Carlson Gracie
Sad news coming from Rio de Janeiro this Monday, August 3.
The historic Carlson Gracie academy, in the neighborhood of Copacabana, is set to close down by the end of the month.
According to GRACIEMAG’s Marcelo Dunlop, the reason for the closure is an offer the landlord received from a religious group to use the space as a church.
The current rent paid by the academy is R$ 2,000 ($600) and the potential new tenants offered R$ 7,000 ($2,100) a month.
Carlson Gracie Team in the 80s and 90s
Carlson Gracie’s widow, Marly Gracie, who is going through health issues, said she’s not able to run the academy anymore.
The Carlson Gracie Academy, located at 414 Figueiredo de Magalhães Street, 3rd floor, was the setting for the breeding of some of the greatest talents in BJJ and MMA of all times, such as Vitor Belfort, Wallid Ismail, Amaury Bitteti, Paulo Filho, Alan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, José Mário Sperry, and many, many others.
It was also there that the legendary Rolls Gracie taught classes before his death in 1982.
The last training session of at the school is already scheduled for August 25, at 7PM.
