ACADEMY LINEAGE
Pedro Sauer
Certified 8th Degree Red/Black Belt Instructor under Rickson Gracie.
Personal History
Professor Pedro Sauer was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where from an early age, he began training in the martial arts. At age five, he began boxing and later took up judo and taekwondo. At age fifteen, however, his friend, Rickson Gracie, invited him to train jiu-jitsu with his younger brother, Royler, who at the time was only nine years old. The outcome of this experience convinced him that jiu-jitsu was the most effective of all the martial arts, and he began training the very next day.
Pedro Sauer decided to pursue a career teaching Jiu-Jitsu. In 1990, he moved to California with the original wave of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors. He lived in California with Rickson Gracie and trained daily with the Gracie brothers (Rickson, Rorion, and Royce), their father, Helio Gracie, their cousin, Renzo Gracie, and the Machado Brothers, as well as many others. In December of that same year, he moved to Utah where he has lived for the past eight years, pioneering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the American southwest.
Pedro is the head instructor of the Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Association; to which Cronus Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu is affiliated.
Certifications
1985 – Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Helio and Rickson Gracie
1986 – Tecnico de Jiu-Jitsu. This is a special certificate given in recognition of superior technical mastery of the art of jiu-jitsu, given to only a handful of students by Helio Gracie.
1990 – Certified Black Belt Instructor by Robson Gracie and the Federacao de Jiu-Jitsu
Black Belt Judo
1993 – 3rd Degree Black Belt from Rorion Gracie
1996 – Level 6 Instructor Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy (Rorion and Royce Gracie)
2000 – 5th Degree Black Belt under the Federacao de Jiu-Jitsu
2003 – 6th Degree Black Belt
Teaching Experience
Pedro Earned his Black Belt from Helio and Rickson in 1985. Long recognized for the superior technical efficiency of his jiu-jitsu, he then began his career as an instructor in 1986 when asked to teach with an organization known in Brazil as Corpo/Quatro (Body of Four) where he taught and continued his training under renowned jiu-jitsu instructors Alvaro Barreto (who is a red belt master under Helio Gracie).
After moving to Utah in December of 1990, he taught as one of only two non-Gracie black belts under the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy (run by Rorion and Royce Gracie). In October of 1996, he became an official representative Black Belt Instructor under the Rickson Gracie American Jiu-Jitsu Association.
Currently, Pedro resides in Virginia and is on the mat regularly at his HQ academy in Herndon, Virginia: One Spirit Martial Arts (OneSpiritMA.com). He also has several affiliated schools across the country, and he visits them on a regular basis to give intensive instruction to the students and instructors. He is one of the most highly sought after instructors in the U.S. (of any martial discipline) and has presented hundreds of public seminars around the nation.
Jimmy Georgiou
Purple Belt - Pedro Sauer Association
Receiving my Blue Belt from Roger Gracie via RGA Mill Hill/Monster BJJ
Seminar with Professor
Ricardo De la Riva
Seminar with Nic Gregorides, Roger Gracies first blackbelt
Personal History
Jimmy Georgiou was born and raised in London and surrounding area in the United Kingdom, where from an young age, he began training in the martial arts. At age fourteen, he began Chinese boxing and later took up Freestyle Karate and by the age of 17 starting learning Wing Chun Kung Fu and several years later was also introduced to Kali and Doce Pare. At the age 32, however, his friend, invited him to train jiu-jitsu in a academy which was newly established. This would be the first time he was to try something different from standing martial arts. Jimmy has been in the Gracie / BJJ scene on and off for 10 years now and will be until he is unable to.
Certifications
Modern Freestyle Karate - 1st Degree Black Belt - 2001
Wing Chun Kung Fu - System Completion - 2008
Kali and Doce Pare - 2006 - 2014
Physical Intervention Instructor Level 3 - 2012
Conflict Management Level 3 - 2011
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - 2008 - Present Purple Belt
Teaching Experience
Jimmy has always taught and passed on any martial art skills learned. Teaching Freestyle Karate at the age of 17 and later on in life teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu and now passing on any skills and knowledge held in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
After contemplating what was best for my current students the design and structure of Master Pedro Sauer's syllabus - white to blue belt, 88 techniques would be the way i was going.
Jimmy's Philosophy on teaching is simple, if you have a skill that someone else does not have, this is transferable to others, regardless of level. He also goes onto say that repetition of a movement is key to make it a natural auto responsive, like being on auto pilot.