Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu icons Rafael and Guilherme Mendes, widely recognized among the most accomplished and transformative competitors in the history of submission grappling, are scheduled to lead the Mendes Bros 2019 World Super Camp in Singapore. The five-day intensive training program, hosted by martial arts organization Evolve MMA through its Evolve Vacation program, is set to take place from September 16 through September 20, 2019.
The arrival of the Mendes brothers represents a major technical event for practitioners across Asia and the international grappling community. Over the course of the week, the Brazilian-born champions will share the sophisticated mechanical concepts, guard architectures, and passing philosophies that reshaped modern competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Known collectively as the architects behind a stylistic revolution in the sport, Rafael and Guilherme Mendes have translated their personal competitive dominance into an internationally renowned coaching pedigree, establishing a training lineage that continues to influence high-level tournament mats worldwide.
Decades of Competitive Dominance and Historical Legacy
For more than a decade, the Mendes brothers have stood at the pinnacle of modern submission grappling. Their collective ascent through the sport occurred at an unprecedented pace, characterized by dominant campaigns across major international tournaments while advancing through the colored belt ranks. Both athletes secured prestigious championship victories across every developmental belt rank, displaying a degree of tactical consistency that culminated in earning their black belts in less than a decade of dedicated training.
Once established in the elite black belt divisions, both brothers translated their technical mastery into historic championship records. Rafael Mendes firmly cemented his standing as the most decorated featherweight competitor in the annals of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), ultimately securing six IBJJF World Championship gold medals in the adult male black belt division. His technical precision, composure in high-stakes finals, and innovative guard entries set a benchmark for lightweight grappling that remains widely studied.
Guilherme Mendes carved out an equally historic career in the light-featherweight ranks. Securing four adult male black belt IBJJF World Championship titles—with tournament victories captured in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2014—Guilherme established a reputation for suffocating top control and tactical flawlessness. Together, their shared record established an unprecedented standard of sibling dominance in combat sports, driving competitive Jiu-Jitsu out of its traditional tactical paradigms and into an era governed by intricate positional control, refined transitions, and continuous flow.
A Universal System Engineered for Every Body Type
A fundamental hallmark of the Mendes brothers’ tactical framework is its versatility. While traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu historically emphasized defensive positioning or heavy, friction-reliant pressure, Rafael and Guilherme developed distinct yet complementary approaches that can be adapted across diverse physical builds and athleticism levels.
For practitioners who rely on positional weight distribution, leverage, and forward momentum, Guilherme Mendes formulated an elite blueprint for top-game control. Known across the sport for his relentless pressure passing series, Guilherme demonstrated how deliberate connection, postural integrity, and weight distribution can neutralize even the most dangerous guard configurations. His methodologies dismantle an opponent’s frames systematically, providing practitioners with a clear technical path to advance through the guard regardless of physical limitations.
Conversely, lighter and more agile grapplers often gravitate toward the revolutionary mobility championed by Rafael Mendes. Characterized by rapid guard recovery, dynamic hip movement, and technical dexterity, Rafael’s bottom game provides an answer to larger, physically imposing opponents. Rather than attempting to match an adversary’s brute strength, his methodology emphasizes circumventing force through calculated angles, spatial awareness, and rotational mechanics. By pairing both aspects of the art into a unified curriculum, the upcoming super camp offers instructional value to practitioners across the physical spectrum, ensuring that participants can adopt techniques specifically tailored to their individual attributes.
Revolutionizing the Modern Guard and the Berimbolo Phenomenon
Beyond their gold medal tallies, the Mendes brothers fundamentally altered how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is played from the guard position. Prior to their competitive prime, the sport’s guard play largely favored closed-guard variations, standard open guards, or direct sweeps aimed purely at securing top position. The Mendes brothers introduced a paradigm shift, treating the guard not merely as a recovery position, but as an aggressive launchpad for back takes and immediate submissions.
Central to this structural evolution was their mastery and refinement of the De La Riva guard. Rafael Mendes transformed the position from an occasional sweeping platform into a comprehensive, multi-directional offensive matrix. Utilizing precise foot placements, belt grips, and angle manipulations, Rafael pioneered movement sequences that routinely disassembled the defensive structures of world-class opponents.
Most notable among these technical innovations was the perfection of the berimbolo—a dynamic, inverted rotational maneuver executed from the De La Riva guard designed to off-balance an opponent, collapse their base, and facilitate a direct transition to the back. When the Mendes brothers unveiled these techniques on the world stage, the movements caught competitors unprepared, forcing the entire global grappling landscape to redesign its defensive principles. During the upcoming super camp, participants will have the opportunity to dissect these intricate rotational mechanics, gaining direct access to the nuances that make these sequences consistently viable at the highest levels of competition.
Raising Technical Standards Beyond Stagnant Paradigms
For dedicated practitioners, progression in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu frequently reaches plateaus where familiar guard variations and predictable passing lines fail against experienced training partners. The Mendes brothers’ comprehensive system addresses these technical bottlenecks by linking guard retention, passing combinations, and positional finishes into an unbroken continuum.
Rather than teaching isolated movements in a vacuum, the Mendes system approaches grappling as an integrated chain of action and reaction. If an opponent defends an initial passing attempt, the system offers immediate secondary and tertiary avenues of attack. Similarly, when an offensive guard sequence meets resistance, the system transitions fluidly into alternate sweeps or back-exposure sequences.
This holistic approach to grappling has proven effective in helping practitioners overcome developmental stagnation. By exposing athletes to a flowing, dynamic style that prioritizes mechanical efficiency over force, the training curriculum is designed to modernize a practitioner’s overall approach to sparring and tournament competition alike.
Proven World-Class Coaching and the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy
Following their competitive careers, Rafael and Guilherme Mendes transitioned their analytical minds to coaching, founding the world-renowned Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) academy in Costa Mesa, California. The academy quickly developed into one of the most successful training environments in modern martial arts, producing elite competitors across international divisions.
Crucially, the success of their instructional system is reflected across demographics. The Mendes brothers’ meticulous, detail-oriented pedagogy has produced champions ranging from youth competitors to adult elite black belts. By breaking down complex movements into structured, repeatable steps, their coaching methodology ensures that even the youngest students develop technical discipline, tactical maturity, and competitive poise.
In high-level tournament Jiu-Jitsu, where tactical rules are exacting and matches are often decided by narrow margins, technical skill must be paired with competitive strategy. Having spent years at the pinnacle of international competition, Gui and Rafa Mendes possess first-hand knowledge of match pacing, tactical decision-making, and mental preparation. Their coaching incorporates strategic awareness alongside physical execution, teaching students how to think several steps ahead of an opponent and navigate high-pressure tournament situations.
An Immersive Destination Experience at Evolve MMA
The Mendes Bros 2019 World Super Camp is hosted under the banner of the Evolve Vacation training program, an initiative operated by Evolve MMA in Singapore. Designed to provide visiting martial arts practitioners with an immersive experience, the program integrates high-level athletic training alongside cultural and leisure travel in one of Asia’s primary international hubs.
Through the Evolve Vacation platform, overseas martial arts enthusiasts travel to Singapore to train alongside decorated professional competitors and instructors. The program combines daily athletic immersion on the mats with the opportunity to explore Singapore’s landmark sites, regional cuisine, and local attractions. The upcoming super camp featuring Rafael and Guilherme Mendes represents an extension of this format, giving local and visiting martial artists direct access to five consecutive days of high-level instruction under two of the sport’s most celebrated figures.
Registration for the Mendes Bros 2019 World Super Camp remains open to international and local practitioners looking to refine their competitive skill sets, master advanced guard and passing systems, and study directly under the founders of the modern grappling movement from September 16 to September 20.
