Capital Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – H Street NE – Wash. D.C.
My brother and I decided to meet up this summer for yoga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, comparing life’s notes, and beer. I immediately turned to some BJJ schools I wanted to visit before the pandemic quarantine and found a few had either closed or relocated out of town without notice. A school closing is sad for the BJJ teacher/owner, the students and the fellowship they shared; however, I noticed a growing trend with revolving locations for BJJ school class offerings.
Since we found a yoga class near the U.S. Capitol and Union Station, I located a BJJ school on “H” Street NE, a walk or short Uber ride from either location…Capital Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – H Street NE. Immediately, I noticed they offer classes every day, throughout the day, and early enough in the evening to enjoy my night after class still. I love jiu-jitsu, but I’m not into getting out of class after 9 pm unless I am preparing for a competition or I will ever get to sleep after class. Instead of just showing up, I completed the online “contact us” form as I wasn’t sure of the post quarantine procedures to attend a class.
Early the next day I got a text message from the school (I chose texting as my preferred method of communication). All my questions were answered promptly by this magically nice person with whom I was texting. Through the text exchange, I even threw a curveball when I half-joked that I would not be late to class because I’m a purple belt avoiding drills, but I would be running late from my yoga class a few blocks away. They assured me that either reason for my tardiness was acceptable with their class format.
The guy I was texting, Carl, was at the door waiting to welcome me and walked me right into class with the instructor Alfredo, that shook my hand and immediately fell to his back to catch me up on the class’s work on De La Riva sweeps.
There were a little over a dozen attendees in the class, and it seemed nearly half of them were white belts and all very welcoming. I met several fighters who had begun their BJJ journey at the school before the pandemic and had just rejoined since the reawakening of society after a year of quarantining. Several higher belts had returned to Capital MMA after being at other schools for various reasons, and I found that to be a compliment to the program or leadership of the gym. After leaving class and talking with some of the school’s guests in the waiting area, my perception of H Street NE – Capital BJJ was affirmed.
The class was great. I learned some new methods to improve and sharpen a couple of tools in my old bag ‘o BJJ tricks. We drilled the day’s techniques ad naseum, then switched partners, did a few rounds of technique-focused sparring, some sparred before ending class and opening the mat to more rolling. However, the most impressive part was Carl’s time explaining the class to the people waiting for someone on the mat, one of them being my brother. After class, my brother said Carl explained what Jiu-Jitsu meant to him and the Jiu-Jitsu techniques and strategy in a way that made him want to try it. WTF? It wasn’t the ten years of watching his little brother practice and compete, but a practitioner taking the time to share their passion and addiction to Jiu-Jitsu that interested him.
Capital BJJ was a great spot to check out as a regular practitioner, a convenient location, and good people to spar. No one tried to take my head off during sparring, and I enjoyed the competitiveness. The biggest plus, in addition to the time on the mat, is the location. There’s a plethora of restaurants, bars, coffee spots, marijuana shops, and yoga within a rock’s throw and a trolley car to take you up and down H Street, which ends at Union Station for AMTRAK riders.
I have known many excellent fighters and people from the Capital MMA association; however, it was with a different Capital MMA that I experienced a not-so-great moment in my early years of BJJ training that pushed me to write this article. It was Capital MMA & BJJ that made me leery of “chain store” academies. I prefer to visit small, independent schools over franchise chains, but I didn’t get that big gym feel and appreciate the guys running the H Street NE Capital BJJ. The Capital Jiu-Jitsu – H Street NE appeared well run and was very inviting. They also demonstrated the importance of leadership in an organization. If you have twin organizations that perform differently, observe the leadership, and there, you will find the difference. Good job H Street Capital BJJ! I’ll be back.
