How to know best jiu jitsu in Oklahoma?

• 1) You Don't Get Submitted As Often.
• 2) You Can Think And React Much Faster Than Before.
• 3) You Don't Get Exhausted As Easily.
• 4) Your Grip Is Much Stronger.
• 5) You've Gotten More Flexible.
• 6) You Can Escape Mounts More Effectively.

If you’ve been practicing it for awhile, you’ll know that like almost everything in life, it requires a great deal of hard work and dedication to succeed. There’s a reason why it takes 10 years to get a black belt!

So, if you’re in for the long haul, good for you – we believe that you’ll gain a deep understanding of the many techniques and of course, make steady progress. Speaking of which, if you’re wondering whether you’ve been improving, check the following signs and see if any of them apply to you!

Today, Evolve Daily shares 8 Signs You Are Getting Better At Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Even If You Don’t Realize It):

1) You Don’t Get Submitted As Often

When you started training BJJ, everything seemed foreign and it might have been tough for you to make sense of the techniques. For those who aren’t as coordinated, you might have had a hard time executing submissions. So you became an easy target and ended up getting submitted a lot.

But the good news is that you persisted and continued to regularly attend classes. And that’s why you eventually stopped getting submitted as much as before. In fact, you’re now the one submitting your partners.

2) You Can Think And React Much Faster Than Before

Because you’ve been attending classes regularly and paying attention to details, you’re able to grasp more techniques. Hence, you can apply them more quickly and effectively, and over time, it becomes second nature to you. That means you can now think on your feet and react much faster.

So don’t be surprised if at some point during live sparring, your muscle memory kicks in and enables you to execute that cross collar choke with ease.

3) You Don’t Get Exhausted As Easily

BJJ is a physically demanding sport, and your body has to be conditioned for maximum performance. So it comes as no surprise that most beginners would feel tired after (or sometimes during) training.

You’ll know that you’re improving once you notice you’re not gassing out as easily due to better stamina, or perhaps you’ve built your mental strength and can now go beyond your limits. Either way, that’s great progress!

4) Your Grip Is Much Stronger

At the beginning of your BJJ journey, your grip might not have been the best. And so, it was a challenge for you to have control over your partner. But because you held on, you established a good, firm grip – and now, you’re able to get into a dominant position more easily.

5) You’ve Gotten More Flexible

BJJ requires you to be flexible, so as to have a good guard and avoid injuries. You might not have been the most flexible person at the start – perhaps you couldn’t smoothly execute an armbar or do a proper hip escape. But the thing is, you got more flexible over time, and of course, this is a great sign of improvement!

6) You Can Escape Mounts More Effectively

Do you remember the first few times you were trapped in a mount? Well, it’s actually one of the worst positions to be caught in. We’re pretty sure it wasn’t easy to get out – and although it still might not be super easy, you can now at least turn the tables. This is all thanks to your faster reaction time, and better grasp of the techniques. Hence, you’re able to escape more effectively, and make every move count.

7) You’re Thinking Of Joining An Upcoming Competition

When you feel yourself improving, your confidence grows. And so, you might decide to take your BJJ to the next level by testing your skills in competitions. We say go for it! After all, competing is a great way to gain more experience and grow as a martial artist.

Psst! Our BJJ competition team tryout is happening later this month, in case you’re interested!

8) Your Friends Rely On You To Guide Them With Techniques

When you started BJJ, you probably felt confused and had to get your friends to help you make sense of the various techniques. However, you managed to understand them over time and now, you’re the one that people turn to when they can’t understand what’s going on.

When it comes to BJJ, what you give is what you get. So don’t give up when it gets tough, and always give your 100% – we believe this is the secret to making steady progress. So train hard and unleash your greatness!

Picking your next gym is like choosing a second home. To guide you, below is a list of the best MMA gyms in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

You can expect to see a lot of pure MMA gyms in this article. Some also mix things up with traditional Asian martial arts.

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Lovato’s School Of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA is a former accredited Jeet Kune Do school headed by Bruce Lee student Richard Bustillo. Now, it’s an MMA gym rebuilt by Rafael Lovato Sr. They offer BJJ, MMA, and Muay Thai, for both adults and kids.

If you’re into striking, you can try their Muay Thai class. Here, you’ll learn to throw elbows and knees. If you want to improve on the ground, you can try BJJ. However, if you want both, MMA is for you.

Lavato’s martial arts program is also recommended for people who want to train for fitness. Lavato’s mix overall body workouts with self-defense training. This ensures that you’re learning fighting skills and getting in your best shape.

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

The Summit Martial Arts is an MMA gym that teaches BJJ and MMA. They also offer their own unique Taek Won Do style called the way of the hand and foot. For Fitness lovers, you can enter their Fitness class.

TSMA is famous for its after-school program for kids. Here, kids will undergo enjoyable training. Safety is prioritized. During sparrings, a complete gear from head to foot will be used by every student to prevent unwanted accidents.

The gym was founded by Coach Jackson, a BJJ purple belt and a 5th-degree black belt of their unique Taek Won Do style. If you’re interested, you can visit or contact them to schedule you first class.

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Legacy Martial Arts BJJ & Kickboxing is an MMA gym that has a program for kids, teens, and adults. Kids will learn basic self-defense. For the teenagers, they get better self-defense training and a bit of life and decision-making advice.

The adults will have the choice between Kickboxing and Gi-BJJ. Kickboxing is incorporated with a lot of cardio workouts. Students will also use boxing gloves and focus mitts. Their BJJ students can use the mats for safer training.

All of the classes above are headed by Justin “Darth” Rader. He is a high-level BJJ competitor and a professional MMA fighter. Interested? Legacy is open Monday to Sunday; visit them now.

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Pride Mixed Martial Arts is an MMA gym that teaches western martial arts with a touch of Filipino self-defense. Here you can enter Mixed Martial arts and improve both your ground and striking game. If you want something new, you can try Sayoc Kali.

Sayoc Kali is a Filipino martial art that makes you use an edged weapon to defend yourself. Pinoys used this during the Spanish revolution. If you want to learn combat art with an excellent historical background, try Sayok Kali.

A Fierce and Fearless program is also available for the ladies. This women’s only class aims to build women’s confidence and teach them self-defense. Aside from that, they also administer kids’ classes. The Pride is open seven days a week.

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

National Martial Arts is an MMA gym that has programs for all ages. Here you can enter BJJ, Krav Maga, Fitness Bootcamp, and Yoga classes. Children will train under the Kids Striking program, an MMA program with Krav Maga BJJ and Kickboxing combined.

NMA offers a cool Fitness program. Students will get to train for 30 minutes of High-Intensity Interval Training(HIIT). During the training, students will use various gym equipment to make calorie-burning much easier.

The gym is owned by BJJ practitioner Michael South. He is accompanied by high-level martial artists, such as Marshall Troy. NMA is open from Monday to Saturday. The gym class on Saturdays is only from 11 pm to 2 pm.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Redline Jiu Jitsu Academy is a BJJ-focused gym. They have multiple skill-based BJJ programs. Young Champs for ages 4-7, Junior Champs for ages 8-12, and Future Black belts for advanced students. For adults, they have Redline Fundamentals and Redline Advanced programs.

Their advanced class has four class chapters. These chapters include Back Mount, Side Mount, Guard Bottom, Guard Top, and Legs. This helps Jiu-Jitsu practitioners to focus on one BJJ aspect at a time until they’re good enough to move on.

Redline was founded and, at the same time, headed by the 13th American Black Belt under the Gracie Family, Coach Ty Gay. Two-time UFC Featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega trained here. They are open Monday to Sunday.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Golden Tiger Martial Arts is a Taek Won Do specialized gym. Golden Tiger is founded by Korean national BongChan Jung. He is also a high-skilled athlete in the sport. Here, they have plenty of programs that are compatible with various ages.

Little Tigers are kids ages 4-6. Kids ages 7-12 are called Junior Tigers. While Teen’s martial arts are for 13+ children. There’s also a place for the older guys to train in adult martial arts.

For the ladies, they can partake in women’s self-defense classes that are available. Above all that, The Tigers also have a competition team called Golden Tiger Demo Team. They compete in various national tournaments.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Integrity Martial Arts is an MMA gym that offers programs such as BJJ, Isshinryu Karate, and Cardio Kickboxing. They divide their kid’s classes into two brackets. Lil Ninjas for ages 4-6 and Core Kids for ages 7-13.

Students have access to all their well-maintained gears. This can be body armor, head gears, kicking pads, and more. These gears will be utilized during sparrings and training to promote a safe training environment.

If you want to watch Integrity’s martial artists train, they have a Facebook page. In there, they do a live stream of their daily training sessions that’s available for free. Here you can see how they conduct their group trainings.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

American Elite MMA is an MMA gym founded and headed by a 2nd-degree black belt TJ Tomlin. Along with him are other top-level coaches such as JR Coughlan. JR is a Dana White Contender series veteran.

Here in American Elite, you’ll learn BJJ, MMA, and Kickboxing. They also have strength and conditioning for fighters with upcoming competitions. They’ve produced numbers of high-skilled fighters such as Julian “Sunshine” Learned. He has an impressive 17-1-1 MMA record.

The gym is filled with plenty of equipment that students can use. Strength and conditioning students will use gym equipment. Kickboxing and MMA will utilize pads, Boxing gloves, and the cage. Lastly, BJJ practitioners will have the mats for themselves.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Empire Jiu Jitsu is an MMA gym that focuses on both standing and ground games. Here they teach BJJ, Muay Thai, MMA, Judo, and Wrestling. The gym is owned and headed by coach Dustin. He is accompanied by twin coaches, Ken and Mike.

Empire’s BJJ class is focused on Gi-BJJ. However, if you want to train without the Gi, you can enter their No-Gi class every Monday to Thursday. Kids’ martial artists are called Little Emperors. Older guys are called Adult Emperors.

The gym has an amateur-sized MMA cage utilized by their Muay Thai and MMA fighters for sparring. If you want to be a part of The Empire, give them a call or a visit to claim your free trial class.

Our Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Mana Martial Arts is an MMA gym that teaches various martial arts. They offer MMA, Kali, Kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu, basic self-defense, and more. Mana is founded by master Chris. He also founded other Mana branches throughout the U.S.

Mana administers a self-defense seminar and teaches ordinary civilians the basics of defending themselves. This is open to all ages and genders. Furthermore, the gym has Kali sticks, MMA gloves, and Boxing gloves that martial artists can use for training.

Aside from combat skill improvement, they also aim to help students gain good habits. They do this by conducting self-control classes. Feel free to give them a visit. The first session for newbies is free.