Carlson Gracie Amsterdam is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy at Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan 125, in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Classes run Monday to Friday, mornings and evenings, for complete beginners through advanced practitioners, and they are taught in English.
The academy trains in the Carlson Gracie lineage under head instructor Marcos Flexa, a 6th degree black belt who has taught Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Amsterdam since 2004. Free trial classes run on Mondays at 08:00 and 18:00 — the schedule shows which Mondays.
That is the most common way people arrive here, and there is a class built for it. Every Monday, the 08:00 and 18:00 Beginners & Intermediates classes are free for anyone who has never trained. You don't need a gi — one is lent to you — and you don't need to be fit, flexible or young. Beginner classes are often a full hour of technique with no hard sparring.
Friday evening at 18:00 is the Women's Only Class, taught by Professor Olga Lyashevska, a 3rd degree black belt. For women new to the academy, the first class is free. After that there's a Women's Starter Package — ten classes for €100 — and you're equally welcome in any other class on the timetable.
Drop in for €25 on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening, or Wednesday or Friday morning. At blue belt or above you can also take the Tuesday and Thursday Advanced class. Bring a clean gi. Not sure how your grade travels? A short WhatsApp gets an honest answer.
The Kids Program at this address runs on Wednesday afternoons and is operated independently by Professor Laszlo, with its own enrolment and pricing.
Beginners and black belts train in the same room, and that is deliberate — it's how a beginner learns what good technique looks like, and how a senior student learns to control what they know.
New students are not pushed through a timeline. Beginner classes are frequently a full hour of technical instruction without hard sparring, because the first thing to build is correct movement and the confidence to use it. There is no fixed schedule for promotions. People develop at different speeds, and the goal is a technically solid practitioner who trains safely for many years — not a fast belt.
All adult classes are taught in English, so students from any country can train together. Many of the people here — students and instructors — speak several other languages, but the class itself is in English, and you won't be left guessing.
Full facilities, directions and parking: plan your visit
Marcos Flexa was the first Carlson Gracie lineage black belt to come to the Netherlands.
He began teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil in 1995, and in the same period assisted his master at the Carlson Gracie academy in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. Carlson Gracie promoted him through every belt from blue to black, the last of them on 18 November 1997. By 1998 he was running his own Carlson Gracie Team academy in Itaquaquecetuba, São Paulo.
He first came to Europe in 1999, to teach a seminar in Germany. A second invitation in 2001 brought him to Amsterdam to train and teach, and that visit is why he moved to the Netherlands in 2003. He began teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Amsterdam in 2004, taught at the University of Amsterdam's Universum Sportcentrum as a contracted instructor from 2008 to 2012, and registered the academy at the Chamber of Commerce in 2010. The academy has carried the name Carlson Gracie Amsterdam since the end of 2013, and moved to its current, larger home in January 2025.
Sixteen black belts have been developed at this academy. Several of them now teach at their own academies. That is the number this place is measured by, and it is not a number that can be bought, franchised or accelerated.
The academy is not run by one person. Alongside Marcos, Professor Olga Lyashevska (3rd degree) teaches Friday evenings, and Professor Desmond van den Berg (3rd degree) also coaches on the mat.
He holds a 6th degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, the highest degree currently held in the Netherlands.
His degrees at black belt were awarded by Master Carlson Gracie Junior, under IBJJF rules.
Long-term students at blue belt and above can ask the instructor for an access code. It is given at his discretion — it is not part of a membership — and training outside scheduled class hours needs at least two eligible members present.
It is a small thing that says something specific: the people who have trained here for years are trusted with the room. That is the kind of academy this is meant to be.
Beginners & Intermediates classes run every weekday — mornings at 08:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and evenings at 18:00 Monday to Thursday. The Advanced class runs Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Friday evening belongs to Professor Olga Lyashevska: the Women's Only Class, then No-Gi. On Sunday morning there is an Open Mat from 09:00 to 11:00 — that one is for members of the academy only, and isn't available as a drop-in or a trial. Kids classes run Wednesday afternoons through the independent Kids Program.
Times are occasionally adjusted, and holiday weeks differ. The full timetable shows exactly what runs when, and who can join each class — it's the page to trust.
There is no registration fee and no signup cost. Every price is published, including VAT, and nothing appears only after you ask.
All prices and memberships (prices as of August 2026)
Carlson Gracie AmsterdamBurgemeester de Vlugtlaan 125, 1063 BJ Amsterdam — Nieuw-West
Bus 21 and tram 7 both stop at Burg. Eliasstraat, on our street. De Vlugtlaan metro station (lines 50 and 51) is a short walk. Street parking is free from 19:00 and all day Sunday.
If it's your first visit, arrive 15–20 minutes before class. Your instructor is at the academy at least half an hour before every session — enough time to welcome you properly, show you around, and introduce you to the group before training starts.
As of August 2026. Stated as text, not as rating markup — the stars belong on Google, where people can check them.
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Carlson Gracie Amsterdam is at Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan 125, 1063 BJ, in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Bus 21 and tram 7 stop at Burg. Eliasstraat on the same street, and De Vlugtlaan metro station is served by lines 50 and 51. Classes run Monday to Friday, mornings and evenings.
No. Free trial classes for people who have never trained run on Mondays at 08:00 and 18:00, on the Mondays shown on the schedule, a gi is lent to you for that first class, and beginner classes are frequently a full hour of technique with no hard sparring.
English. All adult classes at Carlson Gracie Amsterdam are taught in English so that students from any country can train together.
The head instructor is Marcos Flexa, who received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from Carlson Gracie on 18 November 1997 and has taught in Amsterdam since 2004. He holds a 6th degree black belt, the highest degree currently held in the Netherlands. The coaching team also includes Professor Olga Lyashevska and Professor Desmond van den Berg, both 3rd degree black belts.
Yes. Carlson Gracie Amsterdam runs a Women's Only Class every Friday at 18:00, taught by Professor Olga Lyashevska. For women new to the academy the first class is free; after that, the Women's Starter Package is the way in — ten classes for €100, valid four months.
The Sunday Open Mat, 09:00–11:00, is for members of the academy only — not a drop-in, and not a trial class. Visitors can drop in for €25 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and on Wednesday and Friday mornings. The Tuesday and Thursday Advanced class is open to visitors at blue belt and above.
Never trained before? Your first class is free — on the Mondays shown on the schedule.
Questions first? WhatsApp +31 6 81911917
