Carlson Gracie Redlands

18/09/2026

Another massive week has been completed on the gym. We started with an empty space to a flexible floor, walls, and a pit wall, with the end very close to the end. Another big day on the tools tomorrow with the lads to see if we can get all the lining finished. The final push is on if you have ever been in construction you know how crazy the last couple of weeks on a job can be. So here we go.

16/09/2026

The question everyone asks about a build like this is what it costs, so here it is.

$5k in stud work
$10k for the flooring sheets that went on the floor and the walls,
$20K for custom mats over 150 square metres. All up you are looking at somewhere around $35k for the base structure, before paint or anything else. The tyres themselves are free.

On whether you could do it yourself, JC reckons most people could have a crack at it, as long as they understand the timbers have to stay at 450 centres and no wider. He would still put a qualified tradesman on it, ideally a carpenter who has laid flooring sheets before.

His tips are simple enough. Make sure you have enough tyres. Over order your material so you are covered for anything you have missed. Run everything to a string line so nothing is guessed. And plan it properly up front, because the alternative is shuffling sheets around later to make it work.

15/09/2026

Two decisions in this build that are worth stealing if you are ever fitting out a gym.

The first is that the tyres and the sprung floor run all the way out to the outside walls of the building, instead of stopping at the edge of the mat. The tyres were already there and they cost nothing, so carrying the platform out to the walls is cheaper than framing something separate to sit beside it, and the floor height stays the same right across the room.

The second is the wall sheeting. The walls are lined with 18 millimetre flooring sheets. It worked out as the cheaper option here, it means anything can be screwed to the wall without back blocking it first, and it holds up to people being thrown into it. Gyprock or thin timber would eventually go through.

Part 3 of four.

15/09/2026

If you are going to build a sprung mat floor on tyres, the numbers matter more than anything else.

In this one JC goes through the spacing. The timbers run at 450 centres, which is what you would use for flooring sheets anyway. It is close enough to stop the sheets having too much give, and still strong enough to carry the weight that ends up on a mat.

Between the tyres he leaves a maximum of 400 millimetres, measured end of tyre to end of tyre. Enough spring, not too much, because there are going to be a lot of people on this floor at once.

Down the end where no mats are going, the tyres sit closer together so the last run of timbers is supported and the flooring sheets can run all the way to the wall.

The finished height comes out at 270 millimetres off the concrete. About 215 for the tyres, 35 of timber on top of that, then a 20 millimetre sheet over it.

Part 2 of four.

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.