Eduardo Telles was born in 1976 and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, entering the martial arts world through karate. In a 2015 interview with Jiu-Jitsu Style, he cited two pivotal influences that set his course: the film Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the early UFC performances of Royce Gracie. As Gracie's name spread and BJJ began to boom across São Paulo in the wake of those early UFC events, the karate gym where Telles trained opened a Jiu-Jitsu class — and that was where he first encountered grappling under instructor Fernando Yamasaki, brother of renowned UFC referee Mario Yamasaki.

Seeking to learn English, Telles eventually relocated to the United States, where he continued training under Fabio Santos and Carlos Valente, earning his purple belt during that period abroad. Upon returning to São Paulo, he joined Fabio Gurgel's Alliance, remaining there from purple belt through to black belt — a formative stretch that would define his game and shape his enduring place in BJJ history.

The Alliance São Paulo mats of that era were remarkable for their concentration of talent. Telles trained daily alongside Leo Vieira, Demian Maia, Rodrigo Medeiros|Rodrigo 'Comprido' Medeiros, and Fernando Augusto|Fernando 'Tererê' Augusto, among many others. The team achieved exceptional competitive success during this period, collecting team world titles and producing some of the most influential figures the sport has ever seen.

In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, Telles recalled one particular Brazilian national tournament in which his final match directly decided the team championship — and he won it. That kind of high-stakes environment was the norm rather than the exception. The same cohort that assembled under Fabio Gurgel at Alliance São Paulo would go on to found or shape Brasa, TT, Checkmat, NineNine Jiu-Jitsu, and Atos — with Telles sitting at the center of that remarkable generation.

Beyond competition, the Alliance gym served as a laboratory for Telles's deepest technical experiments. The environment fostered a philosophy of understanding positions rather than memorizing sequences — an approach that would come to define his teaching as much as his competing.

Origins in the Turtle Position

The technical revolution Eduardo Telles brought to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu began modestly — with knee-start sparring rounds as a white belt. Finding himself repeatedly in the turtle position during those exchanges, he began probing its possibilities rather than treating it as a liability to escape. After earning his purple belt, he made a deliberate decision to shift away from a top-passing game and invest fully in a bottom game, recognizing the guard as the defining characteristic of BJJ as a discipline.

The Role of Tererê

His regular training exchanges with Fernando Augusto|Tererê most directly shaped the Turtle Guard. Tererê was relentless in hunting the back, which meant Telles spent considerable time absorbing that pressure — and rather than simply surviving, he began constructing a systematic framework of escapes, transitions, and attacks from the turtle position. What had previously been regarded as a defensive posture of last resort became, in Telles's hands, a fully offensive weapon.

Esquijitsu and the Octopus Guard

Telles extended that creative fingerprint further with the development of the Octopus Guard, building trademark setups that bore no precedent in the sport. In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, he articulated the philosophy behind this body of work: understanding positions over memorizing steps, arguing that old-school and new-school techniques connect naturally when a practitioner grasps the positional logic underneath them. That approach earned his game the nickname Esquijitsu — loosely translated as 'weird Jiu-Jitsu' — and secured him a second, more affectionate title: The Turtle Man.

In early 2003, Eduardo Telles and Fernando Augusto|Fernando 'Tererê' Augusto co-founded the TT team following their departure from Alliance, establishing one of the most exciting competition squads of its era. Both founders excelled under the TT banner, and the team's roster included a young André Galvão, whose later career would cement him as one of the sport's all-time greats.

TT's trajectory, however, was disrupted by circumstances beyond the mats. Tererê began struggling with drug addiction and personal instability, casting a shadow over the team's operations and momentum. The TT Team dissolved in 2006, closing a chapter that had promised even more than it delivered.

Despite those difficulties, Telles expressed nothing but warmth toward his long-time training partner and co-founder in his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, conveying genuine happiness at Tererê's eventual recovery. That renewed bond bore meaningful fruit in early 2015, when Tererê stood in Telles's corner at the 2015 IBJJF European Championship — a full-circle moment that spoke to the depth of their partnership.

The Philosophy Behind the Name

Following the dissolution of TT, Eduardo Telles channeled his energy into building something entirely his own, founding NineNine Jiu-Jitsu as both an academy and a competitive team. The name was chosen with deliberate philosophical intent. In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, Telles explained that it symbolizes the pursuit of perfection — since humans can only reach 99% and never the full 100%, the name captures the endless striving at the heart of serious practice. The logo reinforces this meaning: two nines, one white and one black, representing the teacher-student relationship and the cycle through which knowledge passes from one generation to the next. Notably, Telles made a conscious decision to avoid naming the team after himself, prioritizing concept over personal branding.

Establishing the San Diego Base

NineNine's San Diego headquarters opened in 2012, establishing the California base from which Telles would teach and train. As of July 2015, Telles was living and teaching in San Diego, leading most classes himself, training frequently alongside his students, and surfing when his schedule allowed. In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, he reflected warmly on the contrast between BJJ's relaxed, collaborative culture and the strict formality of his karate years — a contrast that directly informed how he built and ran his own academy.

Alongside his Jiu-Jitsu pursuits, Eduardo Telles pursued a professional mixed martial arts career, finishing with a record of 5–2. His early bouts showcased the directness of his submission game: a quick victory over Rubens Xavier was followed by a first-round finish of Rafael 'Sapo' of Gracie Barra, ended by a head kick.

His first professional defeat came at the hands of the experienced Landro Silva 'Batata' — a loss that Telles treated not as a setback but as information. It motivated him to travel to Rio de Janeiro and join the renowned X-Gym, where he worked specifically on his vale tudo and MMA skill set. In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, Telles spoke highly of X-Gym's level of skill and the hospitality he encountered there. As of that same interview, he remained open to the possibility of returning to MMA competition.

Major Titles

At black belt, Eduardo Telles built a competition record that reflected both his creativity and his capacity to perform under pressure. He claimed the Pan American Championship title in 2007 and the Brazilian National Championship (CBJJE) in 2008, while his No-Gi World Championship gold in 2013 demonstrated that his unconventional style translated just as effectively without the gi. His career also included multiple silver and bronze finishes at the IBJJF World Championships, Pan Americans, and Brazilian Nationals, competing across the Pesado, Super Pesado, and Pesadissimo weight divisions throughout his career.

2015: Polaris and European Glory

Early 2015 brought two significant performances in quick succession. Telles traveled to Wales to compete at Polaris Pro 1 in a submission-only superfight against Mike Fowler. The match ended in a draw, though Telles drew considerable praise for his control and positional dominance throughout the contest. Shortly afterward, he claimed double gold at the 2015 IBJJF European Championship — taking both the weight and absolute divisions — marking his first European titles at black belt. Fernando Augusto|Tererê stood in his corner for both victories, completing the full-circle narrative of their enduring partnership.

Defending the Points System

Eduardo Telles has been an articulate voice on the structure of competition Jiu-Jitsu, and his positions reflect someone who has thought deeply about the sport's relationship to martial effectiveness. In his 2015 Jiu-Jitsu Style interview, he expressed appreciation for longer match times while simultaneously defending the points system — arguing, perhaps counterintuitively, that points create submission opportunities rather than discouraging them, by rewarding athletes who advance position aggressively and force their opponents into danger.

He also defended the advantages rule, acknowledging candidly that he had lost matches by advantage himself, yet still believed it served the sport's competitive integrity.

Critiquing the Gaps in IBJJF Rules

His strongest criticism was directed at the IBJJF's prohibition of heel hooks at black belt and its restrictions on knee reaping. Telles argued that these omissions leave fundamental gaps in a practitioner's skill set — gaps that become particularly glaring in ADCC, NAGA, and MMA contexts, where those techniques are entirely legal and frequently decisive. He extended his structural critique by arguing that side control should score points on par with mount, back mount, and knee-on-belly, given its genuine positional significance in live grappling.

Taken together, these positions reflect a broader vision of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a complete martial art — one whose competitive formats should reward mastery of the full positional and submission vocabulary, rather than a curated subset of it.