Clark Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

I originally tried a BJJ class because my boyfriend kept bugging me, saying how much fun he was having and I needed to try it. Finally I decided to go and was kinda nervous because I had no clue what to expect. Upon entering I was greeted by Professor Cedric as well as another student Roxana who welcomed me immediately. Some gyms have a bunch of arrogant meatheads but that was not the case here. I got the vibe of a family atmosphere. Then I felt comfortable trying BJJ and it is definitely a workout! Never have I felt so uncoordinated. Professor Cedric is a excellent teacher who constantly is giving advice and feedback to his students. I am thankful my boyfriend made me try BJJ. Now I look forward to learning the art and seeing my new family.

My son who is 5 years old started taking classes with Professor Cedric four months ago and has increased his self confidence so much. Professor Cedric is down to earth, kid friendly and all the students respect him. He communicates well with the students in his instructions in kid friendly terms that captures their attention and focus. If you’re thinking about having your child try Jiu Jitsu, you won’t be disappointed about coming here.

I took my son here based on a recommendation from another parent in school. My son immediately took a liking of the place. The professors are fun and patient. They break things apart and explain/​show the moves in great details, so kids can get them right from the beginning. The kids who attend class here are great too. They help and encourage each other, patiently demonstrate the correct techniques to newcomers. Also on Wednesdays, coach Marco will teach Muay Thai to kids, and everyone seems to enjoy it. We absolutely love this place and would recommend it wholeheartedly.

From the first time I stepped into the gym, I knew that Cedric was a true fan of the art and truly wants his students to succeed in their BJJ path. He takes his time breaking down techniques and pays attention to his students during the drills. The senior students do their best to help out the white belts and during sparring and drilling. I truly enjoy being a part of this team!

Our son is 9 and we were trying to find a studio for him and his friend to learn at. We lucked out. Cedric is the professor for the kids Jiu-​jitsu. All of the kids live him. He is patient and keeps their attention. After signing up we heard they had a kids Muay Thai class. Marco is the professor for the Thai boxing. Once again he is terrific with the kids. I highly recommend this studio.

Excellent Brazilian jiu-​jitsu gym. Clean and comfortable gym with great instruction.
Professor Cedric is really good at explaining techniques. He doesn’t just demonstrate but explains all the details. He is a great teacher and cares about his students.
Very good adult classes with good people. No egos here.

My 6 year old son started Jiu-​Jitsu here about 3 months ago and absolutely loves it. Professor Cedric and the other coaches are amazing with the kids. My son is very high energy and this has been a great outlet as well as a wonderful lesson in self-​control and respect. This school has a great community feel everyone makes you feel at home from the start. My daughter turned four about a month ago and wanted to start Jiu-​Jitsu right away and has really enjoyed it. Professor Cedric and the coaches are very patient and make it fun. Jiu-​Jitsu has been great for my kids self-​confidence and has improved their coordination. It’s great to know that they are learning how to protect themselves while having fun. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Cedric was very welcoming as I inquired about dropping in when in town. They seemed to have a great culture and the instruction was both interesting and technical. I’ve been to academies across the country and they are doing it right. I’ll definitely be back. Also, I’ve trained with Clark in San Diego many times and he should be proud of this location.

Be careful. Fraud transactions… I told him that my son can’t go there because he is visiting out of state to his grandma’s house during the summer vacation and he said he will put on hold. But he charged my credit card for two months during the summer so I had to dispute it with the bank and asked the bank to reject any future charges from there.
Then, after two months later, he charged my bank for another 3 consecutive months which I didn’t know about. Um. What is this? My son hasn’t been there for about 5 months!
I called him hoping he could resolve this matter and yet he gives me the run around saying that I have to cancel it in writing with his «Billing Company». And he says that he doesn’t know how his credit card company rescheduled the auto charge again so my bank needs to talk to his «Billing Company». I just wasn’t receiving the solution from him, so I finally asked for the contact information to his «Billing Company». And now he gave me his email address.
I run a business and this is not ethical.
I never write any reviews or feedback but I had to this time.

Great place to learn jujitsu! Professor Cedric is great and patient with the children!

Great class for all levels! Coach Cedric is fun and knowledgeable. I have 2 boys, 10 and 13 who want to come every day. The other students and coaches have all been good for their physical fitness and mental confidence. I highly recommend whether you are new to Jiu-​Jitsu or looking for a new school. Lots of individual attention in a fun and competitive environment.

Great place to learn jujitsu! Professor Cedric is very knowledgeable and wonderful with kids! My son absolutely loves this place!

We absolutely love this place. We’ve been coming for about 6 months. My son is six and a bit shy, so he was hesitant to start doing this, but Professor Cedric is just amazing with kids, and my son could see how much fun the other kids were having. So after just watching for two or three classes (that was Cedric’s recommendation – just let him watch, no pressure, and we’ll see), he decided he wanted to give it a try. Now he just loves it. The kids are having so much fun learning, practicing moves, testing them out on the instructors and each other, and occasional sparring. And Cedric has an amazing way of explaining the moves so that kids really understand it and get into it. It’s genius, really.
The other instructors are great, too. And kids from older age groups come in to help out with demo-​ing moves and letting the younger kids practice on them. The whole place has this really strong community feeling, and I feel like my son is learning a really good value system in addition to jujitsu. I couldn’t ask for a better dojo.

I tried Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the first time using the free 10 day trial that it offers with no commitment. The primary instructor (Cedric) was welcoming and as a brand new female student I felt comfortable training with him. At first I was scared about getting beat up by guys but the atmosphere at this place was relaxed and there weren’t any meat head guys there during my trial.
I learned a lot from the instructor in technique. It was nice that he could also describe everything in context of self defense. He was good at observing what students were doing and giving direct feedback to fix their form. I didn’t spar very much during my trial. The first class I was too scared to try it and he said I could just watch. I had more courage the second class and tried sparring. He gave me instruction during my first spar which was super helpful. After the third class the flow of sparring made more sense to me.
I observed the children/​youth class before the adult one and it seemed like a safe space for kids to learn useful skills.
Ultimately I didn’t have time to commit to training in BJJ because I was already committed to other athletic activities that I prefer to BJJ. If my schedule opens up and I decide to train in BJJ I would go back here due to the culture and people which seem more relaxed than other BJJ gyms. I wasn’t pressured to buy a membership during my trial period which I appreciated a lot. The only con for this gym is the size of the facilities. There are no showers which may be a problem for some people but not for me because class hours are all evening, after work time.

This place is a real gem when it comes to BJJ schools. BJJ in general is great for many reasons (fitness, self-​defense, mental challenge), but in addition to that, being able to train in a great environment like the one here makes all the difference. There are a lot of high points about this place from my perspective:
1. Quality of instruction: Professor Cedric has a wealth of knowledge on grappling and focuses his teaching on high-​percentage moves — meaning techniques, transitions, and positions that have a high-​percentage of working in applied scenarios (live rolling and self defense). Cedric and the other coaches are very technical and are good at teaching a lot of the more subtle but very important aspects of BJJ which makes the difference between whether things work or not.
2. Gym culture: Gracie Gym Irvine has a friendly and supportive gym culture which is accommodating of a wide range of motivations for training BJJ, whether you want to compete, learn self-​defense, or just to get in shape. Professor Cedric and the other students really set a good vibe which most importantly makes training fun regardless of your motivation. This place also has a lot of high level grapplers who are beasts on the mat and do well in the competition scene, but without the ego.
3. Pricing: For the high quality of instruction that you get here, this place is much more affordable than a lot of the local options.
If you’re looking for a place to train, you need to give Gracie Gym Irvine a look!

Cedric is the best! Knows his stuff and is terrific with the kids. My 6 year old daughter loves it here. Highly recommended!

This place is amazing. I can’t say enough about how good Cedric is with the kids — he makes it fun but teaches the kids jiu jitsu, including many real life self-​defense skills, at the same time. I have two girls that have been going for a few months and they love it. I can tell they feel more confident and they love having the special skills they are learning. The tuition for a family plan is very reasonable, and I have been going to the adult classes as much as possible. It is fun and good exercise and you learn very valuable skills. I highly recommend Gracie Gym in Irvine.

My son just joined this school 2 weeks ago. He’s very small for his age and about to attend a new school after summer. He walked in shy and a little scared and with in a couple of days with professor Cedric, i was already noticing the changes in my son. It’s very amazing to see how great someone works with kids of all ages. If your looking for a place for your children to learn self defense this is the place.
Beside Cedric and his coaches, the kids there are amazing! They help each other through out the whole class, no matter if they are bigger or at a higher level than there sparring partner and the parents are great! Right away they make you feel like part of the Gracie Gym family! I could go on for days about the gym. Thank you everyone !
And a special Thanks to YOU, PROFESSOR CEDRIC!!!

Great school for my son. Very convenient location close to Westpark elementary school. We’ve been coming for over a year.
My son has been able to learn a lot of Jui Jitsu moves to help him defend himself. I am looking forward to his progression in the sport.

I have 2 kids that have been going to the classes for a few months now. They just love it. As a parent I’m amazed at how Professor Cedric keeps them interested and excited. My kids, both, look forward to going to all 3 classes offered to them each week. They are definitely learning and meeting some great friends too.

My kids just started coming here, and they both LOVE it! We’ve already referred 4 – 5 other friends and all the kids are having a great time… but more importantly learning how to defend and protect themselves!

This place is great! I was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by a friend, and he recommended I come try it out. I was hooked instantly. I signed up right away and have been practicing here for about two years now. This review is for the adult class.
I love practicing and learning BJJ because its great exercise and you can go as hard as you want and not hurt any one. Sure, you might have some minor injuries like brusing or scrapes, it is a contact sport after all, but it’s mostly your own fault for being stubborn and not tapping. I’m about 5’10″ but 120lbs so I’m definitely on the lighter side of people, but I love how methodical and technical BJJ gets. I love learning new moves that work on people literally twice my size (weight).
The atmosphere is wonderful. Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful, that is both the professors and the other students. Some of the other students really like to compete, but this gym isn’t competition/​results driven. Those who do compete can and do get extra help for competitions, however, whose of us who aren’t interested can continue to come, learn, and practice.
What was also really nice when I was first starting out was that the gym was newer. This meant that every once in a while I got a free private lesson. These days there are more students, but it doesn’t feel like its lost that closeness with the professor. We still get lots of one on one instruction in practice.
I highly recommend this gym to anyone who is interested in BJJ whether new or experienced.

I was introduced to Jiu Jitsu by my husband who has been practicing for years. After taking a few classes, I really liked it because it’s a lot of cardio that I was missing from doing yoga alone.
I work in the office and sit in front of computer for the most of my day. Doing Jiu Jitsu is almost like a liberating experience because it puts you in a «hunter’s mode» that requires absolute focus and intense physical strength. I mean… no wondering thoughts can occur when you are rolling with someone else with all you got.
Besides the general benefits of doing Jiu Jitsu, I must say the professor Cedric really knows how to make everyone feel comfortable while maintaining focus and discipline across all ages and genders.
I’m a female in my 30’s and I would recommend anyone like me to grab your girl friends and go take a class if you want to try something different. It’ll never bore you and you’ll be surprised by all kinds of defense techniques you can learn from first few classes.