By BJJ Heroes on January 05th, 2012

Alexander Trans (Checkmat)

Alexander Trans BJJ Heroes Page One of the top European grapplers of his generation, the Dane Alexander Trans, from the Checkmat academy in Copenhagen (Arte Suave), made a name for himself in the lower ranks of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by conquering every important title in the international calendar before receiving his black belt from Leo Vieira on November 2011, he has since cemented his status of top level BJJ competitor by medalling in most of the top IBJJF tournaments.

Alexander Trans Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Alexander Riis Hillgsoe Trans

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Leonardo Vieira > Alexander Trans

Main Achievements:

6x European Open Champion (2013, 2012 black, 2011 brown weight & absolute, 2010 purple weight & absolute)
3x World Champion (2011 brown weight & absolute, 2010 purple)
2x Pan American Champion (2011 brown weight & absolute)
2x Brazilian National Champion (2011 brown, 2012)
2x World Pro Cup Trials Champion –Warsaw (2011 weight & absolute)
World Nogi Champion (2010 brown)
Rio Open Champion (2010 brown)

Favourite Position/Technique: Deep Half Guard

Weight Division: Pesadíssimo (over 221lbs)

Team/Academy: Checkmat BJJ

Alexander Trans Biography

Alexander Trans was born in 1989 in Denmark, he started training martial arts through traditional Jiu Jitsu (the Japanese form of Jiu Jitsu) when he was 13 years old. He trained for two years before finding the Brazilian style of Jiu Jitsu which he picked up from then on. Alexander was not too serious about his training for the first few years, but as he joined the Arte Suave gym in Copenhagen (Checkmat Team’s headquarters in the region) in 2009 he really started focussing more on competition.

The Arte Suave gym is run by Shimon Mochizuki, a black belt who has helped raise the game of grapplers such as Ida Hansson & Shanti Abelha (two of the gym’s top competitors), under Mochizuki’ guidance, Alexander began training 3 times per day, often making trips to Brazil to train with the likes of Leo Vieira (Sao Paulo), “Bob Esponja” Medeiros (Joao Pessoa) and Rico Vieira (Rio de Janeiro). All this hard training paid off and Trans really started to make his mark at an international level, winning 9 fights at the 2011 World Championships in both his weight class and the absolute division without giving out one single point to his competitors. He won everything he set his mind to in the brown belt division that year with the exception of the ADCC which he lost due to points against the veteran Fabricio Werdum, earning his black belt shortly after from the hands of the legendary Leo Vieira.