Featured affiliated academy: The Farm Association, BJJ Spain
Where is the gym located?
The gym is located in the city of Manacor, Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain. It is in a unique setting, located inside a hilltop country villa, with an orchid and animals.
How many people train there?
At the moment we have 80 members who train with us, and we are constantly growing.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
We’ve only been open since November 2023 and seen our gym grow from 12 initial members to 80 within 10 months. This has been a huge achievement.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
We have all levels at our gym, from white to black.
When did the gym open?
November 2023.
Some facts about you:
Name: Scott McGuigan
Age: 36
Belt: Brown
Profession: Educational researcher
Years in BJJ: 8
Other martial arts: Muay Thai, wrestling, and BJJ
Currently living in: Manacor, Mallorca, Baleàric Islands, Spain.
Originally from: Scotland
Please tell us the story of how The Farm Association, BJJ Spain came into existence
Having previously lived in Asia and having travelled around the world training at different gyms, I experienced many different learning or training styles, along with making lots of connections with awesome people in BJJ. After 7 years of travelling and working abroad, I eventually settled in Mallorca, Spain. We wanted to create something completely unique. By choosing a countryside setting, we allowed ourselves to train in the middle of nature. Having access to all that natural light makes a huge difference to your emotions and enhances your training experience. You can smell the freshness of the garden as you enter the gym.
We also wanted to create an academy with a unique methodology for training which we just did not have access to on the island. We structure all of our lessons around a task-based learning approach, with a focus on consistent movement and problem solving in every lesson. This has been inspired by my personal research into educational methodology and the effectiveness of hyper focus in learning. We encourage all of our students to learn through movement and play, with a focus on more intensity when the time comes for a more competitive element. We have seen a significant improvement of skill retention and understanding since implementing these methods of training.
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
We are a family orientated gym, with most of our students having full time jobs. We have a significant number of guardia civil and police officers that train with us, they make up around 50% of our student population. We are really blessed with a fantastically positive learning environment, where everybody can have a laugh and a joke, whilst getting down to business when the time comes to get more competitive.
Why do they train in The Farm Association, BJJ Spain?
Most people train with us to enhance their everyday lives. We are seeing more and more people having an interest in BJJ and acknowledging the benefits it can have on your quality of life. It pleases me more than anything else to see these people grow. We do also have a good record in competition, having success at European level as well as grappling industries and local Spanish competitions, but again, our students are achieving this whilst working full time and with families, so the focus will always be on personal growth and development as opposed to solely competition. As a coach it pleases me more than anything else to see someone who has never done any sport before come in, try for the first time… enjoy it! Because that is important and becomes extremely resilient through training. The sense of achievement they acquire is like nothing else they have experienced.
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically?
I have actually been extremely blessed as I have grown at a rapid rate. This however, can come with the challenge of “keeping up”. I have a planned extension of facilities to increase our 70m2 of Fuji tatami to 110m2, as well as previously building changing, toilet, and shower facilities. This all costs a lot of money for initial investment and it can be hard as the money you make might not be so high at first. It is also a challenge to keep the gym grounded and maintain your initial close community values and keep your pricing to an affordable rate with significant extension work. But all of this I have made it my objective to achieve. I always want it to be as affordable as possible for my students.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
The future is bright, I believe Mallorca has a growing community of gyms and students and I hope they can all work together to enhance the community on the island and use BJJ to teach positive human values and morals and not just focus on the competitive element. I see our gym and myself continuing to develop, create and reinvent effective ways of teaching and learning to make BJJ more effective and accessible to all.
What’s the best thing about The Farm Association, BJJ Spain?
The environment for sure, in more than one aspect. The friendliness of our team is just awesome. The people who train here really make this a special place, so to me… this is number one! The second is the way we teach. Tourists and visitors of all levels (some very high level) always comment on the effectiveness and uniqueness of our lessons. And lastly, of course, it’s in the countryside, which is just a nice thing to experience when training.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
My dogs!
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