F.A.Q.

Yes! All new students get a free, no obligation, 10-Day Trial. We will track your attendance as if you were an enrolled student, and you can attend as many classes as you like within those 10 consecutive days.

Getting started is the most difficult step.  But we’ve made it’s as easy as filling out a form to get a free 10 day trial.  Do it today.  It will transform your life!

Of course, it’s always smart to ensure your doctor agrees your health can handle any strenuous activity, including Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

Yes.  Gracie Jiu Jitsu is generally a very safe sport, and safety is a central principle at Gracie Jiu Jitsu Ocoee.  Our curriculum, practice methods, and instruction prioritize a safety-first environment.

For your 10-day trial you simply need comfortable clothing you can workout in: a t-shirt, sweatpants and/or leggings are perfect, please no zippers, belts, shorts, or tank tops.

Youth: Clean, white gi (grappling kimono). You will be provided with a uniform during the trial period.

Gracie Combatives: Clean, white gi (grappling kimono). You will be provided with a uniform during the trial period.  Students who train frequently should purchase a second gi to make sure you always have a clean gi for class.

Gracie Jiu jitsu has proven itself in actual 1-on-1 combat situations:  (1) challenge matches, (2) the Ultimate Fighting Championship (Mixed Martial Arts), and (3) the military/law enforcement:

1. One of the primary methods of advancing the sport during its early development was to issue or accept challenge matches to test the art against other martial artists, fighters, and/or tough guys.  Jiu Jitsu practitioners consistently won those confrontations, and losses or weaknesses that were exposed resulted in adjustments to the sport (less useful moves/positions were changed or eliminated and more effective techniques added).  Here is one example of such challenge match.
2. Inspired by the challenge matches and subsequent videos, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created in 1993 by Rorion Gracie, Art Davie, and John Milius to showcase the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu Jitsu.  Royce Gracie (Rorion’s younger brother) entered the first four UFCs.  Despite being the lightest competitor in all 4 events, he won 3 of them (UFC 1, UFC 2, & UFC 4).  He withdrew from the finals of UFC 3 due to dehydration.  He didn’t lose a match and won 11 consecutive victories by submission, a record that still stands today.  Perhaps the only more meaningful attribution to jiu jitsu is that every Mixed Martial Artist and nearly all serious martial artists now incorporate Brazilian jiu jitsu as a core part of their training program.
3. The US Army’s Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) is based largely on brazilian jiu jitsu, and its founder, Matt Larsen, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

These are evidence of jiu jitsu’s effectiveness, and they are also an explanation for its effectiveness. Most martial arts are based on philosophy or form but Gracie Jiu Jitsu has always stressed reality as the ultimate arbiter of effectiveness. By testing the art against others, the sport evolved into one that works in real life situations. This is furthered by the fact that one can practice GJJ in class at nearly 100% – basically in exactly the same way you might do it in real life. Most martial arts are based on powerful, fancy punches or kicks, but you can’t really practice those kinds of strikes at 100%, lest you render your partner unconscious or hospitalized. As a consequence, most martial arts practice in the air (forms), or they hit pads/bags/boards, or it is done at partial speed/power. Neither the air, boards, nor bags hit back. It is almost impossible to know whether or not the kicks would work in a real life encounter, and history has shown us that they often don’t — especially if the attacker/opponent is bigger or stronger. Since GJJ can be practiced at full speed, you constantly get feedback on what works and what doesn’t which allows you to adjust your technique to improve effectiveness.