Learn from the most experienced instructors in the bay
Marco, a 7th 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
Learn from one of the most experienced instructors in the Bay Area
Professor Marco Nascimento is a 7th-degree Coral Belt, one of the highest and rarest ranks in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Unlike many practitioners at this level who have stepped away from daily academy instruction, Marco remains on the mats teaching and training with his students every day. He is the only Coral Belt in the Bay Area teaching regular classes daily at his own academy.
Marco began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 17 years old in his hometown of Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under Pitbull headmaster Adilson Bitta Lima. He quickly dedicated himself to the sport, training three times a day and competing nearly every weekend. Marco earned his black belt in just 6½ years and became Bitta’s first black belt.
As a black belt, Marco competed in more than 300 tournaments and earned over 150 gold medals. After moving to the United States in 2000, he taught briefly in New York before moving to California in 2003 to establish his own academy. His competitive accomplishments include Pan American Champion in 2007 and 2008 and World No-Gi silver medalist in 2010.
After an eight-year break from competition to focus on building the academy and coaching his students, Marco returned to competition in 2018, winning heavyweight gold at Masters International Europe, double gold at Masters International Asia, and double gold at the Tokyo Open.
In October 2025, Marco was promoted to 7th-degree Red-and-Black Coral Belt by his longtime coach, Adilson Bitta Lima, in Dubai. A Coral Belt is one of the rarest distinctions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Under the IBJJF graduation system, a practitioner must spend a minimum of 31 years as a black belt before becoming eligible for 7th degree.
Today, Marco continues to do what he has done throughout his career: teach Jiu-Jitsu every day. He remains directly involved in daily classes, training, coaching, and developing students of every level. He is the only Coral Belt in the Bay Area teaching regular classes daily at his own academy, giving MNBJJ students the rare opportunity to learn directly from a practitioner with more than three decades of experience at the black-belt level.
Marco teaches and trains alongside his wife, Christina, and their son, Graham.
