Alexandre Paiva

Alexandre Gigi Paiva is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu figure born in Rio de Janeiro on 4 March 1967 who has been involved in jiu-jitsu since the early 1980s and is described as having made a number of important contributions to the sport. He began training at fifteen in the school of Romero Jacare Cavalcanti, where he was considered one of the most technically gifted students, and received his black belt in 1993. He won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship once at adult level and four times at masters level, and with Jacare Cavalcanti and Fabio Gurgel he co-founded the Alliance Jiu Jitsu team, which the article calls the most successful competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu team of all time. Among the IBJJF World Champions he trained are Fernando Augusto, Leo Leite, his son Victor Genovesi and Tayane Porfirio, and he is now head coach at Alliance Jiu Jitsu Eagle Academy in Eagle, Idaho.