Franco Behring Brazillian Jiu Jitsu:
The Behring Brazilian Jiu Jitsu system provides a full
set of self defense techniques (defesa pessoal), for both men and women that
are used against common attacks such as headlocks, bear hugs, hair grabs, and
rape to mention only a few.
Behring Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a wonderful complement to a stand up based
Martial Art such as Karate. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu combined with Karate will
develop a stronger, more balanced and complete Martial Artist.
All ancient cultures were believed to have had some form of grappling, many
believe that it began with Alexander the Great in ancient Greece. However,
China and Mongolia had wrestling long before Japan had Jiu Jitsu.
Jiu Jitsu began in Japan in 1532, its primary use was for warfare. It had
to be modified to make it safe for the general public. After the Feudal
period in Japan, Professor Jigoro Kano developed his own system of grappling
called Judo. Kano believed that ground fighting was not as important as
achieving the throw or take down, so ground fighting was no longer emphasized
and it became weak in Judo practitioners. Soon more rules were added so
that it could become an Olympic sport, this hindered it as a realistic form of
self defense.
Esai Maeda (1915) then transformed the art into more of a realistic form of
self defense focused on ground fighting skills. The concept is that most
fights end up on the ground and most stand up fighters have no idea what to do
once they find themselves there. Meada had moved to Sao Palo to help establish
a Japanese immigration colony. There he met Gastao Gracie. There
Maeda taught Gracie the basic Jiu Jitsu principles and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was
born.
Master Flavio Behring began learning Jiu Jitsu when he was 14 years old, in
1947. Master Flavio Behring and his son Professor Sylvio Behring (7th
Degree Black Belt) have brought Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the Progressive Guard
system all over the world as a self defense system.
Master Professor
Sylvio Behring started training in 1966 at the age of four, out of
Master Joao Alberto Barretos’ Academy (9th degree, red belt under
Master Helio Gracie). He primarily trained with his younger brother
Marcelo Behring under the watchful eye of his father, Master Flavio
Behring, also a direct student of Helio Gracie.
In
1972, they moved to Sao Paulo and trained at Professor Gastao Gracie
Junior’s School. Master Flavio Behring would teach all the classes when
they would visit. This played an important part in developing the
self-defense skills of Sylvio Behring and his brother Marcelo. During
the summers, Sylvio and Marcelo would train at Master Alvaro Barretos'
School (9th degree, red belt / blackbelt) in Copacabana. When they
moved back to Rio, Sylvio signed up with Master Alvaro and began
studying and developing his understanding of the Progressive method of
teaching. They trained everything: self-defense, Judo and very
technical ground fighting (gi and no gi grappling). Under Master
Alvaro’s instruction, Sylvio would receive his Blackbelt.
Training was intense between freestyle and reality-based self-defense.
Sylvio, along with Marcelo, trained in Judo with Sensei Helcio Gama,
Ney Wilson, Marco Aurelio Gama and Julio Gama. In 1982, Master Flavio
Behring felt that his sons were ready for the next step in Judo so he
signed them up at Sensei Mehdis’ School. There, they would learn a lot
of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo from Edgard Freitas while having had the honour
of attending classes with Sensei de Lucca, Master Helio Gracie, Master
Relson Gracie, Master Rickson Gracie, Sensei Geraldo Bernardes and
countless others.
Master Professor Sylvio Behring was honoured as the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Coach in Brazil in 2003 and is currently regarded as one of the premiere Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructors in the world. He continues to bring honour to his father, his family, the art and the history of Jiu-Jitsu through his diligent practice, love of the art, his patience as a teacher and the respect that he gives to all of those that have the privilege of meeting him in person. He is an inspiring Martial Artist, a gentleman and a true Master.
With over 20 years of teaching and training in the Martial Arts, Toronto's legendary MMA trainer, Professor Shah Franco is one of the most respected and well-known Traditional and Modern Martial Arts Instructors in all of Ontario. A Master of Traditional Karate, Professor Franco was one of the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners to be ranked to Blackbelt in Canada directly under the legendary Master Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Professor, Sylvio Behring, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Photo credit to Dan Stenning
Photo credit to Dan Stenning