About 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu

10th Planet is a no-gi system of Brazilian jiu-jitsu founded by Eddie Bravo. Its defining choice is in the name of the thing it left out: there is no gi. No uniform, no belt to grip, no collar chokes, no sleeve control.

That sounds like a small difference. It is not. Nearly every grip in traditional jiu-jitsu depends on cloth. Take the cloth away and the whole system has to be rebuilt around underhooks, overhooks, head position and body locks — things that still work when a person is sweating and there is nothing to hold onto.

The practical result is that 10th Planet developed its own positions and its own vocabulary for them. You will hear the names on the mat. You do not need to learn any of them in advance, and nobody is going to quiz you.

Training is still just training: warm up, learn a technique, drill it, then roll live with a partner who is resisting. It is a physical, close-contact sport with a very short gap between learning something and finding out whether it works.

10th Planet is a network of affiliated schools rather than a single chain. Each one is independently run by its own instructor, under the same system and curriculum.

This one is owned by Jeff Mock, a black belt, and trains at 847 Brookfield Ave. in Masury, Ohio — a few minutes from the Pennsylvania line, and about ten from Hermitage.

Five coaches are on the mats, two of them black belts, and the kids program is run by a black belt rather than passed down to a senior student. Meet the coaches.

The room runs adults and kids seven days a week, mornings and evenings, plus a Friday open mat that visitors from other gyms are welcome at. See the schedule.