What they say.

Josh started at six because he could not stand still in a line at school. Two years on he has his green belt, bows at the front door without being asked, and his teacher wrote on his report that his listening had transformed. Gareth and Cerys are firm, kind and completely consistent, and the grading was the proudest morning of his life so far.

Started at forty-four after watching my daughter for a year from the bench. Five years later I am a brown belt and training for shodan next March. Gareth teaches the old way, properly, and does not care how old you are as long as you turn up. The best decision I have made for my health in twenty years.

I booked the six-week course after something happened that I will not go into, and I nearly did not go to the first week. Ffion made it a room where I could be terrible at it and nobody minded. The voice work in week one has changed how I walk home. I am now in the Tuesday BJJ class, which I would never have believed.

Came for fitness, stayed for Rhys. The technique is taught properly from the feet up and the pad work is so good you forget you are knackered. I have done the Friday sparring for a year and never once felt unsafe; Rhys stops a round before it gets silly. Lost two stone in my first six months without dieting.

Four stars only because the October kids grading filled before we heard about it: Ella was put forward and the places had gone by the time the letter reached us. The club apologised, let her grade at the adult kyu grading in November with the juniors' syllabus, and now shows the places left on the website, which has fixed it. Otherwise everything is five stars, and the family membership is a bargain for three of us.

I had done two other BJJ gyms where the beginners got thrown in with the killers. Here you are paired with a blue belt for the first month, the positional sparring makes sense of the technique, and Ffion is the best teacher of the fundamentals I have had. Blue belt last December. Saturday no-gi is the highlight of my week.