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Leonardo Xavier was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the
age of 5, Leo ventured into his first martial art – taking judo in
school. Back then nobody realized that this skinny kid with lots of
energy would, one day, become a world class BJJ player. In fact,
although he was interested in and played various sports, Leo did not
study or dedicate himself to any martial art for a long time. At the
age of 13 Leo began to take Tae Kwon Do classes. Finally, one day a
friend introduced him to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This introduction was
enough for this energetic 15 year old kid to know that he loved this
amazing art.
Leo immediately became
good friends with his coach Saulo Ribeiro. Under Saulo’s watchful eye,
Leo began to successfully compete in local and regional tournaments in
Brazil and, while he was still a blue belt, Leo began to help his coach
with classes. The students responded very well to Leo’s input and
teaching style.
After placing third
at World Championships as a purple belt, Leo went on to win National
and State tournaments and numerous other competitions as a member of
the well known and highly respected Gracie Humaita team.
Leo continued to train hard with Saulo Riberio and became an instructor
at the prestigious Gracie Humaita school where he also learned a lot
about life and Jiu-Jitsu from legends Royler and Rolker Gracie.
Leo was eventually promoted to brown belt by Saulo and he continued to
successfully compete in many state, national and world class
tournaments. In 1999, Leo realized his dream of being promoted to black
belt from the hands of his coaches Saulo Ribero and Royler Gracie.
In 2000, a student invited Leo to come to the United States to give
several BJJ seminars in different states. Leo liked the United States
and the students loved his teaching and Jiu-Jitsu style. After a
few years traveling back and forth from Brazil to the United States,
Leo decided to take the chalenge of contributing to the growth and
development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Texas and in the United States by
forming the succesful LX Jiu-Jitsu Association.
In just a short time, the LX Jiu-Jitsu Association members have enjoyed
a great deal of sucess in local, regional, national and even
international competitions - winning many tournaments including the
prestigious International Masters and Seniors tournament and the Pan
American Games.
Besides the headquarters in Houston, Texasm the LX Jiu-Jitsu
Association now has schools in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Illinois, as well
as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Pictures
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Leonardo's BJJ black belt certificate, issued
on Aug 01, 1999 |
