photo by BJJPix

Andre Monteiro, AKA “Tim”, is a Brasileiro and Pan champion from the Carlson Gracie lineage, who runs his own school in Texas. In this interview with BJJ Eastern Europe, Tim talks about how started Jiu-Jitsu as a child, and his his big European tour of his affiliates that he will be conducting from June onwards:

1. Hi Andre, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ Community of Eastern Europe? 

Hi BJJ Eastern Europe, my name is Andre Monteiro, nick name “Tim” ( everyone in BJJ in Brazil get some nickname normally). Born in 1981, started BJJ in 92 at Nova Geracao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil my birth place. I got my black belt in 2003 and currently I’m a 3rd degree Black Belt under Francisco “Toco” Albuquerque and Rodrigo Medeiros under Carlson Gracie lineage. My main accomplishments are: 2 X Brazilian Nationals Champion, 2X RJ State Champion (other belts) and American National Champion, Silver and Bronze Medalist Pan Ams, NY Open Champion and Pan American Nogi Champion and Bronze Medalist Europeans (black belt).

Andre training in the center of Vilnius, Lithuania

2. Please tell us about your Jiu-Jitsu story .

1992 a friend of mine invited me to train BJJ at a local school in my neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since there I never stopped to train. I was 10 years old and I had the chance to pass through all the belts ( yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown and black).
When I was purple belt I got a scholarship at University Gama Filho and finished my degree in Physical Therapy on the same year that I got my Black Belt. and this last one was a bet between me and my coach after around 2 years as a brown. The bet was 1 hour sparring and if he submit me , just on the next year I would get my belt. Thanks God I could resist until the end with a full gym watching us.
Over this 21 years I have to say thanks to all my training partners and friends but I have to mention Pedro Gama Filho (my gyms mentor and grand master who helped me and a lot of my friends), Paulo Jardim ( another grand master from our gym New Generation), Toco and Rodrigo my coaches. I always had BJJ as a hobby, but in 2008 I moved to United States to study English and I got a job to teach for only 3 months… since then, BJJ has been giving me a lot of opportunities and I could create my own Association with currently 23 academies around the world.

3. You will be conducting a extensive seminar tour of Europe and especially Eastern Europe, please tell us more about this tour and about your European affiliates.

I have been coming to Europe since 2009 and teaching in so many different countries and seeing different cultures and is great to see how BJJ is spreading around the world, from a small town north of Slovakia to a east town in Russia and a south town in Ukraine.
This is going to be my 3rd tour to East Europe just this year and Im excited to see one more time my students abroad and give all the support that I can give to them.
This tour I will start in Italy and going to: Malta, Germany, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Turkey. Some of the gyms are my affiliation and some are not and I just got invited by friends who know my work and like my style.
My Europeans affiliates have been growing a lot this last few years. Now I have gyms in Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Belarus, Montenegro, Lithuania, Cyprus and Israel. Its baby steps and they are doing great, I already see development during my visits and I already made some champions. Its really important for me to support them, visit them as much I can, pass to them a lot of information and advice them in all the stages to make a “BJJ Family” with success. This stages are: BJJ Knowledge ( proper techniques), BJJ philosophy ( really important to create a citizen to be good inside the gym and on the society), bases for the business part ( advices, strategies, marketing…). Plus I teach all my instructors how they should teach their students, how they should train themselves and how they should be training the competition team. Of course I’m not the owner of the truth, but I give them a lot of advice and tell them how I do for myself.
It’s a lot of work behind it and I believe this is the way to make a successful Association.
If have some schools who needs someone to be their coach and would like to become part of the ATM Association, just contact me info@andretmbjj.com and I will start the process and make sure your gym would be good for our Team and on the same point my Team would be good for your gym.

Andre on his last Euro trip

4. Please tell us about your BJJ academy in Texas?

I have been teaching in San Antonio, Texas since I moved to USA and there I have one main gym called Champion’s Factory BJJ Academy with two friends black belts from my gym in Rio teaching the regular classes. The main activity at the gym is BJJ with the gi and my guys have been doing a great job. We opened this new location in October of 2012 and we already have around 80 students (most of them are kids). For sure is the best kids program in Texas with the most kids title in the local tournaments.

5. How would you define your personal BJJ game and your teaching style?

For those who watched me a little bit… they know: I only do half guard. My personal game is connect with half guard bottom and I fell really comfortable around there, with a good amount of diversity moves and a lot of patience is my way to have fun on the mats.
About my teaching style… Im not the best person to talk about it, but I always receive compliments about it because I have so many details for a simple position that people love it. Normally in my seminars I like to show all this details because I believe that its what a white belt miss to submit a blue belt, a blue belt miss to submit the purple… I believe that BJJ is on the details and it you cannot get it from everywhere or everyone. For us black belts is already in our muscle memory that we have to do this or that, but people forget to tell it for the beginner… this is why people like my style to teach ( I believe so! hehe). Besides the technical part, I like to have my students sparring a lot, as much they can roll is better for them!

Tim and his students in San Antonio, Texas

6. Please tell us about your work as a physical therapist and a doctor of osteopathy.

I graduated in Physical Therapy in 2003 and I used to work in a non profit project with Judo and Jiu Jitsu players from the Rocinha Favela in Rio. This opportunity to work with them gave me the possibilitoes to work with pro and Olympic Athletes and I had the chance to participate at the Pan Ams in Brazil in 2007 as a physical therapist. Besides this I had my own clinic that I used to take care of my private patients.

7. If you want to thank somebody or sponsors, feel free

I would like to say thanks first for God. Second to my family Fernando my daddy, Dalva my mom and Felipe my brother because without them I would not be a man who Im today.
Besides them, thanks Pedro Gama Filho (Rip) and Paulo Jardim (Rip) the masters of my gym, Toco and Rodrigo (my coaches) to introduce me to this great martial art and to help me on the first steps.
I would like to say thanks to my students, each one of them have a value to me. Without them I would not be a coach! They are my BJJ family. Thanks my partners in my associations, and thanks my sponsors to support me: JIU JITSOUL, FIGHTERTECH, Fighter PR AND KORAL.