INSTRUCTORS
DAVID HERRERA
BJJ BLACK BELT
David Herrera Jr. “Skinny” is a black belt under Leandro “Tatu” Escobar. Skinny was first introduced to martial arts in high school where he began training judo at a local YMCA with Hall of Famer Sensei Mehdi Mohammadian in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Skinny began training Jiu-Jitsu when he was 20 after moving back to Chicago. Enamored by Jiu-Jitsu, Skinny moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he spent the first year living and training with Black Belt Gabriel Wilcox.
During a training session at De la Riva’s Jiu Jitsu Academy in Copacabana, Skinny met Leandro “Tatu” Escobar. Leandro quickly became a mentor to Skinny. Skinny ended up training at Leandro’s school, Tatu Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Tijuca, Rio De Janeiro for 5 years.
While living in Brazil, Skinny earned many titles, placing and winning at the IBJJF Sul Americano, Europeans,
Pans, Belo Horizonte, Rio, and Sao Paulo Championships.
RAFAEL RODRIGUES
BJJ BLACK BELT
Rafael Rodrigues was born in Rio de Janeiro, he has been a black belt for 7 years. Having received his black belt from Master Leonardo Vieira (Checkmat),
Rafael started Jiu-Jitsu training at the age of 17, accumulating 24 years of dedication to the sport since his white belt.
A lover of the sport, determined, and very focused on always learning new techniques Rafael began his legacy as a jiujitsu instructor while only a blue belt replacing the frontline teacher in his absence.
In September 2016 he inaugurated his own training center where he trained several students who ended up becoming South American, Brazilian, and World champions.
This Training Center extended until the beginning of 2018 when he decided to move with his family to the United States.
Since then, he has been participating in competitions and adding several titles, and doing what he likes most is sharing his knowledge by teaching classes at Vuk BJJ.
Eduardo Avelar
BJJ BLACK BELT
Eduardo Avelar “Zero Nove” was born on February 19, 1997, in the neighborhood of Rio Comprido, in the north zone of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.
A sporty kid from an early age, Eduardo practiced an array of sports during his childhood, activities such as football (soccer) and skateboarding, eventually finding his way to jiu-jitsu at the age of 8, which he started at the same gym where he already trained judo.
Avelar trained judo and jiu-jitsu simultaneously for a few years, with BJJ’s tuition being led by coach Luis Carlos. Eventually, Eduardo’s judo coach had to leave the school, with the young Rio de Janeiro native devoting all his extra-curricular time to perfecting his ground fighting skills from then on.
At the age of 16, Eduardo Avelar started traveling outside of his home state to compete in jiu-jitsu, with his first international win coming at the age of 17, in Portugal, at the European International Open, one of grappling’s top events. A tournament he won in his weight and the open-weight classes as a blue belt, a performance that led him to seek the professional route.
Luis Carlos, a black belt under Rafael Formiga – co-founder of the Soul Fighters team, led Eduardo Avelar all the way up to his brown belt, at which point Avelar’s tuition was shared with Leandro “Tatu” Escobar, one of the Soul Fighter’s team’s senior coaches and leader of the Soul Fighters Headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
As a brown belt, Eduardo had one of his brightest periods, earning medals at the South American, Brazilian Team National and World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, after which he earned his black belt from the hands of coach Tatu, while standing on the podium of the “mundial”, in June 2019.