Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro

Honest level: All levels, white to black belt — ask the school exactly how far that goes in the time you have.

Open training / visitor membership at Gracie Barra HQ

Drop-in and monthly training at the Gracie Barra headquarters founded by Carlos Gracie Jr., on the top floor of a large health club with one of Rio's biggest mats. The emphasis is on fundamentals - three to four techniques per class - with quieter morning sessions (10-20 students) and large evening classes (50+). Classes run mainly in Portuguese, with several English-speaking black belts; official Gracie Barra gis are required. Partner service Connection Rio arranges accommodation a block away, making an open-ended live-and-train stay practical. For grapplers who want lineage training at the source.

Train in unbroken Gracie lineage at the founding Gracie Barra HQ in Rio, the city where the art was forged, with visitor housing for an immersive live-and-train stay.

~R$172/month + R$30 joining fee

Masters & lineage

• Alexandre 'Gigi' Paiva

Why Gracie Barra (Barra da Tijuca HQ)

This is the original Gracie Barra academy (GB Rio Matriz, Av. Érico Veríssimo 970, Jardim Oceânico), founded in 1986 by Carlos Gracie Jr. — the source school of one of the largest BJJ lineages in the world, where its standardized curriculum and faculty originated.

Schools in Rio de Janeiro

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• Gracie Barra (Barra da Tijuca HQ)
  Open training / visitor membership at Gracie Barra HQ
  Drop-in and monthly training at the Gracie Barra headquarters founded by Carlos Gracie Jr., on the top floor of a large health club with one of Rio's biggest mats.
  https://trainbjjinrio.com/gracie-barra-rio/
• Gracie Barra (Barra da Tijuca)
  Daily gi and no-gi classes and drop-in training at the Barra da Tijuca headquarters
  Gracie Barra was founded in 1986 in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro and its headquarters there is the origin point of a worldwide organization of more than 800 affiliated schools.
  https://graciebarra.com.br/
• Gracie Humaita
  Daily Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes and drop-in training at the original Humaita academy
  Gracie Humaita is a traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy that took its name in the mid-1980s from the Humaita neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro and remains directly linked to the founders of the art.
  https://academiagracie.com.br/
• Alliance Jiu-Jitsu (Leblon)
  Gi and no-gi classes and drop-in training at the Leblon location
  Alliance Jiu-Jitsu, co-founded in 1993 by Alexandre Paiva, Romero Cavalcanti and Fabio Gurgel, is a competition-focused BJJ team whose Leblon school sits on Rua Alberto Rangel in Rio de Janeiro.
  https://www.allianceofficial.com/en/contact/

The credential

IBJJF-registered black belt, promoted by a recognized black-belt professor in direct lineage · Certifying body: International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), founded 2002 by Carlos Gracie Jr.; belt rank conferred by a certified black-belt professor in unbroken lineage

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.