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Two training partners meeting on the mat.Drawn in cream, forest green, and muted terracotta. People and objects are symbolic illustrations.
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Neury Gomes

Founder of Arte Livre BJJ in Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro state, and the first teacher of Bruno Bastos and Alexandre "Baiano" dos Santos.

Biography

Neury Gomes is the founder and head instructor of Arte Livre BJJ, a jiu-jitsu school in Vassouras, a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The academy dates itself to 1990 and calls him its mestre. Its own page gives his rank as a red-and-white belt of the eighth degree. Most of what is known about his teaching comes from BJJ Heroes, which profiles several of the students who passed through his mat. The site traces his own lineage to Oswaldo Fadda, listing Gomes as Fadda's student in the line that runs from Mitsuyo Maeda through Luis França. The fullest of those accounts is that of Alexandre "Baiano" dos Santos. A friend, Carlos "Portugues" Vieira, encouraged him to try the Vassouras academy, and he stayed with Gomes up to blue belt. Moving on to Helio Soneca's gym in Leblon did not end the connection: Santos divided his training between Soneca and his first academy, and in Vassouras he started helping with the classes. BJJ Heroes records him as a black belt under Gomes, promoted in 2001. In 2010 Santos took a bronze medal at the Pan Pacific championship and moved to Australia, where he helped Vieira run the Cia Paulista academies. Two more of the site's profiles name Gomes as an early coach. Bruno Bastos began jiu-jitsu under him in 1990, at the age of ten, and trained with him for about a year and a half before going briefly to Aílson Brites and, from 1993, to Wendell Alexander, who later gave him his black belt; Bastos became a leading figure on the Nova União team. BJJ Heroes also names Gomes among the coaches of Ana Lima da Silva, who was born in Vassouras, before she received her black belt from Roberto Abreu.

Sources for this profile

  • ARTE LIVRE BJJ | Vassouras RJ, the academy's official Facebook page (public page intro, read without login).(opens in a new tab)

    • Neury Gomes is the founder and head instructor (mestre) of Arte Livre BJJ, a jiu-jitsu school in Vassouras, in Rio de Janeiro state, which the academy dates to 1990.

      Where in the source: Page intro panel under the page name — "Desde 1990" and "Fundador e Mestre Neury Gomes"

      Accessed:

    • The academy's page gives Neury Gomes's rank as a red-and-white belt.

      Where in the source: Page intro panel, line after the founder line — "Faixa vermelha e branca"

      Accessed:

    • The same page gives the degree of that red-and-white belt as eighth degree.

      Where in the source: Page intro panel, rank line — "8 grau"

      Accessed:

    • Neury Gomes teaches in Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

      Where in the source: Page intro panel, location line — "Vassouras, RJ, Brazil"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "Alexandre 'Baiano' Santos" (fighter database entry, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes traces Neury Gomes's jiu-jitsu lineage to Oswaldo Fadda, placing him as Fadda's student in the line Mitsuyo Maeda, Luis França, Oswaldo Fadda.

      Where in the source: Detail box below the opening paragraph, lineage line — "Oswaldo Fadda > Neury Gomes"

      Accessed:

    • Alexandre 'Baiano' dos Santos began jiu-jitsu at Neury Gomes's academy in Vassouras, encouraged by his friend Carlos 'Portugues' Vieira, and trained under Neury until blue belt.

      Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph — "Neury Gomes's academy in Vassouras"

      Accessed:

    • After moving to Helio Soneca's gym in Leblon, Santos split his training between Soneca and his old Vassouras academy, where he also began helping teach classes.

      Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, sentence on how he divided his training between two gyms

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes describes Santos as a black belt under Neury Gomes and dates the black belt to 2001.

      Where in the source: Opening sentence — "under master Neury Gomes"; Biography section, second paragraph, sentence on the 2001 black belt

      Accessed:

    • Santos went on to win a Pan Pacific bronze medal in 2010 and that year moved to Australia to help Carlos Vieira run Cia Paulista's academies there.

      Where in the source: Achievements list in the detail box, Pan Pacific entry; opening paragraph, sentence on the 2010 move to Australia

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "Bruno Bastos" (fighter database entry, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • Bruno Bastos started jiu-jitsu in 1990, aged ten, under Neury Gomes and trained with him for about a year and a half before moving on, briefly to Aílson Brites and from 1993 to Wendell Alexander.

      Where in the source: "Biography", first paragraph — "under Neury Gomes"

      Accessed:

    • Bastos later became one of the main representatives of the Nova União team and a black belt under Wendell Alexander.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph — "main representatives of the 2x world champion team Nova Uniao"

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "Ana Lima da Silva" (fighter database entry, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes lists Neury Gomes among the coaches that Vassouras-born competitor Ana Lima da Silva worked with as she started her career; she earned her black belt under Roberto Abreu.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph, list of coaches — "Neury Gomes"; biography opening on her birthplace

      Accessed:

Lineage

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Students1