Juarez Soares is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Marcos Siqueira, being the founder of the Araruama Jiu Jitsu Academy and the DDR Jiu Jitsu team, one of the most respected grappling squads in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Juarez Soares is also a respected jiu jitsu referee, having worked with important federations such as the FJJ-Rio, the CBJJ and the IBJJF.
Juarez Soares Jiu Jitsu
Full Name: Juarez Soares da Costa
Nickname: n/a
Lineage 1*: Mitsuyo Maeda > Luis França > Oswaldo Fadda > Monir Salomão > Juarez Soares
Lineage 2: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > Marcos Siqueira > Juarez Soares
*Although Master Soares did not receive his black belt directly from the hands of Monir Salomao, he always identified with his original instructor and felt Monir to be his true Master. For that reason, and at Soares’ request, we added Master Monir’s lineage.
Main Achievements: n/a
Favorite Position: n/a
Weight Division: n/a
Team/Association: Araruama Jiu Jitsu/DDR
Juarez Soares Biography
Juarez Soares was born in the state of Guanabara on April 19, 1962. Guanabara state existed from 1960 to 1975.
As a child Soares was described as an introvert, one who often reacted aggressively to those around him. Due to his aggressive behaviour the doctor recommended Juarez’ parents to enrol their son in jiu jitsu classes.
Following the doctor’s advice, Soares was signed up to the Monir Academy at the age of 11. The classes were led by the legendary Monir Salomao, the same coach of illustrious jiu jitsu figures such as Marcos Barreto and Julio Cesar. Salomao graded Juarez with his yellow, orange and blue belts.
After receiving his blue belt, Juarez and his family moved to Araruama, a small coastal municipality inside the state of Rio de Janeiro. Though Soares regarded Monir as his true Master throughout the continuation of his jiu jitsu career, he did join Marcos Siqueira’s academy to continue his training, largely due to the distance that separated Soares and Salomao.
Although Siqueira promoted Soares on all belts from their on (purple, brown and black), these were more of a formality as coach Marcos moved away to Sao Paulo not long after Juarez started training at his academy. Juarez’s promotion to black occurred on November 17, 1997.
After his purple belt promotion Juarez became an instructor at Siqueira’s academy, taking control of the team when Marcos moved to Sao Paulo. He progressed through jiu jitsu’s belt system, under Siqueira’s banner, but as aforementioned, not training under his guidance. Juarez embraced the role from the get go, seeking several public funded coaching courses on a variety of subjects, including on philosophies of training and coaching methodology.
Shortly after receiving his black belt, more specifically on February 8, 1998 Juarez Soares opened his own academy, Araruama Jiu-Jitsu.
Soares dedicated all his time to preparing his students, and left competitions altogether to focus on the team. The academy prospered, growing exponentially. With this fast growth Juarez gained several satellite academies in the region, so much that in 2005 he decided to create a team solely focused for competitions, separating the group from the standard practitioners of Araruama Jiu Jitsu. He called the competition team DDR JJ, which stands for Dedicação, Disciplina, Respeito (Dedication, Discipline and Respect), a name with which the team started officially competing as in 2006.
From the Araruana Jiu Jitsu Academy, Master Juarez Soares has developed several important grapplers, including names such as José Junior and Marcos Tinoco.
proud to be part of this team now.