Gracie Barra Cedar Park Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Self Defense — Attraction in Cedar Park

I trained with Fabio for 7 months as a white belt before switching to a better gym. My reason for leaving was that he choked me unconscious after I tapped, cancelled the no-gi classes, skipped out on my personal training for 3 weeks in a row right before he took a 2 month vacation leaving the noon classes for blue belts to teach! But it's what he did AFTER I left that compelled me to warn others.

First he didn't reimburse me the over $1k I spent on my privates. He also continued charging me and my 2 sons for months after we left. He kicked me from the group chat so he could trash talk me and call me a creonte (means traitor. his students gave me screen shots of the dialog). What happened next really creeps me out. At the 2018 Houston Open he stayed 7 hrs after his students fought just to coach the guy i was fighting. He wasn't even a student of his. He insulted me right before my fight calling me a creonte again. He and his 3 watching students heckled me during my match and encouraged my opponent to try to hurt me! Because my opponent was being so aggressive he ended up hurting himself and paramedics had to come to stop his bleeding. It was then that Fabio turned tail and left the guy he was coaching without an ounce of regard. The match restarted and he was left with a very annoyed opponent, a split head, and no coach! I submitted him soon after.

It is worth mentioning that a lot of students were upset that Fabio required everyone, even toddlers, to wear GB rash guards. This was after everyone already purchased non-GB rash guards from him! His greed didn't stop there, the next scheme was to buy knock off Gi's from Brazil he then sold to his students at a markup. They were such bad quality, they bled on the mats. He also requires you to buy his seminars to progress in rank. The seminars I attended were from nobodies, one was a local GB gym prof, the other was from his black belt student.

It bugs me that there is a monster like this still teaching out there, and to children. Please heed my warning and steer clear of that place.

UPDATE: It has been a year since I left. Yet just yesterday students of the gym trashed my FB wall, calling me a Creonte. And not just any students. His black belt and senior most student. And then others. They are like a mob! Get over it, I left your gym for another! Wow the...

I am pretty new to Austin however I am not new to Jiu-jitsu. I understand the moves and what is proper and what is not. With that said I tell my story to warn you about Gracie Barra Cedar Park. I took my daughter there and she is 9 years old. She was still very much a beginner however she loved jiu-jitsu. I took her to Gracie Barra Cedar park to learn that the black belt rarely teaches the kids classes. He does stuff with his chosen advanced students and leaves the beginner kids to his fat and overweight blue belt Alex. I observed this blue belt touching my daughter where he shouldnt be touching, her butt and her front area "showing her moves". I said something to the instructor and he said that's the proper way. I removed her out of there when my daughter told me that the blue belt made her uncomfortable. I never went back. I put her in a different school and she loves it, there no problems. Then what made me write this comment is that I saw the instructor compete in the Austin Open on July 26th 2015. Fabio won his first match and boasted with pride in front of his students. Then when it came to his second match he lost. He acted like a baby kicking stuff around, looking all mad and had a hard time even getting on the podium for his second place medal showing a lack of sportsmanship and threatening the other black belts to a fight. All the while he is showing his students that they can boast when they win and be a sore loser when they lose. Shame on you Fabio for your lack of sportsmanship and I am so glad your not teaching my daughter these things. Fabio your not good for the sport. I do not recommend this school or any Gracie Barra school for those reasons. There are plenty of schools that are so much better. I do recommend that kids should be in jiu-jitsu for self defense. Just not Gracie...

I have been training Jiu Jitsu for almost 10 years, but due to my career, I have moved cities many times. Even though I would have preferred stability in my training, I have been able to see many ways or styles of teaching Jiu Jitsu and many ways of maintaining Jiu Jitsu Academies.

There are many things that you would take for granted from school to school: Cleanliness of the mats, professionalism of the staff, Jiu Jitsu professors that train with their students, and a structured curriculum to name a few. I can tell you that is not always the case, so it was very refreshing when I met Fabio and visited GB about 2 years ago.

I think this school is great and wouldn't consider leaving! Professor Fabio is kind, humble, very knowledgeable, and is very adept at helping you tailor your Jiu Jitsu to your body type. Professor Fabio instructs all of the classes and is always available to give feedback on necessary improvements to your Jiu Jitsu game. The mats are always very clean and I have not seen anyone catch or transmit nasties (ringworm, staph, etc). This is extremely important especially when there is a children's program!

I am happy to call him my friend, my mentor, and my professor!

Update: Shortly after my last review, I signed my daughter up for lessons. I believe that JJ is important for kids to develop self confidence and strong interpersonal skills, as well as, keeping fit! Now my daughter has been training Jiu Jitsu for over two years and loves Professor Fabio and Miss Leandra. They go out of their way to make her feel comfortable and part of their Jiu Jitsu family. We are all just as happy as we were in our...