Leonardo Campello Gonzalez Media TV interview on belt promotions

The Leonardo Campello Gonzalez Media TV interview traced the kickboxing teacher’s advice that sent Campello into jiu-jitsu, his concerns about delayed belt promotions when students change gyms, and the difficulties of running Campello Jiu-Jitsu. He also discussed how the UFC helped bring Brazilian jiu-jitsu to a wider audience and confirmed that he is working on a watch project with a fighter mentioned by the host.

How did Leonardo Campello begin his jiu-jitsu journey?

Leonardo Campello began martial arts with judo classes in Brazil at about eight years old, but a kickboxing teacher later steered him toward jiu-jitsu. Campello initially wanted to emulate Jean-Claude Van Damme. He followed the teacher’s advice, earned a jiu-jitsu black belt and thanked him when they met again years later.

Judo at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Campello said his mother enrolled him in judo and swimming at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. He stopped at about 12 when she could no longer afford the classes. During his teens, he tried several other martial arts, including karate and wrestling, while practicing the splits associated with Van Damme.

A kickboxing teacher’s advice in Rio de Janeiro

At a club in Rio de Janeiro, Campello’s kickboxing teacher began adding ground-fighting techniques to the end of class. There were no mats: the students practiced on marble flooring. The teacher eventually told Campello that kickboxing was not his path and urged him to find a jiu-jitsu gym. Campello said the advice devastated him at first because he still wanted to be like Van Damme.

About 12 years later, Campello encountered the same teacher in Copacabana. By then a black belt, he told the teacher that the recommendation had changed his course and thanked him with a hug.

What did Leonardo Campello say about jiu-jitsu belt promotions?

Leonardo Campello said he has seen students receive less instruction or wait longer for promotion after changing gyms. He supports clear certification rules set by a jiu-jitsu association or federation, provided that schools choose whether to join and accept those rules. For Campello, the organization behind a belt matters when a student wants recognized certification.

Changing gyms and waiting for promotion

Asked whether newcomers can be treated differently at a jiu-jitsu school, Campello said he had seen that happen during his own journey. He described students arriving at a different gym with a certain belt or level and then facing reluctance to teach or promote them. He did not claim to know how widespread the practice is now.

Rules for certified belts

Campello said a major association could establish guidelines for schools seeking its certification. He mentioned the IBJJF as one possible organization, while emphasizing that a school unwilling to follow an association’s rules would not have to join it. The distinction, in his view, is whether the school wants that association to stand behind its belts.

He said he had not personally encountered a new student claiming a black belt from an unrecognized promoter. He had, however, seen people leave a gym and return months later with an additional stripe.

Why did Leonardo Campello find teaching and running a jiu-jitsu gym so different?

Leonardo Campello said he once thought competing was harder than teaching, but running a gym changed his mind. He finds teaching manageable when he can concentrate on students’ progress; owning the business added bills, repairs and travel. He ran Campello Jiu-Jitsu for about four years after taking over a gym that was closing.

Building a foundation for students

Campello compared progressive instruction to building a house. Early lessons establish a foundation before students can see the more advanced layers. He wants them to understand why a movement works, rather than memorize an answer they may forget. Knowing the reason, he said, helps a student work the answer out again later.

Taking over the former Renzo Gracie gym

He had been hired to teach at a Renzo Gracie gym when its operators told him it would close. Campello took over the space, retained most of the students and kept the landlord’s contract. After painting and installing a new floor, he ran it as Campello Jiu-Jitsu.

Ownership meant dealing with internet payments and problems such as a hole in the ceiling, rather than simply arriving to teach. Campello said his home was 80 miles from the gym. He also recalled difficult drives through snow, including one trip when the road was so white that he could barely make out tracks to follow. After that experience, he canceled classes when a blizzard or heavy storm was expected.

What did Leonardo Campello say about the growth of Brazilian jiu-jitsu?

Leonardo Campello said jiu-jitsu was a relatively small pursuit even in Rio de Janeiro when he began training. In his view, its major surge in attention followed the UFC, when more people started talking about the art. He believes it has lasted because practitioners can apply its lessons about obstacles beyond training.

Jiu-jitsu in Rio de Janeiro

Campello recalled that many prominent gyms were concentrated in Rio’s south zone and that there were fewer major teams when he started. He named Carson Gracie and Gracie Barra among the organizations he remembered from that period. The range of schools and the wider recognition discussed in the interview came later in his experience.

The UFC and a lesson about obstacles

Campello connected the sport’s wider popularity to the attention generated by the UFC. For him, its appeal is not limited to competition or martial arts technique. Describing what jiu-jitsu means to him, Campello put his central point plainly:

It's a way of life.

He illustrated that idea with someone pushing against what appears to be a wall. Looking up and around might reveal a smaller obstacle that can be climbed and used for leverage. Campello offered the image as a way to explain how training has shaped his approach to daily limits.

Who did Leonardo Campello credit for supporting his jiu-jitsu career?

Leonardo Campello thanked his family, his teachers and God when asked who had helped him. He singled out his mother’s support and his wife’s presence through moves involving Abu Dhabi, Dubai, San Diego and Rio de Janeiro. He also spoke warmly of his daughter and the instructors who guided him.

Campello said his father died early and that his mother supported him even when she did not say so directly. His father and grandfather were doctors, while his mother and several relatives were lawyers. Campello believed he would have pursued medicine or law if he had not become a jiu-jitsu teacher.

He described his wife as remaining beside him through the family’s changes of location. In thanking his teachers, he emphasized the one who had taught him for the longest period, along with the other instructors and grandmasters he had learned from over the years.

What did Leonardo Campello say about his watch project?

Leonardo Campello confirmed that he is working on a watch project with a fighter raised by Gonzalez Media TV. He said he had begun analyzing watches, showed the fighter his idea and was now working on it with him. Campello suggested that more might be seen soon, but gave no release date or product details.

The project came up near the end of the conversation, after Campello discussed the people who had supported his career. He did not describe a finished watch, a price or how it would be sold. His account was limited to the idea he had shared and the work under way.

Who is Leonardo Campello?

Leonardo Campello is a jiu-jitsu instructor with more than three decades of experience. He has taught internationally and now owns a gym in Idaho.