Featured

Yuri Simoes is one of the best athletes in the Checkmat Academy. The black belt under Ricardo Vieira, is a former world champion (purple and brown) and Pan American champion (black belt) who is doing a tour around Europe giving seminars after a while living in Australia. BJJ Heroes had the opportunity to catch up with Yuri in England and talk about his recent trips and a bit more.

There is a famous quote in jiu jitsu that says: “jiu-jitsu é a única arte marcial que tem família” (jiu-jitsu is the only martial art that has a family), though my knowledge of all martial arts isn’t strong enough for me to attest the truthfulness of this statement, my understanding of the background and the history of the sport can certainly verify that strong family ties are what helped build this sport/martial art.

Luzia Fernandes, also known as Lulu or Luka Fernandes, is a Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (3rd degree) black belt under Marcio Feitosa, who has been a part of the Brazilian Judo National Team and has numerous titles in BJJ, including 4 world titles the first of which she achieved at the age of 13, making her the youngest person ever to win an adult world title in the sport.

Claudio Henrique Silva is an experienced BJJ and MMA fighter, after being frustrated with the course of his MMA and BJJ career, Claudio decided to have an exclusive interview with BJJ Heroes and tell us what is on his mind.

Alberto Crane is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Vinicius Magalhães being also the first American citizen to become a black belt under the Gracie Barra Academy banner. Alberto Crane stacked a series of accolades as a BJJ and MMA competitor as well as from a coaching stance.

Nahum Rabay is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu red belt (9th degree) and a student of one of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu founders, George Gracie. Aside from being an important musician and a highly regarded figure in Sao Paulo’s BJJ, Nahum Rabay, curiously, was directly involved in the first case of “creontagem” in Jiu Jitsu.

Jeff Glover is one of the best known (and most talented) American featherweight grapplers – with and without the Gi. It was a pleasure being able to catch up with Jeff and pick his brain on the topic of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu improvement – and his best advice for grapplers who want to get better, faster.

The most exciting event in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu did not disappoint. Check here the full results of teh world BJJ championships, AKA the Mundials, held in Long Beach, California on the 1st and 2nd of June, 2013.

Francisco Fernandes Júnior, commonly known by his nickname: “Chiquinho de Cuiaba”, is a former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion of the famed Gracie Barra academy. Being from a family with strong connections to Jiu Jitsu (his father trained with Rolls Gracie and his sister is the also world champion Luzia Fernandes) Chiquinho de Cuiaba became one of the top grapplers of his generation.

Gracie Humaita is one of the most traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies, which is deeply connected to the founders of this Brazilian Martial Art. Gracie Humaita is spread throughout the world, being one of its strongest teams in the competitive scene.

Roberto Lage is 6th dan in Judo and a 7th degree coral belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, being an important figure for Sao Paulo’s Jiu Jitsu landscape. Roberto Lage trained extensively with Otavio de Almeida (senior) becoming a BJJ instructor himself having formed the “Equipe Lage” academy.

Master Cezar Guimarães, also known by his nickname “Casquinha”, is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt founder of the famous Rio de Janeiro academy, Top Brother, a team that has brought forward some highly talented competitors in both BJJ and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Cezar Guimarães also has a black belt in Judo where excelled as a competitor earning a spot in the Brazilian national junior squad.

Kid Peligro was one of the first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu related bloggers, being an inspiration for the hundreds of BJJ blogs that spawned since he started back in 1998. As well as being a blogger and a published author, Kid Peligro is famed for his passion for other sports such as Surfing, and “Ginastica Natural”, having been instructed in this Brazilian gymnastics by the creator of the style, Alvaro Romano.

Kurt Osiander is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor and black belt from the Ralph Gracie Academy in San Francisco. Osiander is one of the cult heroes in BJJ’s community due to his video blog “Kurt Osiander’s Move of the Week” where is personality and technical habilities captured the interest of 1000’s of BJJ fans.

The best Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championship result database is here! with all the results of the matches from the black belt divisions being shown. The BJJ Pan American took place on March 2013 in Irvine, California in the United States and it gathered some of the best grapplers in the world.

Carlos Elias, commonly known as “Caique”, is one of only 8 non Gracie men to have received the degree of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by the late Great Master Helio Gracie. A former member of the Gracie Academy, Carlos Henrique “Caique” reached the degree of coral belt (red and black) in 2009 from Rickson Gracie, he is also one of the first men to bring BJJ to Southern California, where he has been located since the 1990’s.

Rafael de Lima is one of the Correa brothers which are among the most important siblings in BJJ. Rafael Gordinho is a Jiu Jitsu black belt world champion and one of the main figures in competitive BJJ at the turn of the 20th century, he has also been involved in the development of the sport and other teams such as his brother’s academy, Gordo Jiu Jitsu and Renzo Gracie Academy in New York.

One of the first Brazilian men to learn Jiu Jitsu in Brazil, Luiz França became one of Mitsuyo Maeda’s top students, and much like the Gracies, he continued the work of his Japanese instructor in the state of Rio de Janeiro where he started his own, non Gracie, BJJ lineage. This lineage can be seen in some of the biggest teams in the world today.

Deoclecio Paulo, also known as “Mestre Deo” (Master Deo) is a red belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu who started practicing the sport in the 1940’s, being a direct descendant of the Oswaldo Fadda lineage. A highly regarded instructor, Deoclecio Paulo has taught in different areas of Brazil, having also brought Jiu Jitsu to Chile in the 1970’s. Master Deo’s also founded the Associação Deo Jiu-Jitsu one of the top academies in Brasilia.

Eduardo Santoro, also known as Eduardo “Português” (Portuguese), is one of the top medium heavyweight jiu jitsu competitors of his generation. A black belt under Max Trombini from Cia Paulista, Eduardo Santoro won some of the most important Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments in the world, such as the Brazilian National, the Pan American and the World Championships (on two separate organizations).