Carlson Gracie Redlands

14/09/2026

The mat floor going into the new gym is built on about 150 car tyres that were headed for landfill.

JC, who is putting the floor in, walks through it here. The tyres are what give the mats their spring, and they do it without the cost of the usual method. Normally you would use square sponge blocks, which tend to move out of place, so the mats have to come up and be rearranged every few months. Tyres hold their grip. The timbers run over the top of them at 450 centres and get screwed down through to the steel in the tyre.

He has built two other gyms exactly this way. It has been a couple of years or more and neither has given him any trouble.

The mat space is around 150 square metres and it took about 150 tyres to cover it, so near enough to one tyre per square metre. Eight left over.

There are slanted walls going on the back of it as well, closer to a combat sport setup than a standard mat room.

Part 1 of four. The rest of the build goes up across the week.

10/09/2026

Shed update so close now, we will be finished by the end of September 💪.

08/09/2026

Fabio with a couple of back take options from shallow De La Riva.

07/09/2026

05/09/2026

Meet Adrian, one of our founding members and a blue belt here at Carlson Gracie Redlands.

He works in the hazmat industry as a health and safety guy, has been married for around 14 years and has two kids, an 8 and 10 year old, with one of them still training here alongside him.

Adrian was not actually looking for a gym when he found us, he saw an ad on Facebook for a new Jiu Jitsu gym opening up just around the corner from home and thought it would be a great opportunity to get his son down here. The hardest part starting out was not knowing what to expect and being unsure how his body would handle starting a combat sport in his mid 40s, but he quickly found that as long as you pace yourself it is not too bad at all.
What changed once he started training was his mental focus. All the everyday stress from work gets left on the mats, and even though you walk out a bit sore, you feel far more relaxed and ready to go again a few days later.

Two and a half years after starting as a fresh white belt, Adrian earned his blue belt, something he genuinely never thought he would achieve given how slow the learning process can feel in this sport. It was never something he planned for but once you start, that blue belt becomes the next big milestone, and it is one he worked hard for and earned completely.

His advice to anyone sitting on the fence is honest and direct. Do not start if you are expecting it to be easy, because it will challenge you mentally and physically. But come down and give it a go, because you will quickly work out if this sport is for you, and it usually takes two or three weeks and a rough first session or two before people really settle in. Most people who walk through nervous end up staying, and a lot of the people who started here at the very beginning are still here today.

04/09/2026

Fabio taking our 7-9 year olds Bulldogs through De La Riva sweep to mount. It is Technical and introduces our kids to more complex parts of Jiu Jitsu while still making it fun for them. Super proud of the effort all of our kids are putting in and the awesome little weapons they are becoming.

01/09/2026

Van Damme working through a fundamental class, showing the team a nice sequence to get into
Single leg X.

01/09/2026

Van Damme work through a fundamental class on the single leg x guard sweep. The nice thing about this sequence is that we work from an open guard position which gives the team an understanding of how to get into that position.

31/08/2026

The big push is here

27/08/2026

Fabio showing the team a nice little sequence from shallow De La Riva.