Vermont's BJJ story starts not on a competition mat but at a ski resort. In 1989, Julio Cesar "Foca" Fernandez Nunes — a Copacabana-raised grappler who had trained under Grand Master Carlson Gracie Sr. since age 16 — moved to Vermont and took a job at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe. He was already a multiple-time Brazilian national champion when he arrived, and in 1993, four years before the UFC made submission grappling a household concept in America, he opened Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Williston. That makes Vermont BJJ one of the earliest dedicated BJJ academies in the entire Northeast, founded when most Americans still had no frame of reference for the art. Foca holds a 7th Degree Coral Belt certified by CBJJP, USBJJF, and IBJJF — the only such credential under Carlson Gracie Sr. currently active in the United States — and co-authored "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for Experts Only" with his late instructor. The academy, which now runs 10 instructors and serves roughly 80 to 90 youth students per week, remains the historical anchor of the Vermont scene.
The Greater Burlington area is where the state's training options are most concentrated. Williston sits just east of the city, and the belt running along Route 2 into South Burlington holds several schools. United Fighting Arts Institute operates in South Burlington under Professor Debra Ballard and a full staff of instructors affiliated with 607 Grappling, mixing BJJ with Muay Thai under one roof. In Winooski — the small city immediately north of Burlington — Combat Fitness MMA has built one of the more competition-oriented programs in the state. Head BJJ coach Vince Guy received his black belt under Professor Roberto Maia at Gracie Barra Boston and has coached the University of Vermont Jiu Jitsu team for over a decade; black belt Aaron Krymkowski, who started training at the gym in 2012, has placed first at the Boston IBJJF Open. Inside Burlington proper, Grind BJJ runs out of a community center on North Winooski Avenue alongside pottery studios and yoga classes — a contrast that masks a legitimately hard training room. The gym was founded by brown belts who left a larger local academy over disagreements with the belt promotion structure, and the culture they built reflects that origin: no-gi heavy, technically demanding, uninterested in ceremony.
Outside the Burlington corridor, Gracie Jiu Jitsu Vermont brings a distinct lineage to the mix. Head instructor Seth Shamp holds a third-degree black belt under Royce Gracie, earned after a certification process overseen by 40 black belts and a Red Belt. Shamp previously ran Triangle Jiu Jitsu Academy in Durham, North Carolina for a decade and taught in Duke University's Physical Education department — where he earned Coach of the Year honors in 2017 — before relocating to Vermont. Montpelier Martial Arts BJJ covers the state's geographic center, offering gi, no-gi, and Muay Thai at a price point aimed at keeping the sport accessible. Near the New Hampshire border, Upper Valley Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu serves the Lebanon and Hanover area, pulling students from both states. MatMade's Vermont directory currently lists 12 gyms across the state — a meaningful footprint for a rural state of roughly 650,000 people.
The training culture in Vermont reflects the state itself: small, tight-knit, and somewhat insulated from the hype cycles that drive gym culture in larger markets. Classes run lean, practitioners know each other across academies, and there is no dominant single affiliation that dictates how the sport develops. The Carlson Gracie lineage through Foca, the Royce Gracie lineage through Shamp, and the Gracie Barra lineage through Guy give Vermont an unusual breadth of foundational instruction for a state its size. What draws people to train here is the same thing that tends to draw people to Vermont generally — a preference for substance over spectacle. Grapplers relocating to the area consistently report being absorbed into training communities quickly, with very little of the territorial friction that characterizes larger urban scenes.
A newcomer to Vermont should know that geography still matters. If you land in Burlington, you have four or five legitimate options within a short drive. If you settle in Brattleboro, Middlebury, or the Northeast Kingdom, expect a longer commute to quality instruction. Vermont BJJ in Williston rewards students who want structured curriculum and historical credibility; Combat Fitness in Winooski suits competitors who want a hard room and consistent drilling. Grind BJJ is honest about what it is — a no-frills space where the rolling is genuine and the ego is not. For a state that gets overlooked in most national BJJ conversations, Vermont has a cleaner foundation than most give it credit for.
