10th Planet NYC Grand Opening Recap

Written by: A. Uddin / Photos by: Matt Culley

On Saturday, March 2 many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners from far and near converged in midtown Manhattan for what would be a very exciting day. That day was the official grand opening of 10th planet NYC and grand indeed it was. It would be kicked off at 12 noon with a 3 hour seminar taught by none other than Eddie Bravo himself. The famed no gi academy and system he created on the west coast has grown to populate locations worldwide and has finally made it to the heart of New York City. The NYC Academy is owned and run by two recent New York transplants by way of California, Cece Mena and Rey (Sting Rey) DeLeon. Cece is a purple belt and Rey is a brown belt. Both are active and successful no gi competitors and both earned their rank directly from Eddie Bravo while training at his Los Angeles location aka 10p h.q.(headquarters). So on that Saturday I guess you can say h.q. made its way to NYC.  

The surprise few inches of snow that fell that morning in the city didn’t seem to deter almost 100 people from showing up to experience the teachings firsthand from Mr. Bravo. The academy which is located at 35 West 43rd street on the 4th floor, is in a pretty decent sized space upon entering. That space was absolutely filled beyond capacity though, with wall to wall Jiu-Jitsu students eagerly waiting for the arrival of Eddie Bravo. The majority of those students were from other 10th planet locations, but many were from other non affiliated bjj academies, but all were excited about the next three hours. When Eddie arrived his presence and energy lit up the room and when the seminar started those in attendance were certainly not disappointed. He not only showed very detailed techniques that he has innovated over the years, but he also spoke about his tenth planet Jiu Jitsu approach and philosophy. He is very intriguing and captivating to say the least and somehow the three hours seemed to speed by.

A lot of great Jiu-Jitsu knowledge was given that afternoon by Mr. Bravo, and it is StingRey and Cece’s goal to continue what he started on a daily basis at 10p NYC, and I’m sure they will. For more info about the NYC tenth planet location you can checkout 10thplanetjjnyc.com