Chess Lab Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: New Website
From Garage Floors to Google Page One
How Site Savvy built a brand-new web presence for Chess Lab BJJ Yakima - a gym years in the making, finally with a home worth showing the world.
CLIENT
Chess Lab BJJ Yakima
yakimabrazilianjiujitsu.com
LOCATION
Yakima, WA
LAUNCHED
October 2025
SERVICES
Design - Copy - SEO
- THE CLIENT
Built from Grit. Led by Lineage.
Carlson Gracie Lineage | 2nd Degree Black Belt
Chess Lab BJJ Yakima is the kind of gym origin story you can't make up. For years, Professor James O'Neal — a second-degree black belt under Fabiano "Pega Leve" Scherner — kept Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu alive in the Yakima Valley the only way he could: training in garages, school gyms, a padded living room floor, and eventually a run-down building whose roof literally caved in. Through all of it, his students stayed. The community held together.
Meanwhile, Jen Bailey — co-founder of URJ Training Center — found herself at a crossroads in 2025. Her training partner had accepted a coaching position in Miami, leaving her with a solid facility and loyal community but no black belt to lead the jiu-jitsu program. In June 2025, she reached out to Professor O'Neal. That phone call changed everything.
What had been survival became something real: Chess Lab BJJ Yakima, a fully recognized academy under the Chess Lab / Fabiano Scherner banner, now operating out of 2204 W Nob Hill Blvd — and finally, a home that matched the commitment that built it.
"What we started as survival became a home, and now a growing movement."
Professor O'Neal isn't only a martial artist. He's a military veteran and a trained Physician Assistant — someone whose understanding of body mechanics, discipline, and patience make him a rare kind of instructor. He leads with humility and precision, bringing years of real mat time to every class.
- THE LINEAGE
A Direct Line to the Carlson Gracie Tree
In BJJ, lineage isn't a formality — it's how knowledge, technique, and philosophy travel from generation to generation. Chess Lab BJJ Yakima sits in a lineage that connects directly to some of the most decorated names the sport has produced.
Fabiano Scherner — Professor O'Neal's direct instructor — is a multiple-time IBJJF No-Gi World Champion, Pan-American Champion, and American Nationals Champion with MMA experience in the UFC, Cage Rage, and the IFL. His philosophy shapes how students train in Yakima every single day.
- WHERE THEY STARTED
A Website That No Longer Fit the Gym It Represented
Chess Lab BJJ didn't come to Site Savvy with nothing — they came with a website that had served its purpose and then some. The previous site was built under the URJ Training Center identity, during a period when the academy was in transition: the jiu-jitsu program was rebuilding, the identity was still forming, and the team was focused on survival, not polish.
It got the job done for that season. But by the time Professor O'Neal and Jen Bailey formalized their partnership in 2025 and the Chess Lab BJJ Yakima name was official, the old site was a mismatch with everything the academy had become.
- Bold, bright red color palette that didn't align with the new Chess Lab BJJ brand identity
- Minimal content — not enough to tell the full story or earn meaningful search rankings
- Limited photography that didn't capture the people, culture, or energy of the academy
- A confusing schedule page with two separate calendars that made it hard for students to find class times
- No clear calls-to-action — visitors had to hunt for how to get started, contact the gym, or sign up
- The URJ Training Center name still attached, creating identity confusion for the new Chess Lab brand
- No home for news, events, or community storytelling — nothing to keep current members engaged online
The gym had outgrown its digital presence. Inside, Chess Lab BJJ Yakima had evolved into something professional, authentic, and community-driven. Outside — online — it still looked like a gym in transition. The goal was to close that gap entirely.
- WHAT SITE SAVVY DID
Strategy First. Copy That Earns Rankings. Design That Converts.
Discovery and Strategy
Before a word was written or a layout sketched, Site Savvy dug into what makes Chess Lab BJJ different and what Yakima locals actually search for when considering martial arts. Key questions that shaped everything:
- What does Professor O'Neal want prospective students to understand before they walk in?
- How do we honor a world-class lineage without making a beginner feel like they don't belong?
- What are Yakima parents actually typing into Google when searching for kids' martial arts?
- How does the women's self-defense program reach the right audience with the right message?
- What SEO terms are realistically winnable in the Yakima Valley market for BJJ specifically?
Copywriting
Site Savvy handled all copywriting from scratch. Every page was built to satisfy two audiences: a real person deciding whether to show up, and a search engine deciding whether to recommend the page.
We write a minimum of 1,500 words per service page — not for padding, but because that's the threshold where Google begins treating a page as genuinely authoritative on a topic. Thin content ranks nowhere. Substantive content earns its position.
- Keyword mapping for Yakima BJJ, adult martial arts, kids' BJJ, and women's self-defense
- Voice development: warm, direct, serious about the craft, never intimidating
- Professor O'Neal's credentials and lineage woven throughout as trust signals, not decoration
- The origin story — garages, a caved-in roof, Jen's phone call — used to build real connection with undecided visitors
- Clear, pressure-free calls-to-action on every page guiding the right next step
Pages Built
- Home— hero-driven entry point with immediate trust signals and CTAs to schedule, membership, and contact
- About— full origin story, Professor O'Neal's bio, and the complete Carlson Gracie lineage chain
- Memberships— structured for conversion with options across age groups, plus discounts for military and law enforcement
- Class Schedule— integrated with ZenPlanner for live, up-to-date scheduling
- Store— academy gear and merchandise
- News / Blog— ongoing content hub for events, announcements, and community updates
- Contact— frictionless inquiry page for prospective students
Integrations and Features
- ZenPlanner member login and live schedule integration
- Online store for academy merchandise
- Google Maps integration linking directly to the physical location
- Google Reviews surfaced on the homepage as social proof
- Facebook and Instagram connected throughout for community engagement
Design and Conversion Structure
The visual design needed to hold two things at once: the seriousness of high-level martial arts and the openness of a welcoming community gym. Site Savvy built a site that doesn't flinch from the craft while still saying "you belong here" to a first-timer.
- Mobile-first build — most prospective students find gyms on their phones
- Above-the-fold hero with immediate CTAs: Join Now, Schedule, Call, Map
- Navigation structured around decision-making: offerings, instructor credentials, how to get started
- Lineage featured prominently — because in BJJ, who teaches you matters
- Persistent contact points throughout to minimize friction at every stage
The name does something rare in the fitness space — it tells you exactly how training here works before you ever arrive. BJJ at its highest level is a chess match: read the situation, think ahead, be patient. Site Savvy threaded this concept through the copy without over-explaining it. The name earns its meaning on every page.
- PROGRAMS & MEMBERSHIP
A Full Academy, Not Just a Gym
One of the most important jobs the website had to do was communicate the full scope of what Chess Lab BJJ Yakima offers. This isn't a single-program operation — it's a structured academy with something deliberate for nearly every type of student, from a four-year-old stepping on a mat for the first time to an adult who wants to train before work three days a week.
Site Savvy built the membership and schedule pages to make that depth easy to understand and easy to act on. Here's the full program lineup:
The core program. Gi and No-Gi classes alternate through the week, with beginner and advanced students training together under Professor O'Neal.
For ages 4–7. Foundational movement, confidence, and discipline built through age-appropriate BJJ instruction every weekday.
For ages 7–14. Technique, competition prep, and character development for kids ready to go deeper into the sport.
A Friday midday class for homeschool families — a rarely offered niche that opens the door to an underserved and loyal student demographic.
Twice-weekly classes for women of all ages and experience levels. No prior martial arts background required — and no ego on the mat.
A standalone program teaching throws, trips, and takedowns that complement ground work and broaden students' overall game.
Two hours of free rolling every Saturday morning — Gi or No-Gi, student's choice. The kind of unstructured training time that builds real skill.
The Homeschool Youth class, Women's Self-Defense program, and Judo Fundamentals each signal that this academy thinks carefully about who isn't being served by other gyms in the area — and builds programs to reach them. That's a story worth telling in the copy, and Site Savvy made sure it was.
Membership Structure
The membership page was built to answer the most common question a new student has without making them dig for it. Chess Lab BJJ Yakima offers options across age groups and training frequency, with intentional discounts for:
- Military and veterans — a natural fit given Professor O'Neal's own service background
- Law enforcement
- Families training together
- A free trial class for anyone who wants to experience the gym before committing
The ZenPlanner integration handles signup and member management — Site Savvy connected it cleanly so the path from "I'm interested" to "I'm a member" has as few steps as possible.
- WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING
Five Stars. Earned on the Mat.
Chess Lab BJJ Yakima built a strong 5-star Google review profile quickly after launching under the new name. Site Savvy featured those reviews prominently on the homepage — because real student voices are the most convincing thing a prospective member can read.
Great environment! Wonderful place to train in Yakima. Owner is very kind and the professor is very knowledgeable. Room is full of high level and no ego. Come train!
Every aspect of the drop-in was spectacular — from the warm-up through live rolling. I felt extremely welcomed and learned techniques from the team.
I like this place... This place makes me better. Great leadership and team.
- WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS
Years of Work. Finally Visible.
Chess Lab BJJ Yakima isn't a franchise or a business plan — it's the result of Professor James O'Neal refusing to let jiu-jitsu die in a valley that needed it. Through garages and broken roofs and a core group of students who kept showing up, through a partnership born from a single phone call in June 2025, a legitimate world-class BJJ program found its home. That story deserved a website built to match it.
- For Professor O'Neal:Decades of training and a Carlson Gracie lineage finally have a digital home that reflects what he actually brings to students
- For Jen Bailey:A hard-built facility and loyal community now have the professional web presence and ongoing support they always needed
- For prospective students:They can arrive already knowing the instructor, the lineage, the philosophy — and exactly why this gym is different
- For the Yakima Valley:A high-level BJJ program now has the visibility to reach the people who would thrive in it
Site Savvy is proud to be behind Chess Lab BJJ Yakima's digital presence — and proud to keep building it. We got to tell a genuinely great story, built on lineage, grit, and a real love for the sport. We built it to last.