About Us

Napier Jiu Jitsu

Gracie Allegiance Ahuriri was formed in 2022 in Jaye & Yukako's garage in Napier on a 4x5m mat-space, leant to them by their coach Damian Smith.

Gracie Allegiance Ahuriri aims to provide an environment where anybody can safely train and experience the positive benefits of BJJ right here in Napier.

The coaches are approachable and welcoming of new people and so are the rest of the training partners on the mats, so if you're interested in having a go get in contact now to organize a free week of classes to see if this is the right gym for you.

Classes for kids and adults

Classes start at 5 years old and are split up by age groups of: 5-7yrs Little Kids, 8-10yrs Kids, 11-14yrs Youth, 15yrs+ Adults. We also offer a class every Tuesday night from 6:00pm - 7:00pm exclusively for women. Check out our timetable for more class info.

Timetable

What is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a grappling based martial art that aims to empower the practitioner with the ability to control a violent situation. This is done by taking the aggressor to the ground and controlling them with superior ground positioning in order to prevent them from harming you, the people around you and sometimes even to prevent the aggressor from harming themselves.

The reason BJJ is so powerful is because it can be learned and implemented by any man, woman or even child in order to protect themselves in certain situations. This can be witnessed most notably in the early days of the UFC when the prominent BJJ black belt Royce Gracie won the first and second UFC events with BJJ while being outsized in almost every fight. The reason for this is that BJJ works on the principles of leverage and control through superior positioning which you will learn if you follow the way of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and sign up with Gracie Allegiance Ahuriri.

"If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything."
― Miyamoto Musashi

Meet The Coaches

Our classes are run by Jaye and Yukako.

Jaye Rio
Jaye likes to train gi and no gi equally and when not on the mats enjoys surfing the local breaks, reading and following his morning routine.

Jaye started training BJJ in 2015 at the age of 16 and was graded to black belt in 2023 by Damian Smith and Clark Gracie.
Yukako Mori
Yukako likes to train both gi and no gi, but prefers the gi. When not on the mats, Yukako enjoys swimming, using the sauna and travelling.

Yukako started training BJJ in 2021 and was graded to blue belt in 2023 by Damian Smith.

BJJ Napier

Want to give it a go?

Message us now to organize your 1 week free trial and see what BJJ is all about.