OLD CITY PHILADELPHIA EST MMXXI
A REAL GYM
THE SPACE
EXPOSED BRICK 2ND FLOOR WALK UP OLD CITY
31 S 2ND STREET
PHILADELPHIA
The gym lives on the second floor of an old wool and textiles warehouse in Old City. Exposed brick. Big windows. Mats that have absorbed about a million rolls and at least as many bad jokes.
We're not a chain, not a franchise, and not a vibe-curated co-working space pretending to be a martial arts academy. We're a real gym, run by people who train every day.
THE FOUNDERS
THE VOGELS JOSH + ANGIE
Josh and Angie are husband and wife, business partners, and gym owners, in roughly that order depending on the day. Josh (3rd degree Black Belt) has over 20 years on the mats and is the jiu jitsu brain behind the operation, every piece of gear we put out has his fingerprints on the function and feel. Angie (2nd degree BJJ Black Belt) brings Muay Thai experience, a black belt earned in 7 years, and the design sense that makes JJCo look like JJCo. Together, they run the academy, pack and ship the merch, and somehow manage to keep disagreements about half guard to a minimum.
HOW IT STARTED
It started with a black rashguard
Like every other gym, we started by selling a plain black rashguard with our logo on it. It worked. People bought it. Then I got curious. I got better at Photoshop and Illustrator. I started designing the kind of graphics I actually wanted to wear, and making merch that didn't look like every other BJJ apparel brand.
Then I had a slightly bold idea, I cold-pitched our designs to BJJ HQ. They liked them. They've been carrying our stuff ever since. That single break gave me the courage to keep designing, keep building, and keep making apparel for the kind of grappler who wants something a little different.
THE ETHOS
CULTURE FORWARD. ACCESSIBLY PRICED. FOR EVERYONE THAT TRAINS.
JUST LIKE OUR GYM
We don't do tribal. We don't do bro. We don't do bloody honey badgers. We don't do empty hype. We make stuff that people who actually train want to wear. Fightwear and Après Roll for grapplers who take the art seriously, but not themselves.
