There’s a new way to work out in Miami. Gracie Barra, a dojo, or training facility, that features classes occasionally taught by famed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Georges St. Pierre, is now reaching out to UM students with the help of a senior management class.
Gracie Barra has been offering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training classes for about a year and a half now.
In this time, participation has been limited, with virtually no UM student involvement.
Manager of Gracie Barra Tony Martinez enlisted the help of a UM entrepreneurial class at the beginning of this semester.
There are four members of the class which have been formulating an overall marketing plan for the dojo involving marketing strategies, business models and consulting them along the way.
Ryan Ceresani is a member of the class and immediately had ideas for the dojo.
“The people that run Gracie Barra are great. They are so passionate and really good at what they do, but passion doesn’t always translate as great business strategy. That’s why we’re here to help them out,” Ceresani said.
Part of the business strategy that the class has developed is creating awareness of the dojo. In order to do this, they have organized a demonstration to be held at the Rock on Thursday, April 15 at 12 p.m.
Fighters from the Gracie Barra dojo will be showing off their skills in an effort to attract students for various reasons.
“Jiu-Jitsu is really great for anyone. It can be viewed as a self-defense class or just a new way to work out and work on strength training,” said Drew Kapreck, a member of the management class.
So far, the class has been doing things such as talking to potential clients, setting schedules for meetings, and developing work plans for Gracie Barra.
The management class is looking to create discounts for students, as well as semester-long training plans with the dojo.
Colleen Dourney may be contacted at cdourney@themiamihurricane.com.
INFOBOX
For more information check out the demonstration on the Rock Thursday or the Gracie Barra Web site at www.gbmiami.com.