Discover the Fun and Friendship at Gracie Brandon!
Table of Contents
Welcome to the Gracie Brandon Family!
Learning Cool Moves and Getting Stronger
Awesome Coaches Who Help You Grow
The Excitement of Competitions
Join the Gracie Brandon Adventure!
Welcome to the Gracie Brandon Family!
Hey kids and awesome parents! Are you looking for a fun way to get active, learn amazing skills, and make fantastic friends? Then look no further than Gracie Brandon in Riverview, Florida! We’ve talked to some of the awesome kids who train here, and they’re excited to share their experiences of their journey into Brazilian jiu-jitsu with you.
Learning Cool Moves and Getting Stronger
At Gracie Brandon, the kids are not just learning any moves – they’re learning jiu-jitsu! Cruz, who has been training for about two years, loves how he gets to “learn new moves and show go out and I get to use them in competitions”
Another student enjoys that they “get to wrestle and we get on positions and submissions”
It’s not just about fun moves though. One young jiu-jitsu enthusiast explains that they learn “other stuff that help you a lot that if you’re in danger you can use that to a person that so you’re not scared of anything and you’re just really brave”. He also shared some cool jiu-jitsu terms like “takedown” which gives you points in tournaments, and positions like “mount”, “side control”, and “Knee On Belly (or at Gracie we like to call it “neon belly”) . He even said he know’s about the “backpack” position and submissions like the “paintbrush”, “triangle”, “armbar”, and “kimura”
Jaden Felder, who has been coming to Gracie Brandon for over a year, highlights that “it helps you progress very fast” The coaches are great, you can come five days a week.Jaden also mentioned that “Coach Richard, helps you get started when you’re a white belt. Coach Ian helps you progress further so you can accomplish way more for yourself. Become the better version of yourself”
Awesome Coaches Who Help You Grow
The coaches at Gracie Brandon are a big part of what makes it so great! Arya, who has been training for six years, says the coaches are “really nice”
Cruz who we met earlier agrees, mentioning that “if I make like a wrong move, they just help me a little bit and makes me get better” . Arya also likes “how they teach us. They teach us really well. They’ll help us with what we need help with when we’re doing the moves that they teach us. And they help us get better with doing compet competitions”.
One student shared some insights about Coach Ian, saying he “is a good guy that he knows most of the of the moves. So and he knows all about the points. and he’s a really good coach. He goes to competitions and knows a lot of things and helps people what they do and tells them a secret that what they should do and how to help them so they can um do what they said to do and then if you do it you might win in a competition”.
Making Friends on the Mat
Training at Gracie Brandon isn’t just about learning moves; it’s also about making friends! Arya has made “lots of friends and nice partners that I can go with” . She explains that she’s “met all my friends here because I’ve started when I was so young and I know like I’ve known a lot of my friends for like like a couple years”. The secret to making these friendships? “Because we’ve been partnered together and we just talk and then we become friends”
The Excitement of Competitions
For those who want to test their skills, there are opportunities to compete! Cruz has participated in “three or four” competitions , and Arya has done “three competitions” and even won “two first place medals”. One student explained the medal system: you can get “third, first or second”, and if you beat everyone, you get “double gold” . However, you need to “train first a little bit at jiu-jitsu to do a competition”
Becoming Brave and Confident
Beyond the physical skills and friendships, jiu-jitsu at Gracie Brandon helps kids build confidence. As one student put it, it “makes you brave and you can do lots of takedowns” …. They also learn about the progression system with “stripes and belts”. You need “more than four” stripes to get a belt. The progression goes from “white belt” with stripes to “gray white belt” with stripes, then “solid gray”, and the “best belt is green”
Join the Gracie Brandon Adventure!
Ready to have fun, learn amazing skills, make new friends, and become more confident? Then come and join the Gracie Brandon family in Riverview, Florida! Just like Cruz, Arya, Jaden, and all the other awesome kids, you can start your own jiu-jitsu journey and see how it can help you grow in so many positive ways. Talk to your parents and sign up today – you won’t regret it!
