Kalamazoo BJJ is an incredible place to train. Professor Ben Lindhouts ability to breakdown techniques is helpful and accessible. He cares about his students and his love for BJJ also comes across in his classes. This place was welcoming from my first class onward. I appreciate all of my rolling partners. They train hard and are careful about safety. I recommend training here!

I went to my first open mat last week and it was amazing! Theres always some sort of nervousness that comes from being a beginner at anything but everyone here made me feel comfortable and eased that anxiety. I got destroyed in the few rolls I took part in, but I left feeling amazing and ready for the next one.Ive wanted to start BJJ for a long time now and I cant recommend this place enough. If youre interested at all, give it a try! Well learn together and have tons of fun doing it.

A fantastic place to train. Ben is an incredible instructor and really makes the class for everyone. If you’re thinking about it, come, I promise at a minimum you will meet some fantastic new friends.

Instructor is highly skilled, knowledgeable, and makes class a blast everytime you go. The community is very warm and welcoming as well. I would give above 5 stars if possible, best school in the area!

Great place to train BJJ. Amazing people and vibes.

If you want to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu this is the place to go!

I’m a newbie to the area, and was unenthused with finding another place to train BUT…my apprehension was put to rest with Kalamazoo BJJ.Ben has a way of breaking down moves and concepts so that anyone from the complete beginner to advanced student can understand and implement. To top it off, his infectious energy while instructing creates a comfortable and engaging learning environment.The other instructors I’ve been fortunate enough to train with here are also incredibly clear, detailed, easy to follow and take the time to work with you on individual moves you may find challenging.There is already a phenomenal group of people training here, with different experience levels, genders, ages and body sizes. If you have the chance to drop in, you should!!

Ben is a fantastic instructor! Ive been a Martial Artist 14 years. He knows his stuff, competes Internationally, & is amazing at breaking down complicated technique for the newest Martial Artist. Happy to have found a place to train as a new person to Kalamazoo !

Great place for people who are just starting out and for people who have been training for years! The staff are very experienced and fun. I would highly recommend checking this place out.

Awesome place with ELITE training! Great location right off 94. The top karate, bjj, boxing, and fitness programs in the area. Clean facility, and a great friendly atmosphere.

This is the place to be! Awesome instructors that truly care about their art and their students. Once you meet them, you will quickly see for yourself and know exactly what I mean.

Great place to transfer. Very open and welcoming group of people to learn with.

I have been training BJJ under Professor Ben for almost 6 years. He is hands down the best instructor in the area, and we have a large extended community in Grand Rapids as well as ability to train at all Carlson Gracie affiliated gyms in the world. BJJ changed my life, it took me from an out of shape self conscious person and has given me confidence, so many friends, and self defense that actually works on bigger and stronger opponents. If you havent tried BJJ you should give it a shot. Its scary to try new things, but I promise this gym will make you feel welcome and immediately part of the team. Come check it out! :)

The best BJJ school in Kalamazoo! Elite training and also a lot of fun!

You’d learn from the top rated instructor in kzoo Professor Ben Lindhout who just recently acquired his black belt. Great lineage stemming from Carlson Gracie jr. Great people, great atmosphere for new people, yet lots of knowledge and talent. I’d highly recommend for anyone who is interested or for anyone passing by.

Ben’s awesome, the classes are great, and the people are super friendly.

The best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team you could ask for! Whether you want to compete, get in better shape, learn self defence, or just make friends and have fun, this is the place in Kalamazoo to do it.

World class instruction with a fun and chill atmosphere. If you want sub par technique, dont go here.

Lots of training and exercise space with highly experienced instructors plus a GREAT location, at the old Lyman Lighting building on Portage St right off of I-94 in Milwood. Call or email to set up a free trial class.

Awesome place to train with exceptional people and instructors!! Kalamazoo BJJ has the highest credentialed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructors in the area. As a Brown Belt under 2nd degree Carlson Gracie Jr. Blackbelt Clint Crabtree, Ben Lindhout has a wealth of experience and knowledge and has been highly successful in his 10 years of Jiu Jitsu competition at the highest levels including World level championship tournaments!

This is a very long, winding review, so I will put the highlights here at the top for quick review.1. Valor has both teachers and students who are patient and welcoming. they make you feel as if you belonged there before you even came.2. Valor has a number of martial art opportunities, so you can pay for a certain class but drop in on others extremely cheaply.3. The mats are awesome. Awesome.4. The general atmosphere is Kindness. There is no better way to describe it.5. Christina Myers is a BJJ student who will make you feel welcome. Ben is ok.6. Nick has won more Karate tournaments than I can remember the amount of. If there had been extremely awesome, happy, good-natured person tournaments being held next door to each of these, he would have as many of those trophies.----------------------------------------------Valor has created a unique opportunity for me to learn skills through BJJ that benefit me in my performances. I participate in something I refer to as medieval style performance combat with various weaponry, and it has been a difficult road for me with weaponry and endurance. I am more inclined to brawl or grapple and I am built best for unarmed, close quarter combat. I have explosive strength and speed, but I had never learned to taper it, or when to employ it and when to relax -while- in combat. Frankly, I did not even know I was supposed to do that.Valor opened near my home, and as soon as I found out that would happen I decided very definitively that I would go to the grand opening and I would finally enroll myself in BJJ, something my cousin has participated and touted the benefits of for many years.I met my teacher Ben and found it very easy to be relaxed around him. When I came to my first class, I saw that it was not a rouse. The environment is geared toward learning and the students are all very willing to teach what they know and bring new people into the BJJ choke-fold.I did not start fighting until I was in my early 30s, but I have had enough experience with that and performing to know when someone is taking the time to hold back speed or power in order to allow you a learning experience in a bought. It takes control, balance, and patience. The experienced students are more than happy to do this. Everyone is happy to be there. Everyone is happy to be sweating, working hard, and learning.Learning BJJ in this environment gave me immediate insight into how I can best change what I do in other arenas to have the most endurance and to achieve the best performance I possibly can.Christina Myers, my babysitter and mat sister, immediately took me under her wing without obligation the very first day. I would have spent half the class watching people roll before I would have felt comfortable testing the waters, but she made sure I dove in.I have astigmatism and weak eyes which did not respond to treatment when I was very young. Consequently, my body adapted to the deficit by splitting my sight - I can only focus using one eye at a time, using my left eye a majority of the time. It takes two eyes focusing simultaneously to create perfect depth perception. When my left eye is in use, the right still sees, but the information is translated as peripheral so I still have depth perception, but it is limited to points in my sight and certain distances. My sight continues to degenerate over time and it is exceptionally difficult for me to see at night, while bright lights appear to me as a blaze that engulfs most of my vision.BJJ puts me in a situation where my physical self awareness is immediately heightened and I am able to overcome sight issues to the point where I do not look at my opponent at all. I do not have to concentrate on switching focus or focusing my eyes at all. The muscle memory implanted from the movements has made it possible for me to translate this into swordplay, which makes fighting safer for myself, and those whom I fight.Eventually Ill be dropping in on boxing classes, as well as karate, so that I can one day play on MMA open mat day.

Cant say enough good things about professor Ben. He makes learning fun and after a few minutes of talking to him you will feel like you have known him for years.