The value-and-volume pick, in Bethnal Green:

“Fightzone London. 150classes a week. 105 a month. Best martial art gym in London!” - r/bjj, 2025

It is also the first name in the women’s-team thread below. 16-22 Pritchard’s Rd | Gi + No-gi | Full profile

London Grapple

Named in a global-scope thread, next to Absolute Melbourne:

“Anywhere in the world - London Grapple and Absolute MMA Melbourne are worth considering too.” - r/bjj, 2023

17 Ffinch St, Deptford | Gi + No-gi | Full profile

South London

New School BJJ holds the biggest competition log in our London data by a wide margin: 170 results for the Battersea location, with a Brixton branch drawing its own praise. Kingston Jiu Jitsu, Ray Stevens Academy, and Elevate cover the southwest:

“There many gyms in SW London offering weekend classes. I would recommend Kingston Jiu Jitsu, Ray Stevens Academy and Elevate MMA.” - r/bjj, 2025

New School Battersea: full profile · Brixton: full profile · Elevate Martial Arts (Richmond): full profile

For Women

A 2025 r/BJJWomen thread maps the women’s-team landscape better than any directory can:

“in terms of gyms with strong, solid women’s teams in london, the first one to come to mind will always be fightzone london in bethnal green. then the big names like roger gracie academy, carlson gracie london, gracie barra etc all have strong womens teams. i’ve heard good things about grand union bjj and new school bjj brixton too.” - r/BJJWomen, 2025

Watch this space too: Arma BJJ opened in Clapham in 2025 with Ffion Davies as head coach. Redditors called out “the aesthetics and woman friendly atmosphere… combined with high level coaching” (r/bjj, 2025). Not yet in our directory.

Carlson Gracie London: full profile

Best for You

Visiting London: Diesel Gym’s comp class “love visitors from out of the country”, Apex Jiu-Jitsu has confirmed drop-in, and Roger Gracie HQ takes drop-ins. Every gym quoted here runs free trials per the West London thread.

No-gi: Los Banditos first, Diesel Gym second. Both come with “the level is insane”-grade warnings.

Budget and volume: Fightzone London, 150 classes a week at 105 pounds a month.

Competitors: New School BJJ (biggest results log in the city) and Grand Union at Gymbox (second biggest).

Women starting out: Fightzone, then the established names (Roger Gracie, Carlson Gracie, Gracie Barra), per r/BJJWomen.

Browse all London gyms with ratings, drop-in listings, and competition records on the London BJJ gym directory.

Reddit quotes from r/bjj and r/BJJWomen threads (2023-2025), linked at the source and verbatim, typos included; competition-result counts and gym data from the bjjgym.com directory, updated as new data is collected.