Nino Schembri

Antônio Schembri was born on June 1, 1974, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, into a traditional Italian immigrant family whose values shaped much of his early character. Unlike many competitors who populated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during his formative years, Schembri grew up working alongside his father in street markets — a working-class upbringing that forged resilience and a self-reliant creative instinct that would later define his game on the mats.

Schembri's introduction to jiu-jitsu came at age 13, when he began training under Jorge Pereira, laying an early technical foundation in the sport. Those years under Pereira gave him a grounding that set him apart from peers who came to the art later in life. By age 18, carrying the rank of blue belt, he made the transition to Gracie Barra — arriving with prior experience and a hunger to develop his craft under one of BJJ's most storied institutions.

Joining Gracie Barra at 18 as a blue belt, Schembri came under the direct guidance of Carlos Gracie Junior, one of the most influential architects of modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The structured, technically rigorous environment of Gracie Barra provided ideal conditions for Schembri's creativity to take root and expand. He earned his black belt under Carlos Gracie Junior, cementing his place within the Gracie Barra lineage and establishing the formal identity that would accompany his rise through competitive BJJ.

Schembri's Italian immigrant background and working-class roots set him apart culturally within an ecosystem where many athletes came from more privileged circumstances. Rather than treating limited resources as a disadvantage, he channeled them into developing an adaptive, flexibility-driven style of jiu-jitsu built on ingenuity rather than financial advantage. The Gracie Barra years transformed a promising young practitioner into one of the most distinctive guard players of his generation.

Nino Schembri stands as one of the finest guard players in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — a reputation built not merely on competitive results, but on the depth and originality of his technical contributions. His approach to the guard was fundamentally offensive, a philosophy that transformed positions previously understood as defensive tools into primary submission threats.

Pioneering the Omoplata and Gogoplata

Among his most significant contributions was the pioneering of offensive applications of the Omoplata, a shoulder lock from guard that Schembri elevated from an occasional positional maneuver into a credible and feared finishing technique. He also developed and popularized the Gogoplata — an unorthodox choke executed from guard using the shin across the opponent's throat — a technique so technically demanding that it remained exotic even as the sport grew more sophisticated.

Influencing Eddie Bravo and the Rubber Guard

Perhaps the broadest measure of Schembri's influence lies in his impact on Eddie Bravo, who has credited Schembri as a key inspiration behind the Rubber Guard system. Bravo's exposure to Schembri's flexible, creative guard game helped spark an entire branch of no-gi grappling that would go on to shape submission wrestling worldwide. Schembri's emphasis on body flexibility and unconventional angles over brute strength was markedly ahead of its time, prefiguring the guard innovations that would come to define competitive BJJ in the decades that followed.

Schembri's competitive career stands as testament to the effectiveness of his guard-based system against the highest levels of opposition. He captured the Brazilian National Championship in 1996 in the absolute division — one of his earliest major title victories and a clear signal of the talent about to break through on the international stage.

Back-to-Back World Championships

In 1997 and 1998, Schembri won back-to-back World Championships, establishing himself as a dominant force in the Peso Medio division (82kg/181lbs) and confirming his status among the elite of his generation. These titles, earned through an aggressive submission-oriented style anchored in guard attacks, placed him at the center of competitive BJJ during one of the sport's most formative periods. He also competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, one of the most prestigious grappling events globally, further demonstrating his ability to perform across different competitive formats.

After his MMA chapter drew to a close, Schembri returned to competitive jiu-jitsu in 2010, winning the Fabio Santos Open — a result that demonstrated his continued technical relevance long after his peak competitive years and underscored the durability of the guard system he had spent decades refining.

In 2001, Schembri transitioned into mixed martial arts, joining the renowned Chute Boxe Academy — a Brazilian fight team celebrated for producing some of the most ferocious and skilled MMA talent of the early 2000s. Within that environment, Schembri contributed not only as a competitor but as a grappling coach, sharing his advanced guard expertise with teammates and elevating the team's submission grappling capabilities.

Mentoring Mauricio Shogun Rua

Among the fighters Schembri influenced was Mauricio Shogun Rua, who went on to become a light heavyweight world champion in mixed martial arts. Shogun Rua received his black belt from both Nino Schembri and Cristiano Marcelo, a joint recognition that reflected the collaborative mentorship environment at Chute Boxe during that era.

Personal Tragedy and Its Impact

The suicide of his father in 2004 marked a devastating turning point in Schembri's MMA chapter. The personal tragedy deeply affected his focus and consistency in competition, and the emotional weight of the loss proved difficult to compartmentalize within the demands of elite athletic performance. His MMA tenure, while notable for its grappling contributions and the mentorship he provided to teammates, was ultimately shaped in large part by the human cost of this profound personal grief — a reminder that competitive careers unfold within lives that extend far beyond the boundaries of the mat or the cage.

Nino Schembri's legacy rests on several interconnected pillars that together define his place in BJJ history. The techniques he pioneered — the Omoplata as a primary submission weapon, the Gogoplata as an unorthodox finishing tool — are now considered foundational elements taught across academies at every level of the sport. What were once regarded as eccentric innovations have become standard components of a complete guard game.

His influence on Eddie Bravo and the subsequent development of the Rubber Guard system created a ripple effect that extended well beyond Schembri's own competitive career, shaping entire lineages of no-gi and submission wrestling that continue to evolve. In this sense, his impact is not confined to what he accomplished personally on the competition circuit — it lives on in the technical DNA of practitioners who may never have heard his name.

As an innovator who emerged from a working-class background with limited resources, Schembri demonstrated that creativity and physical flexibility could rival raw athleticism and financial advantage in the development of elite jiu-jitsu. His mentorship within Chute Boxe extended his reach into the MMA world, contributing to the formation of fighters like Mauricio Shogun Rua who achieved the sport's highest honors.

Schembri represents a transitional figure in BJJ history — a competitor who bridged the classical Gracie Barra tradition with a forward-thinking, experimental approach to guard play that anticipated the sport's evolution. His career arc, from Rio's street markets to world championships to the coaching role that helped shape MMA legends, reflects both the breadth of his contribution and the deeply human story behind it.