Home Schoolin’ – The Caio Terra Highlight

Growing up in Rio, the skinny kid named Caio Terra never had aspirations to practice Jiu Jitsu. When the world wouldn’t leave him alone, his mother intervened, setting the boy on a path to become a man. After hesitantly dipping his toes into the pool of the gentle art, Caio found less solace than distraction. Preoccupied with other pursuits, it wasn’t until he had a taste of victory did he get addicted to the drug known as Jiu Jitsu, setting his goal to be a world champion.

Tearing down walls in his home and building mat space, Caio and his family (mother and black belt brother Kim) welcomed all comers at all hours to train Jiu Jitsu with them. Having had a fallout with his first coach Ricardo Vieira, Caio found a home with Paulo Strauch, who eventually awarded him his black belt in 2006. His meteoric rise was accompanied by success in international tournaments, but it wasn’t until 2008 that the title of World Champion, faixa preta, was bestowed upon him.

Since then Caio has pulled down hardware from tournaments worldwide, including a 4 year stretch as world No Gi champion from 2008 – 2011, Pan Am gold, and much more. So next time you want to speak out of turn about Caio Terra, remember, this Mat Monster’s school is always in session.