Francisco Albuquerque Neto

Francisco Albuquerque — known throughout the jiu-jitsu world as "Toco" — was born on March 27, 1969, and raised in Leblon, one of Rio de Janeiro's most storied neighborhoods in the city's South Zone. His introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came at the end of 1986, when his close friend Rodrigo Medeiros brought him to the mats for the first time. That friendship would prove to be one of the defining relationships of his life, both personally and professionally.

Toco's first instructor was Manoel Maria Cardoso Neto, known as "Maneco," a brown belt within the Carlson Gracie lineage. Training under Maneco placed Toco firmly inside the Carlson Gracie tradition from the very start — an influence that would shape every stage of his development as a practitioner and, later, as a leader within the art.

Carlson Gracie awarded Toco every belt throughout his career, establishing an unbroken and deeply personal lineage between master and student. This direct relationship with one of the founding figures of competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was far more than ceremonial — it reflected a genuine bond and the exacting standard of excellence that Carlson Gracie demanded of those who carried his name.

Before earning his black belt, Toco had already stepped onto the instructor's side of the mat as a brown belt, demonstrating both technical maturity and a strong sense of responsibility to his training community. In 1996, Carlson Gracie formalized what the mats had long confirmed, awarding Toco his black belt in a special ceremony that recognized not only his skill but his character as a practitioner.

The origins of Nova Geração trace back to a single, modest opportunity: Toco and Rodrigo Medeiros were invited to teach classes at a local gym in Leblon. That invitation became the seed from which one of Rio de Janeiro's respected jiu-jitsu teams would grow. Formally established in 1992, the team was built organically from the shared history and friendship of its two founders.

Nova Geração's founding story is quintessentially grassroots — two practitioners, bound by friendship and a love of jiu-jitsu, transforming a single local opportunity into something lasting. Rooted in the Leblon community where both men had grown up training, the team developed its own distinct identity while maintaining its connection to the broader Carlson Gracie tradition. Over the years, Nova Geração established a recognized presence in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, shaped by the values its founders carried from their formative years on the mat.

Toco's competitive career unfolded during the formative years of the Brazilian sport jiu-jitsu circuit, a period when the competitive structure of the art was still taking shape and titles carried particular weight as markers of technical legitimacy. In 1993, he claimed the Oscar do Jiu-Jitsu championship — one of the sport's early prestigious titles in Brazil — announcing himself as a competitor of the highest order.

1994 marked the peak of his competitive output. That year, Toco won both the Brazilian National Championship and the Estadual (State) Championship, a double that confirmed his standing at the elite level of the national scene. Earning the state title within Rio de Janeiro — the heartland of Brazilian jiu-jitsu — carried particular significance, given the exceptional depth of competition the region has always produced. Notably, these titles were earned during the same years he was actively teaching and building Nova Geração, a testament to the dual commitment he maintained throughout his early black belt career.

Beyond the competition circuit, Toco has been a driving force behind Nova Geração's community outreach, extending the team's impact well beyond sport. His belief in jiu-jitsu as a vehicle for social development — particularly for the youth of Rio de Janeiro — has been a consistent thread running through his leadership of the team.

A social project developed through Nova Geração earned the support of Sérgio Cabral, a prominent political figure in Rio de Janeiro. The program's origins trace to 2004, at which point Cabral held the office of senator for the state of Rio de Janeiro, a position he occupied from 2003 to 2006. He subsequently served as Governor of Rio de Janeiro from 2007 to 2014. The involvement of a figure of his political standing underscored the broader recognition that Nova Geração's social work had earned within the city.

This commitment to community has become one of the defining characteristics of the team under Toco's leadership. Where many jiu-jitsu organizations measure success primarily through competitive results, Nova Geração has built an identity in which social responsibility and the development of young people in Rio de Janeiro stand alongside athletic achievement as equal expressions of what the team represents.