Paulo Sergio Santos
Address
Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Phone
About Us
Paulo Sergio was born on July 23, 1960 in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.
Jiu Jitsu appeared in Paulo Sergio’s life when he was 13 years old. He chose this particular martial art as he was smaller in comparison with the other kids of the same age, and knew of the Brazilian grappling style’s reputation of helping the smaller person against a larger opponent. Paulo’s first instructor was the illustrious Wilson Mattos, who coached him for the better part of 3 years, after which Sergio dropped his martial arts training for a few years.
Paulo decided to return to jiu jitsu when he was 25 years old, then joining the Academia Corpore, a gym that had the legendary Sergio “Malibu” and Ignacio Aragão leading the team. It was also at Corpore that Paulo Sergio initiated his judo training, practicing it 2 times per week as a complement for his BJJ.
As a blue belt, Sergio was already one of the team’s most dedicated students, so much that when it was time for the famous “Copa KS” tournament, coach Malibu, who also taught at the bigger “Jacaré Jiu Jitsu Academy” with Romero Cavalcanti, invited Paulo to be part of that team, as they lacked star-power in his category. Paulo Sergio agreed and did very well in the tournament, submitting all 4 of his opponents, being awarded the “Most Technical Athlete of the Tournament” trophy by the late Carlson Gracie. After this gold medal, head instructor Jacaré Cavalcanti invited Paulo to be part of the team permanently and train at his gym in Ipanema. Paulo earned all subsequent belts from Cavalcanti from there on, the black belt being awarded on the 14th of April, 1993.
While training jiu jitsu, Paulo Sergio also kept practicing judo. First at the Corpore Academy with coaches Celso Castro and Marco Antonio, for whom he competed for some time, going unbeaten for 2 years in his belt rank. These achievements did not go unnoticed and as a green belt, Paulo Sergio was scouted by a very famous Rio de Janeiro judo club: Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (also known for its football/soccer team). At Flamengo, Paulo Sergio’s tuition was picked up by Carlos Alberto. Taking part in one of the most professional judo teams in Brazil, Paulo earned his black belt in the Japanese grappling art in 1991.
By the end of 1993, Paulo Sergio moved to Balneário Camboriú, in the south of Brazil (approximately 80 km from Florianópolis), being one of the first to teach jiu jitsu in the region. He would later expand to Joinville, Lages, Blumenau, Ituporanga and Rio do Sul. During this period Paulo still competed for Alliance, though his students defended the banner of Sergio’s own team: PS Phoenix Jiu Jitsu, an association he designed in 1991.
