Instructors | Ralph Gracie Berkeley Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy

Eduardo Fraga

Eduardo “Selvagem” Fraga is a renowned instructor of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Eduardo has been training and competing in BJJ for over thirty years and has been teaching both adults and children for two decades. He is a 5th degree Jiu-Jitsu black belt and holds a brown belt in Judo. Eduardo is known for his dynamic teaching style which emphasizes basic technique and hard training.

He began jiu-jitsu at the age of 6 and was awarded black belt when he was 22. Eduardo came up during a golden age of BJJ in São Paulo training with and fighting against many of the other legends of the sport. Eduardo trained and taught in Sao Paulo under the legendary fighter Ryan Gracie (Ralph’s Brother). From 1995 to 1997 Eduardo fought vale tudo with a 7-3 professional record. His individual BJJ accomplishments include placing 10x Pan Americans (Black Belt), 7x Sao Paulo State Champion. In 2008 Eduardo immigrated with his family to the US and joined the Ralph Gracie team. He dedicates his life to teaching and promoting Jiu-Jitsu as a cornerstone for a healthy lifestyle.

An accomplished competitor, Prof Fraga holds the titles of:

7x time Brazilian State Champion 1992,1993,1994,1996,2000,2001,2003
3rd place 2000 Pan-American Tournament
2nd place 2003 Pan-American Tournament
3rd place 2004 Pan-American Tournament
3rd place 2004 Master and Senior International Tournament
1st place 2005 Pan-American Tournament
3rd place 2005 Pan-American Tournament Open-Division
2nd place 2008 Pan-American Tournament
2nd place 2009 U.S. Open Championship
2nd place 2010 Pan-American Tournament
2nd place 2011 American Nationals black-belt middle-weight senior 1
2nd place 2011 American Nationals black-belt absolute senior 1
1st place 2011 US Open black-belt middle-weight senior 1
1st place First Free Style Fight Circuit 1995
2nd place Second Free Style Fight Circuit 1995
2nd place Seventh Free Style Fight Circuit 1996

Newton Casemiro

Newton is from Goiania, a state 3 hours from the Capital Brasilia in Brazil. Newton moved to U.S. in 1997. Newton was a wrestler in High School from 1998-2001 and was inducted into the Albany High School Wrestling Hall of fame in 2014.

Newton started Judo in 1986 at the age of 5years old in his homeland, Brazil. Then got his Judo Black belt in 2003 from Mel Augustine from Albany YMCA and he is a third degree Judo black belt and head instructor at Berkeley Judo Club where he co-teaches with a 4th degree Black belt Barry Wagner whom joined the Berkeley Judo family in 2009 a couple years after the Judo program started at the Ralph Gracie Berkeley Academy. Newton and Barry has produced multiple Judo black belts. Judo is one of the most popular sports in the world for self-defense, exercise and philosophy, judo is the way to most efficiently use your skills against a stronger opponent while learning the respect, value and ethics espoused by its founder Jigoro Kano.

Newton started training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at Ralph Gracie Berkeley in 2005 where he got all of his belts from blue to black belt. Ralph Gracie promoted Newton to Blue belt himself in December of 2005 and Eduardo Fraga his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructor since 2008 promoted Newton to purple, brown and finally black belt in 2011 at Ralph Gracie Berkeley. Coach Newton has been teaching the kids Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class since he was a purple belt, he also co-teaches the beginners Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and sometimes all levels class with Coach Eduardo Fraga.

Notable accomplishments

Judo – Multiple times State and local tournament Judo Champion in Brazil and USA
Wrestling – Multiple times local High School wrestling Champion in the USA
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu – Multiple time local Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and Super fights Champion
2007 Battle of the Bay intermediate and advanced No-gi champion, IBJJF Pan Ams(blue belt adult) lightweight Bronze medalist
2008 IBJJF Pan Ams(blue belt adult) light weight Silver medalist
2009 Ralph Gracie Open Middle weight and Open division Champion (purple belt)
2011 American Nationals Middleweight Bronze Medalists (Brown belt), American National’s Open weight Champion (Brown Belt), US Open Middleweight
Champion (Brown Belt), US Open Open weight Bronze Medalists (Brown Belt)
2012 NorCal Medium-Heavy Champion (Black belt)
2013 World’s Masters 1
Bronze Medalists (Black Belt)

Alan Joyce

Alan started training Jiu-Jitsu in 2006 at the Ralph Gracie Berkeley Academy. In 2015 he was awarded his black belt by Eduardo Fraga, and is among the first group of home-grown black belts at the academy. He began teaching kids classes in 2012 at the rank of purple belt and now teaches adult and beginner classes as well as running a popular open mat.

Ahmed White

Coach and competitor Ahmed White is a black belt and former professional MMA fighter with over ten years of training and teaching experience. Ahmed provides a fun learning atmosphere in his Thursday night No-Gi class where he incorporates his favorite fundamental moves along with trending concepts and techniques to help everyone improve their jiu-jitsu game. He’s always willing to help push you to new limits and give you tips if you have questions. Ahmed caters to each student’s learning style (audible, visual and kinesthetic), he encourages team support as well as personal growth.

Notable accomplishments

Has competed in almost 100 jiu jitsu competitions
Gold at Worlds (blue belt)
2x gold at Pan Ams (blue belt)
2x silver at No Gi Worlds (blue belt)
2x gold at BJJ Pro (purple belt)
Multiple gold at US Open, SF Open, San Jose Open and other local tournaments
Gold at the Abu Dhabi trials (won free trip to Abu Dhabi as purple belt)
Multiple wins on stage at Fight to Win (black belt)

Justin Yasonia

Justin began his BJJ career as a teenager in the late 90s. He has trained, taught and competed all over the world, winning titles in Asia, Africa and the US. He reached the pinnacle of his competitive career when he qualified for the Abu Dhabi World Pro Cup winning the adult black/brown belt trials shortly after receiving his brown belt. He utilizes techniques from BJJ, judo and wrestling to forge well-rounded grapplers.

Drawing on his training as a Physical Education teacher along with a master’s degree in Philosophy, Justin emphasizes the connection between the mind and body (i.e.brain and brawn). Not in some airy-fairy way, but in using psychology to gain competitive advantages. His cerebral approach to jiu-jitsu ensures students are aware of when to utilize certain techniques and physically fit enough to execute the movements. The warm-up combines fundamental jiu-jitsu movements, wrestling drills and mobility exercises to increase the heart rate and prepare the body for grappling.