For Port Moody Residents
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for Port Moody
We are not in Port Moody. True North Jiu-Jitsu is at 814 Brunette Avenue in Coquitlam, roughly a twelve to fifteen minute drive from Moody Centre depending on the hour. If you are reading this you have probably already worked out that Port Moody, with a population of about 33,500, is a small city, and that the gym you want may not be inside its borders.
So the useful question is what you get for the drive. The honest answer is range: gi and no-gi in the same week, wrestling and kickboxing on the same mats, and a room that supports the person aiming at a competition podium and the person who will never enter one.
Why People Travel For It
Gi and No-Gi in the Same Week
A lot of people arrive with a preference already formed. Training only one of them for years is a decision, and it is usually made by accident rather than on purpose.
Our adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program runs both. The gi teaches patience and precision, because the grips are there and you have to solve problems rather than slip out of them. No-gi teaches you to hold position when there is nothing to grab, and it moves faster. People who train both tend to end up with a game that does not fall apart when the conditions change.
You do not have to choose on day one. Come in, train what is on the schedule that night, and see which one you keep thinking about on the way home.
More Than One Discipline
Wrestling and Kickboxing Under One Roof
Jiu-jitsu is our core, and everything else on our timetable exists because it makes the jiu-jitsu better or because our members asked for it.
Wrestling
Most grapplers are weakest standing up. Our wrestling classes deal with the part of a match that happens before anyone hits the mat: level changes, grip fighting, finishing a takedown and staying on top of it. If you compete, this is often where matches are decided. If you do not, it is still the fastest way to stop feeling helpless on your feet.
Kickboxing
Our kickboxing program is open to ages thirteen and up and runs as its own thing. Some members do it purely for conditioning and never set foot on the grappling mats. Others use it as a second training night in a week that would otherwise be all jiu-jitsu. Each is taught on its own terms, and we are not trying to turn a kickboxing student into a grappler or the reverse.
For a Port Moody member making a deliberate trip, a schedule with more than one thing on it means the drive covers more ground.
Two Kinds of Student
Competing Is a Choice, Not the Default
Some gyms are built around a competition team and everyone else trains in its wake. We have tried to hold both sides, and it is mostly a matter of being clear with people about what they actually want.
If you want to compete, there is a group here who does, coaching that takes it seriously, and rounds hard enough to prepare you. Professor Khatib Ahmad, our head instructor, is a fourth degree black belt, and Professor Mahan Salimian and Professor Ash "Smash" Mashreghi are black belts as well. Coach Igor Vavi and Coach Kim round out the staff. You can read more on our about page.
If you never want to compete, that is not treated as a lesser path. Plenty of our members train two nights a week for fitness, for the problem solving, or because it is the only hour in the day nobody can reach them.
Planning the Week
Making the Trip Worth It
Coming from Klahanie, Newport Village, Suter Brook or Moody Centre, the simplest route is out to the Lougheed and down to the Brunette Avenue interchange. From Heritage Mountain or Heritage Woods add a few minutes for the descent. Transit is possible, but the Evergreen Extension runs Port Moody's two stations, Moody Centre and Inlet Centre, north and east toward Coquitlam Central rather than down toward Brunette Avenue, so almost everyone who comes to us from Port Moody drives.
Because of that, most of our Port Moody members pick fixed nights and keep them. Adult jiu-jitsu runs Monday 7 to 8pm, Tuesday 1 to 2pm and 7 to 8pm, Wednesday 1 to 2pm, 6 to 7pm and 7 to 8pm, and Thursday 1 to 2pm and 7 to 8pm. The midday classes are worth knowing about if you work from home or on shift, because the drive at 12:40 in the afternoon is nothing like the drive at 6:15. The full timetable, including kids classes and kickboxing, is on our schedule page.
Before You Commit
Try It Before You Build the Drive Into Your Week
The first class is free, for adults and for kids. That matters more when you are travelling from another city, because the only way to know whether a room suits you is to stand in it.
We hold a 5.0 rating across 116 Google reviews, the highest of any dedicated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym in Coquitlam. That is a useful signal, but it is not the same as knowing. Come and find out, then decide whether the drive from Port Moody is one you want in your week.
Call 604-777-0396
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions From Port Moody
The things Port Moody residents usually ask before their first visit. For anything else, contact us.
Plan on twelve to fifteen minutes from Moody Centre or Newport Village outside of rush hour, and a little more from Heritage Mountain or Heritage Woods. Evening traffic on the Lougheed can stretch it. Our 1 to 2pm adult classes exist partly for people who would rather not sit in it.
It is possible but it is not quick. The Evergreen Extension serves Port Moody at Moody Centre and Inlet Centre, and reaching Brunette Avenue means riding south through Burquitlam and transferring, then finishing on a bus. Nearly everyone who trains with us from Port Moody drives instead.
No. Both are part of the adult program and members train whichever sessions fit their week. Some people settle into one after a year, and that is fine. Starting with both is the better default, because it is hard to know what you prefer until you have done a few months of each.
No. Most of the room does not compete. Training hard and competing are separate decisions, and we do not treat a tournament schedule as proof that someone is serious. Tell your instructor what you are training for and the coaching will match it.
Yes, and a number of members do exactly that. Kickboxing is open to ages thirteen and up. It is a common pairing for people driving in from out of town, because two different sessions make a two-night-a-week commitment feel much less repetitive. They are separate disciplines, taught separately, rather than blended together.