Free BJJ Books from Nic Gregoriades
Four books. No email. No catch. Just download them.
Nic Gregoriades is a 4th-degree BJJ black belt with over 27 years on the mat. He was the first person to receive a black belt from Roger Gracie, one of the greatest competitors in the history of the sport. Nic has coached on four continents, and has spent decades thinking seriously about how people learn, improve, and stay healthy in this art.
These books are the distillation of that experience. They're free because Nic believes the knowledge should be accessible.
The Books
The Black Belt Blueprint
Most people approach jiu-jitsu by accumulating techniques and hoping the pieces eventually fit together. They don't. This book gives you a different model: the ACT framework (Attribute development, Conceptual understanding, Technical knowledge) plus specific systems for belt progression, breath control, body mechanics, and off-mat training. It covers what Nic calls "invisible jiu-jitsu": the awareness, relaxation, balance, and flow that separate a good practitioner from a great one. Whether you're six months in or six years in, this will change how you train, not just what you train.
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Beyond the Black Belt
Most books tell you how to reach the black belt. This one starts there. Formatted as a coffee-table book, it pairs powerful BJJ concepts with essays from some of the art's most respected voices: practitioners who have thought deeply about what the art means beyond competition and rank. It's for experienced practitioners who want to go deeper, but anyone who loves jiu-jitsu will find something in it. The goal is simple: to leave you feeling genuinely inspired about where this journey can take you.
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Jiu-Jitsu Training Secrets
101 tips drawn from 20 years of training and coaching across four continents. They're short, direct, and cover everything: technique refinement, conditioning, mindset, competition preparation, lifestyle habits, and the small details that compound into serious progress over time. Some come from Nic's own practice; others from conversations with Roger Gracie, Braulio Estima, Flavio Canto, and other high-level practitioners. No filler. No framework. Just 101 things that actually work, for any level.
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Overcoming Lower Back Pain from BJJ
Nic herniated two discs (L3/L4 and L4/L5) and spent four years trying everything conventional medicine and the fitness world had to offer: yoga, deadlifts, chiropractic, physiotherapy. None of it fixed the problem. This book documents what finally did: a five-problem diagnostic framework, specific corrective exercises, and some hard truths about training with a compromised back (including stopping sparring for 6–12 months). If lower back pain is keeping you off the mat or limiting your training, this is the most direct resource available.
Download FreeRead online →Keep reading
Best BJJ Gym Software (2026): An Honest Comparison
A working black belt compares GRADR, BJJLINK, Gymdesk, Zen Planner, Kicksite, PushPress and Spark on price, belt grading, curriculum, and payment fees.
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What to Actually Look For in BJJ Gym Software: A Buyer’s Guide
The questions that matter when choosing gym management software, and the traps a feature grid hides.
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BJJ Belt Promotions: Grading That Scales (No McDojo)
How to run belt promotions fairly as your academy grows: a grading system that codifies your standards and scales without becoming a McDojo.
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BJJ Curriculum: How to Build One That Scales
The positional spine, a white-to-blue-belt skeleton, class structure, and how to map it to stripes, so your syllabus runs the school instead of living in your head.
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The BJJ Belt & Ranking System Explained
Every rank and stripe, the kids’ belts, and how long a black belt really takes. Explained by a fourth-degree black belt.
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The Invisible Engine Behind Every Successful BJJ Academy
Most academies fail not from bad jiu-jitsu but from missing systems. Here’s what the invisible engine of a thriving academy looks like.
Read →Running a BJJ Academy?
GRADR™ is the academy management software Nic built because nothing else existed that actually understood how BJJ schools work. It handles billing, attendance, belt progression, curriculum planning, and scheduling, so you can spend more time on the mat and less time on admin.
See how GRADR™ works →