Flavio - Jiu Jitsu Coach

I’ve trained five world champions. A male and female in BJJ, male and female Spartan race world champs, and a female age group powerlifter. Last time I worked in elite sport I had seven athletes in five sports go to the London Olympics. I’ve also trained tour de France cyclists, pro Ironman athletes, pro beach volleyball, Olympic judo and taekwondo, Major League Baseball, AFL, and both pro rugby union and rugby league. I’ve assistant coached national level weightlifters too. Then chuck on all the amateur athletes and the thousands of normal people I’ve worked with too. Is my resume satisfact source, 2025 ↗

neutral

I just got back from travelling around Brazil for two months. I trained in São Paulo, Ilha Grande, Rio and Itacaré. Everyone was very welcoming and happy that a gringo had come by. I speak some Portuguese but my vocabulary doesn’t extend to body parts and movements etc so I couldn’t say much in classes. However, most people I met appreciated a gringo who could speak a bit of Portuguese. Even if my Portuguese isn’t brilliant, it was great to have the common language of jiu jitsu and a few of the coaches expressed this after class. I’m a 32 year old lawyer, so very much a hobbiest, and trai source, 2025 ↗

positive

It'll be interesting to see how the upcoming Arma BJJ (London, Ffion Davies as head coach) will do. They seem to have the aesthetics and woman friendly atmosphere down, but combined with high level coaching and competitors? Maybe with a clear class schedule they can cater to both beginners and more serious folks? source, 2025 ↗

positive

I'm 39 and my coach told me he can always find a good match up for us folks hovering between 40 and 50. I do live near London, UK though so there's a fairly massive pool of people. There's also a few guys in my gym in their 40s who accepted fights vs guys in their 20s and won. My guess is that at the total amatuer level it's fine. I expect as people move up the ranks age becomes a significant factor though. It's a shame there isn't a system like Masters for BJJ where all the fights are broken down by age brackets. source, 2025 ↗

positive

Will depend on where you are, I guess but I think these days they're basically just like any BJJ gym just with no gi classes. I've gym hopped a bit due to life and was in the London one for a few months and it just felt like a BJJ gym. Not sure I ever saw rubber guard, was a Saturday morning leg locks class and one of the coaches occasionally gave truck seminars at other gyms. I'm sure there's still some gyms that are performatively 10p but with the popularity of nogi now, the majority will be like any other gym. source, 2025 ↗

neutral

Honestly I’ve been surprised at the crossover. Competed against a guy in Yorkshire a few months back and afterwards found out he was also into warhammer via Instagram. I know a bunch of guys locally who also are, one of them plays warhammer competitively and told me that at an event in High Wycombe there were so many BJJ guys that they decided to have an open mat (iirc this was at Postive Strength BJJ) Ross Nicholls (head coach at London Grapple + ADCC Trials winner) has read 50+ warhammer novels and has some minis [[see here at 56:15 onwards]](https://youtu.be/7t-CgLAcroY?si=DJc_W_dU4bKqh source, 2024 ↗

neutral

>No, there is no consent where is hierarchy. Really? Based on what? So if a coach and an adult student rob a bank together, was the student kidnapped? Brainwashed?  And we're talking about BJJ. How does that kind of hierarchy even exist among adults? This is not a police officer, college professor, etc. A coach has no leverage over me. I am a *customer*.  There is no actual hierarchy. We are making a trade of money for a service.  >BJJ has definetly a problem with sexual misconduct Based on what? Conduct of a select few people at the top? Do we have statistics that say BJJ source, 2024 ↗

neutral

London + those coaches + these pics = $$$$$$$$$ mostly fees. Edit: Mostly curious, but from my understanding BJJ schools in Europe are less expensive (on average) than ones in the US. In regard to monthly dues. So I wonder how this sort of place will compare to say the more expensive places in Europe and the US. source, 2024 ↗

neutral