About us

A family school teaching Jujutsu for real life

Pembroke Pines Self Defense is a Valente Brothers affiliate teaching Jujutsu — commonly searched for as Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ — as a complete self-defense education for men, women and children.

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Self-defense first

Every technique is taught for a real, unplanned situation — not for a ruleset or a scoreboard.

Technique over strength

Leverage, timing and position, so a smaller person can defend against a larger, stronger one.

A family environment

Parents, children and adults of every age share the same mat, the same etiquette and the same standards.

Training you can sustain

Careful, progressive practice with cooperative partners — designed for decades, not for a season.

Our school

Founded in February 2009, our academy on Taft Street has taught families across Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Cooper City and Davie a single, coherent curriculum: awareness and avoidance first, then defense against surprise attacks and striking, the clinch, throws and takedowns, and finally ground grappling and submissions.

The room is deliberately calm. Classes start on time, technique is introduced progressively with cooperative partners, and nobody is asked to prove they belong here. We would rather a student train carefully for twenty years than intensely for six months.

Our story

The longer story of how this school came to be — the decision to open in Pembroke Pines, the first small group of students, and the years of building a program families could rely on.

More of this chapter is on the way. If you would like to hear it in person, come by the school and ask.

Our family

Our family's story: how the art came into our home, the generations who have trained on these mats, and why teaching self-defense became a family responsibility rather than a business.

More of this chapter is on the way. If you would like to hear it in person, come by the school and ask.

Belt and rank structure

How progression works at our school: the youth and adult belt systems, what is expected at each level, how often evaluations happen, and how rank connects to the Valente Brothers curriculum.

More of this chapter is on the way. If you would like to hear it in person, come by the school and ask.

Lineage and affiliation

A proud affiliate of Valente Brothers, the headquarters school founded by the Valente family in South Florida.

We teach the Valente Brothers curriculum as it was passed down — a sequenced syllabus, consistent terminology across instructors, and a strong emphasis on the philosophical and behavioral side of the art alongside technique.

Who teaches