Message from Master Carlos Gracie Jr

"At the heart of the Gracie Barra Family's extraordinary success over the years is our strong philosophy and mission as a group, a foundation which our masters laid many years ago, but is constantly being reinforced by the great people that make our community. Jiu-Jitsu is a beautiful art, and we have a vision of how it should be taught as a means for individual development going beyond the competitive realm. To achieve this vision, we must remember to come together as a family, always putting the team in front of individual. For that, we will fight to the end for what we believe is right".

~ Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

What We Do

Dear Reader,

If you're even the least bit interested in giving "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Gracie Jiu Jitsu" (BJJ/GJJ) or "Mixed Martial Arts" (MMA) a try (whether you want to compete or not)… If you'd like to join a program that turns common people into extraordinary champions… If you want to find a proven training method that has helped so many people just like you achieve their goals… If you want to get into the absolute best shape of your life… Increase your self-confidence… and shock your friends and family with what you've accomplished… If you'd like to learn about a system of success that can get you where you want to go faster than you ever dreamed possible… Then this is the most interesting and important website you will ever visit.
Why? Because for the past 13 years, Rafael Ellwanger has had world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Gracie Jiu Jitsu (BJJ/GJJ), Submission Grappling and Wrestling training and holds several titles including No Gi World championship, US National champion, Pan American champion, European champion, and many more. And now he is right here.
You may have heard about Gracie Barra Team or, like many, you've simply heard about the sensational one-of-a-kind facility in Louisiana. where so many people of all different ages, fitness levels and backgrounds come to learn from the best.
After looking at what Rafael Ellwanger's Gracie Barra Northshore academies have to offer, it's easy to see why people love training there so much.
You'll see there are all kinds of people who train at Rafael Ellwanger's Martial Arts and Fitness Academy. Some want to compete, some don't. Some train every day, some train only a couple times a week. Some of Rafael's students want to fight in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), become world champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu "BJJ" or Submission Grappling or Muay Thai Kickboxing… some are training to earn their Black Belt… and others are there to simply get in great shape or to learn a practical method of self-defense and fighting that could save their lives on the streets.
The fact is, no matter where you come from… no matter how old (or how young) you are… what you're previous experience is (you don't have to have any experience at all!)… no matter whether you want to compete or you just want to train, give it a try and "see what happens"… all you really have to do is "plug yourself in" to this amazing system and see for yourself what it will do for you if you simply give it a try.
A common misconception about Gracie Barra Northshore's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,  Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Academy, is that many people think because we're always featured in the top Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu "BJJ" and Mixed Martial Arts "MMA" competitions, that our school is full of competitors and that it's mandatory to compete. That's simply not true. The simple fact is that anybody can come into this academy, be greeted with a warm smile, get treated with the utmost respect, and get the opportunity to train alongside some of the best fighters and grapplers in the nation.

Dear Future Champion,
My name is Rafael Ellwanger and I'd like to thank you for visiting my website. I'm glad you came, because I'm on a mission to help as many people as possible to experience the benefits of our programs.

Rafael Ellwanger
Gracie Barra Black Belt

If it is true that the disharmony in our thoughts and feelings can generate physical harm, it is no less true that the care we take with our body reflects not only on that body, but also on the mental health we all need to achieve a harmonious, happy life.

Of course one doesn’t need special abilities to master certain resources of Jiu-Jitsu, which allow us to defend efficiently. Let us not forget, notwithstanding, that, no matter what we look forward to, we will always have better chances of reaching it if we use our greatest spiritual and physical possibilities. Jiu-Jitsu, which cannot escape that peremptory rule, is nothing but its application in self-defense. Being, further, a sport, and indeed one of the most complete, how could it possibly turn its back on physical preparation?

Without health, in its whole meaning, there can be no complete happiness. Very often, however, instead of studying the laws we must respect in order to avoid diseases, we are more concerned about what is the proper medicine or process for repairing the consequences of our ignorance or conscious infractions.

It is illogical for man, who is the most perfect being to inhabit Earth, to have a shorter life than that of other animals. We are among those who fiercely believe we should live more than any irrational being. Therefore, if we compare the current average duration of the human life to that of the parrot’s, we don’t understand why, when one of us decides to live a hundred years, it is something so extraordinary. Imagine if, like any elephant or turtle, one of us happened to live until the age of two hundred!

However, as we see it, all that would be very normal if, throughout generations, with strange perseverance, we hadn’t been driving away from the natural laws.

Among other explanations, for instance, is nutrition. What do we really know about how, when, how much and what to eat in harmony with natural laws?

But let us stop here before, my dear reader, your tolerance goes away completely and you, with justifiable irony, ask: “And, by the way, what about Jiu-Jitsu?”

You are partially right. Due to the fact that it is, however, a difficult – if not impossible – task, in its amplitude, we won’t neglect our duty of warning you that wishing to know, exclusively by means of reading, the secrets of this traditional art of defense and attack is as efficient as studying singing by mail.

To you, friend and reader, my sincere thanks, and we’ll see each other again. If I didn’t succeed in pleasing you, at least I hope I didn’t totally disappoint you.