Carlos "Carlão" Santos

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Santos' Jiu-Jitsu career started in 1993 at the famous Carlson Gracie Academy in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, under the supervision of Marcelo Alonso and Marcelo Saporito.^{[citation needed]}

He trained under Carlson Gracie until receiving his brown belt.^{[citation needed]}

Thereafter, Santos became a head coach of Brazilian Top Team (BTT), where he managed the Gi division.^{[citation needed]}

Santos also trained with Luiz Carlos Dias ("Manimal"), Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante, Bebeo Duarte and Ricardo Libório.^[1] He received his black belt in August 2001.^[2]

Santos stayed with BTT until he moved to Abu Dhabi.^{[citation needed]}

Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Santos first visited Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., in January 2002, after the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) struck a deal with Brazilian Top Team (BTT) in 2001.^{[citation needed]} The terms of the deal directed BTT to send one of its coaches to Abu Dhabi every month for a one-month stay.^{[citation needed]} After staying for a month on his first visit, Santos moved to Abu Dhabi permanently in August 2002.^[3]

Santos was the head coach of Emirates Jiu-Jitsu.^{[citation needed]} The stated goal of Emirates Jiu-Jitsu is to raise awareness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and make the United Arab Emirates the premier venue for this sport in the world, as well as create a community of BJJ athletes that train and compete in the UAE.^{[citation needed]} He is also the President of the Federation International of Jiu-Jitsu Association (FIJJA) that he established in 2009.^{[citation needed]} FIJJA aims at generating financial return to FIJJA and its competing athletes by making jiu-jitsu a profitable business.^[4][5]

Santos implemented BJJ in the local army training, as well as making Jiu Jitsu a mandatory subject in public schools.^{[citation needed]} The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Schools initiative, named "School-Jitsu", began in 2008. School-Jitsu and aimed to discover future talent in 14 schools for pupils in grades 6 and 7 (ages 9 to 13).^{[citation needed]} The program has since expanded to 42 government schools, with 81 Brazilian coaches brought in as instructors.^[6] The plan is for up to 500 schools to be participating in the School-Jitsu program by 2015.^{[citation needed]} The project was set up by special request of Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Santos, who is the managing director of the School-Jitsu Project.^[7]

Later career

In May 2011, Santos returned to his home of Brazil after a nine-year stay in U.A.E.^[9] In February 2012, Santos launched the Prime Jiu-Jitsu Center in Colorado Springs.^{[10][11][12][13]} On July 11, 2014, Santos launched the First Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Salt Lake City, UT .^[14]