BLOWS (Osaka, Japan)

Overview
BLOWS had a variety of classes including kickboxing, MMA, and BJJ (Gi & No-gi) classes. The gym offers classes in the morning (10:00–12:30) and in the evening (18:00–23:00). I had a chance to take an MMA beginner’s and BJJ (Gi & No-gi) class on Monday. Although the head instructor, Takashi Nakakura who was the former Shooto welterweight champion, did not speak fluent English, he paid close attention to each individual student’s techniques and provided meaningful feedback.

The beginner’s MMA class was focused on takedowns. The technique covered by this class could easily translate to no-gi. The class consisted of an extended warm-up and 3 related takedown drills. BLOWS’ BJJ class was both taught in gi and no-gi simultaneously and you can decide what to wear to the class. The instructor modified the same techniques to fit into each style. As the majority of students were focused on competing in MMA, No-gi students were more prevalent in BLOWS.

Please note that this gym does not mainly focus on BJJ. I could easily tell that students at BLOWS prefer striking and MMA classes by the number of students in each class.

If you would like to train in a different environment in Osaka, you should visit BLOWS. Several students were active MMA competitors who could provide different perspective for your Jiu-Jitsu game.

After training at BLOWS, I was invited to a local BJJ competition by Evan, who is a blue belt at BLOWS. The competition was held by several local gyms in the Kansai region. You never know what opportunities will open up unless you try something new! 

Location
BLOWS is located in the heart of Namba/Dotonbori area. It is near the Namba (Midosuji Line, Yotsubashi, line & Sen-Nichimae line) or Nipponmbashi (Sakaisuji line & Sen-Nichimae line) subway station. From these stations, you can easily walk to the gym. You could easily spot the gym sign and it is located on the 6th floor of the building. (Google Map: Link)

Facility
BLOWS has 3 separate training areas: A boxing ring, a lifting & heavy bag area and an open training area. The gym itself is small but has everything you need to train. It has a locker room and two showers equipped with shampoo and body soap.

Schedule
BLOWS has classes every day. As mentioned, classes are offered in the morning (10:00–12:30) and in the evening (18:00–23:00). Only morning classes are offered on Sunday. Please see below for the detailed schedule:

Visitor Fee
There was no official drop-in fee posted on their website. However, one day drop-in fee was 4,000 yen (~$36 USD)

<<Exchange Rate: 1000Yen =~$8.9 USD as of November 26th, 2017>>