Charles Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy - San Mateo

"When I come in town for work I always visit this gym - the teaching is great, the community is welcoming, and I always have a good time."

"This is a long overdue review. Hopefully Coach (and Owner) Chris has changed since receiving my feedback (pasted below to which he never responded). That same week, I withdrew my child from Charles Gracie and never received an apology. When I called the studio to share this incident, his wife and office manager said "you know that's his style." No, this is NOT OK! The incident in class Tuesday night was very unfortunate. As you know, you used the palm of your hand and smacked [Johnny] in the forehead, twice, and the other kids who saw laughed. I understand this is your “style” and perhaps you’ve done this a few times before but I sincerely hope you can take a few minutes to see from my perspective why this specific time it was NOT OK: 1) Imagine this was you and your daughter. Imagine a coach used his palm to smack her in the forehead because he thought “she wasn’t paying attention”. How would you feel? Maybe not much different from how I felt. 2) Seeing it another way, would you have done this to your daughter if you felt she “wasn’t paying attention” in class? I don’t think you would so please help me understand what makes you think it’s OK to do that to any child? 3) Please remember these kids look up to their head coach. I get what you did can be funny to the kids (by the way, no parents were laughing) but it also shows you can be physical, excessive, and angry when you don't like something or someone's doing something that displeases you. Moreover, this is unprofessional. Please know parents hold you to a higher standard, as we should. 4) What you did would not be unacceptable if this happened to a child in a classroom (in fact it would be reported). Your studio doesn't get exceptions to this just because it's not a true "classroom". You are the teacher (even a role model to many) and the kids are your students. Please know I am pointing these out not to attack or upset you (or imply you are a bad guy because I know you're not) but to share my view hopefully in a relatable way (you don't need to agree with me but I hope you are open to hearing others' feedback). I hope you can understand how I felt and why I reacted instinctively by placing yourself in my shoes for a moment where you are the parent seeing this happen to your own child. Thank you for your time and understanding."

"This is a wonderful place to train. Professor Cris is amazing and instruction is top notch. Also a great core group of people train here and are very respectful. Highly recommend!!"

"Fantastic instructor. Professor Cris really knows what he is talking about not to mention he is great with kids and everyone were very friendly and welcoming! No one will try to smash you in here, it's about learning with many high belts and to learn from, simply a Great place! the place I'll miss the most in San Mateo."

"We are extremely happy and satisfied with this academy. The ratio of child to coach is beyond ideal. There is little room for kids to get lost and missed during class. Attention and support is given evenly to all students seems like. This makes for huge difference on the progression of the students and increases the rate of learning. You can tell that they have years of experience and everyone is reaping the rewards. My kids enjoy and look forward to every single class."