Jiu Jitsu Gym Near Me in Nishigaoka: CHECKMAT Tokyo's Beginners-Only Mat

CHECKMAT TOKYO trains on the third floor of the Hoshikame Building at 1-44-5 Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, a residential corner of northern Tokyo where the dojo's own website calls itself an academy where beginners grow strong. The house rule is unusual: members must be new to grappling, and anyone with judo, wrestling, sambo or MMA experience is turned away. Your first class is free, observation needs no booking, and October 2026 carries an autumn campaign that waives the enrollment fee.

The join page spells the policy out in three lines. People with experience in grappling arts such as judo, wrestling, sambo or MMA are refused membership. Kickboxers, karateka and other strikers are welcome. Anyone who has trained Brazilian jiu jitsu elsewhere may join, but only as a white belt.

The head instructor explains the reasoning on the homepage: he believes jiu jitsu exists for the weak, and that people who have never fought are the ones who best show how strong and enjoyable the art can be. In practice it means the room is full of adults who started from zero, which is exactly what most nervous first-timers hope to find. Kids classes are for elementary school pupils, and junior high students join the adult classes.

Instructor Toshiyuki Sato went to Brazil to train in the early days of Japanese jiu jitsu, studied under CHECKMAT founder Leonardo Vieira, and trained at Alliance, Brasa and Checkmat. His competition record lists third place at the 1997 IBJJF World Championship at blue belt, the 2003 GI02 Japan Cup title, and third place in the black belt master under-75 kg division at the 2006 CBJJO World Championship.

He says he has promoted about 16 black belts, all of them with more than 20 years in the art, and he credits that longevity to a style that avoids head-on collisions and keeps injuries low. The wider team, founded by brothers Leonardo and Ricardo Vieira, claims more than 500 branches worldwide and the 2021 world team title.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday share one pattern: a daytime jiu jitsu class from 11:00 to 12:00, the competition-focused ガチ柔術 from 18:15 to 19:45, a regular jiu jitsu class from 19:45 to 20:45 and a beginner class from 20:45 to 21:35. Tuesday and Thursday start with kids at 17:45 and competition training at 18:30, followed by MMA for beginners and, on Thursday, a women's kickboxing hour.

Saturday runs kids at 10:30, then competition training at 18:00, open mat at 19:00 and a beginner class at 20:00. Sunday has no-gi from 10:00, an All Level class at 12:00 and open mat at 13:00. The timetable marks which sessions newcomers may join: the regular jiu jitsu classes, the beginner classes, All Level and MMA for beginners. Our pick for a first visit is a Monday, Wednesday or Friday night, because you can sit on the bench during the 19:45 class and then step onto the mat for the 20:45 beginner hour.

One trial class is free. Book it through the form on the homepage with your name, age, height for the loaner gi, sports history and preferred date, then arrive about ten minutes early with a towel and water. You will sign a waiver before stepping on. Pay-per-visit weekend classes have no free trial.

Monthly dues on the price page are ¥12,000 for men and ¥11,000 for women and university students, with a ¥10,000 enrollment fee that the October campaign removes. High school students pay ¥8,000 a month, and elementary pupils pay ¥6,000. Families take ¥1,000 off per person, and women's kickboxing is ¥5,000 a month.

New members also buy the team's VITAL gi for ¥25,000 and a ¥1,500 patch, and sports insurance is ¥2,000. The join page works through a sample start-up bill for a man that comes to ¥59,000, and dues are drawn by bank transfer from two months after joining, so bring your bank seal on sign-up day.

The cheapest way in is the 週末柔術 weekend course: no enrollment fee and ¥1,500 per visit, with only the application form required and no bank paperwork. It suits office workers who cannot commit to weeknights and want to test whether the habit sticks before paying monthly dues.

Visiting grapplers from other academies pay ¥3,500 a class, CHECKMAT members from other branches pay ¥2,000, and CHECKMAT black belts train free. The English page adds that payment is cash only, so stop at an ATM before you come.

The academy posts fifteen rules, and several shape your first night. Shake hands with everyone when you arrive and leave, Brazilian style, starting with the black belts. Tap early, train within your limits, and never step off the tatami barefoot, because the floor beyond it is for outdoor shoes, so slippers are provided and must go back where you found them.

Valuables go on the shelves rather than in the changing room, and drinks stay on the tables around the mat so nobody lands on them during a sweep. Wash your gi after every session, and if you train twice in a day bring a second one. Wear a jiu jitsu gi rather than a judo gi, whose wide sleeves are hard to grip properly.

The space has air conditioning, a toilet, separate changing rooms for men and women and bicycle parking. Its rental listing states that there is no shower, so pack a towel and a fresh shirt for the ride home.

Akabane Nature Observation Park at 5-2-34 Akabanenishi sits only a few minutes' walk north of the dojo. It was built on part of a former Ground Self-Defense Force site, and the ward has replanted it with species native to the area, alongside a relocated old farmhouse and a multipurpose field.

GO TOKYO lists it as free, open from 8:00, closing at 16:30 in the cooler months and 18:00 in summer. A Sunday morning loop before the 12:00 All Level class is a gentle way to arrive warmed up, and the park's wooded slope is a quiet contrast to the mat afterwards.

CHECKMAT TOKYO, Hoshikame Building 3F, 1-44-5 Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, Tokyo. Phone 080-3255-7544 or email checkmattokyo@outlook.jp. The academy does not publish a nearest station. By our own map measurement, Motohasunuma on the Toei Mita Line is about 800 metres away in a straight line, and Akabane is roughly 1.2 kilometres.

Observation is free and needs no appointment. Members who want to train at other gyms must ask permission first, and private lessons for members cost ¥3,000 for 20 minutes or ¥9,000 for an hour. The blog was updated as recently as October 17, 2026, with posts aimed at beginners over 40 and at people who would rather skip sparring.