Guilherme Mendes Godoy (born 1988 in

Rio Claro, São Paulo Rio Claro is a city in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The elevation is 613 m. It was incorporated as the village of '' São João Batista do Ribeirão Claro'' in 1827, and this incorporation is celebrated every year on June 24 as a municipal h ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) is a four-time

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

(BJJ) world champion at the black belt level. Guilherme along with his brother

Rafael Mendes Rafael Mendes Godoy (born 1989 in Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil) is a six-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) world champion at the black belt level. Rafael, along with his brother Guilherme, are 3rd degree black b ...

are 3rd degree black belts under Ramon Lemos, and competitors for the Art of Jiu Jitsu team.

Biography

Guilherme was born in Rio Claro, Brazil. Along with his brother

Rafael Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

, he started training

Jiu-Jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

through an older cousin named Thiago Mendes, who at the time was a purple belt under Leonardo Santos. After only a few months of training Thiago recognized great potential for the two boys and took them to train with Ramon Lemos and his own teacher. "Gui", as he is often called, is one of the main figures in the Atos Jiu Jitsu team, being also one of the best “peso pluma” (64,00 kg / 141.5 lb) competitors to have ever competed in the sport. As well as being the first Atos team member to achieve a gold medal at the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Championship in 2009. Guilherme Mendes is also the co-founder of the Art of Jiu-Jitsu academy along with his younger brother

Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy

After teaching many seminars, the Mendes brothers decided that they wanted to have a traditional Jiu-Jitsu school with their own students. In July 2012, with the help of their long time sponsor and

RVCA RVCA is a Costa Mesa, California–based clothing company owned by Boardriders. Etymology The logotype for RVCA portrays the letter A without a crossbar, resembling an uppercase lambda (Λ). The 'V' character is really a "U". Occasionally "RVC ...

founder, Pat Tenore, Guilherme and Rafael Mendes opened up The Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy in

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of t ...

, California. On October 6, 2020, the Art of Jiu Jitsu's famous kid's program produced its first black belt, eighteen-year-old

Jessa Khan Jessamine Jada Khan (born 8 October 2001), often shortened as Jessa Khan ( km, ខាន់ ចេសា, Khăn Chésa ), is an American-born Cambodian jiu-jitsu athlete. She is the 2023 IBJJF World Champion. Career Khan represented Cambodi ...

followed that same month by

Tainan Dalpra Tainan Dalpra Costa (born 6 November 2000) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor. A winner of every major tournaments as a colored belt, Dalpra is a two-time World, Pan American, and European champion. Dalpra is ranked No. 1 in the middl ...

References

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External links

*
Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Guilherme 1989 births Living people People from Rio Claro, São Paulo Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from São Paulo (state)