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BJJ's Largest Academy Networks (2026)

Unlike most martial arts, BJJ is a lineage sport — and that shows up on the map as real affiliation networks. Gracie Barra, 10th Planet, Renzo Gracie, Alliance, Atos and Checkmat link academies across the country under a shared curriculum and a common lineage. Here's the league table from our directory, and the equally useful question it points to: what else do these gyms teach? Updated 2026-07-18.

The affiliation league table

These are the multi-location BJJ affiliations we can identify by academy name and lineage across the 6,639 gyms in the directory, ranked by how many locations each runs. An affiliation is more than a logo in BJJ — it signals a shared curriculum, belt standards, and a professor's lineage, which is why so many academies wear one.

#AffiliationLocations in directory
1 Gracie Barra 290
2 10th Planet 113
3 Renzo Gracie 101
4 Carlson Gracie 73
5 Alliance 55
6 Checkmat 39
7 Gracie Humaitá 28
8 Gracie Jiu-Jitsu 25
9 Atos 8

Even so, most academies stay independent: 5,907 — 89.0% of the directory belongs to no known network. And a well-known affiliation is a starting point, not a guarantee — every academy is still its own room and its own professor, so how to choose a gym (lineage, instructor's belt, culture, hygiene) matters as much as the name over the door.

What else do BJJ gyms teach?

BJJ gyms are rarely gi-only. 65.1% of them also train at least one other martial art, an average of 2.6 other disciplines each — many American BJJ academies are really full grappling-and-striking houses. MMA is the most common companion art, on the schedule at 34.8% of gyms.

DisciplineBJJ gyms that also teach itShare of all gyms
MMA 2,311
34.8%
Kickboxing 1,817
27.4%
Wrestling 1,685
25.4%
Muay Thai 1,638
24.7%
Judo 1,304
19.6%
Boxing 1,273
19.2%
Karate 1,103
16.6%

Browse any of these as its own layer — every gym that pairs BJJ with, say, MMA or muay thai — from the disciplines directory. Weighing arts against each other? Start with BJJ vs judo, wrestling & other martial arts.

How many arts under one roof?

Counting BJJ plus every other art a gym trains, the typical gym is a small academy, not a one-style studio. The most common profile is a gym teaching BJJ plus 0 other arts. Only 2,317 gyms show BJJ on its own so far — and some of those simply haven't had their full schedule surface in our crawl yet.

Other arts taught (besides BJJ)Gyms
BJJ only (so far) 2,317
+ 1 other art 1,395
+ 2 other arts 1,000
+ 3 other arts 797
+ 4 other arts 562
+ 5 other arts 356
+ 6 other arts 167
+ 7 other arts 45

These are evidence floors — a gym counts an art only once its website or a reviewer names it — so single-art counts shrink as the crawl fills in.

Cite this data

Suggested attribution: “BJJ's Largest Academy Networks” — BJJGyms.net, 2026, linked to https://www.bjjgyms.net/bjj-stats/chains/. The tables are CC BY 4.0: chart them, quote them, publish them — just link back. Want a custom cut (by state, metro, or discipline)? Email us.

Download the full CSV Data updated 2026-07-18

Methodology: affiliation assignment comes from academy names and their brand sites; a gym is "independent" unless it clearly belongs to a known affiliation network. The disciplines mix is mined from each gym's website and its customer reviews — a discipline counts only when named in the gym's own copy or a reviewer's words, never guessed from the business category — so all shares are floors that grow with each re-crawl of our 6,639-gym directory. Share = gyms teaching that art ÷ all directory gyms. We are not affiliated with any gym or network. More data: the stats hub and America's BJJ capitals.