This is a page where we put all the testimonials that we receive for Maui Jiu Jitsu and Luis 'Limao' Heredia. If you would like to add anything, please go to our Contact Us page and fill out the email form with your testimonial.

Aloha,
Luis & Maui Jiu-Jitsu

The atmosphere is like that of a large family...
Maui Jiu Jitsu is an amazing academy! It's a great place to train and there are classes available to suit just about anyone's schedule. The atmosphere is like that of a large family and everyone is humble, friendly, and gracious. I've improved so much since training at the academy and I feel very lucky to be part of such a fantastic team.

I am honored to be your student
Thanks so much for this year’s training. I feel that I have learned much, and at the same time I have begun to realize how much more I have yet to understand about Jiu-Jitsu. Getting my Blue Belt was so exciting, I never would have thought that I would do that. Jiu-Jitsu has been a completely rewarding experience and has benefited me in ways that I did not expect. You are both great teachers, and truly wonderful men. I am honored to be your student. I hope the summer heat is not too bad. I will be working in central California driving 18-wheel trucks for the next three months, but I will be back in the fall. Take care.

We have nothing but the highest regard and respect for Mr. Heredia.
I am writing this letter in appreciation of one of your instructors – Mr. Luis Heredia. My wife and I have just returned from your seminar at Club Med Sonora Bay, Mexico. We have nothing but the highest regard and respect for Mr. Heredia. His teaching skills are just excellent. He could break down these difficult procedures into easy to learn steps that made learning fun.

I was very impressed with his positive personality and attitude. Not once, the entire week did I hear him say any negatives, none. All positives. I feel that he treated my wife and I even more special – due to our non-experience, but not at the sake of the rest of the class; but soley at the extra energy and work of Luis. Luis was always the first to class and last to leave. We saw that when time was up, Luis was not, and he would stay as long after class as his students wanted and had questions. In other words, he did not work by the clock.

I am sure just the presence of Luis representing the Gracie Association will, over the long term, produce many future students. He was the talk and the center of conversation for that week at Club Med. (He was the Star).

Luis makes us all feel like we’re part of the team
Thanks very much for arranging Luis’ visit to our school to give my students their blue belt test. He did a great job and my students were very excited to meet him and enjoyed very much his short visit. We’re all very proud to be part of the association and this visit by Luis makes us all feel like we’re part of the team, especially since we live so far away from you. I hope that we can do this on a regular basis so that we can grow stronger and that you can be proud of us as representatives of Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

The BJJ I was blessed to learn has helped me survive some very ugly situations.
I studied with the Carlson Gracie (Peace Be Upon Him) Team at the De La Riva Academy in Orlando, Florida from 1997-1999 until I came to prison. You guys (and the girls) are well respected here in this concrete jungle! The BJJ I was blessed to learn has helped me survive some very ugly situations. I’d like to know if you could send me some photos from your Academy (I can only get 5, no Polaroid). It will mean a lot ot me and others to help keep the memories fresh after almost 8 years of me being gone.

This was a unique experience that I will NEVER forget
I am writing this letter to express gratitude for the splendid seminar that you offered in Sonora Bay. This was an inspiriation for me personally. I found myself motivated in a multifold fashion after attending this awesome seminar.

The most impressive aspect of your program was the professionalism of your instructor, Luis. He radiated positivity to all of us participants, and made us feel very welcome and special. I personally learned a great deal more about the Art of Jiu-Jitsu. I found myself much more confident in executing the techniques during practice. This was a unique experience that I will NEVER forget.

You were very well represented by Luis. I would be extremely proud to have an individual such as he represent me. I hope there will be more Seminars such as this recent one offered in the future, where I shall look forward to participation.

Luis’ instruction was focused and immensely detailed
WOW. Where do I begin? First of all Luis Heredia is not only one of the most articulate and precise instructors I have ever trained with but he is a Gentleman of the highest caliber.

Luis’ instruction was focused and immensely detailed. I found him to be incredibly sharp on all the positions, particularly with regard to weight, frame, balance and leverage. Luis gave meaning to these words for me. I thought I understood about weight, frame, balance and leverage but Luis really showed me what they were. I was to continue learning about and applying these principals so that one day I too can have an ability like Luis.

Luis gave me an understanding of not only the moves but the movement in between the moves. The flow, the energy, how one exchanges from one movement to another and uses energies to be the most efficient. Jiu-Jitsu is really a great art!

In addition to being a great instructor Luis is a man of a very sincere and good heart. He is very concerned about the progress of each student. With patience and focus he will look at a student doing something, take a moment to think and then like a Jiu-Jitsu Doctor he will come back with a prescription or active explanation that exactly shows the student not only how to do the move, but how to understand all the principals that go along with that move. Luis helped me see that Jiu-Jitsu is much more than just moves. Rickson and Kim I hope that we can trin more and more with Luis, he mentioned that he would like to come back to us in July and we are more than thrilled to host him anytime.

I believe that Character is the most important no matter what you do. It is not something you can fake, you either have it or you don’t, you either see it applied or you don’t. It is my humble opinion that Luis Heredia is a man of a very high Character who genuinely cares about people and he is an excellent example for the Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Association. I just want to say that my wife and I and my students are all so honored and happy Rickson and Kim that you thought of us to send Luis to do this seminar for us. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you very much.

As well Rickson I am personally most anxious to come out and train my required 10 hours a year with you. I have been saving for this and if you can give me a month’s notice I can get the best deals on tickets. Rickson and Kim I wan to personally thank you again for thinking of me, it means so very much to me. I will always do my best to loyally follow you as I believe that you are people of very good Character too. April 14th I will be going to the Pan Am Games and April 29th I will be fighting in a Vale-Tudo tournament here in Delaware. I will train hard, fight well and do my best to bring honor and respect to the association.

Luis 'Limao' Heredia came to my school and taught the greatest seminar I have EVER taken
My name is *****, I’m currently a blue belt with four stripes under Rickson Gracie assoc. I have been a blue belt for about 5 years. I used to train 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day, unfortunately I had to get a job, so I’m very limited on my personal time to train. I guess I’m writing you today because I think I have a story that I would like you to pass onto the Gracie family and just say thank you to them. I was never really good at anything in my life, I was always in the "other classroom,” or the “stupid classroom", and I was always the outsider, never really had any friends. Well a few years go by, and I was always interested in the martial arts, after a few years doing kung fu, kickboxing, etc. I had heard of the Gracie family, after doing some research I found my self inspired by this story.

So I found a local rep. that tought jiu-jitsu and was a rep. for Rickson Gracie, I fell in love with the sport form day one, jiu-jitsu was my life for many years, and I became good, I found something that I excelled in, something that brought a smile to my face. It was all I thought about. Even though the greatest moment in my life was when my bare feet touched the mat, I was still very depressed; life had put a clock choke on me. I wasn't doing well in school, I was falling into debt, and my home life was falling apart. I had suicidal thoughts for a very long time, and I just wanted to leave this world while I had at least one thing that I loved and that I felt I was good at. I remember clearly that I had planned out when I was going to tap out to life, I had prepaid for a black belt seminar, and I was going to wait until that was over and I was going to end myself that night.

Luis "Limao" Heredia came to my school and taught the greatest seminar I have EVER taken, Luis and I talked after the seminar and as I would like to think became friends, but I thought to myself this guy is going to go back to Cali, or has met so many people that he was just being nice, but I decided to take what I learned from him and go a few more months with life, things with life were still on my back, and I couldn't use the right escape. Another seminar was schedule for our school, I believe it was supposed to be Rodrigo Vaghi*, and as I sit on the mat, while all the other people sat and talked, in walks Luis. After saying hi and introduce himself to some of the other students and learning there names, he saw me sitting in the corner, and out came a smile form him, and he goes "***** how have you been man." and comes right over to me a gives me a hug. I was surprised that he remembered me.

To move things along, we had a great seminar again, my coach asked me to start teaching for him, and that was a great honor, but it also turned ugly, I was only a blue belt, and our teacher was a purple, turning brown, all the students would start to come to my classes and not his, I used strictly technique and no muscle, and I was sought out by many in the school to be more technical than the head instructor, I think he felt that ad he started turning on me, one day we went at it, my girlfriend at the time was watching and all the students were watching, we rolled for about thirty minutes, I got to [my teacher's] back and he went to defend the choke, but I was looking for the arm, I armbarred him and tapped him, I was surprised and so was everyone else, but I think [my teacher] was more surprised and upset. I was torn from the school, not able to go any more. The one thing that I was good at, the one thing that was keeping me alive was taking away from me. No where to go and train, and no were to make me feel good. a few years had went by and I rarely trained.

I got a phone call one day from one of my old students, and said that he had opened up a kickboxing school, and wanted to add a jiu-jitsu program to it. He asked me to come to the city and do a seminar for the students, and I gladly accepted. And to this date I still teach and train there. The real reason I’m writing this is because on April 23 I was admitted to the hospital from an allergic reaction to a new antidepressant, I almost died, and at one point I thought I was dead. I had ordered you new book," The Gracie Way" and let me say that was amazing. I read it when I was able to, and I was just dispatched from the hospital yesterday, I had a lot of time to reflect on my life while I was in the hospital, and came out thankful that I am alive, I know that Luis is now located somewhere in Hawaii, One day he will be the best man at my wedding, If you could pass this massage along to the Gracie family, and Luis I would be extremely grateful of you, They have changed my life incredible, and the reason I am alive is because of Jiu-Jitsu, the Gracie family, and Luis. I want to dedicate my life to jiu-jitsu as jiu-jitsu has dedicated its life to me. I’m planning on taking a long vacation from work, to do nothing but train. I have heard of Gracie Camp, but I think the website is down, Take a month or so and go to Hawaii and see Luis, maybe he will still remember me.