Braulio de Oliveira Estima
“Carcará”
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBraulio Estima grew up where the nearest black belt was a plane ride away, and left ADCC 2009 with two titles and two submissions named after him.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, "Braulio Estima", English Wikipedia; page last edited 6 January 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Braulio de Oliveira Estima was born on 10 June 1980 in Recife, Brazil.
Where in the source: Early life and education — "was born on June 10, 1980, in Recife, Brazil"; infobox "Born June 10, 1980 (age 46) Recife, Brazil"
Accessed:
Estima's birth year is 1980.
Where in the source: Infobox — "Born June 10, 1980 (age 46)"
Accessed:
Estima is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and received the belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. on 4 January 2004.
Where in the source: Lead — "He received his black belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. on January 4, 2004"
Accessed:
Estima is Brazilian: he was born in Recife, Brazil, and his medal record lists him as representing Brazil.
Where in the source: Medal record — "Representing Brazil"; Early life — "born on June 10, 1980, in Recife, Brazil"
Accessed:
Estima competes and teaches under the nickname Carcara.
Where in the source: Nickname — "His nickname, Carcará"
Accessed:
The nickname Carcara comes from a bird found around his home region in northeast Brazil, and he also used to wear a gi brand of the same name, since discontinued.
Where in the source: Nickname — "comes from a name of a bird around his hometown in northeast Brazil"
Accessed:
Estima met martial arts at nine through judo; his judo instructor died about a year later and he stopped training for six years, returning at sixteen to train judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Early life and education — "first exposed to martial arts at the young age of 9"; "his judo instructor suffered an untimely death"; "Six years later, he decided to come back"
Accessed:
Estima first trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Charles Dos Anjos; when Dos Anjos left the academy, Ze Radiola became his teacher. As a blue belt in 1999, after about three years of training, he won his first Pan-American Championship, and he took Pan-American gold at brown belt in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Where in the source: Early life and education — "first under thetutelage of Charles Dos Anjos"; "Ze Radiola took over as Estima's mentor"; "He went on to win gold for three straight years (2001-2003)"
Accessed:
At the end of 2002 Mauricio Gomes invited Estima to teach at the Gracie Barra academy in Birmingham, England, as his replacement; Estima accepted and made Birmingham his permanent home.
Where in the source: Career — "At the end of 2002, Maurição Gomes invited Estima to teach at the Gracie Barra Academy in Birmingham, England, to replace him"
Accessed:
Estima has taught at Birmingham alongside his brother Victor Estima and Otavio Souza, and has taught British grapplers including Graham Keys, Kenny Baker, Tom Barlow, Chris Rees and Luke Costello.
Where in the source: Career — "with the help of his brother Victor Estima and Otavio Souza"; "such as Graham Keys, Kenny Baker, Tom Barlow, Chris Rees and Luke Costello"
Accessed:
Five months after receiving his black belt, Estima won the World Championship (Mundial) in the 85 kg division.
Where in the source: Career — "Five months after this, Estima won the Mundials in the 85 kg weight division"
Accessed:
Estima won the IBJJF World Championship three times.
Where in the source: Grappling results — "World Champion - 2004, 2006, 2009"
Accessed:
Wikipedia's results list gives Estima's World Championship title years as 2004, 2006 and 2009, and the medal table places the 2004 and 2006 golds in Rio de Janeiro.
Where in the source: Grappling results — "World Champion - 2004, 2006, 2009"; medal table "2004 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -88kg", "2006 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -88kg"
Accessed:
Estima won five European Championship titles: the under-94 kg and absolute divisions in 2007, the same two divisions in 2009, and the under-88 kg division in 2011, all in Lisbon.
Where in the source: Grappling results — "European Champion - 2007, 2009, 2011" and "Absolute European Champion - 2007, 2009"; medal table rows "2007 Lisbon, Portugal", "2009 Lisbon, Portugal", "2011 Lisbon, Portugal"
Accessed:
Estima's Pan-American record includes golds in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006, an absolute Pan-American title in 2003, and Pan-American No-Gi gold in both the under-91.5 kg and absolute divisions in 2008.
Where in the source: Grappling results — "Pan American Champion - 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006"; "Absolute Pan American Champion - 2003"; "Pan American No Gi Champion - 2008"
Accessed:
Wikipedia records that Estima submitted seven opponents in a combined five minutes and twenty-four seconds at the 2003 Pan-American Championship.
Where in the source: Records — "submitted seven people in a total of 5 minutes and 24 seconds at the 2003 Pan-American Championship"
Accessed:
Estima was part of the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame, inducted in 2021.
Where in the source: Records — "part of the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame, inducted in 2021"
Accessed:
Estima took second place in both the absolute and the under-83 kg divisions at the 2010 World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup in Abu Dhabi, and second in the absolute plus fourth at under-95 kg in the 2009 edition.
Where in the source: Grappling results — "World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup 2010 (2nd place in Absolute and -83 kg divisions)"; "World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup 2009 (2nd place in Absolute and 4th place in -95 kg divisions)"
Accessed:
Estima's team in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is Gracie Barra.
Where in the source: Infobox — "Team Gracie Barra"
Accessed:
MMA UK, Kieran Devine, "Interview With Jiu-Jitsu Legend Braulio Estima", 28 February 2021.(opens in a new tab)
Estima has said he started jiu-jitsu in 1996 at sixteen, in Recife, and that what drew him in was the idea of controlling a fight without hurting anyone.
Where in the source: Q: "Where did your jiu-jitsu journey start" — "It started in '96 and I was 16 years old"; "controlling an altercation without hurting no one"
Accessed:
Estima has said the first jiu-jitsu he saw was Royce Gracie fighting in the UFC, and that what struck him was a Brazilian beating bigger opponents without drawing blood, making them give up instead.
Where in the source: Q: "first-ever moment you witnessed jiu-jitsu" — "First time I saw jiu-jitsu was when Royce was fighting on the UFC"
Accessed:
Estima has said a school friend he had trained judo with invited him along to the gym, that the gym was called Freestyle and the coach was a black belt named Charles Dos Anjos, and that he was impressed by how efficient it was and rarely missed a session afterwards.
Where in the source: Q: "what gym did you decide to go with" — "It used to be called freestyle and the coach was a black belt called Charles Dos Anjos"; "I was a very consistent student"
Accessed:
Estima has said he entered local tournaments four or five months after starting, and that competition was his goal from the beginning.
Where in the source: Q: "How long was it after that that you then went into competitions?" — "I competed in local tournaments after 4/5 months"
Accessed:
Asked for his proudest achievement, Estima named winning both his weight class and the absolute division at ADCC 2009.
Where in the source: Q: "proudest/biggest achievement" — "I'm proud of winning ADCC 2009 weight and Absolute"
Accessed:
Estima has recounted that on his first trip to Rio de Janeiro, aged seventeen and a blue belt competing at the nationals, he lost his first match; on the last day before going home he trained at Gracie Barra, where Carlos Gracie Jr. took him aside, asked his name and where he was from, said there was something about him, and told him not to surround himself with the wrong people back home but to keep training and stay grounded. Estima says he told no one about it until he was already a black belt world champion.
Where in the source: Q on practitioners who had a big impact — "When I first went to Rio, I was there to fight the nationals as a blue belt, I was 17, and lost in the first match"; "there was something about me"; "I never said this to anyone until I was already a black belt world champion"
Accessed:
Estima has described growing up far from the sport's centre: he says he came from a place with no Brazilian jiu-jitsu, that the nearest black belt was two hours forty-five minutes away by plane, and that around ninety per cent of those he trained with were white belts, so he had to improve alongside teammates at that level.
Where in the source: Q on online tutorials — "I came from a town that there was no BJJ. The closest black belt was 2:45h away by airplane"; "Away from the BJJ mecca, 90% was white belts"
Accessed:
Estima has named Roger Gracie as his main training partner and an important reference.
Where in the source: Q on practitioners who had a big impact — "Roger Gracie was my main training partner and an amazing reference"
Accessed:
In February 2021 Estima described himself as head professor of Gracie Barra's global online programme and as a coach at Gracie Barra Birmingham, and said his goal had moved beyond competition to helping and inspiring others to reach their own goals.
Where in the source: Standfirst — "BJJ black belt, and coach at Gracie Barra Birmingham"; "to be the head professor of the Gracie Barra online global"; "help others to achieve their goals"
Accessed:
BJJ Legends Magazine, Staff Writer, "Barcelona, Spain: ADCC Final Results", 27 September 2009.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2009 ADCC World Championship in Barcelona, Estima won the under-87.9 kg division ahead of Andre Galvao in second and David Avellan in third, beating Galvao in the final by triangle choke.
Where in the source: ADCC Final Division Results — "-87.9kg division: Estima 1st, Galvao 2nd, and Avellan 3rd."; Finals — "under 88KG – Braulio Estima vs Andre Galvao – Braulio by submission triangle"
Accessed:
Estima also won the open-weight absolute division at ADCC 2009, beating Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro in the final.
Where in the source: Absolute Division — "Xande Ribeiro v Braulio Estima – Braulio by saubmission arm-bar"
Accessed:
Estima's route through the ADCC 2009 absolute bracket ran through Janne-Pekka Pietilainen by armlock, Marcelo Garcia by choke in the quarter-final and Vinny Magalhaes on points in the semi-final, before the final against Xande Ribeiro.
Where in the source: Absolute — "Braulio Estima v Janne Pekka Pietilainen – Brualio by submission arm-lock"; Quarter Finals — "Marcelo Garcia v Braulio Estima – Braulio by sub choke"; Semi-finals — "Braulio Estima v Vinny Magalhaes – Braulio by pts 3 x 0"
Accessed:
In the under-88 kg bracket at ADCC 2009, Estima beat Rafael Lovato Jr. by foot lock.
Where in the source: More Detail on Fights and Decisions — "Braulio Estima vs Rafael Lovato – Braulio by submission foot lock"
Accessed:
FloGrappling, Joe Gilpin, "Birth Of A Signature Submission: The First Estima Lock & Braulio Triangle", 19 June 2023.(opens in a new tab)
FloGrappling records that Estima's two signature submissions, the Estima lock and the inverted "Braulio triangle", were both landed for the first time on the same day at ADCC 2009 in back-to-back matches: the foot lock on Rafael Lovato Jr. in the semi-final and the inverted triangle on Andre Galvao in the final. It adds that he only ever hit each move once, that the foot lock is barred from IBJJF competition below brown belt, and that grapplers began imitating both.
Where in the source: "Birth Of A Signature Submission: The First Estima Lock & Braulio Triangle" — "Braulio only hit each of these moves once - and he did it back to back to win an ADCC World Championship"; "Lovato tapped and the Estima lock was born"
Accessed:
FloGrappling describes Estima as one of the most creative black belt champions in the sport's history, known for a technical open guard and a strong front triangle, and notes he entered ADCC 2009 as a favourite at 88 kg after taking silver at under-99 kg in 2007.
Where in the source: "Known for a technical open guard and a strong front triangle"; "after a 2007 silver medal finish at -99kg"
Accessed:
MMAmania.com, Jesse Holland, "ADCC 2011 results and quick recap for Sept. 25 in Nottingham, England", 26 September 2011.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2011 ADCC World Championship, held on 24-25 September 2011 in Nottingham, England, Estima won the superfight against Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza on points.
Where in the source: Superfight — "Braulio Estima def. Jacare de Souza on points."; intro — "for the weekend of Sept. 24-25 in Nottingham, England"
Accessed:
REORG Charity, "Braulio Estima: I had a paralysing neck injury months before the fight of my life", by Braulio Estima, published 18 June 2021.(opens in a new tab)
In a first-person article for the veterans' charity REORG, Estima described falling on his head in training in 2010, compressing his spine and lying on the floor unable to move, with no pain, which he calls the most frightening part. He writes that his first thought was whether he would ever pick up his children again and his second whether he would fight again, that he had destroyed two vertebrae and was told he would never do competitive sport again, and that he kept going from doctor to doctor until the fifth specialist agreed to operate.
Where in the source: "I fell on my head during a training session, causing a compression to my spine"; "My first thought was: will I ever be able to pick up my kids again?"; "Doctors kept telling me 'no', but I kept going until I found one that said 'yes'"
Accessed:
Estima has written that the injury came the year before a scheduled superfight with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, whom he calls his toughest opponent, having met him four times without ever scoring a single point; that the surgery succeeded eight months before the fight, leaving four months of rehabilitation without jiu-jitsu and four months to train; and that he came back and beat Jacare.
Where in the source: "my toughest opponent, Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza"; "I had competed against him four times, and had never even scored a single point"; "it was just eight months before my fight"; "I came back and was able to beat Jacare"
Accessed:
Estima has written that jiu-jitsu is part of his identity rather than only something he does, and that adversity is instructive: how a person deals with it is what defines their character.
Where in the source: "it is part of my identity, it is who I am"; "It is how you deal with it that defines your character"
Accessed:
BJJ Eastern Europe, "Interview w/ Norbert Novak, Braulio Estima's Right Hand Man: From Cleaning The Mats To Head Instructor @Gracie Barra Birmingham", 2 July 2014.(opens in a new tab)
Norbert Nowak, a Polish former wrestler who moved to the UK in 2005 and received his black belt from Estima in 2011, has described being close to quitting because his factory job clashed with training, and says Estima gave him work around the gym - cleaning mats, looking after members and teaching one class a week - in exchange for free training, and that he went from one class a week to two and then to head instructor at Gracie Barra Birmingham.
Where in the source: Q1 — "I'm Black Belt under Braulio Estima since 2011"; Q2 — "he gave me jobs to do around the gym like cleaning the mats looking after customers and teaching once a week"; "became the head instructor at Gracie Barra Birmingham"
Accessed:
Nowak has said that everything he knows comes from Braulio and Victor Estima, describing their teaching as staged - they taught him to crawl, then to walk, and to sprint only once he was good enough - and that he loves it when Estima teaches the classes because he always makes the technique look awesome.
Where in the source: Q3 — "Everything that I know is from Braulio and Victor Estima"; "They taught me how to crawl, then walk and then when I was good enough, sprint"; "he always makes the technique look awesome"
Accessed:
Nowak has said one practical advantage of training under Estima was the calibre of grapplers he brought into the Birmingham gym, naming Otavio Souza, Romulo Barral, Max Carvalho, Roger Gracie and Lucio "Lagarto" Rodrigues among the regulars, and visitors from other teams including Cyborg, Popovitch and the Mendes brothers.
Where in the source: Q3 — "he brings great athletes into the gym like Otavio Souza, Romulo Barrel, Max Carvalho, Roger Gracie, Lucio Lagarto Rodrigez"
Accessed:
As of July 2014 the Birmingham academy had over 250 students of all ages and backgrounds, and competitors including Luke Costello, Chris Bowie, Nathan Roberts, Paddy Carmody, Bradley Hill, David Iverson and Steve Martin.
Where in the source: Q4 — "we have over 250 students all from different ages and backgrounds"; "amazing fighters like Luke Costello, Chris Bowie, Nathan Roberts"
Accessed:
GRACIEMAG (Portuguese), Redacao Graciemag, "Ze Radiola: das ondas aos dojos", 21 January 2010.(opens in a new tab)
Jose Olimpio "Ze Radiola", the former professional surfer who built Gracie Barra in Pernambuco, has said Braulio came to jiu-jitsu from judo in order to improve his ground game, at a time when Radiola himself was still a purple belt, and that Braulio identified strongly both with the sport and with him. Radiola describes the results snowballing from trips to Rio: two medals the first year, four the second, and so on, which he calls a domino effect on the others.
Where in the source: "Bráulio treinava judô e veio fazer Jiu-Jitsu com a finalidade de melhorar o chão quando eu ainda era faixa-roxa"; "No primeiro ano foram dois, no segundo quatro e assim por diante"
Accessed:
Radiola has said that because sponsorship for non-Olympic sports is hard to find in Brazil, he used what he had learned in surfing to chase sponsors for his athletes, and that this is how Braulio Estima got to compete at the Pan-American Championship for the first time. He adds that many have unusual talent but no money, and that a teacher has to look ahead rather than only at the present.
Where in the source: "Corri atrás de patrocínio para os meus atletas e, através disso, o Bráulio Estima lutou pela primeira vez no Pan"; "Muitos têm talento fora do comum, mas não tem condições financeiras"
Accessed:
Radiola's academy opened at the end of 1996 in Jaboatao dos Guararapes, next to Recife, and by the time of the article his black belts included Braulio Estima, Max Carvalho, Victor Estima and Otavio Sousa, with Braulio named as the man responsible for Gracie Barra Birmingham in England.
Where in the source: "A academia foi inaugurada no final de 1996, em Jaboatão dos Guararapes, que fica ao lado de Recife"; "Bráulio Estima é o responsável pela Gracie Barra Birmingham, na Inglaterra"
Accessed:
GRACIEMAG reports that Estima, by then running Gracie Barra Birmingham, and Max Carvalho, a fellow Ze Radiola student who had settled in Hungary, together organised the 5th Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Hungary in 2009, an event with 250 competitors from more than eight European countries.
Where in the source: "De Pernambuco para o mundo" — "Juntos, organizaram em 2009 o 5º Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Hungary, que teve a participação de mais de oito países da Europa e 250 atletas"
Accessed:
GRACIEMAG, Redacao Graciemag, "Gracie Barra Birmingham", 4 December 2012.(opens in a new tab)
GRACIEMAG's academy listing for Gracie Barra Birmingham, published 4 December 2012, names Braulio Estima as professor, gives the address as 123 Bath Row, Birmingham City Centre, and states that the school was first opened in 1997 by Mauricio Motta Gomes - described as the first person to bring Brazilian jiu-jitsu to Europe - and thereafter passed to Braulio Estima in 2003.
Where in the source: "Professor: Black Belt Braulio Estima"; "Firstly opened in 1997 by the Very first person to bring BJJ to Europe, Master Mauricio Motta Gomes, thereafter passed on to Braulio Estima in 2003"
Accessed:
The same listing describes the Birmingham school as having taken on the responsibility of being the main teaching reference for Gracie Barra in Europe, with hundreds of students of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
Where in the source: About — "the main teaching reference inside the GB Family in Europe"; "hundreds of students at all ages, gender and backgrounds"
Accessed:
GRACIEMAG (Portuguese), Graciemag Newsroom, "O milagre da rivalidade no Jiu-Jitsu, com Andre Galvao e Braulio", published 28 January 2022 as a reprint of the GRACIEMAG #188 cover story from 2012.(opens in a new tab)
Andre Galvao has said he is grateful he was caught in Estima's inverted triangle at ADCC 2009, because it made him determined never to experience that again and gave him a strong wish to go back to winning instead of simply giving up.
Where in the source: "Graças a Deus eu sofri aquele triângulo invertido do Bráulio no ADCC 2009"; "me deu muita vontade de voltar a vencer, em vez de simplesmente desistir"
Accessed:
GRACIEMAG records that Galvao and Estima had met twice before 2013: Galvao won the first meeting, the 2008 World Championship final in the medium-heavyweight division, after which he says "it all started there" and that he had studied Estima's game closely that year; Estima won the second, at ADCC 2009, with the inverted triangle that ended up on the cover of GRACIEMAG #153.
Where in the source: "Galvão e Bráulio se enfrentaram duas vezes"; "na final da categoria meio-pesado do Mundial 2008"; "recorrendo a um triângulo invertido que acabou estampado na capa da GRACIEMAG #153"
Accessed:
Estima has said that Galvao forces him to drill specific fundamentals, giving the defence against the arm drag as his example, calling it one of Galvao's most dangerous techniques because he finishes the movement fastened to his opponent's back - and noting that this is exactly how he lost to him at the 2008 World Championship, to a choke from behind.
Where in the source: "O Galvão me obriga a treinar diversos fundamentos específicos, como, por exemplo, a defesa para o armdrag"; "foi assim que eu perdi para ele naquele Mundial de 2008, com um estrangulamento pelas costas"
Accessed:
Asked about choosing training partners, Estima agreed with Galvao that you should not avoid hard rolls, but added that it can also be productive to train with people less technically advanced than yourself.
Where in the source: "Concordo com o André, mas vale lembrar que também pode ser produtivo treinar com colegas de nível técnico inferior ao nosso"
Accessed:
Estima has explained how he kept getting better without hard training partners: because he belonged to the first generation of Gracie Barra Pernambuco, few people on the team could handle him in training, so he and his teacher Ze Radiola built specific sessions designed to make him develop.
Where in the source: Under "Jamais escolha treinos!" — "Pelo fato de eu ser da primeira geração da Gracie Barra PE, poucos me amassavam no time, então eu e meu professor Zé Radiola bolávamos treinos específicos para eu evoluir", recorda Bráulio.
Accessed:
Wikipedia, "Victor Estima", English Wikipedia.(opens in a new tab)
Victor Estima, Braulio's younger brother, began judo at eight alongside Braulio and moved to Brazilian jiu-jitsu around twelve under Charles dos Anjos, later training under Ze "Radiola" in Recife; he is credited with co-creating the "Estima Lock" together with his brother. He co-founded Gracie Barra Nottingham in 2011 and was based there until July 2021, when he moved to Lisbon.
Where in the source: Early life and introduction to BJJ — "began his martial arts journey in judo at age 8 alongside his brother Braulio"; Competitive highlights — "credited with co-creating the "Estima Lock" submission alongside his brother"
Accessed: