Featured affiliated academy: Hipe, Scotland

Where is the gym located?
Hipe is based in central Edinburgh, Scotland, at the University of Edinburgh’s Pleasance Sports Complex, 46 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ.

How many people train there?
We currently have roughly 40 members and a wider community of around 140 people who visit to train, attend pay-as-you-go sessions or join our social events.Classes are capped at 15 people on the mat. That reflects the size of our training space, but it’s also a deliberate choice to maintain high-quality sessions and ensure everyone receives plenty of individual feedback in every class.

Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
Yes! We have new people coming along for free trials every week and are regularly welcoming new members. Every month this year has been our strongest version of that month since we opened – September was our best September, and October is already our best October. It’s encouraging to see the community continuing to grow.

What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
Our regular BJJ grades range from white belts with no stripes to purple belts, including myself. We also welcome higher belts for training visits and seminars throughout the year, and have several black belts in other martial arts training with us daily.

Belt grades only tell part of the story at Hipe. We have a strong focus on freestyle wrestling, catch wrestling and Scottish Backhold, which don’t use belts. We have national and international wrestling champions, as well as Division I college wrestlers, training and coaching with us—some of whom don’t hold a belt of any kind.

When did the gym open?
May 2024

Some facts about you:

Name: Max Freyne
Age: 29
Belt: BJJ purple belt. I’ve held that grade for three and a half years, although I don’t currently have access to a coach who can grade me.
Profession: Full-time combat sports, wrestling and martial arts coach, personal trainer, and owner and head coach of Hipe.
Years in BJJ: Around nine years of gi training and approximately 15 years of no-gi training, including submission wrestling (catch wrestling), Scottish Backhold wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
Other martial arts: Scottish Backhold wrestling, freestyle wrestling, catch wrestling, boxing and MMA. I’ve also trained in kickboxing and Muay Thai to a lesser extent, alongside Krav Maga and other self-defence systems.
Currently living in: Edinburgh, Scotland
Originally from: Edinburgh, Scotland

Max Freyne, head coach

Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence
Hipe grew through a couple of earlier forms, initially as Gallowgalass Grappling and then MaxFWrestling, before becoming Hipe in May 2024.

I wanted to create a high-quality wrestling room in Edinburgh that brought traditional wrestling together with modern wrestling and submission grappling. Scottish Backhold in particular means a great deal to me. It’s part of my culture and heritage, and part of Scotland’s sporting history. I want to help preserve that tradition by giving people opportunities to learn it, practise it and carry it forward.

For me, preserving these styles also means exploring what they can contribute to wrestling and grappling today. At Hipe, we bring Scottish Backhold, freestyle wrestling, catch wrestling and no-gi BJJ together, helping people discover the connections between them while appreciating what makes each distinctive.

Equally important was creating an inclusive community. I wanted people with different backgrounds, beliefs and ways of life to feel welcome on the same mat. You don’t need to share someone’s outlook or experiences to treat them with respect, become a trusted training partner and help each other improve. That shared experience of learning and wrestling together is at the heart of what I wanted Hipe to be.

Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
We have a very wide variety of people, ranging in age from 18 to 74. There are students and working adults, complete beginners and experienced martial artists, recreational grapplers and high-level competitors.

Some focus on wrestling, others on submission grappling, and some enjoy training across everything we offer. We want Hipe to be somewhere people from different backgrounds feel comfortable training together. You don’t need to arrive fit, experienced or confident to have a place here.

Team Hipe at the Highland Games

Why do they train?
People train for all sorts of reasons: health, fitness, confidence, competition, learning something new, or simply having an activity they enjoy. For some, wrestling and grappling support their development in another combat sport, such as MMA.

The social side matters too. Alongside training, we organise meals, trips and other activities. I want people to feel they’re joining a community as well as attending a class.

What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically?
Balancing coaching with everything involved in running a business is a challenge. Planning sessions and helping people improve sit alongside bookings, enquiries, marketing and managing venue costs.

Our biggest practical challenge is finding room to grow. We hire space at the Pleasance, which is a busy, popular facility, and there’s limited scope to increase our mat space or hours there. The demand is there, but we don’t want to overcrowd classes or compromise the quality of training. Finding suitable, affordable additional space in central Edinburgh is difficult.

Offering several wrestling styles also creates a scheduling challenge. We’re committed to keeping that variety, but some members would prefer to focus on one style throughout the year. Our current mixed wrestling classes provide valuable opportunities for cross-training, although that format doesn’t suit every member’s preferences. That’s one reason we’re excited to grow: we’d love to offer dedicated freestyle, Scottish Backhold and other style-specific classes year-round, giving people more choice while keeping the opportunity to train across styles.

Sparring at Hipe

How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
I’d like to see more clubs, more competitions and more collaboration between Edinburgh gyms.

There’s so much we can learn from one another through visiting open mats, sharing coaching ideas, hosting seminars and training with people outside our usual circles. Different clubs and coaches bring different strengths, and giving people opportunities to experience those benefits the whole community.

I’d love to see stronger connections between BJJ and other wrestling and grappling styles too. You can be proud of your own team and traditions while being curious about what others have to offer. My hope is that we keep building a community where visitors are welcome, knowledge is shared and we help each other improve.

What's the best thing about your gym?
The people and the atmosphere they create. The techniques matter, but the way people treat their training partners is what makes a club somewhere you want to keep coming back to.

I’m proud of building a place where people can work hard, ask questions, have a laugh and help each other improve. Seeing someone grow in confidence, become part of the group and then help a newcomer is particularly rewarding.

My intention has always been to create a room where international wrestling champions can share the mat with day-one beginners, and both can benefit. We put a lot of emphasis on clear communication and agreeing on intensity. Something I often say is, “I love sparring hard, but I hate surprises.” Whether someone wants a light technical round or a hard competitive one, their partner should know what to expect. Experienced competitors are expected to adjust to the person in front of them—being able to train constructively with a beginner is part of being a good training partner here.

The variety of wrestling and grappling we offer is another defining feature. Bringing Scottish Backhold, catch wrestling, freestyle wrestling and submission grappling together, alongside other traditional styles, makes for an unusual training environment. I haven’t encountered another club offering quite the same combination at the level we do.

We also regularly bring in guest coaches. Competing around the world has introduced me to fantastic wrestlers and martial artists, and I love being able to bring their knowledge back to our members. We’ve welcomed around nine or ten different guest coaches so far this year, with another two or three planned before the year is out. That gives people access to a wide range of high-level experience and different perspectives.

What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
Well, the outside of it is very nice too!

In Edinburgh, you can’t go wrong with the castle, Arthur’s Seat and Calton Hill. There’s so much history to explore, alongside beautiful views of the city and its skyline. If you’re travelling further afield in Scotland, I’d highly recommend Loch Lomond, Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye.

For grapplers, though, I’d particularly recommend planning a summer visit around a Highland Games. Scottish Backhold wrestling is a piece of living sporting and combat history – and you don’t necessarily have to settle for watching.

If you arrange your visit with us in advance, you could train Scottish Backhold at Hipe and then come along to a Highland Games with the team. We can help you prepare, travel with you, get you entered and support you throughout the event. It’s a brilliant way to experience Scottish culture, try something different and have a lot of fun with the team.

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Thanks for sharing! If you’d like to visit Hipe you can contact them here.

Training in Location: Edinburgh? See the Hipe academy page for the map, contact and nearby academies.

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