Jiu Jitsu Gym Near Me in Hendon: Mill Hill BJJ on Watford Way

Mill Hill BJJ is not in Mill Hill. The academy trains at 270 Watford Way, London NW4 4UJ, on the A41 in Hendon, and keeps the name it carried from its first home, a small building its founder called The Boat. A single class costs £20, adult membership is £100 a month with gi and no-gi combined and no contract, and there is a 90-minute lunchtime class every day from Monday to Saturday.

The academy's About page tells the story through its founder. Nick Brooks opened Mill Hill BJJ while he was still a brown belt under Roger Gracie, and went on to build the Mill Hill association, which the site says now includes more than 30 academies across Europe. He competed four times at the Europeans and twice at the World Masters and Seniors, and fought at the Gracie Invitational in both gi and no-gi.

Brooks died in December 2021, aged 55. The academy now runs as a community interest company, Mill Hill Brazilian Jiu Jitsu CIC, registered at Companies House in April 2023. The site does not give a founding year, and we will not invent one. What it does show is a lineage that leads straight back to Roger Gracie, whose own headquarters sits across London in Hammersmith.

Owner and head coach Cristinel Tilvar has trained for more than 17 years, starting at the Roger Gracie Academy. In 2015, at the World Masters in Rio, he and other members of the team came home with gold medals. His name appears on almost every adult class on the board.

Rob Connor, a third-degree black belt who received his black belt from Roger Gracie and also holds a judo black belt, leads the advanced kids programme and teaches the Wednesday evening gi class. Silviu Nastasa, a first-degree black belt promoted inside Mill Hill with judo and wrestling behind him, co-teaches the lunchtime sessions. Michelle Nicolini, holder of eight IBJJF world titles and an ADCC gold medal, appears on the trainer list, though no class on the current timetable carries her name.

The weekly board is unusually friendly to people with day jobs. Adults can train from 12:00 to 13:30 every day from Monday to Saturday, in the gi on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and without it on Tuesday and Thursday. Monday and Friday add an early class from 6:30 to 7:30am for people who want to train before work.

Evenings run from 19:30 to 21:00. Monday and Wednesday are all-levels gi classes, Tuesday and Thursday are submission grappling, and Friday night belongs to the advanced competition team. The academy does not open on Sundays.

For a first visit we would choose the Saturday lunchtime class, which is all levels and in the gi, or a Monday 6:30am session if you want a quieter mat. Friday evening is the one slot to avoid until you have a few months behind you, because the timetable labels it for the competition team.

The published way to try the academy is the £20 single class, listed on the timetable for every adult session. No free trial class is advertised, so budget for the drop-in on your first night.

Adult membership is £100 a month by direct debit through the Clubwise online shop, covering gi and no-gi classes with no minimum term. At six adult lunchtime classes plus five evening and two dawn sessions a week, a member who trains three times a week pays roughly £8 a class, against £20 on the drop-in rate.

Children's pricing is less tidy. The homepage lists a child membership at £60 a month, while the Clubwise shop sells the plan for kids aged 4 to 17 at £100. The timetable splits the difference by tagging Kids 8+ classes at £60 a month and Kids 4–7 at £100, so the fee depends on which age group your child trains in.

Children start at age four. The 4–7 class runs from 17:00 to 17:45 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the Kids 8+ gi class follows on Monday and Wednesday from 18:00. Rob Connor takes the advanced kids on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Friday in no-gi and Saturday from 9:00 to 10:30am.

Kit for children is sold in person at the gym only: a child gi costs £60, a top and shorts set £60 and shorts alone £30. No adult gi price is listed.

The academy's own beginners' guide asks you to trim your nails, tie back long hair, remove jewellery and bring a water bottle. A rash guard and shorts are acceptable if you do not own a gi yet, which makes the Tuesday or Thursday lunchtime no-gi class a simple first choice.

Classes follow the familiar pattern of warm-up, technique, drilling and rolling, then a cool-down. The guide also suggests telling your partner that you are new and pacing yourself through the first sparring rounds, advice worth taking seriously on a mat full of experienced Roger Gracie descendants.

Sunny Hill Park, NW4 4NA, lies about 300 metres from the academy in a straight line and has an entrance from Watford Way. Its 22 hectares of slopes give long views north and west, and there is a café for a recovery coffee after the lunchtime class.

The RAF Museum London on Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL, lies under a kilometre away. Entry is free, booking is recommended, and the museum opens daily from 10am to 5pm, so it pairs with a Saturday or weekday lunchtime session rather than an evening class.

Mill Hill BJJ, 270 Watford Way, London NW4 4UJ, in the London Borough of Barnet. The academy does not publish a nearest station. By straight-line measurement, Hendon Central and Colindale on the Northern line are each about 1.2 kilometres away, and Hendon Thameslink is about 1.5 kilometres.

Opening hours on the site are 6:30am to 9pm on Monday and Friday, noon to 9pm from Tuesday to Thursday, and 9am to 2pm on Saturday. The academy's Instagram posted fresh training reels on June 13 and September 27, 2026, and the Clubwise shop was selling memberships in October 2026.