ONYA BJJ

Thiago Stefanutti is Head Coach Alex Tse’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) coach and mentor, and the head of the ONYA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu association. Thiago holds a fourth-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. His students have won multiple World Championship titles, and under his instruction ONYA became the first Australian team ever to win an IBJJF World Championships team trophy – the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition in the world. His current focus is training world-class BJJ practitioners and sharing his knowledge with the wider BJJ community.

Thiago was born and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. According to Thiago, São Paulo was not a very safe city when he was growing up, so learning martial arts was a natural way to learn how to defend himself. Thiago moved to Melbourne when he was offered a position to teach; the club that hired him helped him relocate, and he trained and taught in Melbourne for almost 10 years. He now lives in Brazil, where he continues to teach, and visits Australia often to reinforce his teachings for ONYA’s Australian branch and to hold seminars and gradings.