Staley Martial Arts, Carlson Gracie North Shore

"Very welcoming environment even for total beginner like myself. Instructors and students are all encouraging and helpful with constructive tips. Great gym with great people."

"I cross train and drop in at various schools when I’m traveling, which is fairly often. I also travel a lot to cross-train since I’m a woman and sometimes it’s difficult to find other female training partners or training partners that are closer to my size. It’s not always easy to find somewhere to train that 1. is open to people dropping in 2. are women-friendly, and 3. are a good fit in terms of vibe and culture. I was referred to Staley through a family member. It was a little further than I’d wanted to go from where I was staying but thought I’d give it a shot anyway. I am SO glad that I did! Before I even had my first class, I had another woman reach out to me to let me know what days she would be training so we could coordinate and try to train together. my first class was just me and the coach/owner who walked me through what they do for warmups and the drills they had been working on so I wouldn’t be caught off-guard in the bigger classes. Every person came up and introduced themselves to me to welcome me when I walked in to train with the bigger class. And I felt totally safe rolling with everyone, which is a very high bar since I’ve been injured a few times. And of course, the content of the classes were top notch - easy to follow but with enough details that even as a purple belt I was having “aha!!” moments. Could not have better things to say about this school, and I’m very excited to have a new home school to train at whenever I’m back in the Chicago area to see my fam!"

"We were able to attend Staley with my 3 year old daughter. We were very pleased with the treatment we received from the sensei and Laurie for our Little one's first Jiu Jitsu class. They were very patient and encouraging with my daughter. They were very good at getting her to engage and understand what they were teaching. She learned very fast and had a ton of FUN! They made us feel at home and welcomed which was very important. Because, as a black family it's terrifying having to worry about whether your child will be welcomed into certain spaces. At the end of the class Laurie laughed with us and explained the importance of martial arts and the unlimited benefits of having a young child learn it. Unfortunately their class schedule were being temporarily changed from Saturdays to Mon&Wed due to competitions, which was not good for our schedules :( ....we also will be moving shortly so could not continue with Staley. I would definitely recommend Staley to everyone and I truly wish we could take this whole school with us when we move."