Alexandre F Dantas
Address
Saint Augustine, FL, United States
Phone
About Us
Alexandre Dantas was born on the 1st of March, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, growing up in the famous Copacabana neighbourhood. He initiated martial arts through judo, when he was 4 years of age with coach Oswaldo Simões, conquering several regional championships as a child.
At the age of 10, Influenced by Bruce Lee’s films, Dantas decided to practice a striking martial art (karate), believing this would be a more efficient style of combat. It was after hearing of the Gracie’s success in vale tudo that Alexandre became interested in jiu jitsu.
At the age of 12 his friend Dino Amaral told Alexandre of a new jiu jitsu club that had opened near their house, more precisely at the Clube Radar. The pair decided to enrol in the classes which were led by a Carlson Gracie black belt named “Kiko” Veloso. Within 6 months Veloso closed the gym to open another academy at a different location but by then Dantas was hooked to jiu jitsu. He soon found another gym and became a member together with his friend Dino. That gym was Dojo, led by Aloisio Silva.
Dojo was a small gym but had a decent team from which fighters such as Leka Vieira were introduced to the sport. Café Dantas soon became one of the hottest jiu jitsu prospects in Rio de Janeiro, often competing as an adult even while still in his teens, stacking wins over some of the sport’s top athletes. Alexandre trained with Master Silva, and also with Artur Ignarra for most of his colored belt career, his success culminated with a gold medal at the World Jiu Jitsu Championship (1999), as a brown belt. He also reached the semi final of the open weight division that day, but injured his rib against Fábio Leopoldo and was not able to continue in the competition. His win was rewarded with a black belt, which Café received while still on the podium.
