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Jorge Popovitch

Father and teacher of ADCC champion Pablo Popovitch, he taught alongside his son in Fort Lauderdale, where Vagner Rocha began training under him in 2001.

Biography

Jorge Popovitch, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, is the father and teacher of Pablo Popovitch, the 2009 ADCC champion. In Florida, father and son taught together at their academy in Fort Lauderdale, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center, and Jorge's students there included Vagner Rocha. BJJ Heroes describes Jorge as a long-time practitioner of jiu-jitsu and says his family was tied to the Gracies by marriage: Pablo's aunt was the wife of Crolin Gracie. Pablo, quoted in a 2009 fighter profile for the ADCC World Championship, said his closeness to the Gracie family came through his father's friendship with them. Jorge's own lineage leads back to the same family: BJJ Heroes and the team's 2011 list of official black belts both trace it from Carlos Gracie through Crolin Gracie. When Pablo was five, Jorge signed him up at a school in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, the forerunner of Gracie Barra, where BJJ Heroes says Jean Jacques and Carlos Machado coached. Pablo was 15 when the family relocated to Florida in 1995. According to the same site, his father was his main experienced training partner there, with Carlson Gracie filling that role now and then. BJJ Heroes credits Jorge with opening an academy in Fort Lauderdale during Pablo's high school years and describes it as run by father and son. In its 2007 and 2008 versions, the academy's own website named both men: the 2007 About page said the school had been established in 1995 by Jorge and Pablo, and a 2008 page said the two, after intensive training with members of the Gracie family, among them Carlson, Crolin and Renzo Gracie, decided to bring jiu-jitsu to South Florida and opened the first Popovitch center in 1995. In 2008 the staff page listed Jorge as "Grand Master Instructor" and Pablo as "Master Instructor," and the site said that what began as one school had grown into a team with four locations: Fort Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines in Florida, Louisville in Kentucky and Cleveland in Ohio. By May 2017 the homepage, then under the name Team Popovitch Martial Arts Academy of South Florida, announced that the training facility had closed. Pablo's black belt came from his father. When ADCC News interviewed Pablo in July 2005, it introduced him as a black belt under Jorge, by then at second degree. The 2011 team list put Jorge at the top and traced Pablo's rank through him. Besides the 2009 ADCC title, BJJ Heroes credits Pablo with world No-Gi titles in 2007, 2010 and 2012. BJJ Heroes follows one of Jorge's students from his start in jiu-jitsu to a school of his own. Vagner Rocha, raised in Fort Lauderdale, began training with Jorge in 2001, and Jorge gave him the nickname Ceará when he started. Every belt Rocha earned came from Jorge and Pablo; the black belt was presented in December 2007, at a dinner the team held to close the year. In 2008 the academy took him on as a coach, and there he learned both coaching and the running of a gym while leaving his construction work behind. The partnership with the Popovitches ended in 2011, when he opened Vagner Rocha Martial Arts, and he later took silver at the ADCC World Championship in 2019 and again in 2024. BJJ Heroes also places others in the line that runs from Crolin Gracie through Jorge and Pablo: James Brasco, a black belt under Pablo; AJ Sousa; and Jasmine Rocha, whose lineage continues through Vagner Rocha and who took third place at ADCC in 2024.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, "Pablo Popovitch" (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes names Jorge Popovitch as the father of Pablo Popovitch and says he had been practising jiu-jitsu for a long time.

      Where in the source: Pablo Popovitch Biography, first paragraph — "Pablo's father, Jorge"

      Accessed:

    • According to BJJ Heroes, the Popovitch family was linked to the Gracie family by marriage: Pablo Popovitch's aunt was married to Crolin Gracie.

      Where in the source: Pablo Popovitch Biography, first paragraph — "married to Crolin Gracie"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says Jorge Popovitch enrolled his son Pablo, aged five, at the Barra da Tijuca academy in Rio de Janeiro that later became Gracie Barra, where Jean Jacques Machado and Carlos "Soneca" Machado coached.

      Where in the source: Pablo Popovitch Biography, first paragraph — "his father enlisted him"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says the Popovitch family moved to Florida in 1995, when Pablo was 15, and that in Florida Pablo's main experienced training partners were his father and, on occasion, Carlson Gracie.

      Where in the source: Pablo Popovitch Biography, second paragraph — "mainly his dad"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says that around the time Pablo attended high school in Florida, Jorge Popovitch opened an academy in Fort Lauderdale, which it calls the BJJ Centre, run by father and son.

      Where in the source: Pablo Popovitch Biography, second paragraph — "opened the BJJ Centre"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes gives Pablo Popovitch's lineage as Mitsuyo Maeda, Carlos Gracie, Crolin Gracie, Jorge Popovitch, Pablo Popovitch.

      Where in the source: Profile facts list, Lineage line — "Crolin Gracie > Jorge Popovitch"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists Pablo Popovitch as ADCC champion in 2009 and No-Gi world champion in 2007, 2010 and 2012.

      Where in the source: Main Titles list, first two entries

      Accessed:

  • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center (bjjcenter.com), "About Us", Internet Archive capture of 26 June 2007.(opens in a new tab)

    • Conflicting accounts

      The academy's 2007 About page said the Popovitch Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Fort Lauderdale was established in 1995 by Jorge Popovitch and Pablo Popovitch.

      Where in the source: About The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center, first sentence — "established in 1995 by Masters Jorge Popovitch and Pablo Popovitch"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Center (bjjcenter.com), "The Academy", Internet Archive capture of 2 May 2008.(opens in a new tab)

    • The academy's 2008 page said that after training intensively with members of the Gracie family, among them Rolls, Carlson, Rilion, Renzo, Crolin and Carlos Gracie, Jorge Popovitch and his son Pablo decided to bring Brazilian jiu-jitsu to South Florida, opening the first Popovitch center in 1995.

      Where in the source: The Academy, first paragraph — "After training intensively with the Gracie family"

      Accessed:

    • The academy's 2008 page said that what began as one academy had grown into a team with four locations: Fort Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines in Florida, Louisville in Kentucky and Cleveland in Ohio.

      Where in the source: The Academy, third paragraph — "turned into a 4 Location"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Center (bjjcenter.com), "Team Popovitch Official Black Belts", Internet Archive capture of 17 June 2011.(opens in a new tab)

    • Team Popovitch's official black-belt list in 2011 put Jorge Popovitch first, as a black belt with the instructor lineage Carlos Gracie, Crolin Gracie, Jorge Popovitch, and traced Pablo Popovitch's black belt through Jorge.

      Where in the source: Team Popovitch Official Black Belts, top entry — "Carlos Gracie→ Crolin Gracie→Jorge Popovitch"

      Accessed:

    • In 2011 Jorge Popovitch headed the list of Team Popovitch's official black belts.

      Where in the source: Page heading — "Team Popovitch Official Black Belts"

      Accessed:

  • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center (bjjcenter.com), "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center Staff", Internet Archive capture of 1 May 2008.(opens in a new tab)

    • The academy's 2008 staff page listed Jorge Popovitch as Grand Master Instructor, alongside Pablo Popovitch as Master Instructor.

      Where in the source: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center Staff list, second entry — "Grand Master Instructor"

      Accessed:

  • Team Popovitch Martial Arts Academy of South Florida (bjjcenter.com), homepage, Internet Archive capture of 30 May 2017.(opens in a new tab)

    • By May 2017 the academy's homepage, then titled Team Popovitch Martial Arts Academy of South Florida, announced that the training facility had closed.

      Where in the source: Homepage, heading under the menu — "This Training Facility has Closed"

      Accessed:

  • ADCC World Championship Barcelona 2009 (event blog), "Pablo Popovich" fighter profile, 28 July 2009.(opens in a new tab)

    • In a 2009 ADCC fighter profile, Pablo Popovitch is quoted saying he was always close to the Gracie family because his father, Jorge, had a great friendship with them.

      Where in the source: Fighter profile, quoted paragraph after the titles list — "had a great friendship with them"

      Accessed:

  • Keith Mills, ADCC News, "Post ADCC Interview with Pablo Popovitch (plus gallery)!", 7 July 2005.(opens in a new tab)

    • ADCC News described Pablo Popovitch in July 2005 as a second-degree black belt under Jorge Popovitch.

      Where in the source: Introductory paragraph before the interview — "second degree black belt under Jorge Popovitch"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "Vagner Rocha" (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes says Vagner Rocha, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, started training jiu-jitsu with Jorge Popovitch in 2001.

      Where in the source: Vagner Rocha Biography, fourth paragraph — "in 2001 with Jorge Popovitch"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says Jorge and Pablo Popovitch awarded Vagner Rocha all his belts, including his black belt, which he received at the team's end-of-year dinner in December 2007.

      Where in the source: Vagner Rocha Biography, paragraph on the Popovitch family — "awarding him all belts"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says Vagner Rocha was offered a coaching position at the Popovitch academy in 2008, learned coaching and gym management there while leaving construction work behind, and that the Popovitch-Rocha partnership ended in 2011 when he founded Vagner Rocha Martial Arts.

      Where in the source: Vagner Rocha Biography, paragraphs on 2008 and 2011 — "In 2008 Vagner was offered"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes says Vagner Rocha's nickname, Ceará, was given to him by Jorge Popovitch when Rocha started training.

      Where in the source: Nickname field — "by Jorge Popovitch"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists Vagner Rocha as runner-up at the ADCC World Championship in 2019 and 2024, and traces his lineage through Crolin Gracie, Jorge Popovitch and Pablo Popovitch.

      Where in the source: Main Achievements list and Lineage line

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "James Brasco" (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes records James Brasco as a black belt under Pablo Popovitch, with a lineage running Carlos Gracie, Crolin Gracie, Jorge Popovitch, Pablo Popovitch, James Brasco.

      Where in the source: Introduction and Lineage line — "Jorge Popovitch > Pablo Popovitch > James Brasco"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "AJ Sousa" (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes gives AJ Sousa's lineage as Carlos Gracie, Crolin Gracie, Jorge Popovitch, Pablo Popovitch, AJ Sousa.

      Where in the source: Lineage line — "Jorge Popovitch > Pablo Popovitch > AJ Sousa"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "Jasmine Rocha" (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes traces Jasmine Rocha's lineage through Jorge Popovitch, Pablo Popovitch and Vagner Rocha, and lists her third place at ADCC 2024.

      Where in the source: Lineage line and Main Achievements list — "3rd Place ADCC (2024)"

      Accessed:

Lineage

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Trained under