Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Preston 4.78

The head quarters of Gracie Barra Lagarto was founded by head instructors Lucio ‘Lagarto’ Rodrigues and Paul Hartley. BJJ is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and is the most effective martial art in the world. Unlike any other martial art, in BJJ it can take up to ten years to earn a black belt and so this is considered to be an incredible achievement. The club boasts 3 black belts including head instructor and current Blackbelt European champion Lucio 'Lagarto' Rodrigues, Lucio Sergio Dos Santos and Paul 'Leo Marinho' Hartley who was recently awarded his Black Belt after being very successful in the recent European BJJ championships held in Lisbon, bringing home both a Gold and Silver Medal. Matt 'Stallone' Callaghan who is currently a Brown belt is also teaching at the academy as the assistant instructor, and brought back a Bronze medal from the tournament. The instructors along with 15 members of the club travelled to Lisbon, Portugal at the end of January to compete in one of the biggest BJJ tournaments in the world and proved to be very successful, bringing back a number of medals between them. Gracie Barra Lagarto also took home 5 Gold medals, one Silver and one Bronze at the recent North West Open held in Liverpool.


There are very few Black Belts teaching in the UK at present but Preston has 3, making it the premier BJJ school in the North West and one of the top places to train in the whole of the UK. BJJ is not only about training and keeping fit, but is a great sport to socialise and make friends, become disciplined and set goals for yourself if you wish to compete. The club has basic classes for all beginners and once you progress, after several months of training, you can enter the advanced classes and possibly think about competing.