Gracie Barra

I’ve trained here, and so have my two children, for the past couple of years. The instruction is great, and likely have the most available black belts and higher colored belts in the area to learn from.
My family and I are happy to be a part of Gracie Barra and would highly recommend it for kids or adults.

Writing this review as a visitor to Seattle (and Gracie Barra), and a 2-​year practitioner of BJJ (blue belt).
The students and the instructor could not have been more welcoming. We couldn’t figure out how to get into the gym at first and stood around feeling silly for about ½ hour. Don’t be fooled by the semi-​grungy exterior of the building. The gym itself is awesome: huge, two mat spaces, changing rooms (men, women), shower. Very nice.
Energetic instruction with light touch of humor by black belt (can’t remember his name), followed by sparring («Live Training»). I sparred for three rounds and appreciate the guys going to the right level on this somewhat puny, somewhat old, female jiu jitsoka :)
After class, one of the students offered to drive us back the 5 miles to our hotel, saving us a $ 14 cab ride. Thanks Vincent!

I go to Gracie Barra Seattle every Saturday and I go to the Gracie Barra Bellevue during the week. When you have a membership, you’re allowed to train at all the Gracie Barras in the area. I think you can even drop-​in at any Gracie Barra in the world, but I’d have to check on that.
Like previous reviewers have stated, they make you feel like family from the first day. They give attention to new students to make sure that we’re learning and having fun. Workouts are so much better when you have good training partners. It’s a great place to train, whether you’re new to martial arts or you’re a seasoned professional.
They have jiu jitsu classes for kids, beginners, advanced, and women’s-only. As far as the class times are concerned, they have classes that can fit most schedules: early morning, mid-​day, afternoon, evening, and even weekends.
All of the instructors are knowledgeable and approachable and so are all of the senior students. They’ve built a great team-​oriented atmosphere and they’re really passionate about what they do. I definitely recommend this school!

good school! they focus a lot on technique.

I visited here for a month in July and I trained in Seattle, Bellevue, and Everett. My experience in all locations was extremely positive. At my regular school, beginners don’t seem to get as much attention as the higher belts. At Gracie Barra, the instructors made sure we knew the techniques. They also made me feel very welcome although I was just visiting for a short while. This is a good and safe place to learn.

Overall, I highly recommend Gracie Barra to anyone living in Seattle or just passing through.
The hardest part about traveling frequently for work is that I miss training as regularly as I’d like. Lately, I’ve been bringing my Gi and just trying to hook up with whichever local gym will have me.
I was in Seattle on business and gave Seattle Gracie Barra a call. Rodrigo was very welcoming (as was everyone else I met) and I trained with his team for the entire week. And when I was back again a month later, I knew exactly where to go.
Rodrigo is an excellent instructor who can clearly breakdown and explain the individual components of a complex sequence. I thought he was very attentive and gave his students lots of feedback. Overall there was a good mix of skills in the classes; more white and blues; fewer purples, browns, and blacks. The atmosphere was the right mix of competition and camaraderie; no one’s trying to hurt you; but no one’s going to let you win either.

I’ve been training with Rodrigo for over 4 years now and I’ve never met a better instructor. Gracie Barra Seattle has is a very friendly environment and the best bjj school in the Seattle area (don’t believe me, go to
and see who wins the team competitions at each Revolution). Cindy Hales runs fantastic kids and no-​gi classes, and Jesse Ruth offers a unique and challenging mix of bjj/​yoga/​kickboxing/​crazy monkey boxing/​you name it.