Professor Salvatore Pace receives his Black Belt from Professor Lemos!!!

Gracie Barra Bath in the United Kingdom started the year on the right foot!  Not only did the end of 2010 bring a seminar with one of the best BJJ instructors and competitiors in the world, Professor Carlos Lemos Jr, but Salvatore Pace, head instructor at GB Bath, received his Black Belt from Professor Lemos, with the blessing of Master Carlos Gracie Jr.  Professor Pace has been a student of Professor Lemos since he was a White Belt, so this was a momentus occasion for both teacher and student!

Professor Pace began training with Carlos when Carlos first came to the UK in early 2005.  At the time Salvo was a chef in an Italian restaurant and also ran a Thai Boxing/MMA school in Bath.  Salvatore traveled to train with Carlos as often as he could, including traveling over Europe with Carlos to help train and teach at seminars, and his love affair with the gentle art grew deepened quickly.  The more he trained with Professor Lemos in the Gracie Barra way the more he desired to make learning and teaching Gracie Barra Jiu Jitsu his life style!

Salvatore's competitive career has also been a good journey, In 2005 he competed in everything available at the time from MMA to Submssion Grappling and BJJ in the UK.  Salvo won most of the British championships at open weight winning all his fights in that year via submission, demonstrating the effective power of his skill as a fighter using Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu!

Next came Brazil in 2006 when he spent six weeks training with Professors Lemos and Giuseppe Schembri at GB HQ in Rio!  He then competed in the BJJ World Championships, where again under the watchful eye of his mentor Prof. Lemos he won gold!!

Salvo then went back to Europe, where he founded the first Gracie Barra school in Sicily, Gracie Barra Sicilia, still open today.

In 2008 Salvo returned to the UK setting up and continuing the BJJ legacy that his professor had installed in him.  He established Gracie Barra Bath which is one of the most well achieved and respected schools in Southern England today.

Bath is one of the epicenters of rugby in the United Kingdom and Salvo has trained several top rugby world players in Jiu Jitsu, who use the gentle art to improve their skills on the field, including captain of the English National Squad Matt Stevens, one of the best players in the world.

In 2010 Salvo returned to international competition capturing medals at Grapplers Quest in May, and in December now as a Black Belt under Prof.Lemos he captured his first Black Belt title at the NAGA European Championships in Paris, only ten days after his graduation.  Professor Pace not only thoroughly embodies the warrior spirit of the Jiu-Jitsu fighter, but his history with Professor Lemos demonstrates the power of the student-teacher relationship in Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu to transform lives for the better.  Now that Professor Pace begins to walk the path of a Black Belt instructor it is assured that he will continue this Gracie Barra tradition with pride, respect, and authenticity.  Congratulations to Professor Pace for his promotion and achievements, and to Professor Lemos for his continuing work in keeping our tradition strong and alive through teaching authentic Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu to people all over the world!