Skip to content
The BJJ Story
Search
Back to people
Two training partners meeting on the mat.Drawn in cream, forest green, and muted terracotta. People and objects are symbolic illustrations.
Portrait unavailable. General BJJ illustration; not a likeness of this person.Illustration: The BJJ Story

Sebastião Ricardo

Sebastião Ricardo gave Wendell Alexander, later a Nova União co-founder, his brown and black belts, then asked him to take his place at the gym.

Biography

Sebastião Ricardo was the jiu-jitsu teacher who promoted Wendell Alexander to brown belt and then to black belt. Most of what can be told about him comes from BJJ Heroes' biography of Wendell, and the founders page of the Nova União team gives the same sequence of teachers and belts. Wendell had started under Geraldo Flores. When Flores moved to another town, Wendell went over to Ricardo's gym, right across from where he lived, and stayed through both promotions; the black belt came in 1986, when he was 20. BJJ Heroes describes Ricardo's teaching as heavily centered on footlocks, submissions that attack the foot and ankle, and adds that fighters from the southern districts of Rio de Janeiro looked down on that style. The sources differ on Ricardo's own lineage. BJJ Heroes traces him directly to Oswaldo Fadda, and a 2011 history of Fadda on the maxbjj blog also counts him among Fadda's students. Nova União's lineage chart for Wendell instead places Geraldo Flores between Fadda and Ricardo. Besides Wendell, Ricardo had at least one other black belt, José Mergulhão, who brought a young Marcelo Pereira to his first jiu-jitsu class in 1985. When Ricardo gave Wendell his black belt, he asked him to stay and take his place at the gym, and Wendell agreed. According to BJJ Heroes, Ricardo then withdrew entirely and was not seen again. Wendell ran the gym in his stead for a few years before accepting an offer to teach in Campos dos Goytacazes, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and later co-founded Nova União with André Pederneiras.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, 'Wendell Alexander' (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • Conflicting accounts

      BJJ Heroes' lineage line for Wendell Alexander runs directly from Oswaldo Fadda to Sebastião Ricardo and then to Wendell.

      Where in the source: Profile header, 'Lineage' line — 'Oswaldo Fadda > Sebastião Ricardo'

      Accessed:

    • After Wendell Alexander's first coach, Geraldo Flores, moved his academy to another town, Wendell continued at Sebastião Ricardo's gym, which was directly across from Wendell's home.

      Where in the source: Biography section below the profile box, second paragraph, after the Geraldo Flores passage — 'in front of his house'

      Accessed:

    • Under Sebastião Ricardo, Wendell Alexander earned his brown belt and then his black belt; the black belt came in 1986, when Wendell was 20.

      Where in the source: Biography section below the profile box, second paragraph, closing sentence — black belt 'in 1986'

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes describes the training methods of Wendell Alexander's Fadda-lineage instructor, Sebastião Ricardo, as heavily focused on footlocks, a style that fighters from Rio de Janeiro's southern districts looked down on.

      Where in the source: Biography section below the profile box, third paragraph, on the instructor's training methods — 'footlocks'

      Accessed:

    • When Sebastião Ricardo promoted Wendell Alexander to black belt, he asked Wendell to stay at the gym and take over his role there, and Wendell accepted.

      Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on the black belt promotion — 'take over his role'

      Accessed:

    • According to BJJ Heroes, Sebastião Ricardo withdrew completely after handing the gym to Wendell Alexander and was not seen again.

      Where in the source: Same paragraph, sentence after Wendell accepts — 'never to be seen again'

      Accessed:

    • After a few years running the gym in Sebastião Ricardo's place, Wendell Alexander accepted an offer to teach in Campos dos Goytacazes, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and later co-founded Nova União with André Pederneiras.

      Where in the source: Same paragraph, closing sentences on the move to Campos, and the following paragraph on the founding of Nova Uniao

      Accessed:

  • Nova União Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 'Fundadores' (official team website, founders page, in Portuguese).(opens in a new tab)

    • Nova União's founders page says that when Wendell Alexander's first teacher, Geraldo Flores, had to move to another city, Wendell began training with Sebastião Ricardo, the teacher responsible for his brown and black belt promotions.

      Where in the source: Section 'WENDELL ALEXANDER', first paragraph — 'faixa marrom e preta'

      Accessed:

    • Conflicting accounts

      Nova União's lineage graphic for Wendell Alexander runs Mitsuyo Maeda, Luiz França, Oswaldo Fadda, Geraldo Flores, Sebastião Ricardo, Wendell Alexander, placing Geraldo Flores between Fadda and Ricardo.

      Where in the source: Graphic 'Árvore genealógica — Wendell Alexander lineage' at top of the founders page — 'GERALDO FLORES', 'SEBASTIÃO RICARDO'

      Accessed:

  • maxbjj (blog), 'Storia del Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - History of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Oswaldo Fadda', 4 December 2011 (Italian and English).(opens in a new tab)

    • Conflicting accounts

      A 2011 history post on Oswaldo Fadda lists Sebastiao Ricardo among the notable students who trained under Fadda and calls Wendell Alexander a student of Sebastiao Ricardo, a black belt under Fadda.

      Where in the source: English text, list of students keeping the Fadda name alive, and the paragraph on Wendell Alexander — 'Oswaldo black belt'

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, 'Marcelo Pereira' (fighter profile, undated).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes names José Mergulhão as a black belt under Sebastião Ricardo; Mergulhão took the young Marcelo Pereira to his first jiu-jitsu class in 1985.

      Where in the source: Biography, second paragraph — 'a black belt under Sebastiao Ricardo'

      Accessed:

Lineage

View in lineage tree

Students1