On Saturday, September 27, 2009, the Vieira Bros’ newest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu headquarters, Fight Zone USA, officially opened its doors. To celebrate the event, head instructor Leandro Vieira along with Fight Zone USA friends, family, and staff, threw a Grand Opening Celebration including two free seminars, judo demonstrations, training, and free BBQ. The seminar was such a success that Leandro plans to do even more free seminars in the near future.

In the following interview taken shortly after the grand opening, Leandro discusses his plans, history, and future for the Fight Zone USA/Check-Mat organizations in the US.

Kevin Howell: Leandro, first off, what is Fight Zone?

Leandro Vieira: The first Fight Zone was created by my brother Ricardo in Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo’s goal was to incorporate different martial arts styles into his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program so that his athletes could do well in either grappling or MMA. The academy became very successful in competition in Rio and later, Ricardo’s students opened up Fight Zone academies in Sweden under Ricardo’s black belt, Alan “Finfou” Nascimento. Now, Ricardo has tasked me with opening up the North American headquarters in Long Beach (actually Signal Hill, California to be precise).

KH: Are you a member of Team Check-Mat?

LV: For sure! I am a Vieira and I am always with my brothers. Our academy is Fight Zone, but we represent Check-Mat in all the tournaments, just like all of the other Fight Zones. Right now, I am trying to organize the Check-Mat team in the US. In Brazil, it is very organized and everybody is on the same page with training, competitions, and support. Now, I am here to do the same for Check-Mat in the US.

This is part of the reason we chose Long Beach for our headquarters. We are close to all of the major championships and now we have a home for our national and international Check-Mat/Fight Zone competitors for competition training and clinics. This is good for the team and hopefully you will see us at the top of the podium next time.

KH: Tell me about your history. How did you get started in jiu-jitsu?

LV: My father loved samurai and kung-fu movies and he put all three of us (me, Leo and Ricardo) to training when we were kids. At the time, my mother did not like us playing on the streets so she encouraged us to be in the academy too. I was so young that I do not even remember starting, but I was probably around five years old. Leo started first, then Ricardo, and then me, but like I said, I don’t even remember, because all of my memories are in the gi.

It’s funny, I didn’t start jiu-jitsu because I wanted to go, but it was like my school schedule. I knew that everyday I should go to school and go to the academy. I thought it was normal. I liked it. There were other kids in the class and I remember Otavio “Ratinho” Couto, Romero “Jacare” Cavalcante, and Ricardo “Franjinha” Miller were our kids teachers. They were my first instructors in jiu-jitsu and they really made it fun. We would play a lot and they used to call me “Resadinha” because I used to laugh a lot. I’m lucky to have had a great start in jiu-jitsu.

KH: What was it like growing up with Leo and Ricardo in the academy? Were you competitive with each other?

LV: Not really, Leo started first and he would always come home and teach me and Ricardo. I think this kept him in the older brother and coach role. I’m also five years younger than Leo, so he was definitely the big brother, even though I’m taller than him now! (laughs) I was more competitive with Ricardo than Leo, probably because we are closer in age, but he is still my big brother too, so he would always kill me.

Even today, I’ve had the chance to train with the best black belts from Alliance, Master, Brasa, and Check-Mat, and my brothers are still the ones that surprise me the most. They’ve always been my best coaches. Ricardo gave me his guard and Leo gave me his passing. Too bad, they know their guards and passes, so this makes training with them impossible!

KH: You’re a former jiu-jitsu champ (Brasileiro, Paulista, Mundials bronze, etc). Any plans to return to competition?

LV: For sure. Now my focus is different than before. I work only with jiu-jitsu and now I have the time to work hard for competition. In Brazil, I had to split my attention with many things, but moving to the US lets me focus on teaching and fighting. I will have more time to train with some of our black belts in the US, guys like “Pantcho”, “Lapela”, Lucas Leite, Marcel Louzado, Nivaldo Oliveira, Rodrigo Ranieiri, and Joao Assis, and get ready to compete again. I like to compete and you will see me on the mats again soon.

KH: What are your future plans with the VB team social project?

LV: Not too many people know this, but VB team refers to Ricardo’s social project in the Cantagalo pavao favela in Rio. This is the project that Terere started and gave to Ricardo when he moved to Sao Paulo. Today, Ricardo is the head instructor where he teaches hundreds of impoverished kids and teens for free. He uses donated kimonos and his own time. Because of this, Ricardo will always stay in Rio. He is bonded to those kids.

I want to do something similar in Long Beach. We are close to South Central Los Angeles and we have a lot of people that could use some help here. This is one of the reasons why I will have some free seminars from time to time. Sure it helps people know us, but it also spreads jiu-jitsu to those that need it. This is one of the goals for both me and you at Fight Zone USA. The school is growing up so fast, and we hope to start our LA VB team (social project) very soon.

KH: Tell us about your students in the US. How are you adapting to teaching Americans versus Brazilians?

LV: I like being here, because Americans are thirsty for good instruction. This makes it easy to teach here. Everything I have shown my students so far is absorbed very fast. This makes my job easy and fun. The secret is in having a great method of instruction and luckily my brothers have created the best. As far as day to day teaching, I do not change my method between teaching Brazilians and Americans, I only change the language. Soon we will see some of these guys competing and you will understand what I am talking about.

KH: What is the deal with the mustache choke?

LV: It is a joke we make in the academy while we are training. It makes the rolling a little more friendly and guys are always laughing as they try to defend or submit with “Bigode”! Here’ s a tip – tap early, but never tap to the mustache! (laughs)

KH: Anything else?

LV: Just come down and become a part of our headquarters academy! We have an incredible school and I teach every class . We have a great team of staff and students here already. We also have the best judo program with Josh and Juan. We are really lucky to have them on our staff, come tournament time, look out for our throws and jiu-jitsu! (laughs) The school is beautiful, professional, and all our students are friendly and interested in getting better. One thing I need to say, if you come to the school, be ready to have fun. This is Brazilian style BJJ and this means having fun.

To our international Check-Mat fighters – we will be welcoming Check-Mat/Fight Zone members soon for the no-gi worlds and there will be clinics and workshops to make sure you are all ready for success!

To my friends and students in Brazil – I know you will read this, so keep training, because when I visit you next time, I will kill you all! Oiiieeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Here’s the contact info for the academy:
Fight Zone USA
1860 Obispo Ave. Ste E
Signal Hill, CA 90755
562-498-3600
www.fightzoneusa.com

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