André Terêncio

Born on December 20, 1977, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, André Terêncio's journey to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was forged through personal struggle as much as athletic drive. At approximately 13 years old, in the early 1990s, he walked through the doors of Academia Santana and began what would become a lifelong commitment to the art. His motivation was deeply personal — an overweight child who lacked self-confidence, he found in BJJ both the physical challenge and psychological grounding that few other pursuits could offer.

From the outset, Terêncio's dedication set him apart from his peers. So serious was his commitment that he asked his family to forgo birthday and holiday gifts, redirecting that money toward training tuition — a telling sacrifice for a teenager, and a clear signal of the discipline that would define his career. Throughout his entire development as a student and competitor, he trained under a single instructor: Carlos Henrique, who guided him from white belt through to black belt. That unbroken lineage under one teacher gave Terêncio a cohesive, deeply rooted technical foundation that would later shape both his competitive identity and his coaching philosophy.

André Terêncio competed in the Meio-Pesado division, the weight class covering athletes up to 88kg (194.5lbs), and he proved himself on both regional and national stages during his purple belt years. In 1997, he earned a Bronze Medal at the Brazilian National Championship — a result that placed him among the country's elite competitors at that level and validated the technical environment Carlos Henrique had built at Academia Santana.

He followed that performance with a Silver Medal at the Rio de Janeiro State Championship in 1998, adding further credibility to a record built on steady progression across multiple competitive circuits. Given the depth of Brazilian BJJ competition during that era, these results carried genuine weight — they established Terêncio as a technically sound, tournament-tested practitioner. The discipline and resilience he developed through competition translated directly into the coaching identity he would later bring to the mat.

In 2002, André Terêncio made the pivotal decision to step out on his own. After years of training and competing under Carlos Henrique, he departed from Academia Santana to establish André Negão BJJ Club — marking a definitive shift from dedicated student to independent head coach and program builder.

The results under his leadership were immediate. The academy became a productive environment for developing competitive talent, and Terêncio earned a growing reputation for his ability to identify and cultivate champions. The success of André Negão BJJ Club made clear that his understanding of BJJ extended well beyond personal performance — he possessed the vision and communication skills to transmit both technical knowledge and competitive mindset to the next generation. This period laid the groundwork for a far larger ambition: building a team with genuine international reach.

The formation of Brazil 021 stands as the most consequential chapter of André Terêncio's career as an organization builder. Terêncio co-founded Brazil 021 alongside Hannette Staack, a highly decorated black belt and multiple-time world champion whose competitive credentials brought immediate elite-level legitimacy to the partnership. The combination of Terêncio's coaching pedigree and Staack's championship experience produced a team built on both technical depth and a proven competitive framework.

It bears clarifying that while Carlos Henrique played an essential role in shaping Terêncio as a practitioner — guiding him through every belt from white to black — he was not a co-founder of Brazil 021. The team's origins belong specifically to the collaboration between Terêncio and Staack, a distinction that defines the organization's leadership structure and identity.

Brazil 021 grew steadily into an internationally recognized team, developing affiliates across both the United States and Brazil. The team's name reflects its Brazilian roots — Rio de Janeiro's area code — while its expanding affiliate network signals a deliberate global vision. Terêncio's role as a founding coach places him at the center of one of the more ambitious team-building projects in the modern era of BJJ, and the organization's reach across two continents stands as a testament to that ambition.

André Terêncio — widely known within the BJJ community by his nickname "Negão" — bases his coaching operations in Chicago, where he has continued to develop competitors of the highest caliber. His reputation as a legendary instructor rests not on a single standout athlete or program, but on the breadth of world-class talent he has produced across his coaching career — a record that places him among the sport's most effective developers of champions.

The coaching philosophy Terêncio brings to the mat is a direct extension of the values he demonstrated as a student: sacrifice, consistency, and an unwavering commitment to technical mastery. Those qualities — visible as early as his teenage years in Rio de Janeiro, when he redirected gift money toward training tuition — define the culture he builds within his athletes. The international footprint of Brazil 021, with affiliates spread across the United States and Brazil, reflects the reach of his influence well beyond any single gym or city. For the athletes who train under him, Terêncio represents a model of what sustained dedication to Jiu-Jitsu can produce both on and off the competition mats.