Gracie Jiu Jitsu

"Everyone who has a chance, stop by Steel City Martial Arts and train with Sonny Achille. He is a great instructor who cares for all of his students, and this you can see on the mat. Lucky is the one who trains here."
-Professor Pedro Sauer
8th degree Red and Black Belt under Helio Gracie Voted the Best of the Best Brazilian JIu-jitsu instructors in the world. Head instructor of the largest Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Association in the worldSecurity instructor of the CIA, FBI, and the Navy Seals.

Why Choose SCMA for Gracie Jiu Jitsu?

Our Lineage is Second to None...

With the growth of new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools in the Pittsburgh area, why should you choose to train at SCMA?

Wide variety of experienced, talented instructors – unlike the other BJJ schools in the area, SCMA has a "deep bench" of qualified instructors.  We're the only school with 4 recognized Black Belt instructors, and more than a dozen Brown Belts and Purple Belts to help out.  And, while we're on the topic of rank:

• Our Black Belts were awarded all of their rank – from White Belt to Black Belt – by Professor Pedro Sauer, an 8th Degree Helio Gracie and Rickson Gracie Red and Black Belt
• Sonny Achille was the first officially ranked BJJ Black Belt in the area, and still is the highest ranked BJJ Black Belt in the area

Diversity of students and teaching styles – unlike many of our competitors, we don't focus on just one type of student:

•  Interested in a good workout, practical self-defense skills, and a clean, safe training environment?  Welcome to Steel City Martial Arts!
• In your 20's or 30's and interested in improving your ground game for MMA?  Some of the top MMA fighters in the region come to SCMA to learn the details of BJJ and improve their ground game.
• Are you veteran police office looking to learn the same demonstrated ground fighting skills that police forces are learning throughout the country?  SCMA has more active duty police officers and correctional officers than any other school in the area.
• Are you a little older, still interested in studying a practical martial art, and want instructors who understand that "things just don't work like they did when you were 20"?  SCMA has a number of active BJJ students in their 40's, 50's, and 60's!
•  Are you a woman looking for a safe place to train and learn real life self-defense skills?  SCMA has a long history of teaching BJJ to women and we were the first school in the area to start a "Jiu-Jitsu for Women, by Women" class, currently taught by SCMA Blue Belt Nora Schoenthal.

Train where the experts come to train.  The local experts know the competition, and they come to train at SCMA too.

• More Pittsburgh area martial arts school owners and instructors come to Sonny Achille to learn BJJ than to any other school in the area.  They come to Sonny because they know about his reputation, his integrity, and his demonstrated skills.
•  The primary defensive tactics/CQB instructors for the City of Pittsburgh Police, the Allegheny County Police, and the Mount Lebanon Police are all SCMA students.  Their lives and the lives of their students depend on the martial arts, and obviously any school in the area would be open to them if they were interested in improving their skills.  They choose to train at SCMA.

The oldest, most established BJJ program in the Pittsburgh area.  Unlike most of our competitors, SCMA didn't just open its doors.

• Sonny Achille has been teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for more than a decade, and he was teaching its Japanese predecessor, Aiki-Jitsu, for years before that.
• In addition to the main school in Castle Shannon, SCMA has 3 Sub-Affiliate Schools in Shadyside, Carnegie, and Altoona.

Clean, state-of-the-art training facilities.  Why train in a dark, narrow hallway or basement, when you can train in a modern, open, and well lit training facility with one of the largest mat spaces available anywhere in the Pittsburgh area?

So, with the growth of new BJJ schools in the Pittsburgh area, why should you choose to train at SCMA?  The better question is, why wouldn't you?

What is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, often also referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ, is a grappling-based martial art descended from traditional styles of Japanese jujitsu. It is based on the fact that most real fights "go to the ground," and it is specially designed so that a smaller person can use principles of leverage and inherent body weaknesses to defeat a larger opponent. Developed and honed by the Gracie family in Brazil since the 1920's, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu took the martial arts world by storm in 1993 when Royce Gracie used it to defeat a number of stronger, larger opponents in UFC 1. Since then, BJJ has become a staple component of almost all mixed martial arts, military CQB, and police defensive tactics training programs, and it currently provides the basis for the U.S. Army's Combatives program.

In addition to providing real-life self defense skills and a fantastic physical workout, BJJ can be studied by almost anyone, at any age. Our students come in all ages and from all walks of life, and they participate in our classes for self defense, fitness, MMA training, stress relief, competition, and personal enrichment.

Sonny Achille and the other SCMA Black Belts were awarded their rank by Professor Pedro Sauer, an 8th Degree Helio Gracie and Rickson Gracie Red and Black Belt. Professor Sauer is a long time student and friend of the Gracie family, and brought authentic Brazilian or Gracie Jiu Jitsu to the Pittsburgh area through his student, Sonny Achille. Professor Sauer regularly visits SCMA to spread his world class knowledge and expertise.

Stop by SCMA and learn for yourself why so many recognized experts choose Sonny Achille as their BJJ instructor!