Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy (Osaka, Japan)

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Overview
Tri-Force Osaka had a welcoming atmosphere to foreigners. A few students and one instructor spoke fluent English, but the majority of students did not. But, because this is a fitness class, I could understand instructions by observing and following other students’ leads.

Tri-Force Osaka offers only gi classes. However, I was invited to an open mat and 4–5 students were rolling no-gi. The class structure consisted of regular BJJ warm-ups followed by 3 to 4 related techniques of the day. Instructors demonstrated approximately 4 to 5 times and you then drilled with your partners for 5 minutes per technique. Warm-ups and techniques took about an hour, followed by a rolling session for 30 minutes.

The fascinating aspect of Japan’s BJJ culture is that you might be surprised by how formal certain aspects of classes could be. For example, Tri-Force Osaka always starts and ends classes with a 20 second meditation before warm-ups and they always start drills with partners and rolling with saying “Onegaishimasu (pronounced Oh-Ne-Gai-Shi-Masu)” and shaking hands with both hands, a sign of respect to your partner.

I firmly believe that this gym has highly skilled instructors and students who are dedicated to learning BJJ. However, as the gym itself was established not long ago, there aren’t many higher belts at Tri-Force Osaka. Regardless, I would recommend dropping by Tri-Force Osaka if you are in town, though it might make sense to train for more than one day to make the higher visitor fees worth it.

As a side note, I became friends with Naoki and Brodie who are blue belts at Tri-Force Osaka. They invited me to dinner and drinks at a Japanese bar (Yakidori) after training and showed me around Osaka. As a solo traveler, I am amazed by how close the BJJ community is wherever you go.

Location
Tri-Force Osaka is conveniently located near the Honmachi subway station which is accessible via Chuo Line, Midosuji Line and Yotsubashi Line. From the station, you can easily walk to the gym. However, the gym is not visible from the street and is located on the 5th floor so you need to look inside the building for the sign which is somewhat inconvenient. (Google Map: Link)

Facility
Tri-Force Osaka’s facility can be described with one word: spotless. The gym has a locker room and two showers equipped with shampoo and body soap. 

Schedule
Tri-Force Osaka has a schedule posted online which shows training sessions day by day. (Schedule: Link). Tri-Force Osaka is closed on Mondays and it offers lunch classes (11:00) on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Only evening classes are offered on other days.

Visitor Fee
Given that Japan has a higher cost of living, drop-in fees are quiet pricey as well. You can either pay in cash in person or pay in advance via Paypal. Please see the link for the online payment: Online Payment

<<Exchange Rate: 1000Yen =~$8.8 USD as of November 8th, 2017>>

<<Tri-Force Osaka’s Head Instructor, Hideyuki Kawamoto>>

Miscellaneous
Tri-Force BJJ has an English website which you might find helpful: Link