Gracie Barra Mansfield | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Tag: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mansfield

Gracie Barra 30th Anniversary Promotion!

If you ever needed a reason to begin your Jiu-Jitsu journey…
your search ends today.

For the past 30 years Gracie Barra has been delivering Jiu-Jitsu excellence to local communities all around the world. This month Gracie Barra is celebrating 30 years of Jiu Jitsu and GB is giving you not one but THIRTY reasons to start training today.

Want to try out a class for free? Fill out the form below or call (817) 453-5858.

[contact-form-7 id=”2360″ title=”30th Anniversary Promotion”]

30 Reasons To Start Training Jiu-Jitsu

1 – Get in the best shape of your life!
2 – Surround yourself with great people who will help you accomplish your goals!
3 – Have a mentor that will walk you through your success as a martial artist!
4 – Get inspired to achieve more!
5 – 30% OFF – After all we are celebrating 30 years!!!!
6 – Free Intro Class – Get started the right way.
7 – Jiu-Jitsu is a journey for a lifetime.
8 – Gracie Barra is a family that we choose, and a place where we respect and help each other.
9 – You will always find a good friends on the mats.
10 – Focus – The first skill you will improve in your Jiu-Jitsu life.

[expand title=”Click here to learn more about the other 20 reasons why JJ will change your life for better!!”]
11 – Everyone should learn Self-Defense.
12 – Confidence – Day-by-day you will learn to trust your body and see yourself becoming more confident.
13 – Mindset- Jiu-Jitsu will also help you improve your mind.
14 – Gracie Barra is a place for a everyone, including you.
15 – Philosophy – Find a new way to live your life. The Jiu-Jitsu philosophy is contagious.
16 – Tradition – Be part of something bigger than you and make history with us.
17 – Gentle Art – Jiu-Jitsu focuses on grappling and controlling your opponent rather than striking. It is substantially less violent and injurious than other forms of combat or martial arts.
18 – Self Esteem – Training Jiu-Jitsu will help you accept yourself and love yourself just the way you are.
19 – Greatness – Find your greatness thought jiu-jitsu is something possible and mensurable.
20 – It’s Challenging – You will learn something new every day and the learning never stops.
21 – GB Environment – You will never know if you never try. Gracie Barra is the right place for you and your family!
22 – It’s Fun – We promise that you will never get bored doing jiu-jitsu.
23 – GB Method – Gracie Barra developed an amazing curriculum that will help you learn Jiu-Jitsu in the right way.
24 – Discipline – To make it happen.
25 – White Belt – Jiu-Jitsu is a journey and being a white belt is the first step.
26 – Blue Belt – Being a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu is an awesome feeling and means that you have the power of perseverance and you didn’t give up.
27 – GB1 – Fundamental Class. Gracie Barra has created a structure that condenses an immense diversity of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into core fundamental moves combined intelligently and safely to optimize your learning.
28 – Purple Belt – Hard Work is how we describe a purple belt and in this phase Jiu-Jitsu has already became a part of you.
29 – Brown Belt – Patience and dedication. The word that we use to describe the brown belt is patience as we are dreaming a lot about becoming a black belt.
30 – Black Belt – The journey doesn’t end for those who have reached this level. If you want to be a black belt, be ready to serve. We believe that the knowledge should not die with you. It should be passed on as a legacy.[/expand]

Gracie Barra Mansfield
(817) 453-5858

January 28, 2016
Valentine’s Day!
That time of the year is upon us and we at GB Mansfield invite you to bring your Valentine to train with us on Feb. 14th!

Many of us are constantly having to maintain a healthy balance between spending time at Jiu Jitsu and spending time with our significant other. Gracie Barra believes in JIU-JITSU FOR EVERYONE and we would like to give you and your S.O. the opportunity to train together!

For ONE DAY ONLY we will be offering both you and your Valentine a gift for training with Gracie Barra Mansfield:
- Free Class for your Valentine.
- Free Gi for the Valentine when they sign up for Jiu-Jitsu.
- Free Month for you when your Valentine signs up for Jiu-Jitsu.
This is a great opportunity for you to show your loved one why Jiu Jitsu is so important to you.

Offer valid only for current GB Mansfield students.
January 23, 2016
Do You Want To Start Learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? How To Get Started!

When January 1st rolls around many potential students think about getting started training BJJ.

Here are 5 Tips for Getting Started in BJJ:

1. You don’t need to “get in shape before I start”.

This is a common statement by people who are apprehensive about getting started in bjj. Part of it likely originates in the (understandable) wish to avoid “paying your dues” and getting tapped a lot at first.
Truth is the Gracie Barra warm up and drills will build the type of fitness that bjj requires without being overly exhausting. When you focus on the techniques you are being taught and attend class 2-4 times per week your body will adapt to the new demands.

GB warm up

2. Expect to be the “nail” early on.

Jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie famously said “Sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail!” When you start any new skill, there is that initial step learning curve.

You are not alone in feeling like the proverbial “nail”. I have witnessed well conditioned competitive fighters from other martial arts flounder when they first started. It isn’t only you!

3. You don’t need to buy every piece of training gear in the pro shop to start

Some students of bjj are “gear heads” and have every piece of training aid and fashionable rash guard and spats, limited edition kimono… the truth is you need to spend hundreds of dollars to get going. read also: 7 Things To Keep In Your BJJ Gear Bag

A kimono and rash guard are really all you need to get started. Usually your gb school has kimonos in stock in the pro shop and can fit you properly.

4. Being fit to start helps, but your body will have to adjust to the sports specific requirements of ground grappling.

This is related to #1
You might have a six-pack and have great “guns” from all of those concentration curls at the gym, but you will find out quickly that the conditioning required for grappling is different! Forget the beach muscles and think more about core strength, abdominal’s and muscular endurance.

There is a principle of sports science known as “specificity of training” which means the closer the exercise is to the specific demands of the sport, the greater the carry over benefit.

5. Go watch a class before signing up

Gracie Barra recommends that you seek a legitimate gb school with classes run by a black belt instructor. It isn’t always possible to find a black belt where you live but it should be your first choice. Remember, any martial arts school can put “brazilian jiu-jitsu” on their sign, but it is no guarantee that the instructor is qualified to teach beginners!

If there are numerous bjj schools in your area drop by and ask to observe a class. You will get a feeling as to the culture and vibe of the school.

The Gracie Barra mission is striving to put a qualified instructor and school in your city. Look for a Gracie Barra bjj school near you here!

Credits: Mark Mullen

January 23, 2016
Gracie Barra Mansfield—Where Boys Can Be Boys

Gracie-Barra Mansfield is a fabulous place to learn, grow and make lasting friendships. We are a dojo for the WHOLE family, so if you are in the Arlington, TX area, come by for a visit! We are offering an entire month for FREE.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is called “the gentle martial art” because it is a form that can be practiced for a lifetime. It is well-suited for small children and is an art they can carry into the later years of life. Spawn (my five-year-old-son) and I practice BJJ together.

Though BJJ has been beneficial for both of us, I am really seeing what a difference it is making in him. Spawn is a great kid, but he was in a terrible accident when he was only a little over two. He pulled a heavy bar stool over on his face and knocked his four front teeth up into the maxilla (upper jaw bone). $20,000 worth of maxo-faxial surgery later, we took home our wee baby Bat Boy.

On top of having the missing teeth, Spawn is unusually tall for his age. His father is 6′ 6″. So between the missing teeth and the height, people (adults and kids) would assume he was far older than he really was. Thus, they didn’t understand why this GROWN kid was in Pull-Ups. They didn’t “get” that who they thought was a FIVE year-old was only three. That he wasn’t talking a lot and not fully potty trained because he was STILL a TODDLER.

I ran interference as much as I could, but kids and even adults can be cruel, sometimes not intentionally. By the next year, a child who smiled NON-STOP hid his face. I have very few pictures of him when he is not SLEEPING because the accident had taken a toll on his self-esteem. Then, we had trouble with the preschool he’d been in most of his life and I decided to homeschool.

I detail what led up to that in my post Common Core and Vegan Zombies.

I will admit that not all public schools are the same, but there is a lot of research that shows our culture is becoming increasingly anti-boy. While girls are now thriving in school, boys are struggling.

Our modern educational design has shifted to being more sedentary, collaborative, risk-averse, and feelings-focused which favors girls. Meanwhile, boys tend to be the casualties of the ever-increasing Zero-Tolerance Policies as well as the criminalization of minor offenses. Recess is disappearing and natural “boy behavior” is being medicalized and medicated, demonized and punished.

Boys are naturally more rambunctious. They play aggressively (think bear cubs) and can be inattentive, especially at younger ages. In my opinion, the current model of education is outdated. Our educational system was created as a result of the Industrial Revolution. It was funded and canonized in order to provide future generations of good factory workers. We were a nation of manufacturing and we NEEDED people who could sit still and focus on a singular task all…day…long.

These days, the US is no longer a center for manufacturing. That has moved to developing countries. Most jobs require an insane amount of multi-tasking, which (in my mind) favors those of us wired to be more A.D.D.

But that’s another blog 😀 .

And all of my socio-political arguments aside, I think most of us would at least confess that kids are expected to sit still and pay attention for far too long and then face punishment when they don’t (or can’t) comply to an unreasonable about of sedentariness.

We are blessed to live in Mansfield. I am working with the schools now and I don’t know if I will send Spawn off to Kindergarden this year now that he is old enough. I know Mansfield has an outstanding reputation so that does mitigate a lot of my worries. But, even in GREAT school systems like ours, I think we as parents can help our kids (especially our BOYS) thrive by adding in BOY-FRIENDLY activities.

I help teach the kid’s class and it is ALWAYS AWESOME to see a class filled with little girls. I grew up being the ONLY female taking martial arts and it is super cool to see these girls starting so young. But what is even COOLER for me as the mother of a son, is to have a place where Spawn is rewarded for being a BOY. Wrestling and giggling and tackling are GOOD and even rewarded.

It’s been wonderful to see my boy go from being shy and afraid to talk to people to all smiles and giggles. He LOVES BJJ and loves the kids there. Since he is engaging more, his speech is improving. I am seeing him interested in far more things because he’s gotten back that spark of bravery that the accident had almost snuffed out.

At Gracie Barra Mansfield, boys can be boys in a safe environment where boy behavior is a GOOD thing and is channeled in healthy and productive ways. It is a wonderful blend of discipline and flexibility.

I look forward to seeing you in class and BRING ON THE BOYZ!!!

What are your thoughts? Are you the parent of a boy? Do you find yourself having to add in extra “boy-friendly activities”?

Stay smart, stay calm and stay SAFE!

~Dojo Diva

June 8, 2015