Braulio Estima was told he could never be a Jiu Jitsu champion. In the town where he grew up, there weren't even Black Belts to train under, much less World Champions. But Braulio had incredible willpower and negative or discouraging comments only fueled his determination to be the best.
Braulio began his training as a teen under Brown Belt Charles Dos Anjos then under Jose Olimpio da Rocha who awarded Braulio his Brown Belt. The training under da Rocha began to flourish when Carlos Gracie Junior did a seminar at da Rocha's gym and pulled it under the Gracie Barra banner. At that point, Braulio's competition career was already quite successful but at the 2003 Pan Am's Burilio went on an incredible run. The Brown Belt submitted 7 people in a total of 5 minutes and 24 seconds to win the tournament. Shortly after that Braulio was invited to visit the United Kingdom by a former training partner and friend.
Before arriving in England, Braulio spoke with Roger Gracie. Roger had asked Braulio to attend a seminar at the first Gracie Barra academy that he and his father Mauricio had opened. After the seminar, Braulio began instructing at the academy and he and Roger began training together as well. The two made incredible training partners and went on to become two of the greatest in the sport. This was in 2003 and Braulio went on to win every major competition over the next several years, cementing his spot in the history of Jiu Jitsu.
Teaching became another passion of Braulio's and he is now the head instructor at Gracie Barra Birmingham. Braulio teaches at the academy and hosts seminars around the world. Along with competing and instructing Braulio has released several instructional videos for BJJ Fanatics.
Now a teacher, motivational speaker, and businessman, Braulio will soon be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame and he continues to share his passion with thousands of other Jiu Jitsu practitioners across the globe.