João Miyao

João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao was born on May 11, 1991, in Andirá, Paraná, Brazil, alongside his twin brother Paulo Miyao. The brothers are third-generation Japanese Brazilians and grew up in a modest family, the sons of a farmer and a housewife. They first entered martial arts through judo, then discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 16 under Adriano Carvalho, who quickly recognized that the quiet twins had unusual technical appetite and competitive drive.

Against their parents' wishes, João and Paulo moved to São Paulo to chase professional jiu-jitsu. Their home became Cicero Costha's PSLPB, Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem, where they lived among other young competitors and trained with a near-monastic routine. The Miyaos studied Rafael and Guilherme Mendes intensely, then developed their own hyper-flexible guard language around inversions, berimbolo entries, 50/50 exchanges, and back takes. At roughly 64 kilograms, João was already medaling in absolute divisions, which made the twins emblematic of the early-2010s modern guard revolution.

João's colored-belt career was one of the sport's great volume runs: IBJJF World titles at purple belt in 2011 and 2012, brown-belt World gold in 2013, Pan titles across blue, purple, and brown, and Brazilian Nationals titles in both gi and no-gi. Although Paulo received brown belt first, João caught up and the brothers were promoted to black belt together by Cicero Costha in June 2013. As black belts they became associated not only with PSLPB but also with Unity Jiu-Jitsu in New York, where Murilo Santana's team gave them a North American base for the major IBJJF circuit.

At black belt, João became one of the most decorated light-featherweight competitors of his generation. He won the IBJJF World Championship in the gi in 2019 after three prior silver medals and a 2018 bronze, captured four IBJJF World No-Gi titles in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and won five straight IBJJF Pan Championships from 2014 through 2018. His wider resume includes Pan No-Gi golds, European Open titles, a 2014 Brazilian Nationals title, 2018 UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro gold, Abu Dhabi Grand Slam titles in Rio, Los Angeles, and Abu Dhabi, ACBJJ 6 Grand Prix gold in 2017, and the 2019 KASAI Pro 6 Grand Prix.

Miyao's style is remembered for relentless guard retention and back-taking chains, but it has not been frozen in that era. His recorded wins are heavily submission-oriented, especially chokes from the back, rear naked chokes, armbars, and later baratoplata attacks, a technique he has taught through seminars and instructional material. In 2024 João and Paulo opened Studio 1908 in Jersey City, New Jersey, a name that honors Japanese immigration to Brazil in 1908. From that base João has continued competing selectively, including master-division IBJJF success, while teaching the detail-heavy Miyao approach that helped change how lighter athletes attack from guard.