The first one in the country
Plenty of gyms call themselves the best. This is a different kind of claim, because it has a date on it and anyone can check it. Three separate records say the same thing.
Since 2006
The first one,
and still open
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Singapore opened in 2006, when there were fewer than five blue belts in the entire country. It is still running, now at Clarke Quay, and still taught by the man who started it.
Yahoo News, 2015
Called Jason Quek "arguably Singapore's greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer" and reported that he "launched Singapore's first and longest running Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in 2006".
Top 5 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Schools In Singapore, Don Feingold, 16 November 2015
AsiaOne
Calls Jason Quek "the first Singaporean BJJ black belt" and reports that he has "produced many medalists and competitors from the school since its establishment in 2006".
The domain record
bjjsin.com has been registered continuously since 18 August 2006, which is a public registry record rather than something the academy can edit.
2006
Fewer than five blue belts in the country
Yahoo News reported that when the academy opened there was "almost zero interest in the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" in Singapore, and that the whole country held fewer than five blue belts.
Every academy in Singapore now takes for granted a market that had to be built first. That is the part of the record worth knowing, and it is the reason the teaching here has never depended on a franchise syllabus: there was not one to follow.
About Jason QuekCompetition record
Nine first places as best academy
Starting in 2008, two years after the doors opened. Team placings add up every medal an academy's athletes win, so they measure the whole room rather than one standout. This is a record of what has been done, not a description of how it trains today.
1st, Best Academy
Singapore Grappling Championship: Gi & No-Gi
84.00 points 8 gold · 4 silver · 0 bronze · 22 wins
Ahead of FAMA 64, Fortitude BJJ 57, Evolve MMA 27
1st, Best Academy
Singapore Grappling Championship: No-Gi Edition
47.00 points 4 gold · 3 silver · 2 bronze · 16 wins
Ahead of FAMA 22, Team Highlight Reel 19
1st, Best Academy
ADCC Singapore II
55.00 points 3 gold · 9 silver · 1 bronze · 16 wins
Ahead of Team Highlight Reel 53, Synergy BJJ 24
The early years, 2008 to 2009
Two years after opening, the academy was already finishing first on the overall medal tally at competitions in Singapore. Twelve of its fourteen medals in 2008 came in no-gi.
1st on overall medal tally
Singapore International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competition2008
14 medals 5 gold · 2 silver · 7 bronze · 10 athletes
Fourteen medals from ten athletes across gi and no-gi, and five different athletes took gold. Two years after the doors opened.
1st on overall medal tally
Fightworks Asia Submission Grappling Tournament2009
7 medals 3 gold · 4 silver · 6 athletes
Seven medals on the no-gi day. The next three academies took one medal each: Fightworks Asia a gold, Kreation Jiu Jitsu a gold, Ultimate MMA a silver.
Results supplied by the academy from the event records.
South East Asian Grappling Challenge, 2014 to 2015
These are the placings Grapple Asia published. Across the events it recorded, the academy took first four times. The right hand column is medals divided by competitors entered, which is the fairer comparison when academies send very different squad sizes.
| Event | Placed | Medals | Entered | Per competitor | Next best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEAGC 1Feb 2014 | 1st | 17 | not published | not published | Evolve 9, Fight G 7 |
| SEAGC 2Jun 2014 | 1st | 29 | 25 | 1.16 | Evolve 18 from 40 (0.45), Impact 11 from 13 (0.85) |
| SEAGC 3Oct 2014 | 1st | 37 | 24 | 1.54 | Evolve 19 from 18 (1.06), Impact 16 from 9 (1.78) |
| SEAGC 5Jun 2015 | 1st | 28 | 28 | 1.00 | Evolve 14 from 20 (0.70), Trifecta 13, Juggernaut 13 |
| SEAGC 6Oct 2015 | 2nd | 24 | 17 | 1.41 | Evolve 47 from 42 (1.12) |
Grapple Asia Results Summary, published by the organiser. Competitor numbers were only recorded from June 2014 onward, so the February event lists medals alone. Covers the events it recorded rather than every event entered.
You do not have to compete
The medals above are a record, not an expectation. The academy is not run as a competition team and nobody is pushed toward a tournament.
The focus now is refining technique. That means going back over positions you already know and making them cleaner, rather than adding more moves or training to peak for a date in the calendar. It is why the class ends in a question and answer session instead of a hard spar.
If you want to compete, the experience is in the room and you will be prepared properly. Most people here never do, and that is the normal way to train.
What has not changed
Twenty years, still the same coach
Same founder on the mats
Jason Quek opened it and is still the primary instructor, which after twenty years is rarer than it sounds.
Still independent
No franchise, no association registration fee, no external syllabus to follow. What it costs.
Still taught by question
No syllabus, then or now. You bring the position you are stuck in and it gets rebuilt around how your body actually moves.
The record
Questions about the history
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Singapore, founded by Jason Quek in 2006. Yahoo News described it in 2015 as Singapore's first and longest running Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school, AsiaOne reports the academy as having nurtured practitioners since 2006, and the bjjsin.com domain has been registered continuously since August 2006.
Jason Quek. He was the first Singaporean to earn a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and opened the country's first dedicated BJJ school in 2006, when there were fewer than five blue belts in all of Singapore. Yahoo News later called him arguably Singapore's greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer.
Very small. Yahoo News reported that when the academy opened in 2006 there was almost zero interest in the sport in Singapore, and that there were fewer than five blue belts in the entire country at the time.
Since 2006, which is around twenty years of continuous operation at the time of writing. The academy now trains at 44 North Canal Road, Level 3, near Clarke Quay MRT, and Jason Quek is still the primary instructor.
Train where it started
One class, $30, no membership and no pressure. Message us and we will tell you which class to come to.