Mendes Bros is the shared brand of brothers Rafael Mendes and Guilherme Mendes, Brazilian black belts from Rio Claro, São Paulo. Between them they won ten IBJJF World titles at featherweight. In 2012 they founded Art of Jiu-Jitsu (AOJ) in Costa Mesa, California. Their Instagram covers the academy, its competition team and their teaching.
The brothers
The brothers started jiu-jitsu in 2001. Their cousin Thiago Mendes introduced them to Ramon Lemos and Leonardo Santos in Rio Claro. Lemos promoted both to black belt in 2008, the year he co-founded Atos. They became Atos's first black belts, and in 2009 Guilherme became the team's first IBJJF world champion.
- Rafael Mendes: six-time IBJJF World champion at black belt and ADCC −66 kg champion in 2009 and 2011. He is in the ADCC Hall of Fame. His 14-match rivalry with Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles ran from 2008 to 2015.
- Guilherme Mendes: four-time IBJJF World champion (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014). He retired from competition in May 2015 to focus on teaching and entered the IBJJF Hall of Fame in 2022.
Art of Jiu-Jitsu
The brothers opened AOJ in Costa Mesa in July 2012. It competed under the Atos banner until it became independent in February 2020. In 2015 Guilherme created the "Believe & Achieve" scholarship programme. AOJ's competition team has produced black belt world champions including Tainan Dalpra and Mayssa Bastos. Guilherme also promoted Jessa Khan to black belt in October 2020.
Style
Wikipedia credits the brothers with popularising the berimbolo, an inverted roll from De La Riva guard to the back. Guilherme's favourite techniques on BJJ Heroes are passing moves: the leg drag, the stack pass and shoulder pressure.
Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.