2040 Carolina Pl Dr, Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708
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  • Understanding the Game

    There are many different tools used to increase performance. Goal setting, visualization, repetition, competition, and a variety of other things can be very helpful in skill gains. As you progress through your Jiu-Jitsu career, you will find that your understanding of grappling evolves and changes. You will view things differently as a black belt than you did as a white belt. This change in your views is very hard to explain, and often times can only be understood by someone who has made the journey. Even though I acknowledge this task to be very difficult, I will do my absolute best to explain to you my views of BJJ. Let me start off by saying this; Technical fighters are the lowest ....

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  • The Newbies Guide to Tapping

    Do you know how to tap? That may be the most commonly asked question during a student’s first class. Many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practioners take this concept for granted, but it is important for us to remember that to someone who is new to the sport, this may not be intuitive. Like everything else in our sport, we need to teach this to our beginners. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be a lifetime activity if you train correctly. This is in stark contrast to some other combat sports where the wear and tear on the body is too great to have a prolonged practice. The secret to a lifetime of training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a complex equation of knowing your limits, choosing training ....

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  • Black Belts are Unicorns

    Black belts are unicorns. That rare, mythical beast that people whisper about. They are sought out for their great knowledge and magical powers. An alleged unicorn siting can bring disbelief, awe, and sometimes, anger. Sometimes I truly believe this is how the BJJ community views the black belt. Like we’re some sort of secret mythical beast that has all of your answers and all you have to do is corner us, catch us, at the right moment and we can make you magical too. Well, you’re half right. I do have some great knowledge, I am a pretty good grappler, and I happen to be a black belt. People do indeed travel great distances seeking me out in the hopes that I can impart some of ....

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  • Showing my Gratitude

    Exhaustion and pride are the two feelings I’m left with at the end of this week. I’ve been training hard and teaching with a purpose. The school is starting to come along and we continue to grow every week. We are meeting our short term goals and continuing down the path of success. One of our true tests will come on August 6 th when I take some of the guys down to the Lutador competition in Georgia. We’ve been focusing on some really great techniques and I know the guys are interested in testing them out “for real”. It will also serve as a great way to assess if our direction as a school is correct. I’m not necessarily saying that the emphasis is on ....

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  • It is official: I have signed the lease

    It is official. I have signed the lease, ordered the mats and completed all the necessary paperwork. Many of you have been wondering exactly where my school will be and now I’m prepared to tell you! I am happy to announce, our school will be located at 2132 Carolina Place Dr, Fort Mill, SC 29708.
    There were a lot of factors that went into choosing that location and trust me when I tell you that we looked at a lot of different places. In the end this was by far the best of the locations and the facility is perfect. This is an excellent place to grow a team. The academy is half a mile away from Baxter Village (a very large, well off neighborhood) and about 30 seconds off of a major ....

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  • GGBJJ Youtube Channel

    Wake up, eat, train, eat, sleep. This is my typical day. The only difference from one day to the next is who I train with and where I train. For everyone who has speculated about what it would be like to own your own school and train/teach grappling for a living, I’m here to confirm your assumptions: it is awesome! One of the only negative side effects of teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for a living is that the days go by so fast its dizzying. I’m afraid that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and realize that 20 years have gone by. I find that the only way I can keep up with the week is to take photos of everything. Then after the week is done, I go back through the photos and ....

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  • Waffles with Eddie

    The last two months have been a blur. As many of you know I’ve been in the process of opening my own school, and to say that it has been a lot of work would be an understatement. It has seriously enveloped my life, and I mean that in the best way possible. The school is doing great. More and more students are signing up and it’s doing better than even I would have imagined. Some of our classes are starting to grow big enough that I’m considering expanding and it’s only been 7 weeks. By my best guess, if we continue the way that we are, by the 6 month mark we will HAVE to expand. It’s kind of a scary thought, but a good one none the less. Our grand ....

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  • Choked by Munchkins

    Opening my own academy is full of new experiences and this week was no different. For the first time we held kids testing and it was a great experience. I have helped during tests before and I’ve given plenty of tests in physical education, but it’s a totally new territory for me as it pertains to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Constructing the curriculum, designing a test, and then administering a test in front of a classroom full of students and parents almost felt as much a test of my abilities as a teacher as it did a test of their skills as a student. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the level of attentiveness, attention to technique and, of course, the physical ....

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  • Giving Back

    There are many teams in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There are different teaching philosophies, different training regiments, and different views on how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fits into our lives. Some people are casual practitioners who train once or twice a week and then there are “mat rats” who train once or twice a day. The diversity within our sport is astounding. It transcends race, sex, religion, social status, and athleticism. There are people of every shape and color practicing our sport around the world. Sometimes we view the diversity within our sport and focus on our differences. We train with the same people, we grow attached to our “team” and get ....

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Robert Gathings

I’ve been training at Great Grappling for about a year and a half now, and it has truly had a positive impact on my life. I’ve lost a noticeable amount of weight, gained previously undiscovered confidence in myself, and made connections that will last a lifetime. While training, I’ve met people from all walks of life who have been brought together through the common interest of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and the community that has developed through it is incredible. Professor and owner Jeremy Arel also offers a one week free trial to new students who want to try BJJ before committing to a membership, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

Michael Baker

I've been training at Great Grappling for 6 years, and I cannot give it higher praise. Professor Jeremy has created a community of people that care about training and growing as martial artists--but also care about each other as people. If you are a parent looking for a way to teach your children self-confidence or self-defense, this place is a must. If you are hoping to find an academy where you can learn this amazing art called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this is the place. Come train with us!
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu near Fort Mill

Justin Bench

Hey all,

I ran into the Jeremy by complete accident, by rolling up to Gordo’s academy to train a few weeks and asking about places to stay. What I got was an amazingly warm welcome and a new family for a few weeks. Everyone at the Connection Rio house was friendly and fun, and they were serious about training BJJ. Awesome.

As for Jeremy himself, it is few and far between to find people who are as dedicated to teaching as this man. The classes are very well researched, based upon extensive experience, and set in a format to learn through muscle memory. All of the techniques build off of each other in a continuum, designed around building a game plan and prepping for competition. Jeremy keeps things moving and fast-paced, but you never feel exhausted until its all over and you realize you’ve been training hard and nonstop. I highly recommend his classes and I’ll definitely be back again.

Thanks, Jeremy!, will be seeing you at the Rio Open!

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