Ricardo Alcantara Vieira commonly known as Rico Vieira or Ricardinho is a Brazilian

grappler Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a Grappling position, position or causing ...

, a

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 ...

Instructor, and Competitor. He was born on the 9th of January 1979. He is one of the Viera brothers (

Léo Léo is a proper noun in French, meaning lion". Its etymological root lies in the Latin word Leo. Léo is used as a diminutive or variant of the names Léon, Léonard, Léonardon, Leonardo, Léonid, ''Léonor'', '' Léonore'', ''Eléonore'' ...

and Leandro), who lead and fight for

Checkmat Checkmat is an international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu association and team, headquartered in Long Beach, California, USA. It was founded in 2008 by Leo Vieira, who leads Checkmat with his brothers Ricardo Vieira and Leandro Vieira. Checkmat currentl ...

Early life

Ricardo first stepped on a jiu-jitsu mat at the age of 5, joining the kids class of

IBJJF Hall of Fame List of competitors inducted into the Brazilian jiu-jitsu Hall of Fame by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the sport's governing body. The list consists of athletes who have either achieved incredible results throughout th ...

coach

Romero Cavalcanti Romero Cavalcanti (born October 22, 1952) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master and the founder of Alliance Jiu Jitsu. He is one of the six men who were promoted to BJJ belt, black belt by Rolls Gracie prior to his fatal 1982 hang gliding accident.

(Jacaré). Vieira also played football (soccer) at a high level, making the junior squad of the famous Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo, though an injury kept him from progressing further in this activity.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Since beginning training at the age of 5, Vieira's aptitude for BJJ shone through right from the get go. He won multiple won in the junior leagues, including the

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

, a competition in which he won in every belt division he competed, from Blue Belt to Black Belt. He won the IBJJF World Championship as a black belt in 2001. In 2009 Ricardo made a reappearance to a BJJ competition in Stockholm, Sweden, winning the absolute division in the Stockholm BJJ Open. He also made another appearance in 2011 at the Brazilian National No-Gi Championship where he won the Master’s division as a lightweight.

CheckMat Jiu-Jitsu Team

One of the most successful teams in contemporary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, CheckMat's worldwide headquarters is in Signal Hill, California.

CheckMat Checkmat is an international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu association and team, headquartered in Long Beach, California, USA. It was founded in 2008 by Leo Vieira, who leads Checkmat with his brothers Ricardo Vieira and Leandro Vieira. Checkmat currentl ...

was established in 2008 by Leo and his brothers. Since its creation,

has become one of the top teams in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Team

is the 2008 and 2009 NoGi World Champion Team. Team

also came in first for the Brazilian Nationals (Gi) 2010 and Brazilian Nationals (No-Gi) 2010.

References

External links

Official Vieira Bros Web SiteFight Zone Stockholm WebsiteFight Zone USA WebsiteFight Zone Malaysia WebsiteCheckMat WebsiteImpact MMA (Checkmat Singapore) websiteBJJ Heroes
Living people Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) 1979 births {{mixedmartialart-bio-stub ja:アンドレ・ガウヴァオン