BJJ Gyms in Florida

Florida is one of the two or three deepest BJJ markets in the United States, with three fully developed metro scenes now covered in this directory: South Florida, Tampa, and Orlando. South Florida — the arc from Miami through Fort Lauderdale — remains the highest-density corridor in the state by a wide margin. Within that footprint, the lineage diversity is remarkable: multiple Gracie family branches, the American Top Team ecosystem, and several independently significant chains all operate within the same metro grid. The single largest gravitational center is American Top Team, headquartered in Coconut Creek, with upstream lineage running through the Carlson Gracie / Conan Silveira family. That lineage radiates widely: Carlson Gracie Miami, Rilion Gracie's three-location chain (Doral HQ, Miami Lakes, Fort Lauderdale), Rollyson BJJ in Hollywood, and GT Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Lauderhill all carry variants of the Carlson Gracie flag. Rilion Gracie — son of Carlos Gracie Sr. and brother of Royler and Royce — anchors one of the most historically significant lineages in the directory. The Royler Gracie branch shows up through Gracie Humaita in Fort Lauderdale and Goat Shed in Miami. Gracie Barra holds meaningful saturation with locations in Kendall, Hialeah, Aventura, and South Miami. Renzo Gracie appears via Andre Gusmao Academy, Renzo Gracie Fort Lauderdale, Couchon BJJ, and two Crow Jiu Jitsu locations. 10th Planet operates in Miramar and Pompano Beach. Valente Brothers — Helio Gracie traditional lineage, North Miami Beach and Coral Gables — and Favoreto BJJ (six-time World Champion Prof. Desiree Favoreto, three Miami-area locations) round out the South Florida roster. Price band runs $150–$220/mo for adult unlimited, reflecting South Florida's cost of living.

The Tampa metro adds the state's west-coast pillar. The anchor name is Robson Moura — an 8x BJJ World Champion whose Tampa academy (South Tampa, on South Lois Ave) carries the RMNU banner and operates alongside a sister listing under the South Tampa Jiu-Jitsu & MMA name. The Gracie family presence in Tampa is unusually broad even by Florida standards: Gracie Tampa HQ (Rob Kahn BB, located in Lutz), Gracie Tampa South, Gracie PAC, Gracie Westchase (formerly Gracie Tampa West), Gracie Trinity (Odessa), Gracie Brandon (Riverview), Gracie Wesley Chapel (Lutz), Gracie Apollo Beach (Ruskin), Gracie Fishhawk (Lithia), Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St Pete (Gracie Humaita affiliate), Gracie Palm Harbor (Tony Way BB), Gracie Barra Citrus Park (Ivan Rocha BB), and Gracie Barra Clearwater (John Keller 3rd-deg, Eduardo De Lima lineage) together constitute the most geographically distributed single-family network in any metro covered by this directory. The Carlson Gracie family runs a parallel track: Juan Reppin Jiu Jitsu Academy in Oldsmar (30+ years, Carlson Gracie lineage), Carlson Gracie Plant City (Samuel Kimmel), and American Top Team Tampa / World Class Martial Arts (Rafael Garcia 3rd-deg under Carlson Gracie Jr., Rob Kahn cross-lineage under Royce Gracie). Independent anchors include Caridian BJJ (Alan Ribeiro under Fabio Novaes, 11-tier published pricing), DaVinci Jiu Jitsu (David Manjarres, full 5-generation Gracie Humaita lineage: Helio Gracie Jr. → Royce → Rob Kahn → Wrick Tomas/Eric Callueng → Manjarres), Olympus Jiu Jitsu Academy in Land O' Lakes (Checkmat affiliate), Concept Jiu-Jitsu Clearwater (Brian Frias under Andre Galvao / ATOS), Amir Academy of Martial Arts in St. Petersburg (Rob Kahn 4th-deg under Royce Gracie, founded 1985), Tampa Florida Judo & MMA in Oldsmar (Dr. Rhadi Ferguson, 2004 US Olympian in Judo), and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu St. Pete (Eddie Bravo no-gi system). Typical adult unlimited pricing in Tampa runs $120–$200/mo.

The Orlando metro is Florida's third major scene and the most recently catalogued. The single most decorated name in the metro is Bruno Malfacine — a 10x IBJJF World Champion (the most world titles ever won by a single competitor) who runs his eponymous Alliance Jiu Jitsu academy in Orlando's College Park neighborhood. The Gracie Barra network reaches its deepest Florida penetration here, with eight locations spanning Orlando proper (GB Orlando, GB North Orlando, GB Hunters Creek, GB Lake Nona, GB Windermere), Kissimmee, Longwood/Seminole, and Clermont — the largest GB cluster in the state. Jacare Martial Arts in Ocoee is led by Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, an 8x BJJ World Champion and longtime UFC middleweight contender. Rolles Gracie Academy Lake Mary (located in Sanford) carries a rare direct-Gracie-name pedigree: Rolles Gracie is the son of Rolls Gracie, trained directly under Rickson Gracie, making it one of the few academies in the country where the Gracie surname belongs to the head instructor. Team Renzo Gracie Orlando is led by Professor Pat Cooligan (4th-degree black belt, the first Canadian promoted to black belt by Renzo Gracie himself), with Andre Porfifio — a multi-IBJJF World Champion and 2024 ADCC invitee — on staff. The Carlson Gracie cluster includes Carlson Gracie Orlando (Thiago Ramos, in Ocoee), Carlson Gracie Central Florida in Winter Garden (Rinaldo Santos, 6th-degree black belt, full Maeda → Carlos Gracie Sr. → Carlson Gracie Sr. → Rinaldo Santos lineage), and Martial Arts Nation Lake Nona (Ricardo Liborio, a Carlson Gracie black belt from 1993 and co-founder of both Brazilian Top Team and American Top Team). Additional anchors include Fabin Rosa BJJ (five Orlando-metro locations, Fabin Rosa 5th-degree BB), GFTeam-affiliated Orlando Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu LLC (Brad Thompson 4th-deg + Denilson Pimenta under GFTeam/Julio Cesar), American Top Team Orlando (Paul Rodriguez 5th-deg under Ricardo Liborio), 10th Planet Orlando in Altamonte Springs (Ben Saunders, UFC veteran), Boca Team BJJ USA in Oviedo (Vagner Boca, TT Team / Fernando Terere + Eduardo Telles lineage), Checkmat Orlando (Roger Santos 2nd-deg + Giulia Mell, founded 2024), and Greco Jiu Jitsu (Christophoros Constantinidis, Atos-affiliated World Champion). Gracie Humaita and Gracie University credentials appear at four locations in the metro. Jacksonville remains on the queue and is not yet covered in this directory.