Learn from the most experienced instructors in the bay
Marco, a 6th degree black belt, is the most experienced instructor in the Bay Area who is still active in competition and his academy. Come see why people love our academy and instructors.
Marco Nascimento
Marco began training Jiu Jitsu at 17 years old in his hometown of Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under Pitbull headmaster Adilson Bitta Lima. Marco quickly grew to love the sport training three times daily and competing every weekend. Marco earned his black belt in 6 ½ years (the average is 8-10 years) and became the first black belt under Bitta. As a black belt, Marco has competed in over 300 tournaments, earning more than 150 gold medals. After moving to the US in 2000, Marco briefly taught in New York, then moved to California in 2003 to open his own academy. Marco was the Pan American Champion in 2007 and 2008 and World NoGi silver medalist in 2010. As the academy grew, Marco shifted his focus to teaching and coaching and took a 8 year break from competition. He returned to competition in 2018 where he was the Heavyweight gold medalist at the Masters International Europe, double gold medalist at Masters International Asia and double gold medalist at the Tokyo Open. Marco now spends his time training and teaching with his wife, Christina and their son, Graham. Marco is currently a 6th degree black belt.
Private lessons with Marco are $150/hr
Christina Nascimento
Christina was first introduced to BJJ when she brought her then 4 year old son, Graham, to train with Marco. After watching Graham in kids’ class for a few months, she tried a class and was hooked. A former Humane Investigator for San Mateo County, Christina left her job in 2017 to teach full time with Marco at the academy. Over the last 12 years, Christina has competed over 60 times, both nationally and internationally. She was the 2018 Pan American Champion (purple belt), finished the 2018 season as the #1 ranked Master 1 Purple Belt. Christina was also the 2018 and 2019 Asian Open gold medalist and finished the 2019 season as the #1 ranked Mater 1 Brown Belt.
At Black belt, Christina was the 2022 Pan American Black Belt Absolute Silver Medalist, the 2023 Europeans silver medalist, the 2023 World Masters Bronze medalist, 2024 Asian Open double gold medalist, 2024 European No Gi Silver medalist and the 2025 Europeans bronze medalist. Christina is currently a 1st degree Black Belt, ranked #3 IBJJF Master 3 Middle Heavy.
Private lessons with Christina:
Adults $110/hr
Kids $80/45 minutes
Rafael Fidelis
Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Rafael began training with Marco in 2007 and began teaching at the academy in 2019. Rafael teaches adult and kids classes and is currently a Black Belt.
Private lessons with Rafael:
Adults $100/hr
Kids $75/45 minutes
Graham Nascimento
Graham is Marco & Christina’s son. He began training at 4 years old and is now competing at Adult Blue belt. Graham has competed hundreds of times in both Gi and No Gi. Amongst some of his accomplishments: Graham was the 2022 Orange Belt IBJJF Brasileiro Champion and in 2023 he medalled at IBJJF Europeans, IBJJF Brasileiro, IBJJF Worlds and IBJJF American Nationals. Graham was the 2024 IBJJF NoGI World Champion at Juvenile Blue belt, the 2024 Asian Open gold medalist and was ranked #1 Juvenile Blue belt No Gi in 2024.
Private lessons with Graham:
Adults $95/hr
Kids $65/45 min
Juan Souza
Juan began training in 2007 at Pitbull in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and earned his black belt in 2015. He has been teaching and active in competition as a black belt for the last 10 years. As a black belt, Professor Juan was the 2019 American National gold medalist, 2020 Pan No Gi gold medalist, 2021 American National bronze medalist, 2021 Pan Ams gold medalist and 2021 World Master gold medalist as well as numerous golds at IBJJF Opens. He is currently a 3rd degree black belt.