BJJ Gyms in Maryland

Maryland's BJJ coverage in this directory is dominated by the Maryland half of the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) metro — 15 cities and 20 academies stretching from Bethesda and Rockville on the Red Line, through Silver Spring and Takoma Park on the District border, out to Frederick and Hyattsville and Bowie in Prince George's County, and south into Calvert County and Annapolis. The single most internationally prominent name on the Maryland side is **Lloyd Irvin** in Temple Hills — Master Lloyd Irvin runs **Lloyd Irvin's Mixed Martial Arts Academy**, the headquarters of Team Lloyd Irvin (TLI), described by the gym as the #1 team in the Washington DC area. Irvin holds a 1st-degree BJJ black belt under Leo Dalla, a 7th-degree Thai Jitsu black belt, a 5th-degree Combat Sombo black belt, and a 1st-degree Judo black belt; he was 2002 USJF International Coach of the Year, has trained Secret Service, FBI, Navy SEALs, DEA, and SWAT, and the academy lists Brandon Vera (UFC) among the world champions it has produced. The TLI footprint and lineage extend across the broader DMV — including Ryan Hall's Fifty/50 across the river in Falls Church (Hall is a Lloyd Irvin black belt) and Adam Benayoun's Black Cat Jiu Jitsu in Springfield, VA (Benayoun is a 2nd-degree black belt under Hall) — making Temple Hills the primary upstream node for one of the most influential competition trees in the mid-Atlantic. The second major Maryland cluster is the **WDC Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / GFTeam DC** network, founded in 2015 by national champion Deivid Dias and described as a top-5 GFTeam in the world. WDC operates **WDC Jiu Jitsu and Fitness Academy** in Takoma Park (92 reviews at 5.0 stars) and **Hyattsville Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / GF Team DC Hyattsville**, with a parallel sister-team operation at **Culture of Jiu Jitsu Academy** in Gaithersburg led by GFTeam black belt and active UFC fighter **Max Gimenis** (promoted to black belt by Júlio César Pereira at the IBJJF World Championship podium on June 2, 2016) and co-owner Eric Philcox. The Júlio César / GFTeam thread therefore anchors the entire I-270 / Beltway corridor on the Maryland side. The third foundational Maryland lineage is the **Relson Gracie** network — Relson is Helio Gracie's second son, an 8th-degree red-and-black belt and 22-year undefeated Brazilian National Champion, and his Maryland representation runs through three Stewart-brothers and Stewart-affiliate locations: **Rising Tide Academy** in Columbia (founded 2009 by Mike and Jordan Stewart, both Relson Gracie black belts, with sister locations in Finksburg and Timonium), and **Calvert MMA Academy / Lineage BJJ** in Sunderland (Jim Thrift, founded 2007 — Southern Maryland's first certified Relson Gracie school, with a published $35 drop-in and 5 pricing tiers including service-and-honor discounts for military, LEO, fire, EMS, and teachers). The **Capital MMA & Elite Fitness** network — Royce Gracie BJJ under network black belt Chad Malone (promoted by Royce in 2018) — extends into Maryland via its **Takoma Park** location, completing a five-location DMV chain that originates at the 2001 Old Town Alexandria flagship. The Yamasaki family lineage (Mario and Fernando Yamasaki, with UFC referee Mario Yamasaki the public-facing namesake) anchors the affluent Bethesda corridor through **Groundworks Brazilian Jiu Jitsu**, owned by Yamasaki black belts Sean Diviney (promoted by Fernando in 2016) and Chris Chi, with $199/mo published unlimited pricing one Metro stop from the District line. The Carlson Gracie thread runs through **Brazu Jiu Jitsu Academy** in Silver Spring, led by 3rd-degree black belt Douglas Barros (lineage: Carlson Gracie Sr. → Roberto Marques "Maguilla" → Barros; Maguilla is also a direct black belt of Carlson Gracie Sr. and Andre Pederneiras) — Barros is a Montgomery County Police officer who teaches at the MCPD Academy. The Gracie University / Ryron-and-Rener-Gracie lineage runs through **Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Frederick** (Brock Francis, 1st-degree under Ryron and Rener Gracie) and **Berwyn Heights BJJ** in College Park (Joe Lilly, Gracie University black belt with 30+ years grappling experience), plus partial influence at **Bowie Jiu-Jitsu Academy** (Cat5BJJ banner, founder Kenny Nero Jr. — brown belt with prior Maguilla, Capital MMA, Gracie University training — publishes a clean 7-tier family pricing structure from $129 to $189/mo). Independent depth includes **Standard Jiu Jitsu** in Rockville, Greg Souders' constraints-led / game-based no-gi-only academy (est. 2017, 7-day-a-week schedule, with 2024 IBJJF Purple Belt World Champion Sid Tavolaro on staff at brown belt), **Combat Principles MMA** in Burtonsville (Joshua Peters, 3rd-degree black belt under Randy Malacas / Chute-boxe), **The Compound Fight House** in Silver Spring, **Escape Brazilian Jiu Jitsu** in Silver Spring (since 2020), **Urban Oasis BJJ** in Hyattsville, **Team Randori Martial Arts** in Annapolis (247 reviews at 4.9 stars), **Gracie Ocean City** on the Eastern Shore, and **Ascend Institute of Martial Arts** in Bethesda ($99/mo published, unusually accessible for the Bethesda corridor). Adult unlimited monthly pricing across the Maryland side typically runs $99–$219, with the Bethesda Yamasaki tier ($199), the Bowie Cat5BJJ tier ($129–$189), and the Calvert MMA $35 drop-in setting the published reference points.