About Us
Gamblers Jiu-Jitsu & Kickboxing Club is a family friendly martial arts academy that offers Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Self Defense, Fitness Kickboxing and Muay Thai classes for men, women and children of all ages. We work hard to provide the highest quality training in a clean, friendly and positive environment for all of our students from beginners to professional athletes.
We are most known for regularly bringing world class instructors and athletes to expose our students to various teaching styles and strategies used by world champions. Champions such as Joao “Johnny” Faria, Leo Santos, Carlos Valente, Talita Alencar, Michael Phelps and Joao Assis just to name a few who have joined us as special guest instructors.
Why The Name Gamblers?
We think it has become important for us to reach out to the community and explain who the Gamblers are and how we got here.
Our Founder Mike Ciprianni has had the Gambler name in his family since he was 10 years old. His older cousins put together numerous teams to compete in Baseball, Softball and Football when they were kids. Many local championships were won in these sports and everyone wanted to become a part of the Gamblers.
Growing up as a kid Mike Ciprianni could not wait until he was able to put together his own Gambler teams with his own friends and family. When Mike was 15 he put together a softball team and a football team that also won their share of championships year after year. The Gamblers name was then passed on to his younger cousins and then eventually Mike came to Florida and with the help of a good friend Duke Thrush started the Palm Beach Gardens Baseball team for his son Frankie and his friends. They were number 1 in the country 2 years in a row all while playing the toughest teams in travel baseball. They are still the most talent filled and most feared team in their age group every year.
Everyone should know and understand that these names are only used as a novelty. It is no different than naming yourself “The Warriors”, “The Crusaders”, “The Rebels” or “The Renegades”. Everyone wants a cool name and The Gamblers is the name Mike lives and breathes because of its history in his family.
If anyone has actually taken the time to meet and get to know Mike Ciprianni, they would immediately know 2 things. First is that he loves to give back and help kids. He has sponsored as many as 8 teams at a time. When we say sponsored that means paying for uniforms, tournaments and a great coaching staff. Anyone that knows him knows he spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year helping these kids stay out of trouble and excel in sports. Second, is that he loves his friends ands family and considers all of his friends as his family. He treats everyone as an equal and loves having everyone around.
Gamblers Jiu-Jitsu & Kickboxing Club
Mike Ciprianni developed a strong passion for mixed martial arts after following the UFC around the country when it was only legal in a handful of states and cities. Because of his passion for the martial arts he began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which in his opinion is the best foundation for fighting out of all other martial arts. He was adamant about his son Frankie learning it as well. He never let his son quit and it was a constant battle to keep Frankie interested in training and competing. Today Frankie is a multiple time kids world champion, 2-time state champion and national champion. He’s also won many local tournaments and trains every day. Mike truly believes that the self-confidence his son gained through Jiu-Jitsu has helped him become a phenomenal athlete in other sports and also believes every person should learn Jiu-Jitsu as a form of Self-Defense.
What’s different about Gamblers Jiu-Jitsu is that we spend the money to fly current and former world champions to come teach our students Jiu-Jitsu and give them different techniques, concepts and philosophies on training. We also are a non-political academy that believes in cross-training. We understand if our students and competitors feel the need to cross-train and support it. We are so confident in our curriculum, philosophies and culture of our academy that we have no fear of losing students to another school. We are also confident that our students can hold their own in all areas whether it’s Self-Defense, Sport, MMA or training at another school. Some academies aren’t confident in what they are teaching or in the level of their students that they forbid their students from cross-training. They fear that their students will learn more somewhere else.
The Gamblers have become a family not an organization. Mike believes in keeping the family together even outside of training, playing or practicing. He feels it’s important to maintain this close bond and give back to students and parents and also let people know that he appreciates their loyalty.
Mike believes that in life you have to take on some risk which is essentially a “Gamble” if you want to succeed. So the name Gamblers became a perfect fit for the message he wanted to convey. He has always said “Success isn’t going to fall into your lap, you have to go out and take the chance to change your life. Take that chance to learn new things.” Everyone knows that the first step is the hardest step.
Come take that chance and see who the Gamblers are and what the Gamblers Family is all about. Whether it’s Jiu-Jitsu, Self-Defense or Kickboxing. Any one of them will change your life for the better and help you become the best version of yourself.