Renzo Gracie Pearland

I came to his academy a couple of times when I was a white belt traveling for work. Obviously being a white belt, I was intimidated and nervous to be in a new school to train but he was so welcoming and very cool. He was a great teacher, super nice- ran a great academy. That was about 9 years ago and I always remembered that Gracie Barra academy fondly. Sorry for your loss to his students. source, 2026 ↗

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i'm so sorry for your loss. by all accounts he was a great man and well respected in the houston community. i know on reddit people like to dump on gracie barra but gb westchase was truly something special. i went to the roger gracie seminar there and everyone was so welcoming (i was one of handful of people not from gb). and i know of a lot of people not under gb that would cross train at westchase. this is a true loss for our community. source, 2026 ↗

positive

GB gets a lot of flack, but Houston has some great instructors from that network. Pablo Silva used to be under them as well, but went his own way with great success. Brian Marvin used to be under GB too until switching to Renzo's and is now expanding schools and affiliations rapidly. Renzo Gracie Lake Houston or Renzo Grazie Huffman might be close for you. You'll find many other options inside the loop. source, 2024 ↗

positive

Contracts are illegal in TX unless the gym has a deposit registered with the SOS and the deposit # is listed on the contract. The only deposits listed I recognize as BJJ gyms are a couple of Gracie Barras. Your gym's contract is almost certainly illegal. source, 2022 ↗

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