CJJF Las Vegas isn't an MMA gym with a Jiu-Jitsu class bolted on. It's a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy, operated like a Carlson Gracie academy from the old country — clean mats, honest standards, no rushed belts.
Master Aldo "Caveirinha" Januario began Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro more than thirty years ago. He earned the nickname — little skull — young, and it stuck through three decades of training, teaching, and coaching fighters on two continents.
When he opened the Caveirinha Jiu-Jitsu Family in Las Vegas, it wasn't to franchise a brand. It was to pay back a debt. The art that saved his life deserved to be taught the way it was taught to him — with patience, with structure, with the same standards he learned under Carlson Gracie's lineage.
CJJF trains serious competitors, but it isn't for competitors only. Most students will never enter a tournament. That's fine. The curriculum is designed for a thirty-year practice — something you can walk into at 42 and still be doing at 72.
You will not be smashed on your first day. You will not be rushed through belts to pad your loyalty. You will be met exactly where you are, taught what to do next, and held to a standard you can actually reach.
That's what Carlson Gracie taught. That's what Caveirinha was built to protect. That's what this academy is — and why the Caveirinha association was named Hawaii's Best in 2022.
The fastest way to understand how we teach is to come train. Your first class is on us — no contract, no pressure, no ego.
A list of what happens in our classes that, if you've visited other academies, you may not be used to.
Every rule below is a small thing. Together they become the difference between a Jiu-Jitsu school and a gym with mats.
"Jiu-Jitsu saved my life. I don't teach it for money. I teach it because I owe it."
"Caveirinha Jiu-Jitsu Family" isn't a slogan. The people who train here look out for each other on the mat and off it — spotting the detail you missed, staying late to drill, showing up when life gets heavy. New white belts get folded in on day one, not left to figure it out alone.
Kids grow up on these mats. Parents end up training next to them. Couples come in together, neighbors become training partners, and the room that felt intimidating in week one feels like home by month two. That culture is the thing we protect hardest — and it's what keeps people here for years, not weeks.
"Clean mats. Quiet standards. A room where the work gets done."
Your first class is free. Bring shorts and a t-shirt. We handle the rest.
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