Pure Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The best moments in class rarely happen from the front of the room. 🥋

They happen on the floor, at eye level, when an instructor kneels down and walks one student through the detail they’ve been missing all week.

That’s when it clicks. Not because the technique got easier, but because the kid finally felt someone was there with them. Confidence doesn’t come from being told to be confident. It comes from being supported until you don’t need the support anymore.

That kind of individual attention is part of how we teach.

Class starts the same way every time. 🥋

Lined up. Quiet. Facing the front. Before a single technique is taught, everyone bows to the mat and to each other.

It looks like a small formality. It isn’t. That moment is where students learn to arrive on time, respect the space, and give the next hour their full attention. Parents tell us those habits follow their kids home, into homework and into how they treat people.

The technique is what we teach. The discipline is what they keep.

Your child will fall down in this class. On purpose. 🥋

And then they’ll get up, reset their grip, and try again. That small loop, repeated hundreds of times, is where the real lesson lives.

Jiu-Jitsu builds strong bodies. Coordination, balance, endurance. But it also builds the part nobody can see: the patience to solve a problem, the calm to think when someone is applying pressure, the discipline to keep showing up on the days motivation runs out.

Strong bodies win matches. Strong minds win everything else.

Different ages. Different belts. Different reasons for being here. 🥋

But once the class starts, everyone is chasing the same thing: getting stronger physically and mentally.

That’s what makes this room work. The white belt learns from the person ahead of them. The experienced student sharpens their game by helping someone else improve. Nobody grows alone on these mats.

Strength built together lasts longer than strength built alone.

A stripe on a belt might look like nothing more than a small piece of medical tape. But that little piece of tape doesn’t tell the full story.

It doesn’t show the hours of training, the difficult days, the losses, the frustrations, the perseverance, or the countless times these kids chose to keep going when things got hard.

Every stripe represents progress. It represents hard work, dedication, and the never-ending pursuit of becoming better.

Congratulations to all of our kids who were acknowledged for their hard work and commitment. We are incredibly proud of every one of you. 🥋❤️

Keep working. Keep learning. Keep believing.

That little piece of tape means a lot more than it looks like. 🥋🔥

Catherine | Jiu Jitsu Black Belt | Team Checkmat

Every medal on this wall belongs to one person — and she’s the one teaching your class. 🥋

Professor Catherine Perret didn’t start Jiu-Jitsu as a kid. She stepped onto the mats for the first time at 18, in Brazil. Years later: IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, two-time Pans No-Gi Champion, and a black belt earned under Leo Vieira after taking the World title.

She still competes. She still teaches seminars around the world. And every week, she’s here on our mats with our students.

At Pure Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you’re not learning from someone who read about the journey. You’re learning from someone who lived it — and is still living it.

💬 It’s never too late to start. Send us a message.

This weekend was the kids and the adults to shine at Chicago Open IBJJF !!

Our kids stepped onto the mats today and performed amazingly. With just 11 competitors, we took 2nd place overall as a team!🥈

For many of our adult white belts, this was their first time competing. They stepped onto the mats, faced the challenges and problems that competition brings, and continued to fight forward—even when they found themselves in bad positions.

That’s what Jiu-Jitsu is about.

It’s not about everything going perfectly. It’s about learning to trust yourself, staying calm when things get difficult, solving problems, and continuing to move forward when your body and mind are telling you to stop.

We could not be prouder of this team. Watching these kids step out there, trust themselves, and put their training to work is what makes all the hours in the academy worth it.

A huge thank you to all of our parents, teammates, coaches, and supporters who took time out of their day to come support the team. Your encouragement makes a difference.

Together, we are stronger.

Now it’s time to get back to the lab. Monday, we sharpen our skills, learn from today, and get ready for the next challenge.

Catherine | Jiu Jitsu Black Belt | Team Checkmat |
Martial Arts Software 🥋

Jiu-Jitsu is just the beginning. 🥋

Every class is an opportunity to build confidence, resilience, discipline, and respect. Our mission goes beyond teaching techniques—we’re helping shape stronger individuals who are prepared for challenges both on and off the mats.

Because the greatest achievement isn’t just earning a belt—it’s becoming the person you’re capable of being.

There are tournaments… and then there is the IBJJF Pan Kids.

Pan Kids is widely recognized as the premier kids jiu-jitsu tournament in the world. The level of competition is the highest in the game today, bringing together the best young athletes and academies from around the globe.

For 11 athletes from Pure Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to step onto this stage and have the success they had is nothing short of amazing.

🥇 1 GOLD
🥈 3 SILVER
🥉 2 BRONZE

But the medals are only part of the story.

The real victory is in the journey.

Growth happens whether you win or lose. Every match teaches you something. Every victory builds confidence. Every loss exposes something that needs to be improved. The journey continues either way.

These kids have spent countless hours training, preparing, sacrificing, and pushing themselves to become better athletes and better people. To watch them step onto the biggest stage in kids’ jiu-jitsu and compete against the best in the world is something we are incredibly proud of.

To our 11 athletes: be proud of what you accomplished. Celebrate the victories. Learn from the losses. And then get back to work.

To our family and the parents, we can’t thank you enough for believing in us, making the sacrifices to get your kids to the gym, and traveling the country to help them pursue their dreams.

Because the 2026 competition season is far from over.

We started the year at the IBJJF Indianápolis Open, and now we leave Pan Kids with even more experience, more motivation, and more work to do.

The journey continues.

Back to the mats. 🥋



Catherine | Jiu Jitsu Black Belt |

This weekend, we took 32 kidsto the Believe Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and we’re proud to say we finished 3rd Overall as a team while bringing home 15 Gold Medals🥇
believejjofficial

The medals are exciting, but what impressed us the most wasn’t the podium finishes—it was the way our students competed.

Over the last several weeks, we’ve focused on developing individual game plans for each competitor. This weekend, it was incredible to watch our athletes trust their preparation, stick to their strategies, and make smart adjustments from match to match. Seeing them compete with confidence, composure, and purpose is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Congratulations to all of our competitors, coaches, and families for an outstanding weekend. Now it’s time to get back to work, sharpen our skills, and prepare for the next challenge.

The journey continues.💪🥋

Catherine | Jiu Jitsu Black Belt | OFFICIAL CHECKMAT HEADQUARTERS | Martial Arts Software 🥋 |