Our friend Stephane, French brown belt from planetejjb.com went to visit Gracie Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal and wrote this training report:
I propose you to discover the Jiu Jitsu Gracie LISBOA academy in Lisbon, Portugal.
For professional reasons, I go often to Lisbon. My flight is at 16:20. I also want to look at BJJ academies (like any good BJJ practitioner) of this beautiful city before taking off. Being a fan of the Gracie family, I chose the Academy GRACIE LISBOA and send them an email to let them know of my coming. My surprise when I immediately got a response when Joao (Chief Instructor) cordially invited me to come train.
GRACIE LISBOA: http://gracielisboa.blogspot.fr/
FACEBOOK Group: https://pt-pt.facebook.com/gracie.lisboa
Once finished with my work duties, I head to the academy to join Joao.
The club is located just off the CUF hospital east of the city, and takes about 10 minutes from the airport (taxis are very economical and cost virtually nothing, about 7 euros).
Club-jjb-gracie-lisbon
Address : Externato João XXIII
Corsário Rua das Ilhas
Parque das Nações
(ao lado do Descobertas hospital CUF)
I advise you to be dropped off at the hospital and the club is in Annex Joao XXIII about 10 meters.
On my arrival, Joao Santos, the head and a black belt in BJJ, greets me with a big smile. Joao is a black belt under Robin Gracie and runs several academies in Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
He is a lightweight, and showing what pure Jiu-Jitsu is all about, he spars with me in a very technical roll. Joao is a very friendly person and he shows me that at the European Championships a few years ago, members of Team Lloyd Irving (famous coach in the USA and former mentor of Keenan Cornelius) came to his academy to prepare for the competition. This year Joao has welcomed people from the USA, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Italy, England, Canada and France, all from different teams.
Joao is also very active with the champions of JJB and it has already brought in internship at his academy personalities like Caio Terra, Samir Chantre, Rolker Gracie, and many others
About 20 people are here tonight, a lot of white belts, a little blue and purple and a few browns. This is an open mat type session. Free training begins at 19h and ends at about 21h. The hours are the same every night of the week and take place within the same dojo.Club-jjb-gracie-lisboa
Stephane with Joao
I roll with a purple belt, super nice too but it is already time to leave. I really enjoyed my time in the academy and I can only applaud the welcome that was reserved for me. Do not hesitate to Like their Facebook page as they are very active.
Joao proposed to drop me off at my hotel and of course, we are talking Jiu Jitsu on the way back: an encyclopedia that is Joao.
If you are in Lisbon, I can only advise you to come and train you in GRACIE LISBOA. A very warm welcome awaits you and good rolls.
