Roberto Traven

Roberto Traven was one of the top jiu jitsu practitioners at turn of the millennium. A black belt under Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti, Traven conquered some of the most prestigious tournaments of his time such as the Brazilian Nationals, the Mundial and the ADCC. Roberto has also had a relevant career as a coach having taught alongside Muzio de Angelis in Rio de Janeiro, moving to the USA at a later stage to coach and compete in MMA.

Roberto Traven Biography

Roberto Traven was born in on the 16th of September 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Though he was a sporty person growing up, it took him 16 years to find Jiu Jitsu, but straight away he picked up tuition with one of the most highly decorated coaches of all time, Romero Cavalcanti AKA “Jacaré”. His natural ability for BJJ was clear from the get-go and the fact that he was obstinate made a recipe for a good fighter. Training 3 times per day alongside other historical figures such as Fabio Gurgel, Leo Vieira, Jamelão and many others, Traven managed to reach the grade of black belt within 4 years, an almost record breaking time frame in BJJ.

Traven started coaching at the “Academia Strike”, and soon pulled out one of his students, Muzio de Angelis, to help him with the classes. The team grew strong, but the venue ended closing in 1997. Roberto Traven did not give up and he re-opened his academy, this time making his former student, Muzio, his associate naming the team “Academia Muzio & Traven”.

Having started his MMA career in the United States in 1996 (UFC 11), Roberto Traven started seeing more and more of US territory as the years went by. Understanding that America had a great potential for jiu-jitsu, Roberto decided to leave the “Muzio & Traven” partnership a few years after he began it, and moved for good to the US.

Though his once promising MMA career died down after the turn of the millennium, due to a series of losses, Traven’s career as a BJJ instructor blossomed with several students, having also graduated some of the American students with the grade of black belt.

Since I started BJJ under your strict guidence and training just 3 short months ago at UNIT-2, I've gained so much more knowledge about MYSELF as much as I've learned BJJ! Meaning- Your methods of training are very challenging, not for the weak (mentally or physically), and I learned VERY FAST that I was NOT the "tough guy" that I thought that I was. I walked in a more muscular, ego flaring "lets do this" kinda guy…and that was crushed in 2-3 weeks!! Than the rest of my 1st month, I payed close attention to Travens teachings, but was having a hard time using those skills on my opponents in class rolling.

After 3 rough months of hard core conditioning, 12 min rounds of rolling for 30 min non-stop, and leaving my ego at the door every night…I was finally getting it! I was understanding the whole approach that Master Traven uses to teach his students so skillfully. I had to learn the hard way, It was essential that I got "beat down" every night in class by a blue belt, or another white belt with a years worth of practice over mine. By these teachings, I became less eager to just jump in to "win the fight!" I allowed myself to feel at ease, and to "slow it down" more to focus…even if that meant the other guy already choking me by the time I figured what submission he was going for, and now I can counterstrike that move "next time".

I VERY UNFORTUNATELY am suffering from a torn Pectoral Tendon (requiring surgery)…as well as a "Meniscus tear" in my right knee (requiring surgery). This all came about around the 1st of April this year. And as I sit and reflect on how GREAT OF SHAPE Travens BJJ was getting me into…Even with 16 years of BodyBuilding, and being an EX Pro/Am Surfer from Cocoa Bch Fla. until I ruptured a disc in my lower back (L4/L5-S1) surfing a hurricane swell in Florida, in 2005. I had my 1st back surgery asap…and recovered very well, but never competed in Surfing again and lost my sponsors. So I began to look for a new hobby/sport while landlocked in ATL, GA. I found Brazilian JiuJitsu, and with it's challenging approach along with technical and skillful methods…it reminded me so much of my Surfing, that took me YEARS to progress to the level that I was Surfing at!! I understand BJJ is the same way…and (just like Surfing) I love taking on something more powerful than me…something that's going to take me by surprise, or I will surprise myself suddenly, AND FEEL ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!

THANK YOU MASTER TRAVEN for giving me the honor to be trained by an international BJJ legend as your self. I WILL BE LIKE A CAR THAT GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT…AND I'M GOING TO BE IN THE SHOP THIS SUMMER GETTING FIXED. I WILL BE BACK AS SOON AS MY REHAB AND THEARAPY IS DONE!!! YOU CAN BET ON THAT! I'm already missing my BJJ classes so much, it hurts my spirit worse than my injuries.

You forgot to mention he did a stint in Brisbane, Australia for about 1-2 years (2004-2005?), fighting Elvis Sinosic in a local show, and training Kyle Noke (current UFC fighter). He came to Oz with his brown belt Eduardo Dias who he award to black belt before he left, Eduardo stayed in Brisbane and started the Garra BJJ academy.http://www.garrabjj.com.au/