Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Austin Association

Relson Gracie Austin Association has relocated

I only got to train here for about 6 months before I had to relocate due to work, but this place is great.
First of all, as an extremely busy engineering student with a part-​time job, I originally chose this gym over the many others in Austin primarily because of two things — the variety of class times and the affordable and competitive monthly prices. They have classes in the early morning, noon, evening, and even late evening on some days. Most days I think there were at least three class times, and classes are usually two hours, so you can get plenty of mat time in every day if you want. Weekend classes are also a plus and tend to be really popular. There are different pricing options depending on how often you want to come to class, which is nice for people just starting out.
The classes also tend to be pretty small and personal, and most are taught but Christy Thomas, a black belt under Relson Gracie and awesome instructor. Christy has a great teaching style — during instructional time she doesn’t just show you a handful of techniques, but actually explains how they work and why they work and how everything fits into the greater jiu-​jitsu game as a whole before letting you loose to drill. If you’re more of an analytical thinker, this is really helpful. She also holds conditioning sessions and a weekly women-​only class which is focused on self-​defense.
The students here are also really friendly and helpful. Every time I rolled here I was learning some new technique from an upper belt student, and many of them compete regularly in local tournaments. The people who train here are a pretty diverse group — men, women, young, old, big, small — but everyone is really conscientious as a training partner. Sparring is definitely challenging, but even as a woman on the smaller side (at least in the BJJ world) and a complete newbie, I never felt like anyone was ever going too rough or being unsafe, unlike I’ve seen sometimes at other gyms.
Only downside is there is no A/​C — bring lots of water :)

I love being active and love to exercise… But sometimes, it can be boring. That’s why I love going to Relson’s. You go in and start learning and rolling and having a blast with some really cool people and then BAM, you just had a killer workout and didn’t even know it. I started there to learn martial arts and ended up losing weight as a side effect. Alright… cool.
Everyone at the academy is part of a team and the head instructor, Christy, is amazing. Her passion for Jiu-​Jitsu shines through. She’s personable, knowledgable, respectful, and talented. Great place.

I’m in search of a good MMA school in Tx for my children and finally come to a conclusion there is zero school in entire Texas offering good program for kids and the young people, in term of programs and training methods.
There are many better schools in California. The instructors are true fighters and their schools are way a lot better, especially they know how to train kids and the young people on MMA.
Take the True Fight Club MMA school in Hayward, CA and Cung Le’s school in San Jose, CA for examples. These schools are the fully qualified ones that should be considered as training models for other schools to learn from. Attending these chools for 1 year could be a lot better than being trained in any school in Texas for more than 3 years.
You don’t have to take my words for granted. Just go to the schools in CA if you have chance to audit their training session. If you have more time, watch their students in the tournaments. Due to good training, their reactions are so fast, their technique are wonderful, and they even got train to think smarter how to win in case the oponents are stronger than they are. Even most of the instructors and students there in CA always attend most of the big UFC tournaments in CA & Las Vegas every year, and won many prizes among many fighters to keep their names and belts qualified vs. the big & falling-​down belly looking of most MMA instructors in TX.
The MMA schools in Austin and around TX look like the play-​yard in a kindergarten vs. the real professional training facilities with standard mats (vs. the cheap, thin, and old ones) and training equipments every where in CA and Las Vegas. Most of MMA schools in TX are «family-​own» and family run :-), father grants son or daughter their belts and rankings, while MMA schools in CA and Las Vegas are run by many highly-​qualified instructors being hired by the school for the best training provided.
In my opinion, most people in Tx are doing more business than know how to train MMA, or they don’t really want to provide real training. They themselves could be good, but these schools in Tx may not know how to train students to be better and become real winners vs. many of those in California.

From the novice to the professional you will enjoy the training & team camaraderie. Several capable Instructors and a huge class schedule makes this place so user friendly.

I’m still a new student here. I’ve been training in Austin for about 4 months, having trained in Los Angeles, and Norman, OK before that. So, there are still things I don’t know about this place, and some things I’m still getting used to.
Pros…
They have added a shower, which I don’t use, but it’s good to know that you have the option. (BJJ gyms are not like your local 24hr Fitness, most of them do NOT have showers, so this is actually kind of a surprise to find one.)
Phil Cardella. A professionl WEC cage fighter. (WEC is owned by the same group as UFC.) He is also a decorated BJJ competitor and black belt. And the important thing is that he cares and that he gives very specific, technical instruction. His style is different from some of my previous instructors, but I find that he is an expert and dedicated craftsman.
Overall experience…
He has more than one black belt instructor, several brown belts, and several more knowledgeable purple belts at the school.
Honesty and Openness. This place is not a high pressure sell. They will let you have the first class for free. Show you some basic stuff the first time. I think that their rates are competitive as well, and at the time of this review, they do not require a yearly commitment, only 30 or 60 days notice of cancellation, which is huge in case you move or something.
Competition. The school has many competitors in BJJ and MMA who train there.
All Women’s Classes. the co-​owner is named Christy. She works well with kids and also hosts an all-women’s class. Although, I think that the regular classes are fairly well integrated so that people of different sizes and levels can still find someone to train with. I have had jiu jitsu injuries in the past, and I never have a problem telling somebody, «my hand is sore, just be careful» or whatever. And people look out for each other so you can still train at Phil’s.
CONS…
First of all, I am picky about my jiu jitsu places, so bear that in mind. I have to look pretty hard to find any, but for the sake of brutal honesty, here are my oppinions, for what they are worth.
Variations in instruction…
As with pretty much all schools, you get different instructors at different times based on availability. I like Phil the best. The other instructors vary in teaching ability, as you will find at ANY bjj school. He’s pretty good about being there to lead classes accept right before he has a fight.
Organization…There is not a dedicated «no-​gi» class right now. Phil is of the oppinion that «you train jiu jitsu in a gi». So if you want to work no gi, you totally can, but it may be in the regular class, meaning that you may have to ask for no gi adjustments to make a certain choke or sweep work. Phil is good about explaining these, but if you’re used to organizing your training for one day gi, the next as no-​gi, it will be a change.
Intensity and Duration…
Classes are LONG. The warmups are difficult. You can pace yourself, drop out when you need to, but it can be overwhelming at first. I’m used to schools that were exactly 1 hour of lesson, 1 hour of training in set increments (5 or 7 minute rounds). It’s much more train as you will here. Guys train in gi tops with fight shorts if they are hot, or whatever, and there’s a lot of training for a while, and then resting for a while. Not much of a set structure, but still very intense.
The Facility…
Actually both a pro and a con. It’s kind of a wrestling dungeon/90’s boxing gym feel. Not a lot of overhead light, a few of the mats toward the outside are a little old, but it’s huge, allowing a lot of people to train and warmup, which once again, you won’t be able to find everywhere. Also has a ³⁄₈ cage area at one end, bags for the striking classes they also have and some other equipment like kettle bells and such.
That’s all I have for now. Minor issues aside, it’s still easily the best jiu jitsu opportunity available in Austin, at least that I’ve seen.

The shower is newly improved and more functional– get wet, get clean, and get out. Bring your own shampoo and soap; wear flipflops. There’s no hooks or towel rods, either.
But who cares.

I had a quarter life crisis back in October. It’s okay, really, I’m over it now. No, I mean I’m really over it. I know you all think I have a drinking problem, but that existed well before my crisis.
After injuring myself rather mysteriously (who knew lifting 150 pounds without bending at the knees could hurt your back?), I had to leave one of my favorite hobbies-​turned-​careers (I like to ruin the things I love): riding horses.
As part of my quarter life crisis, I decided I needed to take up something that was low-​impact. Low risk for injury. Slow pace. The natural answer was, of course, Gracie jiu jitsu.
Gracie jiu jitsu is basically the art of grappling. Kind of like wrestling only you get to wear a gui (like a robe) rather than a spandex jumpsuit (like, unflattering). This was a big selling point. I like an event where you look like you just got out of the shower.
If for nothing else, go for a free introductory lesson and see if you like it. The head instructor, Phil Cardella, is great. He’ll teach you some self-​defense moves that you can run through your head when you’re walking through a dark parking lot at night (or when you’re just feeling paranoid). If you go for a few more lessons, you’ll learn some other moves like arm-​bars and guillotines. They are active in competitions and they also offer muay-​thai kickboxing classes.
Let me know how you fare. Jiu jitsu will make really bizarre muscle groups sore — like that little tiny muscle under your big toe and the funny muscle that covers the outside of your elbow. It’s called extreme fighting for a reason.