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

Roy Harris is an accomplished American martial artist, known in the Brazilian jiu jitsu world for being a black belt under Joe Moreira and for belonging to jiu jitsu’s “Dirty Dozen”, the first group of 12 non Brazilian men to have been distinguished with the rank of black belt in this grappling style. Roy Harris is also known as one of the first instructors to publicly publish a formal testing criteria for jiu jitsu, formalizing his promotion tests from white belt to black belt. Find more of Harris’ story here.

Marcos Tinoco, also known as Marcos Silva or “Lekinho”, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Marcelo Garcia, who trained extensively with Juarez Soares in Brazil. Tinoco belongs to a first generation of black belt competitors developed by the legendary Garcia, a team that caused waves in the sport of jiu jitsu at brown belt. Find here more about Marcos Tinoco, his roots and his grappling career.

Why Do We Call The BJJ Uniform a Gi and Not a Kimono? This is a common question, often asked by newcomers. The name derives from the Japanese roots of the martial art, especially the names applied by the judoka. Here are is a quick insight to the Brazilian jiu jitsu uniform names.

Marcelo Alonso is a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu regarded as one of Carlson Gracie’s most famous and respected students. Alonso was an instructor at the Carlson Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro for many years, coaching many of the great fighters of that era before moving to the United States in the late 1990’s, settling in the Seattle area, where he quickly became a reference among the local grappling scene.

One of the most common submissions in modern day Brazilian jiu jitsu, the straight ankle lock, also called Botinha, Achilles lock, straight footlock among other names, became popular greatly due to the influence of one coach who, in the early 2010 decade, revolutionized the use of the position, improving it drastically.

Rose Gracie is not only the daughter of 9th degree red belt Rorion Gracie (founder of the UFC) and the granddaughter of the great Master Helio Gracie, she is one of the louder voices against the current sporting format of the gentle art. Through her jiu jitsu tournament promotion, Gracie Tournaments, she plans to change the mentality in which BJJ is immersed today, and shift it back to it’s original roots. We had a chat with Rose regarding her plans, Find out more here.

Rafael “Fofitio” was one of the best competitors of the Galo (under 127lbs) division and the leading figure of an important Brazilian grappling team named Oriente Jiu Jitsu, of Niteroi, a team affiliated with Nova Uniao, that produced legendary jiu jitsu competitors such as Thiago Fernandes, Ramon Lemos, Gilbert Burns and many others. A former 2x world champion and 2x world cup champion, Fofitio was one of the top figures of the 2000’s decade.

Marcelo Mello is a former UFC fighter and a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, officially under Royler Gracie, who also trained extensively with the late Master Carlson Gracie. A historical figure in the sport having helped establish the Brazilian grappling style in places such as Argentina and the USA, Mello’s path in jiu jitsu is also unique one, as he was awarded his black belt on two separate occasions (in 1994 and in 1997) by two separate instructors, Carlson and Royler Gracie respectively. Full story here.

Check out the jiu jitsu European Open Live Stream Broadcast Here! The European Championship gets the ball rolling for IBJJF’s busy 2015 calendar. The first major tournament of the year is taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, having started on the 21st of January (finishes on the 25th of January 2015).

Another fantastic year of jiu jitsu is ahead of us and as per usual, the honours will be made in Lisbon by the European …

Luis Carlos Atalla, commonly known as “Luca” Atalla, is a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under the illustrious Carlos Gracie Junior and a pioneer in jiu jitsu journalism, being the original chief editor of the sport’s leading magazine – GracieMag. Before turning his focus to journalism, Luca Atalla was one of the rising stars of jiu jitsu with one world title and three pan american championships in the lower belt divisions, find out more about this BJJ figure here.

Javier Vazquez, also known as “Showtime”, is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Rodrigo Medeiros, a rank he achieved in 2003, making him most likely the first Cuban black belt in the Brazilian grappling style. Javier is also a wrestler and a retired mixed martial artist with a successful career having competed at some of the top promotions in the world such as KOTC, WEC and the UFC . Javier Vazquez is also married to Rose Gracie, daughter of 9th degree jiu jitsu red belt Rorion Gracie, with whom he runs the “Gracie Tournaments” organization.

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.

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.

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.