Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team History, Fighter Stats, Biographies and News

This article has been written by Luiz Dias, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Leoni Nascimento, who founded the Geração Arte Suave, an academy with strong …

The story unveiled by Demétrio Vecchioli last year for the “Estadão” website in it’s Olimpílulas blog, tells us the story of how government funds designated for jiu jitsu athletes were diverted towards family members of chairman Elisio Cardoso Macambira, president of the No Gi Jiu Jitsu federation in Brazil.

Henry Akins is a black belt in jiu jitsu, a rank awarded by Rickson Gracie. Akins was an important instructor at Rickson’s academy in California before becoming the head coach of Dynamix Martial Arts. Often regarded as one of the best black belts produced by the legendary Gracie, Akins is known for his controversial views on sport Brazilian jiu jitsu, comparing it to Tae Kwon Do, as an example of a sporting format which diluted the essence of a art martial.

The men on the sidelines of the matted areas are often the most important in the life of an martial arts athlete. On this article you will find some of the top instructors in modern day jiu jitsu, men who (in our opinion) have been developing the top talent in the sporting aspect of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

One of the greatest prospects in Brazilian jiu jitsu during the 1990’s, Renato Miragaia made a name for himself in the lower belt tournaments of the sport, defending the Gracie Barra team banner. Though Renato left the sport early in his black belt career to pursue an occupation outside jiu jitsu, his legacy remained through one of his trademark position, a position many call “the Miragaia”.

One of the most common chokes in Brazilian jiu jitsu, the The Ezekiel Choke or Sode Guruma Jime (in Japanese) is a common submission utilized by grapplers in which the attacker uses his own kimono sleeve to choke his opponent. The choke became highly popular in the sport of Brazilian jiu jitsu during the 1990’s as it is one of the few chokes/attacks that a top fighter can safely attempt from inside the guard of his opponent. The Ezekiel choke has many variations, being the “arm in Ezekiel” one of it’s most commonly seen in high level competition.

Michael Liera Junior is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under André Galvão, and a top competitor for the Atos academy, who is widely recognized as one of the most talented grapplers of his generation. This fantastic guard specialist from Littleton, Colorado – US, started making waves in jiu jitsu as a blue belt, winning two world titles a deed he repeated in all his belts before reaching black belt status.

Fabio Monteiro, also known as “Binho”, is an important figure in the development of Brazilian jiu jitsu in Manaus, Brazil, a remote city in the middle of the Amazon jungle known for having produced a tremendous amount of outstanding grapplers. Fabio and his brothers (Augusto, Yano and Lúcio) founded the Associação Monteiro, an academy that has brought to jiu jitsu, competitors such as Saulo and “Xande” Ribeiro, Cristiano Carioca, Omar Salum, Paulo Coelho.

Get to know the top 5 hot new prospects in the black belt division, most likely to medal at 2015’s top competitions.

The famous Yvone Duarte, recognized as the first female black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu‘s history, received this weekend the 5th degree on her …

Regarded as one of the top jiu jitsu competitors of his generation, Felipe Cesar became known in the grappling circuit representing the B9 academy (Barbosa JJ). Always looking for the submission, Felipe made the leg lock his trademark submission in the brown belt divisions.

Erberth Santos is a black belt under Luis “Guigo” Guilherme, who was considered by many, as the best brown belt in jiu jitsu during the 2014 campaign, a honorary title Erberth earned with incredible performances at the World Jiu Jitsu Championship, the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championship and the Brazilian National Championship that year, all competitions won by Santos in both his weight and the open weight divisions.

Jiu jitsu’s first ever competition in Brazilian land took place in 1915. Find here the rules, competitors, winners and implications this important tournament had in shaping the martial art towards its current formats.

Julio “Foca” Fernandez is one of the late Carlson Gracie’s most well known black belts in the United States. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Fernandez moved to the United States in the late 1980’s being a pioneer for Brazilian jiu jitsu in the country. Julio is also the co-founder of BJJ Revolution Team.

A run down of the current situation in UAE’s jiu jitsu program, a program led by a company named Palm Sports. Recently there has been turmoil surrounding Palm Sports and the way some of their jiu jitsu employees are being (mis)treated. BJJ Heroes investigated.

Márcio Stambowsky, also known in the jiu jitsu world as ‘Macarra’ or ‘Macarrão’, is a jiu jitsu coral belt and one of the most respected figures of the sport. Being an original Rolls Gracie black belt with an overwhelming experience in competition, also being the highest ranked jiu jitsu man in Connecticut, who’s son is the up and coming MMA star Neiman Gracie; there were plenty of reasons to get together with Master Márcio for an interview.

The worm guard is a grappling position developed by a jiu jitsu competitor named Keenan Cornelius in 2014. The position is applied when the guard player …

One of the most common submissions in modern day jiu jitsu, the toe hold was rediscovered in the late 1990s by Rodrigo Medeiros, though the position had been popular in previous times, specially during the 1970s when instigated by the legendary Rolls Gracie.

A black belt in jiu jitsu under Royler Gracie, the BJJ world champion Paulo “Coelho” became a reference in the sport as a fighter, and also as an instructor, having moved to the United States in 2012 to pursuit his coaching career.

Mauro Ayres is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Francisco “Toco” Albuquerque, previously with the Nova Geração academy, later gouing on to do his …