Hywel Teague

Have you ever wanted to visit Rio to train BJJ? You're not alone! Many people from around the world have the desire to train BJJ in Brazil, but outdated misconceptions exist about the city and what you’ll find here.

"It's dangerous! You'll get robbed or kidnapped or worse! The black belts will crush you because you're a gringo!"

Things have changed a lot for the better in the last few years, and the city is very different to how people imagine.

To show how things have developed and why Rio is now such a great place to visit, we interviewed a number of well-known black belts from within the international jiu-jitsu community who had all visited Rio during times when the city was very different to as it is today.

They were trailblazers – enjoy their experiences of training in the birthplace of Brazilian jiu-jitsu!