Carlos Maia
Carlos Maia began teaching during recovery from a car accident, then built a jiu-jitsu career linking Rio, Slovenia and Gracie Barra's GB2 program.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Eastern Europe, interview with Carlos Maia, March 12, 2012(opens in a new tab)
Carlos Maia began jiu-jitsu at twelve with Carlos Augusto in Rio de Janeiro. His first competition, after five months of training, helped establish his commitment to the sport.
Where in the source: Answer 1: early training and first competition.
Accessed:
In 1994, Duda Galvao introduced Maia to Carlos Gracie Jr. at Gracie Barra, where Maia began training and competing regularly.
Where in the source: Answer 1: arrival at Gracie Barra.
Accessed:
A car accident at nineteen left Maia with serious hand and knee injuries. He recalled being told that the loss of wrist mobility could prevent him from returning to sport.
Where in the source: Answer 1: accident and prognosis.
Accessed:
During Maia’s period away from training, Carlos Augusto invited him to help teach morning classes. Maia credited that invitation with keeping him connected to jiu-jitsu and beginning his teaching career.
Where in the source: Answer 1: invitation to teach during recovery.
Accessed:
Maia described a gradual return through rehabilitation and specific grip and wrist training before resuming competition preparation at Gracie Barra.
Where in the source: Answer 1: rehabilitation and return to training.
Accessed:
Maia completed his law degree in 2005, the same year Joelson Joe Souza of Gracie Barra awarded him his black belt.
Where in the source: Answer 1: university and black-belt graduation.
Accessed:
Maia remembered Gracie Barra’s internal selection contests as demanding preparation for tournaments: teammates competed for the limited places available to each academy in a division.
Where in the source: Answer 2: internal selection process.
Accessed:
He recalled fighting seven internal matches to earn a place at the Brazilian Teams Championship, and regarded daily training alongside his idols as a formative experience.
Where in the source: Answer 2: seven selection matches and training environment.
Accessed:
Maia first visited Slovenia to teach in 2008. He returned to Brazil before settling in Slovenia in 2010 after competing at the Europeans in Lisbon.
Where in the source: Answer 1: first visit and later relocation.
Accessed:
Felipe Simoes, a Brazilian friend already teaching in Slovenia, invited Maia there. Maia described adapting to a colder climate and a different culture as difficult at first.
Where in the source: Answer 3: invitation and adaptation.
Accessed:
Maia corrected the suggestion that he had lived in Italy: he had taught seminars there while making Slovenia his home.
Where in the source: Answer 3: clarification about Italy.
Accessed:
By March 2012 Maia described four training groups in Slovenia, including Ljubljana and Koper, as well as a school in Skopje. They offered classes to beginners and experienced practitioners.
Where in the source: Answers 3–4: schools and classes.
Accessed:
Maia wanted the schools to reach people beyond competitive fighters. He valued tournaments as tests of skill and discipline but put students’ technical development and conduct ahead of medals.
Where in the source: Answers 3–4: purpose of the schools.
Accessed:
Maia described his own technical approach as shaped by having been physically slight, which made precise technique essential. He said he taught by example while continuing to regard himself as a student.
Where in the source: Answer 5: approach to technique and teaching.
Accessed:
Maia identified Marcio Feitosa as an important influence on his jiu-jitsu, alongside the Gracie Barra partners he had watched and trained with in Rio.
Where in the source: Answer 6: technical influences.
Accessed:
In 2012 Maia reported that the previous year’s first BJJ Open had attracted more than 110 competitors from nine countries, and that he wanted the next edition to be more developed.
Where in the source: Answer 8: first BJJ Open and plans.
Accessed:
Maia’s 2012 career summary included Brazilian honours in 1995 and 1997, a world runner-up finish in 1996, an International Masters title in 2008 and a European title in 2010.
Where in the source: Answer 1: closing list of achievements.
Accessed:
Gracie Barra Graz, Carlos Maia profile(opens in a new tab)
Gracie Barra Graz identifies Maia as a black-belt teacher under Carlos Gracie Jr.
Where in the source: Named profile heading.
Accessed:
BJJ Eastern Europe, interview with Nejc Hodnik, April 18, 2018(opens in a new tab)
Nejc Hodnik described Maia encouraging him to train in the gi and develop controlled movement rather than relying on the no-gi heel hooks he initially favoured.
Where in the source: Answer about early BJJ career: Maia’s advice.
Accessed:
Hodnik credited Maia with watching his training and competition closely, making continuing technical adjustments and keeping up with developments in the sport.
Where in the source: Answer about winning European gold: coach’s involvement.
Accessed:
In his 2018 interview, Hodnik recalled Maia repeatedly encouraging him through the years before he won double gold at the blue-belt European No-Gi championships.
Where in the source: Answers on European gold and future plans.
Accessed:
Gracie Barra Online, Carlos Maia GB2 curriculum(opens in a new tab)
Gracie Barra Online offers Maia’s GB2 programme as a sixteen-week progression building on the fundamentals of GB1.
Where in the source: Programme opening and explanation of progression.
Accessed:
The published GB2 plan provides two classes per week, each containing one takedown and two ground techniques, combining sporting jiu-jitsu and self-defence.
Where in the source: Programme structure and balanced-focus sections.
Accessed:
The association presents Maia’s curriculum as a structured route for students and instructors to develop beyond basic training toward GB3.
Where in the source: Closing programme explanation.
Accessed:
Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage