brazilian jiu jitsu

Matuto BJJ

Matuto BJJ Club is a grassroots Brazilian Jiu Jitsu initiative built on the belief that Jiu Jitsu is more than a martial art—it's a practice for life. Founded in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, Matuto began as a way to offer accessible training to kids and adults, rooted in community, play, and personal growth. Our classes focus on the fundamentals of no-gi Jiu Jitsu, taught in a way that’s welcoming, structured, and supportive. Kids build confidence, discipline, and resilience while learning to move with awareness and respect. Adults get a chance to reconnect with their bodies, test themselves, and grow within a tight-knit, ego-free environment. At Matuto, we believe in the long game—developing a strong foundation first, and building technique, flow, and mindset from there. We also believe in the power of presence. Classes aren’t just about drilling moves, they’re about building character, focus, and connection with others. We celebrate effort over outcome, humility over hype. Though small in size, the club has built meaningful momentum. It’s more than a dojo—it’s a reflection of what’s possible when we bring intention, consistency, and heart into what we do. Matuto means "learner" or "country kid" in Portuguese, and that spirit lives at the core of our philosophy: stay curious, stay grounded, and stay growing. Whether you’re stepping on the mat for the first time or looking to refine your path in Jiu Jitsu, Matuto BJJ Club welcomes you.
for the kids

Little Jaguars Program

Our kids program features a multi-level skills based format that progresses from general athletic and basic jiu jitsu movements to specific jiu jitsu positioning and then to basic competitive level jiu jitsu understanding and skills performed under pressure. We host an in-house tournament/skills demonstration every three months where kids will have an opportunity to show off their skills and graduate to a higher level or receive inter-level progress rewards to mark the milestones of their BJJ journey.

Little

Ducks

(Level 1)

Objectives:

  • Basic athletic movements

  • Specific BJJ movements

  • Simplified BJJ concepts

  • Teamwork concepts

  • Following instruction

  • Focus

  • BJJ movement games

Little

Monkeys

(Level 2)

Objectives:

  • Perfecting level one skills

  • Basic BJJ positions - no pressure

  • Basic BJJ concepts 

  • Being a good partner

  • Importance of commitment

  • Intro to ecological games

  • Intro to live drilling

Little

sunBears

(Level 3)

Objectives:

  • Perfecting level 1 & 2 skills

  • BJJ positioning with pressure

  • Intro to submissions

  • Live drilling and eco-games

  • Sparring

  • Intro to points system

  • Tournament preparation

Little

Jaguars

(Kids Program Graduates)

Expectations:

  • Perfected level 1, 2 & 3 skills

  • Understands BJJ concepts

  • Positions under pressure

  • Submissions under pressure

  • Spars with purpose

  • Understands points system

  • Takes leadership role

for the big kids

Adult Program

Our adult program is not as structured as the kids program. We feel like adults should already have the ability to focus and understand the basic concepts through direct communication and by watching others. Our adult program relies heavily on the ecological approach to training. Compared to a traditional "drill it until you get it" system, the ecological approach focuses more on objective based natural learning methods where BJJ positions and maneuvers are broken into smaller fragments and live games are designed to use our body's natural intuitive learning ability to overcome each challenge. This relies less on remembering long chains of specific body positions to achieve a larger objective and instead over-arching general concepts are taught and drills are replaced by thoughtfully designed mini-challenges to learn naturally how to apply the general concepts in realistic situations. After each round we discuss the problems we had and guidance is given as to how overcome these problems in future rounds.  

We do not focus on learning submissions until basic movements and positioning is understood. One of the most famous sayings in BJJ is "position before submission" and that is a core principal at Matuto. BJJ must be learned from the ground up and the starting point is learning the core movements which build the foundation for proper positioning which then provides the opportunities for properly executed submissions to occur. If people try to rush to do submissions before their foundation of core movements and proper positioning is in place then the submissions are not effective and training partners can also be injured. At Matuto our philosophy is that everyone deserves to be able to train tomorrow and respect for our training partners and learning how to avoid injuries is our top priority. Bjj is a team sport and learning to be a good training partner and teammate is very important.

Details:

  • Kids Class (every Saturday) - 10:00am - 11:15am

  • Adult Class (every Saturday) - 11:15am - 1:00pm

  • Adult sauna and ice bath (every Saturday) - 1:00pm - 2:30pm (after adult class)

Kids pricing:

  • $20/month

  • $7/drop-in

Adult pricing:

  • $30/month

  • $9/drop in

Sauna/ice bath price - $2/session

get in touch

Contact Matuto

Please fill out our contact form to sign up or if you have any questions. You can also find us on Instagram:
Name E-mail
Would you like to join our Telegram group to receive class info and other updates?
Yes
No
Maybe later
If "Yes" what is your Telegram number?
What program are you interested in?
Kids - Little Jaguars
Adult program
Both
Do you or your child have any BJJ or other martial arts experience?
Yes
No
If "Yes" please specify Any other questions or comments? Submit
How to find us

Dojo Location:

Hacienda San Joaquin, Vilcabamba, Ecuador
  • Take Via El Chaupi all the way to Hacienda San Joaquin

  • At the guard house tell them you are going to Casa del Joshua

  • Take the first right after the guard house before the main gates

  • Travel up the gravel road and then take your first left. 

  • After the left turn the dojo is the first building on the left.

Ask the communit-e

Matuto Chat

You can also ask any questions that you have about Matuto BJJ here.

 No politics or any other polarizing topics please. No slanderous gossip or rumor spreading.

Violators may be banned!