Moises Murad

Moises Muradi was born on March 18, 1965, in Brazil, to a family of Arabic descent. His father's career as a salesman kept the family in near-constant motion, making it difficult for young Moises to establish roots in any one place. Yet it was precisely this nomadic upbringing that would deliver him to the art defining his life.

In 1976, just weeks before his 11th birthday, Moises had his first contact with Jiu-Jitsu while his family was living in Mogi Mirim, in the interior of São Paulo state. Training under Orlando Saraiva, he demonstrated an immediate aptitude for the sport, eventually earning a São Paulo state championship title in the juvenile division. The technical and personal foundation Saraiva provided proved enduring, and the bond between the two would remain significant well into Muradi's organizational career.

When his father received an assignment in the state capital, the family relocated to the city of São Paulo—a move that would open an entirely new chapter in Moises's development as a practitioner.

Upon settling in São Paulo city, Moises and his brothers were invited to train under Octávio de Almeida (Senior), a pioneering figure among the first instructors to open a dedicated BJJ academy in the state capital. Octávio de Almeida's approach to the art drew from two distinct influences: George Gracie and the Japanese Ono brothers. This dual lineage instilled in him a strong current of Japanese discipline and philosophy, which permeated the culture of his academy.

Training under Octávio proved transformative for Muradi. Beyond sharpening his technical skills, the environment cultivated a deep intellectual and emotional understanding of Jiu-Jitsu—one that would inform his teaching philosophy and his vision for the sport's governance for decades to come. He eventually earned his black belt under the late master, cementing one of the most important relationships of his BJJ life.

It was also within Octávio de Almeida's academy that Moises first encountered Otávio de Almeida Junior, known as "Otavinho." Despite being nearly 12 years younger than Junior, the two clashed from the outset, their personal friction occasionally boiling over into direct confrontation. This rivalry, born among teammates under the same master, would eventually extend far beyond the academy and play a decisive role in reshaping BJJ's institutional landscape in São Paulo. A testament to his lifelong dedication to the art, Muradi holds the rank of coral belt.

On February 19, 1989, Moises Muradi co-founded Lotus Jiu Jitsu alongside his brothers Ali and Elias, establishing what would become one of the prominent BJJ academies in São Paulo. The founding of Lotus was more than an entrepreneurial venture—it was an institutional expression of the values and principles Muradi had absorbed under Octávio de Almeida (Senior), channeled into a school built to carry that legacy forward.

Lotus grew into a significant team within São Paulo's competitive BJJ community and served as the primary institutional base from which Muradi would pursue his broader organizational ambitions. The academy's identity and independence later became central to the federation disputes that defined much of his administrative career, as Lotus stood among the teams that severed ties with the FPJJ and aligned with FESP during the prolonged rivalry between the two organizations.

In 1991, Muradi founded the Federação Paulista de Jiu-Jitsu (FPJJ), establishing the first formal state-level governing body for BJJ in São Paulo. The creation of the FPJJ was a landmark moment for the sport in the state, providing a structured framework for competition and regulation at a time when BJJ was still consolidating its identity as an organized discipline.

Muradi served as president of the FPJJ for one mandate, playing a central role in building the federation's early infrastructure. Over time, however, the organization's internal culture deteriorated in ways he found untenable. In an interview with Tatame, he described an environment in which senior figures—among them his first coach, Orlando Saraiva, and Max Trombini—were openly disrespected during organizational meetings, largely by lower-ranked vale-tudo fighters granted disproportionate influence within the federation's processes.

The decisive breaking point came through his long-running adversary. "Otavinho" de Almeida allegedly applied pressure against Muradi's Lotus Jiu Jitsu and Cia Paulista at a state championship, purportedly in favor of Godoi and Macaco's team. Muradi reported the incident formally and resigned from the FPJJ, unwilling to remain part of an institution he believed had become deeply compromised.

Following his departure from the FPJJ, Muradi did not retreat from organizational life—he escalated his response. Together with fellow organizers, he launched a rival body, the Federação do Estado de São Paulo (FESP), designed to provide an alternative governing structure for BJJ in the state and directly challenge the FPJJ's authority.

The competition between the two federations proved prolonged and consequential. Over time, a significant number of São Paulo's most prominent teams broke their ties with the FPJJ and aligned with FESP. Among those making the switch were Alliance, Cia Paulista, Lotus Jiu Jitsu, and Ryan Gracie Team, alongside several other notable academies. The defection of teams of this caliber demonstrated the depth of dissatisfaction with the FPJJ's management and gave FESP substantial competitive and institutional weight.

The episode stands as one of the more revealing chapters in Brazilian BJJ's organizational history—a reminder that the sport's governance has rarely been a settled matter, and that figures like Muradi have been willing to build alternatives from the ground up when existing institutions fail to meet their standards.

In 2007, Muradi extended his organizational vision to the national level by founding the Confederação Brasileira de Jiu-Jitsu Esportivo (CBJJE). The new body was conceived as a direct alternative to the CBJJ/IBJJF at a moment when Brazilian athletes had growing cause to seek one: the dominant governing body had been progressively shifting its flagship competitions away from Brazil and toward the United States, creating logistical and financial barriers for domestic competitors.

By anchoring the CBJJE's competitive calendar firmly in Brazil, Muradi positioned the organization as a more accessible and nationally grounded option for the country's BJJ community. Assuming the presidency of the CBJJE, he continued the pattern of direct, hands-on institutional leadership that had characterized his entire career—from building the FPJJ in São Paulo to the federation battles of the FESP era. The founding of the CBJJE represented the fullest expression of a philosophy guiding Muradi across decades: that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's governance should serve Brazilian practitioners first, and that when existing structures fail to do so, new ones must be built.