Marcelo Athanazio

Marcelo Athanazio is the founder and professor of MA. Marcelo Athanazio, a Jiu-Jitsu academy in the Jardim Presidencial district of Avaré, São Paulo, registered with the CBJJ. He is a 2nd dan black belt who has practised Jiu-Jitsu for 14 years, and he runs the academy together with his wife Angelita Athanazio, herself a black belt, with whom he has shared a partnership of more than 25 years. According to the school, Marcelo introduced Angelita to Jiu-Jitsu during a period of grief following a pregnancy loss, and the art became a path of recovery for her. In July 2024 the couple opened MA. with the stated mission of giving back what Jiu-Jitsu had brought them, under the motto "Mais que Jiu-Jitsu" (more than Jiu-Jitsu), using the art to promote health, self-knowledge, values and community.