Established as Carter's Academy of Self-Defense in 1997. Today, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Lexington is a Level 4 Certified Training Center® authorized by the Gracie Academy Headquarters in Torrance, California.  Our owner and Head Instructor, John Carter, is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black-Belt, an Aikido Black-Belt, a Certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Level 4 Instructor and a Gracie Survival Tactics® Instructor with 38 years of martial arts experience. He is also a Certified Women Empowered® Instructor and is certified to teach the Nationally Recognized Gracie Bullyproof Program.  After graduating from The University of South Carolina, he began teaching Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido, Judo, and Karate in Lexington, Irmo, Chapin and Columbia with the goal of teaching the highest percentage responses to the most common attacker behaviors. Today, men, women and children from all walks of life come to our academy for the best self-defense instruction in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu®, Women's Self-Defense and Youth Programs.

Our school offers a professional, safe and fun method of learning martial arts.   All our instructors have had many years of martial arts and self-defense training and are required to meet high standards when achieving and maintaining their national instructor certifications. The academy is open daily and evenings, Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings. We offer month-to-month memberships, have an easy sign-up process, and keep classes small for personalized attention. If you are considering joining our academy, come by and watch a class, try any class on our schedule for free, meet our Head Instructor and see our training facility. We look forward to meeting you soon.