Maui’s original Carlson Gracie academy — since 2008
Brazilian jiu jitsu and self-defense for kids from age four and adults at every level. West Maui’s longest continuously running jiu jitsu academy — 19 years on the mat in Lahaina, without a break. We will lend you a gi for your first class.
From zero experience to IBJJF Pan Kids champions
Every kid starts the same way — no experience needed, no gi required for the first class. The program takes them from their first day on the mat as far as they want to go, and some of them have gone all the way to the podium at the IBJJF Pan Kids.
Martial arts is one of the best ways to prepare a child for the challenges and conflicts that come up in their life. Training builds confidence, gives kids discipline and the values to make good choices, and helps mold them into respectful members of the community.
The principles are technique over strength, and mindfulness over aggression.
Whether your child walked in for the first time last week or just came home from an IBJJF podium, they train in the same room, in the same class, to the same standard.
Professor Christian asks the same respect from every student — for him, for the academy, and for whoever they are working with that day. Beginners get looked after, and it is usually the kids who compete doing the looking after.
There are no egos on these mats.
A pathway to the world stage
For the kids who want to compete, the door does not stop at our mats. Professor Christian’s standing in the Jiu Jitsu community and within the Carlson Gracie family opens training that is not open to everyone.
He keeps a dedicated competition team. Its schedule is not published — a place on it is earned — and the team trains alongside everyone else in the regular kids classes rather than off on its own.
Ahead of major championships, our competitors are invited to train at Carlson Gracie West Coast Headquarters in Temecula, a world-class competition room. That invitation comes through relationships built over decades, and it is a real advantage for a kid with ambition.
The record is not only IBJJF. Students from these mats have taken NAGA belts and Triple Crown titles as well.
We are the only academy on Maui ever to win an IBJJF division overall title. It was not the wider Carlson Gracie team that won it — it was Professor Christian’s own students, children who train right here in Lahaina, who took the Mighty Mite overall at the 2026 IBJJF LA Open. The trophy is on display at the academy.
There are children on these mats right now walking the same path.
Kids can train up to five days a week — every class their level runs, for one membership.
Sign your child upIt is Professor Christian’s belief that no child should be kept off the mat by what it costs. Scholarships are available for families who need them, and no child is turned away for asking.
If that is your family, write to Professor Christian directly at grandi808@me.com and he will take it from there.
Professor Christian expects his students to be upstanding members of the community away from the academy as much as on it. What a child learns here is meant to show up at school, at home, and around town.
If one of our students is falling short of that, he would rather hear about it. Write to him at grandi808@me.com.
The traditional class. Warm up, drill the day’s technique, then spar as hard or as light as you want to. Beginners get paired with people who know how to look after them.
Shorts and a rash guard, no jacket to grip. Faster, closer to wrestling, closer to what you would use standing up. Same coaching, different problem to solve.
Professor Christian asks the same of every student, adults included: show up in a clean gi, keep your nails trimmed short, and wash your feet before you step on.
These mats are treated as sacred ground. Looking after them is part of looking after the people you train with.
Will Wilson stepped onto the mats at Professor Christian’s academy for the very first time as a boy. He grew up training here, and as a teenager he went on to further his training at other Carlson Gracie academies on the mainland. He is the clearest example of where this program can take a kid who sticks with it.
Times subject to change — call (808) 298-8265 to confirm. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
Christian was personally trained and promoted to black belt by Carlson Gracie Sr. at the Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro. He trained and competed under Carlson Gracie Sr. for 14 years, then continued his training with Carlson Gracie Jr. after the great Master passed on. Among his teammates are Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Liborio and Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira.
He was later invited by the Gracie family to California to teach at Carlson Gracie Temecula, which led to his move to Maui in 2008, where he opened the first Carlson Gracie Academy in the state. Each year Carlson Gracie Jr. and guests including Amaury Bitetti, Rey Diogo, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu and Marcus Soares stop in to train or give seminars.
His students range from white belts to black belts, and he is fluent in Portuguese, Swedish, English and Spanish. He teaches the four-year-olds and the black belts alike, and he will know your name by your second class.
$180/ month + tax
Unlimited gi and no gi classes, five days a week.
$180/ month + tax
Every kids class at their level — up to five days a week.
$50/ class
Single drop-in session.
Come in any week and get started. We will lend you a gi for your first class.
Sign upMemberships are billed monthly through our member portal. Full pricing →
Visitors are welcome in any class, at any belt. Message us the day before so we know to expect you, then show up ten minutes early to sign in.
Message us about dropping inNo experience, no gi, no commitment needed. Pick a time off the schedule and we will see you on the mat.
Sign up nowOff the Keawe Street Bypass, at the end of the blue warehouses, right next door to the Maui Bed Store.
Directions →