Do you know the story behind the origins of modern Jiu-Jitsu? The legend goes that Hélio Gracie – the man who created the system of Jiu-Jitsu we train today – suffered a lot of illnesses when he was young. This made training more difficult for Hélio than for his brothers. He spent much of his time watching his brother Carlos teach. But he couldn’t train at the same intensity. One day Carlos didn’t show up for class at the expected time. So Carlos’s students were left waiting for him to show...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Kade Ruotolo VS. Andrew Tackett was the most exciting match at CJI. Maybe even the most exciting Jiu-Jitsu match of all time. There are so many comments online of people saying that if they had to introduce their friends to Jiu-Jitsu, THIS would be the one video they would show them. So I wanted to dive deeper into one really incredible moment from the match. (Actually, I’ve been doing this for a few of the best fights from Team Atos on our online platform. See my "P.S.") This was the moment...
11 days ago • 1 min read
In recent weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about Atos and what it means. I wanted to write a short manifesto – to get my thoughts down in writing and to share them with you guys. You see, I originally chose the name Atos because it’s the Portuguese word for “Acts” which specifically references the “Book of Acts” in the Bible: “God can do amazing things through ordinary people, when He empowers them through His Spirit.” Of course, my Faith will always be tied together with my life’s work. But...
18 days ago • 1 min read
This weekend, at Jiu-Jitsu Con, my daughter made history again… NOT just because she got Double Gold (Gi and No-Gi) – already an incredible achievement... …but because she was the first Brown Belt ever to teach a seminar at a Jiu-Jitsu Con event. Actually, we taught it together as a father-daughter team ✨ The event was PACKED – there were so many people in attendance: What makes me truly happy is that because of Jiu-Jitsu, we’ve spent so much time together, supporting each other every step of...
25 days ago • 1 min read
In case you didn’t know… 4X No-Gi World Champion Lucas Barbosa is a MONSTER 😅 Five weeks before CJI, Lucas popped out his shoulder – it was basically the exact injury we saw happen to Meregali at ADCC this weekend. Check out the picture below. This was taken on July 5th. Doctors had to put Lucas to sleep in order to pop his shoulder back into place. Here’s me with him after the surgery: He essentially had no camp to prepare – he spent the entire time before the tournament resting and...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
It’s fair to say Atos DOMINATED this year’s ADCC. In one of his most dominant performances to date, Kaynan Duarte secured Double Gold 🥇🥇 (-99KG and Absolute). As always, Rafaela Guedes (+65kg) 🥇 showed up to WIN. She brought the fire in her division and I’m so proud of her and the hard work she put in throughout the camp. Adele Fornarino🥇🥇 (-55kg and Absolute) also had an incredible run. She became the first Female Absolute Champion since 2007 👀 I'm also including Felipe Pena (+99KG) in this...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Was this the greatest weekend ever for grappling? Definitely one of the most hectic – I’m super tired after coaching at two major events 😅 But I had to quickly write about CJI and Atos’ new millionaire – Kade Ruotolo 🥇 Is Kade Roots the most entertaining fighter in Jiu-Jitsu?🔥 I’m so proud of Kade From breaking records as the youngest ever ADCC champ… To becoming the first ever -80KG champ at CJI… And now maybe the youngest millionaire in Jiu-Jitsu 😅👊🏽💰 What a crazy story. (And all while he’s...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Okay, this weekend is crazy... I'm in Las Vegas for CJI tonight and also ADCC... As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve compiled a playlist of videos to showcase our athletes competing in both CJI and ADCC. Today I want to spotlight our ADCC athletes, which starts tomorrow: [Click the images to watch the interviews] 1. Kaynan Duarte 2. Mike Perez 3. Rafaela Guedes 4. Josh Hinger 5. Jonnatas Gracie 6. Javier Zaruski 7. Adele Fornarino [Forthcoming] This interview hasn’t yet been published on the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
CJI Starts tomorrow! We’ve compiled a playlist of videos to showcase our athletes competing in both CJI and ADCC. Today I want to spotlight our CJI athletes: [Click the images to watch the interviews] 1. Tye Ruotolo 2. Kade Ruotolo 3. Inácio dos Santos 4. Lucas Barbosa [Forthcoming] This interview hasn’t yet been published on the site. We’ve scheduled it for publication tomorrow. Keep an eye on our socials. If you want to check out the full playlist of interviews, click the link below:...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
