Straight Blast Gym Portland - BJJ & MMA Gym

First off Justin is an amazing jiu jitsu teacher. He's very patient and clear in his teaching method. For people thinking of signing up here are the things to know. They have you sign up for six months for just under $200 a month. This membership only includes the foundation stand up and jiu jitsu classes and for the first two months you are limited to two classes a week. I started with stand up and after two months moved up to the second level. I found out to take the more advanced classes you have to pay about $20 more and commit for two years. This makes sense as in order to actually become effective you need to put in the work, but it's good to know all of this before starting. If you are primarily doing stand up six months might be a bit redundant. However, I just took my first jiu jitsu class and already can tell you could probably spend a year or two in the foundation classes. Stand up seems like waves while jiu jitsu is more like the ocean. Also, there are some additional expenses. For foundation standup you probably want to get gloves which you can get for around $60. They have gloves available, but it's better to get your own. For jiu jitsu you need to buy a gi which is also around $60.

I trained here while staying in Portland for a few weeks. The coaches were great. Larry and Matty both had great BJJ classes. And Vanessa had great BJJ and standup classes. The standup classes really pushed me, and were definitely a great experience. Thank you to all of the coaches and fellow students for a good experience.

Been a member for 17 or so years, and it's the only BJJ gym I've ever wanted to train at. Over the years I've been recruited by other gyms and was offered head BJJ instructor at others gyms. But never even crossed my mind to join any other gym. Best coaches, students and friends and so glad I walked into this gym first to learn BJJ because the coaches kept helping me even when I quit BJJ for 5 years they brought me back. With out the coaches I'd never have received my black belt and win 10 medals as a brown belt.

Such an outstanding martial arts facility. I doubt you could find more professional and systematic coaching anywhere else. I came through town some months back and they opened their doors to me so I could train. Coach Cane’s class was so well structured I was in awe. I had never seen someone use best practices for teaching in martial arts gym. Everyone was friendly to me and I didn’t feel like I had a target on my back as new guy. Don’t miss an opportunity to train here.

It was great to return to the school where my BJJ journey first began. The programs here are truly solid, and I was fortunate to reconnect with my old friend Chris Sterns, who coaches at SBG and does an incredible job on the mats. If you’re looking for a top-notch BJJ and MMA program, your search is over you definitely need to check out SBG. Matt Thornton, the founder, has built something special here and played a huge role in helping my BJJ journey take off. I’m already looking forward to coming back.