Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Sao Paulo

Honest level: Intermediate to elite competitor — ask the school exactly how far that goes in the time you have.

Masters & lineage

• Fabio Gurgel

Schools in Sao Paulo

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• Alliance Sao Paulo
  Ongoing gi and no-gi training under Fabio Gurgel (drop-in to long-term enrollment)
  Alliance Sao Paulo is the headquarters academy of the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu team led by four-time world champion Fabio Gurgel, offering daily gi and no-gi classes from drop-in visits through long-term training toward IBJJF competition.
  https://www.alliancesaopaulo.com.br/
• Cicero Costha
  Daily gi and no-gi training at the Ipiranga headquarters (linked to the PSLPB social project)
  Cicero Costha is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in the Ipiranga district of Sao Paulo, founded by trainer Cicero Barbosa da Costha and known for developing champions such as Leandro Lo and the Miyao brothers through daily gi and no-gi training.
  https://www.cicerocostha.com.br/
• PSLPB Cicero Costha
  Daily gi and no-gi training tied to the Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem (PSLPB) program
  PSLPB Cicero Costha is the competition team and Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem social project run from Cicero Costha's Ipiranga, Sao Paulo academy, combining elite gi and no-gi training with housing and structure for youth from low-income communities.
  https://www.cicerocostha.com.br/

The credential

IBJJF-registered black belt, promoted by a recognized black-belt professor in direct lineage · Certifying body: International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), founded 2002 by Carlos Gracie Jr.; belt rank conferred by a certified black-belt professor in unbroken lineage

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.