Prof. Carlos Lemos Jr. was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, being the son of Carlos Lemos (Senior) and Tulla Lemos. He was introduced to martial arts at the age of 3 through Tae Kwon Do and moved to Judo when he was 10 years old, where he achieved great results. Lemos was also an avid surfer who may have turned pro if not for Jiu Jitsu.

Prof. Lemos’s first coaches were none other than three legends of the sport: Professors Roberto “Gordo”, Alexandre “Soca” Carneiro and Renzo Gracie. He was graded as a blue belt by Prof. Gordo and became an assistant coach at his gym, one of the GB schools in Rio. Once Prof. Gordo moved to Sao Paulo, Carlos started to train under Master Carlos Gracie Junior, who advanced him in the main Gracie Barra school in Brazil from blue belt to black belt. In October of 2001, Lemos established an exceptional BJJ fighting career in Brazil and international.

Prof. Lemos attended Law school at the University Estacio de Sa, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for four years. Eventually inspired by his master’s passion for the art, Lemos decided to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and was given the opportunity to become Master Carlos Gracie Jr.’s personal assistant instructor. During his group classes, Lemos sharpened his teaching skills. Seen as a bright promise by Master Carlos Gracie Jr., Lemos was encouraged to learn different languages. Master Gracie had the vision back in the 90′s that Gracie Barra one day would turn into a worldwide organization. His vision was fulfilled a decade later.

In 2002, after a becoming a Black belt World Champion, Lemos, now a Professor, shot his first series of DVDs for the “LEGENDS OF GRACIE BARRA”.

In 2003, Professor Lemos was invited to live for a couple of months in South Korea to expand the GB family in the Far East and spread Brazilian Jiu Jitsu there. Once there, he became the first Brazilian to teach martial arts on Korean soil.

In 2004, Prof. Lemos, was given the task to spread the Jiu Jitsu of Gracie Barra in Europe. “Escorrega” followed Master Gracie’s instructions and decided to move to England and resume his studies there. Now fluent in four languages and with communicating skills in another three, Lemos successfully built several Gracie Barra franchises on the continent where he graduated a couple BJJ black belts, namely: Niclas Gustafsson (2008) and Peter Berglund (2010) from Sweden, Salvatore Pace (Bristol- Bath Spa UK), (2013) Gibran Alvarez (Cancun /Playa del Carmen Mexico), Federico Tisi (Rome) who is the head of the Tribe JJ in Italy. In 2016 Prof Carlos formed again six new black belts in Europe black belts Mats Ekman, Pelle Röjfors , Andreas Widén , Kjell Abrahamssson ( All GB Gothenburg, Sweden ), Richard Weathrall- awarded by prof Lemos & prof Salvo Pace (GB Street, UK ), Markku Tapiola ( GB Finland ) and Professor Johan Ahlberg 2015 , Mattias Sandstrom (GB Ümea ) 2017, Danijel Brajcic ( GB Serbia) 2017, Pat Reeves- awarded by Prof Lemos & prof Salvo Pace ( GB Swindon) 2017 , Prof Hector Vargas ( GB Downers Grove) 2017 , Prof. Pedro Tello ( GB Downers Grove) 2017.

In December of 2008, after his adventure in Europe, Carlos moved to the United States as instructed by Master Carlos Gracie Jr. He made Chicago his new home, where he established himself and resumed his competitive career after almost a 5 year break. It was also in the United States that Carlos made his MMA debut in 2011.

Prof. Lemos has made Worlds, Pan Americans, National and International champions and has trained several UFC, PRIDE and K-1 fighters.

In 2015 Prof. Carlos Lemos Jr received his 4th degree from the hands of Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

Some of the champions who trained with Prof Lemos: Salvo Pace, Federico Tisi, Ronnie Maan, Pele Reid, James Thompson, George St-Pierre, Spencer Fisher, Gibran Alvarez and Ryo Ominami.

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Carlos Gracie Junior > Carlos Lemos Jr.

Main Competition Achievements:

• 4X World Champion (1999 purple, 2002, 2015, 2018 Black)
• American No gi Champion (2009)
• 3 X Brazilian National Champion (1996,1998,1999)
• European Champion (2004 black)
• Pan American Champion (2000 brown, 2015 Black)
• Brazilian Teams Champion (2003)
• Chicago Open Champion (2010 Open Weight)
• World Silver Medalist (2003 black)
• American No gi Silver Medalist (2009 Open weight)
• 2 X World Bronze Medalist (2000 brown, 2005 Black)
• MMA record 2×0

Weight Division: feather weight/ Pena

Ryo Ominami is 1st degree of GracieBarra black belt (under Master Carlos Gracie Jr.) and also 1st degree of Kodokan Judo black belt.
Ryo started Jiu-Jitsu when he was 18 years old

In 2004 he traveled to Brazil seeking Gracie Barra to expand his technique. When in Brazil, Ryo befriended Professor Carlos Lemos Jr. learning a lot from the Gracie Barra black belt. Ryo was so infatuated by the technique and the lifestyle, he re-visited several times to train, spending as long as one year straight in the South American country, learning at the Gracie Barra Head Quarters in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2008 Ryo received his black belt from the hands of Master Carlos Gracie Jr and Professor Carlos Lemos Jr. Ryo leads the Gracie Barra team in JAPAN where he has achieved important personal goals such as winning the Asian Open championship(IBJJF), the All Japan Championship(JBJJF) and even the NAGA in Chicago.

Main Competition Achievements:

• 3X Asian Open Champion (2006 Purple, 2008 Brown, 2010 Black)
• 2X All Japan Champion (2003 White,2009 Black)
• Japan Open Champion (2008 Brown)
• NAGA Chicago Champion (2010）

Sporting Bio

He has been training for more than 8 years. He started under the Redzovik brothers but has trained for the last 3 and half years under Prof. Lemos Jr. Instructor Lopez is a valuable asset to GB Downers Grove. He was one of the first students of Prof. Lemos Jr.’s in the Chicagoland area. Instructor Lopez has absorbed a great deal of Prof. Lemos’s passion for teaching and helping out people through Jiu Jitsu. With his vibrant and always happy personality, Instructor Lopez is very popular among both the beginner and advanced students. Besides his passion for teaching, Instructor Lopez has been working in the banking sector for more than 9 years.

Hobbies

His passion and his love is Gracie Barra Jiu Jitsu but Instructor Lopez also enjoys working out at the gym with the Gracie Barra Fight team. When he has time he also enjoys golf, tennis and, if weather permits, a nice mountain trail walk.

“Jiu Jitsu has helped me grow as an individual and the honor of teaching has helped me understand the technical aspect of this beautiful art. I encourage anyone who thought that
this art we call Jiu Jitsu is only for a few come to our academy and learn why my passion for Gracie Jiu Jitsu grows every day.”

Started martial arts at age 5, training traditional karate do goju-ryu achieving Black Belt 1st Degree. Started teaching children, helping my master and I was given my academy in 1993. Was able to teach and attend engineering school until I move to US in 1997. Always involved in martial arts on and off until I found my passion in Jiu-Jitsu with Professor Carlos Lemos Jr. In 2017 after years of training Prof. Pedro Tello finally received his Black Belt under Prof. Carlos Lemos Jr.

My hobbies other than Jiu-Jitsu are spending time with my kids and wife, and fixing things from cars to household things.

Jiu-Jitsu has helped me tremendously in most aspects of my life and is my goal in life to share this gift with all Gracie Barra Downers Grove members.

      Professor Dave Domzalski

Professor Dave began his training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the summer of 2005, and has been consistently focused on advancing his skills ever since.Professor Dave enjoys teaching Jiu-Jitsu to all that have a desire to learn, and he also loves to train hard. Off the mat, he enjoys lots of activities, including spending time with his wife and friends, traveling, playing or watching sports, working out, and interacting with his pets. He is in business to business sales as a profession.

“Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a unique martial art that allows individuals to truly express themselves. It defines me as a person and I have a deep passion for the art. There are countless benefits to a practitioner that all result in a higher quality of life. I wish that I had started as a very young child. I am honored to have my Jiu-Jitsu family at Gracie Barra Downers Grove. I find this academy to be the optimal environment to continue my jiu-jitsu journey, which has no ending. We are all lucky to have Professor Carlos Lemos Jr. here.”

Professor Dave’s main competition achievements thus far include:

• Hoosier Open (Gold – 2009), (Silver -2013, 2010), (Bronze – 2012, 2008, 2007)
• IBJJF Chicago Winter Open Bronze Medal – 2011
• Midwest Jiu-Jitsu Championship (Gold – 2010)
• NAGA Chicago Championship (Gold – 2006)
• NAGA Chicago Summer Championship (Silver – 2006)
• IBJJF Chicago Open (Gold No-Gi 2015)