shawn williams/hollywood bjj

[Envious]

Shawn has come up to our school for a couple of seminars, he is an excellent teacher and a super nice guy.

[scottnak]

I began training there about 5 months ago and love it. Shawn is one of the most patient, technical, and knowledgeable teachers out here in Cali. Got his black belt from Renzo Gracie after being head instructor for his New York academy. HBJJ is actually an accredited Renzo affiliate school as well. The atmosphere at the academy is always light and casual and the people there are awesome. Everyone is down to help one another get better and to improve. The academy offers beginner, intermediate, advanced, BJJ for MMA, No-Gi, and Competition classes as well as a program for kids. The guys at the academy who compete always seem to do well. Check out the new website for more info. If you're interested, come check out a free class. As far as the "New Yorker" goes, we call it the "Williams Guard." Basically it's Shawn's take on the rubber guard. If you have someone in your guard and say have an overhook on your left side, you'd throw your leg on the left side over the top of the shoulder and lock your arm around the leg, pulling towards your head. The other arm creates a frame of the left side against your partners neck. Basically this holds your opponents posture down. From there it is easy to transition to omoplatas and other sweeps and finishes. It's great if you're not flexible enough to pull of the rubber guard.

[RogueStatus650]

anyone know the cost to train there? or if they let you stop by and train.. some gyms have like a 20 dollar drop by fee. I wanna learn the Shawn Williams guard.

[grdstorm11]

Originally Posted by Soid

Shawn Williams is a BJJ instructor so expect to see more gi classes. I'd do them if I were you. Shawn Williams is an excellent teacher as well as grappler. He basically invented the "New Yorker" (sorry for the gay name) and was known for using it in competition. His school is relatively new yet a lot of guys on here say that it's already the top school as far as competition which says a lot. You'll be in great hands with Shawn whether if it's for competition or recreational reasons. The guy is the fuckin man simply put.

I trained under Shawn Williams back in 2003 when I started BJJ at Renzos. He was my favorite instructor and when he left I damn near quit Jiu Jitsu, that will tell you something!

He was John Danaher's main training partner if I remember correctly, they got their black belts together. That should tell you something for all you Danaher fans out there.

Also what you are referring to is not the New Yorker but is referred to as the Shawn Williams Guard and is similar to the position 10th Planet calls "New York". I think its just a coincidence that Shawn developed a guard game from a similar position and used to train in New York with Renzo Gracie LOL.

I would also like to add that I think you should focus more on the Gi. For some people they take to the Gi very well however from my experience that if your first exposure to grappling was wrestling or any other type of No-Gi grappling and you had a basic grasp, you will undoubtedly gravitate toward No-Gi. This might stagnate your growth with the Gi and there is a lot to learn about BJJ by training Gi.

I am jealous of all your Hollywood people!

[JudokaBJJ]

Originally Posted by grdstorm11

I trained under Shawn Williams back in 2003 when I started BJJ at Renzos. He was my favorite instructor and when he left I damn near quit Jiu Jitsu, that will tell you something!

He was John Danaher's main training partner if I remember correctly, they got their black belts together. That should tell you something for all you Danaher fans out there.

Also what you are referring to is not the New Yorker but is referred to as the Shawn Williams Guard and is similar to the position 10th Planet calls "New York". I think its just a coincidence that Shawn developed a guard game from a similar position and used to train in New York with Renzo Gracie LOL.

I would also like to add that I think you should focus more on the Gi. For some people they take to the Gi very well however from my experience that if your first exposure to grappling was wrestling or any other type of No-Gi grappling and you had a basic grasp, you will undoubtedly gravitate toward No-Gi. This might stagnate your growth with the Gi and there is a lot to learn about BJJ by training Gi.

I am jealous of all your Hollywood people!

That just says alot about Shawn Williams.

I currently train there and its really great. Before I came to HBJJ I search every gym in Los Angeles and South Bay, except for Rickson. Hollywood BJJ is different from other schools, but whoses school isn't right. Right when I tried out the intro class for the first time I felt welcomed. Its really the atmosphere and how everyone cares and to help you out every way they can. No one out to hurt each other. We do tend to know the rules for the tournaments like not doing bicep slicers and other sorts. Shawn Williams is a really cool guy and very technical. His classes are informative and explains it properly. He is very patient in your progression and wants you to have fun in the process. I for sure was a lil spazzer myself when coming in 10 months ago, but I learned to slow things down and wait for the opportunity.

If anyone wants to just drop by then come into the afternoon or night classes shown on the website. Come in 20mins before the class starts.

If you wanna check out the class then I recommend calling or go to the website and put in your name and email address. So you can be setup for an intro class if its your first time. If its not your first time then just come by.

Hollywood Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu

[K Ja]

I was in the area on Thursday and decided to check the place out. It's a good school, great atmosphere, the people are all friendly, and Shawn Williams is a very knowledgeable instructor. I was a little worried I would get the cold shoulder since I train at another school and I was just visiting for the day, especially with the Pan-Ams coming up, but I felt welcome there. The only gripe I had was the horrible traffic I sat in trying to get there, but that's my fault for not leaving early enough. I live 1 1/2 to 2 hours away and I'm happy at my current school, but if I ever relocate to West LA or that neck of the woods, Hollywood BJJ is definitely the school I would go to. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting or living in the area.

[ASiAnVaLEtUDo]

I visited for one day since I was on vacation in the area for about 3months and looking for a jiujitsu school. Everyone was very friendly and Shawn was great. I spoke to him over the phone and he was very inviting. I was treated well by everyone. I ended up joining another school because it was a lot farther than where I thought since it looked much closer on mapquest. If I was closer to the school it would have been a good idea to join

[Latecomer]

Let me first say that I don't train at Hollywood BJJ, nor have I done a drop-in. In fact, I've never been in contact with anyone from the club.

That said, I've done quite a bit of research recently on BJJ clubs in L.A. because I'm probably going to move there soon.

In my research, the things I have read about Shawn Williams and his school have been unanimously positive. Shawn is described as a very technical practitioner and an outstanding teacher. The school's reputation is that of a place where the students have no ego and the atmosphere is very supportive.

Finally, even if you are primarily interested in no-gi, Hollywood BJJ looks like a good choice (personally, I would recommend doing a combination of gi and no-gi). On the homepage of the school's website, it says:

"The excellent instructors recognize the distinct and undeniable benefits to gi and no-gi. Therefore, classes are split 50% gi, 50% no-gi."

Of course, if you are certain that you only want to train no-gi, you should probably consider Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu.

Good luck!

[p_ahn]

for a business trip to Los Angeles, I researched all of the BJJ schools in the area and tried to contact each instructor via e-mail to ask about dropping by for a day or two.
not only was Shawn the only head instructor to write back to me (unlike Rickson's place), he actually took time to write his e-mails and answer my questions instead of sending me some sort of pre-made form or template.
although work prevented me from actually visiting the place, meeting him, and training there, I would most certainly choose to train at Hollywood BJJ if I ever visited Los Angeles again.
thanks and good luck, bro

[infamous mattyd]

I trained under Shawn when he taught at Renzo'z and loved every minute of it. He is indeed warm and welcoming, but also his bjj is on another level.