Next Level Fitness & Martial Arts is a self-defense school with a family at its center. Since 1993, Gilbert kids and adults have walked through our doors and walked out more confident, more capable, and genuinely safer, through authentic Gracie Humaita Jiu-Jitsu, real-world Krav Maga, and a standard that never slips.
We opened our doors in Gilbert in 1993 with a simple belief: that real self-defense, taught right, changes people. Not just how they move, but how they carry themselves through the rest of their lives.
Decades later, that belief still runs every class. Coach Joe has trained more than 10,000 students, from four-year-olds taking their first steps on the mat to adults discovering they're far more capable than they ever believed. What hasn't changed is the room itself: demanding, welcoming, and built on respect.
Most schools sell belts. We carry a lineage, and we treat every student who steps on our mat like family. That's the difference you feel the moment you walk in.
Recent recognition from the East Valley Tribune:
Coach Joe didn't stumble into martial arts. He's given his life to them. He started at age four in the Korean art of Tae Kwon Do and never looked back, going on to win multiple World Championships in full-contact and point fighting and earning U.S.T.U. National Championship medals along the way. Fifty-plus years later, he's a 12-time martial arts Hall of Fame inductee who has trained over 10,000 students around the world.
Beyond the mat, he's spent more than 30 years in the security and executive protection industry as a certified firearms and defensive tactics instructor. Over the years he's been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Good Morning America, and ESPN+. But none of that is why families stay. They stay because of what happens in the room.
He still lends his knowledge to first-responder organizations, teaching defensive tactics to the people who protect our community. And he holds himself to the exact standard he asks of his students, which is why he's still on the mat, still learning, every single week.
"You'll often see Coach Joe on the mat, training right alongside you."Train With Coach Joe
When you train here, you're not learning a watered-down version of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You're connected, directly, to the roots of the art through the Gracie Humaita Association.
Co-founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Head of the Gracie Humaita Association
Your mat, carrying the lineage forward since 1993
Everything we teach comes back to three words we actually live by, not a slogan on the wall.
Respect on the mat and off it. We hold high standards and we hold each other to them.
You're not a number in a packed class. When you struggle, someone here notices, and has your back.
On the mats since 1993, more than 10,000 stronger and safer people, and a lineage you become part of the day you step on the mat.
The best way to understand what makes this place different is to step on the mat. Your first 14 days are just $14.
Claim 14 Days For $14Grandmaster Joseph Edmondson, known to students as Coach Joe, has been teaching self-defense in Gilbert since 1993. He's a World Champion martial artist, a 12-time Hall of Fame inductee with over 50 years of experience, and he's trained more than 10,000 students worldwide. He's still on the mat every week.
Everyone from age 4 through adults. We offer authentic Gracie Humaita Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, and Clinch Dirty Boxing, along with dedicated kids and teen programs.
Yes. We're directly affiliated through the Gracie Humaita Association under Master Royler Gracie, so what you learn traces straight back to the roots of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Authentic lineage, self-defense that's actually pressure-tested, coaches who know every student by name, and 30+ years of doing it in the same community. We're a family, not a franchise.
2531 S Gilbert Rd, Ste 111, Gilbert, AZ 85295, serving Gilbert, Chandler, and the East Valley. Call us at 480-360-5425 or claim your 14-day trial to schedule your first class.
Claim the 14-day trial for $14. We'll get you booked into a class that fits your age and goals, with no obligation and no pressure.
Next Level