Andre “Alemao” Vasconcellos, who is known admiringly by his students as Professor Andre Alemao, is the back bone of the gym.

It all started when he was a young teenager in Brazil. He has many fond memories of his childhood but this particular story began when he was 14 years old. This was the year his family moved to Copacabana Beach, directly across from the Carlson Gracie Headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro. He grew up enjoying swimming and playing other sports but it was after some encouragement from his stepfather, that he crossed the street and started training in Jiu Jitsu.

He immediately fell in love.

From early on, competition was his life. For years, he kept training hard and competing in tournaments and making a name for himself. However, when he finally earned his purple belt, he decided he wanted to start teaching. He began his career as a coach, and after a short period, he started becoming known for building champions in Brazil and thus building his legacy. Finally in 2012, his dream finally came true and he opened this gym in Southern California, the heart of BJJ country.

After many years of commitment and sacrifice, he grew from having zero students to now having one of the strongest competition teams in the South Bay. Currently, his team competes at the elite level and represents his gym successfully all over the world. He has created an amazing training atmosphere for all of his students and he continues to dedicate himself and his life to Jiu Jitsu.