“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.” -Carlson Gracie

In the pursuit of knowledge, it’s a natural instinct for humans to want to learn from the best. The Fight Centre is one of the best BJJ gyms Brisbane has to offer (we’ll go more into detail later). If you’re not in the Brisbane area but want to know what good gyms may be near you, then read on.

To become a quality practitioner you’ll want to learn from quality trainers. There is no shortage of gyms out there, so deciding which one to join can (understandably) be pretty overwhelming. It takes a bit of research to make an informed decision especially when it comes to deciding which BJJ gym is best for you to join.

BJJ (or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) is one of the most popular martial arts today—and for a good reason. When you’re down on the mats, you’re about six times less likely to get injured compared to other martial arts. And even when you do, it’s likely going to be just a pulled muscle than a broken anything. 

But that’s only true when you train with people who actually know and are good at what they are doing. So how do you go about finding these types of knowledgeable training partners? Well, jujiteiros are a proud bunch—you only have to do a bit of asking to find out their lineage. You can also go further and ask to see them in action, and they’ll probably let you. You can visit the gyms around your area to do some research.

Alternatively, you can save yourself a bit of trouble and read this article instead. To point you in the right direction, this article will give you a broad overview of the best-performing gyms in the world.

Best BJJ Gym in 2021

• 1 Gracie Barra

  

  Gracie Barra began when Carlos Gracie Jr. broke away from Rolls Gracie to build his own team. Everyone thought it was a bad move. But despite being in an unstrategic location, he grew his class of 20 students to 200 in a year. It grew to become one of the most dominant teams in just a few years, winning many consecutive world titles. Of its notable achievements is winning the Mundials on several occasions and eight gold medals in 2002.

  Gracie Barra performed exceptionally in tournaments. However, Carlinhos had his mind set on dominating more than just the competitive scene. He spread out his black belts across the US on a mission to become a more inclusive BJJ team. This movement ultimately proved successful. Today, the Gracie Barra brand of BJJ has accumulated thousands of students through its 800 schools worldwide.

  The downside is that since the black belts had spread out, they became limited to training by themselves or with their students. This situation resulted in weaker performances on the black belt level in the 2000s. They have since bounced back with their younger black belts, now coming back to be at the top of this list.

• 2 Alliance BJJ

  

  Alliance BJJ is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious BJJ associations in the world. It was once the defending world champion and is the only team in history to win all major competitions. In 2010, it emerged victorious at the European Championship, Pan American Championship, and the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

  Grandmaster Romero Jacare Cavalcanti is one of the six people who received a black belt from the legendary Rolls Gracie. Under his guidance, Alliance is destined for greatness, producing numerous top BJJ talents. 

  Alliance is one of the biggest names in BJJ, and it has been in the spotlight for so long. It has been crowned World Champion twelve times, European Champion three times, National Brazilian Champion twice, and Rio Open Champion twice.

• 3 CheckMat

  

  The CheckMat Jiu Jitsu Team is a very young organization founded only in 2008. Its founder Leo Vieira had taken an interest in chess at the time of its inception, hence the name. CheckMat is a renegade group from Brasa Clube de Jiu Jitsu, which came from the main Alliance team. While young, the team has been quickly expanding. It currently has franchises in at least 16 countries across the globe.

  Despite being in its early stages, it’s been rapidly stacking up medals in the world’s biggest tournaments. Its most notable achievements include winning the European Adult twice, No-Gi World Champions thrice, and European Master & Senior twice.

• 4 Atos BJJ

  

  Atos was formed for a purpose: to create a competitive team with fresh ideas and a strong moral foundation. Once it got its feet on the ground, it went on to bulldoze its way to the top, quickly becoming one of the most prominent teams in a short amount of time. 

  In 2017, it broke Alliance’s 10-year IBJJF Worlds streak, becoming World Champion. In the same year, it bagged the Asian Open Champion title. It is also a three-time Pan American Champion. Understandably, they are widely considered one of the strongest featherweight and light featherweight teams in the world today.

• 5 Grappling Fight Team

  

  When high-level fighters excel in international events, representing a gym that nobody has heard about, it tends to catch people’s attention. That is how the GFT shot its way to the roster of the world’s top BJJ teams. Through a series of spectacular victories, top GFT talents such as Bruno Malfacine and Ricardo Evangelista propelled GFT to worldwide success.

  GFT has claimed the title Rio Open Team Champion, and Brazilian Teams Champion four times. It has grown from a single group in Universidade Gama Filho to an association with over 30 affiliate academies across the globe.

  Now that we’ve gone over the most prominent BJJ gyms today, let’s go back to the question.

• What is the best BJJ gym in the world

  The problem with BJJ (and we think everybody would agree) is that there is no uniform rule set that applies to all competitions. Given the titles that prominent associations award, however, the distinction between the best and the rest becomes clearer.

  The best BJJ gym in the world is undoubtedly the current defending World Team Champion—Gracie Barra. 

  When you begin your BJJ journey, you will want to find a gym that has a community with a positive culture, coaches that invest their time in your growth, and a legitimate lineage to ensure technical quality. 

  The Fight Centre–Brisbane ticks all those boxes.

• Join the Team

  

  BJJ Coach Icaro Naua Sandes teaches BJJ classes at TFC. He learned from Professor Vicente “VC” Cavalcanti, who, in turn, learned from Master Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva, one of the three founders of Alliance. So when you train at TFC, you are, by extension, learning from one of the best gyms in the world.

  Do you want to experience what it’s like to train with the best? Sign up for a FREE introductory BJJ class here. No commitments, no pressure—just come and try it out.