Jiu Jitsu Gym Near Me in Katong: The Gentle Art Academy

The Gentle Art Academy starts its first jiu jitsu class of the day at 7am, Monday to Friday, in unit #02-08 of Katong Square, 88 East Coast Road, Singapore 423371. A new adult pays S$88 for two weeks of unlimited training, and Marine Parade MRT is a five-minute walk away. If you live in the east and want jiu jitsu near me before the office, few timetables in Singapore are this early this often.

Brendan Foong began training in Australia in 2006, opened The Gentle Art Academy in 2014 and received his black belt in 2017; today he is programme director across the Katong and Novena branches. Head coach Arthur Gomes Barbosa started in 1997 and earned his black belt in 2008 under Master Jair Lourenço of Kimura Nova União, which gives the classes a Brazilian competition backbone. Arthur won gold in both his weight division and the open absolute on the Brazilian circuit, and also trains Gymnastica Natural, agility drills and judo; the academy calls him its own encyclopedia of BJJ moves.

Brendan's route was unusual: he balanced the mats with work as a senior director at several Fortune 500 companies before opening the school, and he wrote its syllabus himself. The stated ambition is to be the Harvard school of jiu jitsu, with a disciplined, academic approach, a comprehensive syllabus and a proper progression from strong basics up through layers of complexity.

The black belt bench also includes Jose "Jar" Arboleda and Jek Ferrer from Atos, Kris Leverton and Ashley Chong, promoted in 2023, while Ali Parvin, a UWW-certified coach, leads wrestling. The team results back up the coaching: the academy took first place in the adult team standings and second in kids at Grappling Industries in 2026, and Jiu-Jitsu Magazine has called it Singapore's top competitive BJJ academy.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays share the same adult backbone: BJJ from 7am to 8am and again from 7pm to 8:30pm. Mondays and Fridays add a 90-minute lunchtime class from noon. Wednesday is the no-gi day, with sessions at 7am, noon and 7pm, so anyone who prefers rash guards should aim midweek.

Evening adult classes run 90 minutes rather than the usual hour, which leaves real time for positional sparring after technique. Saturday has nothing on this branch's grid; Novena's Saturday adult open mat from 1pm to 2pm covers that gap for members willing to cross town.

Sundays belong to free rolling. The adult open mat runs from noon to 1pm, alongside an adult wrestling class in the same hour, and a steady stream of kids' sessions fills the rest of the day from 9:30am to 4pm. Bring a training partner if you want guaranteed rounds; the open mat is unstructured, and the wrestling class is the better pick if you want coaching on takedowns and pins from the academy's Olympic wrestling coach.

Babybolos is the class for four to six year olds, Kids BJJ covers six to twelve, and a Teen programme runs for ten to fourteen. The weekday afternoons from 4pm to 7pm are given over to children, including a Monday competition class, a Thursday advanced class and kids' wrestling and no-gi on Mondays and Fridays. Several of the Google reviews quoted on the branch page are from parents, including one whose eight-year-old has trained for more than six months and another whose daughter has been coming for several years. The kids' syllabus was developed with childhood development experts, and the trial booking form offers separate Babybolos, Kids and Teen trials, each showing its own duration and price once selected.

Book the trial online and arrive at least 15 minutes before the class. Wear comfortable fitted sportswear; the academy will tell you whether a gi is needed for that slot, and gis can be rented or bought on site. No martial arts background is required, and the trial is pitched as beginner-friendly, so a 7am Monday is a fine first class. If your plans change after booking, contact the academy as early as possible using the details in your confirmation email.

Gi training is the default, but every Wednesday is no-gi, which is the easiest day to try without borrowing a uniform. Membership prices are not published; staff discuss plans once you have finished the two-week trial.

The academy is also the only Suples Experience Centre in Southeast Asia, with official Suples Pro instructors teaching Bulgarian bag training; Brendan is certified under the bag's inventor Ivan Ivanov, and the method is used by the US and Bulgarian Olympic wrestling teams for strength and endurance. If you are deciding between this branch and GFTeam a few streets inland on Joo Chiat Road, choose Katong for early mornings and Sundays and GFTeam for weekday mid-morning classes at 10:30am.

Walk west along East Coast Road to 328 Katong Laksa at number 51, where the noodles are cut short so the bowl can be eaten with a spoon alone. For a cheaper hawker breakfast after a dawn class, the food centre at Block 84 Marine Parade Central is on the way back to Marine Parade station. Katong Square itself sits near i12 Katong, so coffee and groceries are within a few minutes on foot.

The Gentle Art Academy East Coast, #02-08 Katong Square, 88 East Coast Road, Singapore 423371. Marine Parade MRT is about five minutes away on foot, and buses run along East Coast Road. The adult trial costs S$88 for two weeks unlimited. The Novena branch is at #01-39B United Square, Singapore 307591, a five-minute walk from Novena MRT. Both branches teach the same syllabus, so a Katong member travelling for work in the centre can follow the same curriculum at United Square on a Saturday afternoon.