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Why Rebel

What makes us different.

Six things that separate us from the standard offering — how the room is run, how you're coached, and what you get for your money.

Our mission

Rebel exists to give Eastbourne a modern grappling club — coached with sport science instead of tradition, in a room that treats you like an adult. Submission grappling and gi BJJ, both coached here. We're building a club where beginners and experienced grapplers share the same mat and both leave better.

The Rebel Combat Sports training group together on the mat in Eastbourne
The crewEastbourne

Six differentiators

  1. 01 The method

    Modern & science-based

    We coach what's actually winning — the synthesis of BJJ, Judo, Catch, and Sambo that defines the sport at the highest level right now. Every technique has a mechanical explanation. If you ask why, you get an answer. The session structure uses ecological and constraints-led coaching: you learn by doing real grappling situations, not by repeating moves on a compliant partner until they feel memorised.

  2. 02 The experience

    Coached as a sport — and it scales to you

    Sessions are structured around live rounds, immediate individual feedback, and specific problem-solving. You make measurable progress: the position you couldn't hold, you now hold. The submission you kept missing, you now hit. Because of the ecological-dynamics approach, every class works for every level — complete beginners are in the same room as experienced grapplers, and both get what they need from the session.

  3. 03 The culture

    Treated like an adult

    No bowing. No belt politics. No mythology around the coach. We run on mutual respect — between coach and student, and between training partners. Questions are welcome, feedback goes both ways, and nothing you're asked to do is justified by tradition alone. You'll be told what you're working on and why. That's it.

  4. 04 Progress

    Just what works

    Performance is the scoreboard here — rank describes it, it doesn't replace it. Belts here are earned against a written syllabus — performance criteria, not time served — and the room is never organised by rank. If you never care about a belt, none of it gets in the way of your training.

  5. 05 Pricing

    Honest pricing

    Founding members pay £45 per month, locked for life — for as long as you train here, that rate never moves. No contract beyond the current month. Cancel any time. The front door is two free weeks: no card needed, no commitment. Come and train, then decide.

  6. 06 The coaches

    Real credentials

    Head coach Ben Zarif has spent 20+ years coaching athletes, and over a decade applying sport-science methodology to grappling — actively developing the curriculum, and on the mats at every session. He's had local competition success with the club already, with more expected. Co-founded with Adrian Bradbury at Rebel Rebel: certified boxing coach, BJJ purple belt and coach, former powerlifting champion.

See it for yourself.

Two weeks free. No card required. Show up, train, and decide from there.

Book your free two-week trial →