Mario Queiroga “Esfiha” was born in September 1975 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
His father was interested in combat sports, though his working arrangements had never allowed him to train himself, while Mario’s uncle was a judoka (judo competitor).
Nickname: The name “Esfiha” comes from Jose Mario’s habit of eating this popular Brazilian snack of Arabic origin named Esfiha.
Early Jiu-Jitsu Journey
The place where Ze Mario began his Jiu Jitsu journey was the famous ‘Corpo Quatro’ academy, a gym that is also renowned for having had (possibly) the very first female BJJ team.
Roberto Traven started teaching at Corpo Quatro around 1991 (Ze Mario was still a white belt) and he remained Esfiha’s coach throughout all belts.
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When Traven left Corpo Quatro to form Academia Strike in a partnership with Alexandre Paiva, Esfiha moved with him, this was on March 1993 and Queiroga was a blue belt at the time.
Alliance Jiu Jitsu
In 1995 the duo Traven-Paiva helped to found the Alliance Jiu Jitsu academy together with Romero Cavalcanti, Fernando & Fabio Gurgel, and once again Ze Mario Esfiha (now a purple belt) joined his coach.
On December 1998, after a victorious super-fight, Ze Mario Esfiha is awarded his black belt by Roberto Traven.
Now part of Alliance’s powerful heavyweight black belt team, Queiroga continues training hard, medalling at the world’s top tournaments.
His talent was spotted in 2000 when he is invited to come to Helsinki, Finland to coach a team in the north of Europe.
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Brasa Clube de Jiu Jitsu
After the Alliance team broke up in 2002, Ze Mario followed the team’s dissidents to form the Brasa Clube de Jiu Jitsu (2003).
About 10 years ago, out of some turmoil within Team Alliance, Team Brasa was born and immediately began to dominate competitions on the world stage.
Cut to 2014; Team Brasa is going through a resurgence.
We have clubs all over the world and are once again working our way to the world stage.
Discover The Amazing History And Origins Of Jiu Jitsu!
Teaching Career
Late in 2003, Mario moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada where he taught for three years.
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During this period, Esfiha teached in different places such as London, Toronto, Kitchener in Ontario and Calgary, Red Dear in Alberta.
4th Anniversary Celebration
On Saturday, November 8th, my professor (4th degree black belt, Mario Esfiha) will be celebrating his 4th anniversary with a seminar given by his professor, 6th degree black belt Robert Traven.
School Growth and Competitions
So our school is growing and we’ve had months of good, solid attendance.
Some of you are nearing readiness for competition and may be wondering how to go about getting your feet wet.
Unfortunately, there are some not-so-legit entitiies out there hosting tournaments that are NOT worth the time and money.
The first tourny is in Leander on Dec 6th.
The second tournament is in Dallas on Dec 13-14.
If you have any questions, talk to me before or after class, or give me a call.