The advice was “sound”, and from people I had a huge amount of respect for.

“It just won’t work, there aren’t enough people” they said.

I wanted to open a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club in a rural UK town with a population of just 10,000. Our closest neighbours are three cities, all an hour’s drive away, with six to ten times the population and established combat sports scenes. To make matters more challenging, a huge portion of our local demographic is in the 60+ age bracket – hardly the target market for a BJJ gym.

But I had a different perspective.

For years, I had been making two-hour round-trip commutes just to get a roll in. I knew that if I was feeling that “anti-social” commute fatigue, others were too. So, in June 2024, I ignored the warnings and founded a BJJ club.

Eighteen months later, and Borderlands Grappling is going stronger than ever. From humble beginnings, we have tripled our memberships in the last 6 months, seen some early competition success, and grown an energetic and inclusive community in an isolated town in the UK.

Here are some things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Perfection is a dream-killer

Ever since I received my purple belt back in 2019, I started to dream about opening an academy, but the excuses were easy to find. I told myself I couldn’t start because I didn’t have the perfect venue, I didn’t have enough coaching experience, or a guaranteed student base.

The reality? You have to bite the bullet.

While you can never compromise on safety, insurance, or qualifications, everything else is secondary. I used a local Facebook group to find our venue and our first students. I couldn’t find a “hack” for the high cost of quality mats, so I just sucked it up and invested. My advice to anyone sitting on the fence: get started as soon as you meet the minimum standards, and improve your facility as you grow.

2. Being “small and scrappy” is a superpower

In a massive city gym, you’re often just a number in a sea of white belts. In a small town, you are a community pillar. Because I didn’t start with a high-overhead, state-of-the-art facility, I was able to pivot based on real-time feedback from my students.

I initially worried that a modest venue would make us less attractive. I was wrong. People don’t keep coming back because you have a 24/7 massage therapist or custom-branded wall pads; they come back because they can see that you are genuinely invested in their progress.

We can currently only accommodate around 12 students in each class we run. I quickly realised that one of our Unique Selling Points (USPs) was the fact that all our students got 1-to-1 time with the coach – something that is hard to achieve in much larger academies.

3. You will wear every hat (and some will be heavy)

Running a BJJ gym certainly isn’t for everyone.

“Running a gym sucks, you know?” admits Craig Jones.

After all, being a black belt, or even one of the best grapplers in the world, doesn’t mean you’ll be a natural at running a school. When you open your own mats, your “mat time” suddenly includes being an accountant, a marketer, a cleaner, a first aider, and a risk assessor.

It is a legitimate grind. I now have a massive amount of respect for gym owners because I’ve seen how much work happens when the Gi is off. If you only want to coach and roll, don’t open a gym. If you’re going to build a business, prepare to work harder off the mats than you do on them.

4. Marketing never sleeps

This was a hard lesson. Even in a tiny town where “everyone knows everyone,” I still meet people who have lived here for years and have no idea we exist.

Word-of-mouth is your most powerful weapon, but you cannot rely on it alone.

To keep a steady trickle of new students coming through the door, you have to be relentless with your marketing. Luckily, we have found that once we get them through the door, our culture does the rest of the work—but getting them to find the front door in the first place requires consistent effort.

5. Kids’ classes drive the culture

I was hesitant to teach kids at first, fearing it would be more “babysitting” than BJJ. However, it quickly became the heartbeat of the club.

Children’s BJJ isn’t just about movement; it’s a powerful tool for building discipline and confidence. An unexpected bonus? Kids bring their parents. We’ve had several students join our adult classes simply because they watched their children training and wanted to try it themselves.

The real question: Was it worth it?

Opening Borderlands Grappling in Ludlow was the best “bad” decision I’ve ever made. Seeing the smiles on students’ faces and building a genuine community in the town I grew up in is worth every hour of admin and every penny spent on mats. If you’re thinking of opening a club in a remote area, ignore the “sound advice” and focus on the people.

About the author

Owain Williams is the Founder and Head Coach of Borderlands Grappling in Ludlow, UK. A UKBJJA-registered black belt with over 15 years of experience on the mats, Owain’s martial arts journey began in 2008 before taking him through some of the UK’s most respected academies.

An active competitor in some of the UK’s top events, he moved back to his roots to bring high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to rural Shropshire, proving that high-level training doesn’t have to require a city commute.

Find out more about Owain Williams here.

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