First BJJ Academy in the US

The first dedicated BJJ school in the United States was the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California, opened in the late 1980s by Rorion Gracie. Before this, BJJ was taught sporadically through seminars or private lessons, but the Torrance academy provided a permanent home for instruction.

The school became a hub for early American practitioners and later produced some of the earliest U.S.-born black belts. It also played a key role in setting up the first UFC event, directly linking the academy’s efforts to the worldwide explosion of interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.