Hawaiian Self Defense

Waianae

Aiea

City

Holualoa

Hilo

Honolulu

Kailua-Kona

Kailua

Kapolei

Kekaha

Kihei

Kapaʻa

Kilauea

Mililani

Lahaina

Lihue

Pearl City

Waipahu

Wahiawā

Waimea

Wailuku

Wahiawa

Ewa Beach

Haleiwa

Kahului

Kaneohe

Schofield Barracks

WAHIAWA

Haiku

Hawaii's BJJ story begins with one student. In June 1988, Relson Gracie — son of Grand Master Helio Gracie and one of the most decorated fighters in his family — landed in Honolulu with no academy, no reputation on the islands, and no local awareness that Brazilian jiu-jitsu existed. He started teaching in his garage in 1989. Word spread. He moved his classes to the Athletic Complex at the University of Hawaii, where he taught for seven years before opening his official academy on Waialae Avenue in 1996. By 1992, his school had grown large enough that Relson organized what is widely credited as the first official Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament held outside of Brazil, staged on Oahu. Hawaii did not need to be sold on grappling — it had Kajukenbo, the mixed martial art founded in 1947 at the Palama Settlement on Oahu by Adriano Emperado and four other black belts who built a pragmatic fighting system from karate, judo, jujutsu, kenpo, and Chinese boxing. That martial culture was already embedded in the islands when Relson arrived, and it gave BJJ a receptive audience.

The students who came up through Relson's early classes became the foundation of Hawaii's competitive identity. Egan Inoue, who first trained at Relson's academy before moving on to the Machado lineage, became in 1996 and 1997 the first non-Brazilian to win gold at the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship — at blue and then purple belt absolute. He opened Grappling Unlimited in 1995, one of the state's earliest independent academies. Todd Tanaka, now a sixth-degree black belt, competed in those 1992 tournaments and went on to lead Team HK — the Relson Gracie affiliate named after its original Hawaii Kai students — which remains one of Honolulu's anchor schools. The most famous name tied to the islands is B.J. Penn, from Hilo on the Big Island. Penn began training at seventeen after a neighbor introduced him to jiu-jitsu. He earned his black belt in under three years and in 2000 became the first non-Brazilian to win the World Championship at black belt level.

Geographically, Oahu carries the bulk of the state's density. Honolulu is where most of the lineage concentrated: Team HK, the Ronn Shiraki Academy, Gracie Technics (running a Pedro Sauer lineage under Rylan Lizares), Island Jiu Jitsu (an Atos affiliate), and United BJJ Hawaii, co-founded by Angela Lee Pucci — a six-time ONE Women's Atomweight World Champion — and Bruno Pucci. Maui has its own established scene, anchored by Master Heredia's school in Haiku, which he opened in 2000 after a decade coaching at the Rickson Gracie academy in Los Angeles, and a Carlson Gracie affiliate in Lahaina run by Christian Grandi. The Kajukenbo Self-Defense Institute, rooted in Emperado's original system, continues teaching on Oahu. Penn put the Big Island on the competition map, and training options exist in Hilo and Kona, though the scene there is smaller than Oahu's.

The culture across the islands leans toward practical self-defense alongside sport, a sensibility Relson himself instilled from the beginning. Training in Hawaii is not isolated — visiting black belts and seminars move through the islands regularly, and local competitors travel to the Mainland and international circuits at every belt level. For anyone relocating or visiting, MatMade lists 116 BJJ gyms across Hawaii, spanning Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai, with filtering by location and affiliation. Wherever you land in the state, a mat is close.

Hawaii

BJJ & Martial Arts in Waianae, Hawaii