Gracie Barra Hialeah Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Valente Bros are definitely an odd branch of bjj. Their gi sleeves are way shorter and they do punches and kicks as part of their curriculum. My first school back in the early 00's was a Gracie Miami affiliate and they drilled it into our heads that we were studying the true original form of Helio Gracie style of bjj and not the watered down stuff every one else was doing at the time. source, 2025 ↗

neutral

lol nobody is scared of this dude . I know 165 lb bjj blue belts that would MURK this dude . I don’t live in Miami or I’d easily tell him to swing by my bjj gym and it would the most humbling experience. His entire crew would literally get mopped like the Gracie’s did back in Brazil 🇧🇷 where they used to dojo storm and leave no one standing source, 2024 ↗

neutral

Yes, I switched from a very high level Rilion Gracie school in Miami, to Lucas Lepri school in Charlotte, NC. It's fun learning everyone's game and definitely got thrown to the wolves, but thankful to my professors back in Miami because the BJJ is rock solid and i've done very well in my new gym as a result source, 2024 ↗

positive

I am from south Florida. A guy I know who got his black belt under the Valentes and now owns his own unaffiliated school told me that after getting his black belt he went to a seminar in NY and got to train with people outside his academy for the first time and got destroyed by purple belts and had a really had time with some blue belts, that he felt embarrassed of his belt.  Take into consideration that he was in his early 30's at that time and had been training over 12 years.  He originally had plans to open a school under the Valentes but this incident got him thinking. This guy was one source, 2024 ↗

neutral

Miami 100% or MAYBE Las Vegas  ,strong bar and club culture and all the things that come with it. Plus i dont think any of these cities have a stronger MMA/BJJ scene than the  Miami metro, you have alot of serious competition in the area and people like the Gracies and Valente brothers (who trained under Helio) teaching there, also consider Ft.Lauderdale source, 2024 ↗

neutral

They haven't been a major team in a minute but Rilion Gracie/Gracie Elite has always been a good coach/team. You already said Fight Sports. Enrico Cocco's Zen Jiu-Jitsu, they aren't all affiliated with Fight Sports. Leo D’avila and Luccas Lira and the Atos Miami team are building something cool. Roberto Gordo is based in Florida. American Top Team fields some competitors. They don't have a John Danaher, B-Team, and Tackett brothers, which to me makes Austin, Texas the place to be, not Texas itself. But they have a nice scene. source, 2023 ↗

positive

My first school 20 years ago was a Gracie Miami affiliate run by the Valente Brothers. Pedro was a nice guy but they spoke a lot about how they train and teach the “true” art developed by Helio. They would make a point in saying most Gracie’s had already moved away from Helio’s style and were no longer true Gracie JJ. We did a shit load of self defense training (basically the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Book by Royce and Charles Gracie) and some rolling. My instructor was a purple belt at the time and as soon as I got my blue belt I quit. I got back into bjj 1.5 years ago and looked up my old instr source, 2023 ↗

positive

Carlson gracie>nova geracao>fight sports =heavy pressure. Leon is the man source, 2015 ↗

neutral