Pedro “BB” Schmall (June 22nd, 1973) is widely considered one of the leading Jiu-jitsu instructors in Asia, having studied under Fernando Pinduka, Carlson Gracie and Royler Gracie. He has trained both Jiu-jitsu and MMA fighters in Brazil, U.S., Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Mongolia and most recently, China.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Pedro “BB” Schmall began his sports life at the age of 8 when his father, Hermann Schmall, gave him a surf board while on vacation in the South of Brazil.

Though surfing by itself can be a tough and even deadly sport, so was the beach environment with which he had to contend. Surfers contend for each good wave and sometimes have fights. This was the environment that fostered the initial motivation to learn BJJ.

After three years of training Pedro, at the age of 18, was one of the best players in Rio de Janeiro. At that time, there was no UFC, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) was little known outside of Rio. “People couldn’t even pronounce the name.”

Then in 1992, tragedy struck. He was in a motorcycle accident which shattered his left shin. A first surgery left him with a metal antenna sticking out his leg, and he walked in a crouch for a year. After the second year, doctors took bone from his hip and put it in his shin.

Meanwhile, the first UFC fights were held in 1993. Many of his teammates, like Jose Mario “Zen Machine” Sperry, Allan Goes, Paulo Filho, Victor Belfort, Wallid Smail and Ricardo Liborio have gone on to become legends in the MMA world.

After a second, and then third surgery, Pedro was still limping. In his own words: “I got really depressed. When I was dating my wife, Simoni, I was talking about my life. She listened and told me: ‘You have to fix your leg otherwise you will never stop limping for the rest of your life.‘ I was out of shape (116kg), a brown belt, depressed and completely lost. Muay Thai and even soccer were completely forbidden.”

In December 2003, he had his fourth surgery, and the results were better than he’d hoped. No pain, no weird feeling, he could run, play soccer, fight Muay Thai, and BJJ. One year later, on exactly the same date as his surgery, he was awarded his life’s dream, a Black Belt from Royler Gracie.

Pedro’s BJJ Teaching Career

Pedro started teaching BJJ almost as soon as he started training with Fernando Pinduka back in 1989. He was promoted to assistant teacher in 1989. When he was training in Carlson Gracie Academy he taught small kids (6-8 years old) in morning classes. When he was promoted to Purple Belt (before the accident) he rented some mat space in a Judo school in Rio and started with his own group of students.

Shortly after the fourth surgery, and his promotion to Black Belt, in 2005 he moved to the U.S. to learn to speak English and tried to open a BJJ academy. Like most people, he started in someone’s garage, specifically a good friend named Dwight Schubert, who now is a BJJ teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado.

When the group started growing, he looked for a more professional place and met Hai Tran, who opened the doors of his academy for Pedro.

After six months in the States, he went back to Brazil to reunite with his wife and daughter. But he still wanted to spread BJJ around the world and started searching for other opportunities. In 2007, he taught in Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan, before settling down in Beijing. After two years in China, Pedro is read for a new challenge, this time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he will start a new MMA training center.

In Beijing, Pedro was responsible for training the Chinese fighters for Art of War. He also took part in a TV show, in which he explained the audience the BJJ technics utilized in the fights.

During his time in Beijing he went on two trips to Mongolia to teach and met two great MMA fighters, Dorjderem and Jadamba Naratungalag, who did a great job in Art of War 13. Pedro is also their manager, a new facet of his career that he intends to develop further in the future.

There are many great fighters in the world, but great teachers are harder to find. In class, Pedro puts safety first, and works hard to ensure that all students get the techniques he’s teaching, correct. His knowledge of BJJ techniques is encyclopedic, and he’s a man who loves the art and his job.