Akxebjj Academy
The year of 2006 has a milestone with the official start of AKXE JIU-JITSU BRASIL. This date is not only the realization of a dream that started long time ago. To be more precise it all started when Royce Gracie won the octagon of Ultimate Fighting Championship and defeated stronger oponents using the techniques of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
This fact surprised many people around the world, including many airplane pilots. There was only one pilot who was not amazed with the fighting style shown. Vinicius Campelo knew quite well the fight because he was already a black belt, graduated in 1989, with a respected history in the area. Besides being Marcelo Behring and his brother’s pupil, Vinicius was the champion of Copas Company, the equivalent of national tournaments in the 80’s. Vinicius also learned from Rickson Gracie, Royce’s oldest brother and toughest of all. The jiu-jitsu fight was not news for Vinicius. When he was surrounded by eager pilots asking questions about the jiu-jitsu practice, Vinicius took the obvious path: he began teaching the fight to many pilots. Soon the first students brought some more until the point where many flights did not fit in the schedules. It was necessary then, to have somebody helping out with the growing number of students. The chosen athlete was found in Academia Jacaré, in the south area of Rio, when Vinicius and Rickson visited many gyms. Octavio Couto, popular known as Ratinho, was identified as the perfect match: talented, disciplined, charismatic and very tough for any oponent. The two partners worked out fine and Vinicius founded the Alliance Team which had the best fighters in history such as: Romero Cavalcante, Fábio Gurgel, Alexandre Paiva, Roberto Traven, Leonardo Castelo Branco and Fernando Gurgel. These seven heavy weight fighters trained important athletes and won twice the World Championship in jiu-jtsu. Ratinho became an expert in self defense and his teaching style called the attention of foreigners who were willing to know more about Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The recognition of his talent led him to countries as the US, Sweden, Italy and Portugal.
Vinicius and Ratinho worked together in Alliance Barra and soon there was a need for a bigger space. The definite point was the tatami at AKXE club, in Barra da Tijuca. The club became successful and the number of students grew as the partnership with Alliance ended. In this environment, full of respect and friendship, many students practiced jiu-jitsu and became capable instructors. Nowadays the staff team is formed by Júnior Montenegro, Fábio Taccolini, Orlando Neto, Luiz Alberto, Christian Yamagata, among others.
Finally, this wonderful sport provided many friends to meet and the beginning of AKXE Jiu-Jitsu Brasil. It is more than a club,or a family. Maybe even more than a family, but a dream that came true from many fights, sweat kimonos, blood, injuries, victories and defeats that were fundamental for talented athletes’ development as human beings.
