Eduardo "Teta" Rio will bring 45 of his students from Frontline Academy in Norway to compete at the 2019 IBJJF European Championship, and you'll see him on the mats too (black belt master 1 middleweight). 

Rios was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, in Barra da Tijuca. His grandfather, who was originally from Portugal, was a huge fan of the Gracies. "I remember growing up with all those tales of this skinny brave guy, Mr. Helio Gracie. My grandfather got to know him because back then all the immigrants in Brazil used to know each other, and one of my uncles was training jiu-jitsu too, so I started learning it naturally. I used to play with my him in the gym when I was five or six years old, soon after I started training in the kids class during the summer. I grew up close to Mr Robson Gracie in Barra, so I used to see Ralph, Ryan... we were all in the same area. Gracie Barra was in our neighborhood and all my friends were training, so it was the natural thing for me." 

"Teta" came up training under Carlson Gracie and Ricardo Liborio, from whom he received all of his belts including his black belt in 2001. He never wanted to leave Brazil, so when professor Liborio suggested that he follow him to the United States in 2004 he turned him down, instead preferring to stay in the city of his birth and become one of the main coaches with Murilo Bustamante at Brazilian Top Team. 

"In 2006, I came for the first time to fight the Europeans, I got my first title and I met my girl, who was competing there and was from Norway. Of course the story had to have a girl involved! So I came to visit her. I wasn’t looking for any work opportunities, Thomas Johannessen and Morten Josephson had created Frontline just when I got here, we became very good friends, then they became my students." 

After a year of traveling back and forth between Brazil and Norway, Rios received an invitation from Johannessen and Josephson to move to Oslo and run the gym. 

"I don’t know why, but  I said yes. It was a hard decision as I rejected the previous offer of leaving Rio to go to USA, but my friends were always very helpful. Anytime I would have needed to go back to Brazil, they would help me do so." 

The Frontline Academy does not sell a brand. Rios wants to keep the academy name only for his students, which means that only black belts graded by him can be a part of the Frontline affiliation. 

The headquarters are located in the Norwegian capital city of Oslo, where Rios works as the head coach. There are five other Frontline academies in Oslo, Drammen, Örebro, Bergen and Poland. Teta also runs his own line of his called Rios Gear, which he created with his partner, Frontline Bergen coach Andre "Fievel". 

Teta's teaching style comes from a strong pedigree, and Frontline is known for the high technical level of their students. 

"I used to see how Carlson Gracie Sr., Liborio, Murilo Bustamante used to teach and this is how I learned. I could see people coming, even from other academies, to ask Carlson Gracie Sr about new techniques, techniques that he wouldn’t know, but he was able to analyze them, understand them, and give an answer about how to defend or how to escape the position. He had an incredible insight into jiu-jitsu." 

"In the same vein, I wasn’t taught how to teach jiu-jitsu, but how to learn it, to see the techniques, to think, to understand other people’s games. And I love that, I like to observe different people’s game and learn. Liborio teaches by allowing people to play their own games and help them develop from there. So this is how I teach, because that was what I admired looking up to my own teachers. I try to keep myself motivated while teaching, you can’t never stop learning, you need to stay hungry to learn all the time, that’s the challenge. I try to give my best, there is no excuse for me to have a bad day teaching." 

There are twelve hundred students training at the Frontline HQ. There are  jiu-jitsu (gi and no-gi) and MMA classes in all schools, and the learning process is based on adapting every technique to the student. One thing in common among all of the Frontline students is their humble attitude, even while winning World championships or UFC fights. No matter what they always stay humble and united. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “I remember when I was a young black belt, I was 20 or 21 at the time, and I was fighting so many big names like Terere, people I was always looking up to, and I got the chance to share the mats with them," says Rios. "I beat some and they beat me but every time I would just think: 'Oh! He shook my hand. I am sharing the mat with him!' They beat me and I was so happy to just be there in the Worlds having a good time fighting those guys who I admired so much." 

Frontline has become a force to be reckoned with at any European tournament, and Rios loves it. “Every time one of my students takes the decision to go to a tournament, I feel so grateful. I really appreciate it a lot. I always try to be very honest with them, competing has a down side, you need to be very disciplined, to be very dedicated, you need to train a lot, you spend money, you need to make weight, you don’t know if you are going to lose or not… Every time any of my students takes the decision to go and compete I feel so proud.” 

Rios has already coached several IBJJF World medalists in the colored belts, IBJJF European champions (gi and no-gi) and even UFC fighters. "I remember when I was coaching Jack "The Joker" Hermansson (18-4-0) in my hometown in Brazil. He was suffering immensely with the pain of a broken rib he picked up in an earlier round, but he decided to go for the third round and he won the match by submission. That is an experience and lesson of the benefits and strength of jiu jitsu that I will never forget." 

Watch the 2019 IBJJF European Championships

Jan. 15-20 | Lisbon, Portugal