Andre Quiles

Andre Quiles was born on December 3, 1973, in Piraju, São Paulo — a city with deep roots in combat sports, widely recognized as one of Brazil's premier hubs for Muay Thai and MMA. His martial arts journey began with remarkable early, starting Judo training at approximately three years old. That foundation in grappling and competitive discipline would underpin everything that followed.

By 1988, Quiles had joined a local branch of the legendary Chute Boxe academy in Piraju. Originally founded in Curitiba, Paraná in 1978 by Rudimar Fedrigo, Chute Boxe became one of the most storied and feared combat sports teams in Brazilian history — a factory for world-class strikers and MMA fighters. The presence of a Chute Boxe branch in Piraju reflects the city's extraordinary combat sports culture, and Quiles wasted no time embracing it. His years on the Chute Boxe Muay Thai team immersed him in a striking-heavy, MMA-oriented environment that would later complement his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu development in distinctive and meaningful ways.

The Gracie Years

Andre Quiles began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey in 1991 under Ralph Gracie, one of the most respected and demanding instructors the art has ever produced. Training within the Gracie system exposed Quiles to a rigorous technical and competitive culture from day one. His blue belt came under Ralph Gracie's guidance, with the promotion ceremony conducted by Ryan Gracie and his cousin Daniel Gracie — a testament to the deeply interconnected nature of the Gracie family's teaching network. During this formative period, Quiles also trained under Royler Gracie, broadening his technical exposure to some of the highest-level Jiu-Jitsu available anywhere in the world at the time.

Nino Schembri and the Path to Black Belt

When Ralph Gracie and Royler Gracie relocated to the United States, Quiles transitioned to training under Nino Schembri — celebrated across the BJJ community for his innovative, creative, and highly technical guard work. Schembri was cross-training at Chute Boxe during this period to sharpen his MMA skill set, making the partnership with Quiles a natural fit. It was Nino Schembri who awarded Quiles both his purple and brown belts, guiding him through the most technically demanding phases of his development.

Following Schembri's own move to the United States, Quiles continued his progression under Leandro Vieira, who promoted him to black belt in 2010. The full arc of Quiles's belt progression spans nearly two decades and touches some of the most influential figures in BJJ history — a lineage that encompasses multiple generations of the art's evolution.

State-Level Supremacy

Andre Quiles built one of the most consistent regional competition records in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu across roughly fifteen years of active competition. His dominance at the São Paulo state level played out across two distinct competitive circuits, demonstrating an ability to perform at the highest level regardless of the organizing body or ruleset.

Under the FPJJ banner, Quiles claimed five consecutive São Paulo State Championship titles from 1995 through 1999, establishing himself as the benchmark competitor in his weight class across the state. He then transitioned seamlessly into the FESP circuit, adding seven more São Paulo State titles between 2001 and 2007 — extending his regional supremacy across multiple belt levels and confirming that his excellence was no product of a single competitive era.

National and International Results

His competitive reach extended well beyond São Paulo. In 2007, Quiles captured the Paraná State Championship under the CBJJE, while his 2003 victory at the VI State Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro demonstrated his ability to compete and win across Brazil. At the international level, he earned silver medals at the World Cup in both 2007 and 2010 — the latter in the absolute division — along with silver at the South American Championship in 2007 and at the Brazilian National Cup in both 2007 and 2010, all under the CBJJE. He rounded out his competitive legacy with a bronze medal at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship in 2010 in the Senior 1 division, confirming his versatility across gi and no-gi formats and his longevity as an elite-level competitor.

After relocating to the United States, Andre Quiles established himself as a BJJ and MMA coach in Arizona, channeling decades of diverse martial arts experience into a comprehensive instructional program. His affiliation with Checkmat — one of the most prominent and globally recognized teams in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — provides the organizational framework and competitive culture that defines his coaching environment.

What sets Quiles apart as an instructor is the unusual breadth of his background. His coaching draws on foundational Judo training from early childhood, years of Muay Thai development through his Chute Boxe membership, and a BJJ education shaped by an exceptional lineage including Ralph Gracie, Royler Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Nino Schembri, and Leandro Vieira. Few instructors can claim direct, substantive training under that range of elite-level teachers. The Chute Boxe legacy, in particular, informs his approach to MMA instruction — a system built on striking precision and the seamless integration of grappling and stand-up combat that made the team internationally feared during the sport's formative years.