Pedro Pacheco Fernandes

Main Achievements

• 1st Place — Pan-Pacific No-Gi Championship (2010)
• 2x 1st Place — South Brazilian Championship (1996 / 1997)
• 2x 1st Place — Santa Catarina State Championship (1994 / 1995)
• Oceania Pioneers Vanguard — Universally recognized as one of the definitive foundational black belts responsible for introducing and seeding authentic BJJ infrastructure across New Zealand.

Overview

Pedro Carneiro da Cunha Pacheco Fernandes is a highly accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Master Antonio Claudio Collares (“Tonicão”), representing the Tu Kaha BJJ banner. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Fernandes is historically celebrated as an indispensable pioneer of the sport within the Oceania region. By establishing one of the premier ancestral training grounds in New Zealand, his decades of high-level instructional execution and community building have systematically shaped the technical landscape of modern ground grappling in the southern hemisphere.

Early Life & Southern Cross-Training Roots

Pedro Pacheco Fernandes was born in 1974 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He initiated his physical martial path at the exceptionally young age of five, building an early kinetic foundation in traditional Judo. In 1990, at the age of 16, he transitioned into Luta Livre Esportiva—the traditional, submission-only catch wrestling style native to Rio—sharpening his raw finishing instincts from bottom positions.

A year into his intensive Luta Livre training, Pedro relocated to the south of Brazil, settling in the picturesque coastal city of Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. By a stroke of historic coincidence, he discovered his immediate residential neighbor was Antonio Claudio Collares, widely known across the nation as “Tonicão”—the singular active BJJ black belt operating within the entire southern territory of Brazil during that specific era. Recognizing the profound opportunity, Pedro stepped onto Tonicão’s mats at the acclaimed Ataque Duplo Academy in 1990, initiating a lifelong, unbreakable commitment to the gentle art.

The Black Belt Promotion & Oceanic Migration

Fernandes’ natural grasp of leverage and structural defense allowed him to rapidly progress through the regional ranks, dominating the regional tournament circuits to capture consecutive Santa Catarina State and South Brazilian championship titles. Driven by a passion for technical analysis, he began coaching as a certified assistant instructor in Brazil in 1993, meticulously laying the pedagogical blueprints for his long-term future as an educator.

His multi-decade devotion to the system was finalized in October 2002, when Master Tonicão formally graduated him to the rank of BJJ black belt. Shortly following this milestone achievement, looking to pioneer the sport in uncharted global territory, Pedro migrated across the hemisphere to Auckland, New Zealand. Bringing an advanced, pure repository of Brazilian technical knowledge to the island nation, he established the independent Tu Kaha BJJ academy.

Competing dynamically within the Meio-Pesado (Medium-Heavyweight / 88 kg) division while capturing major international titles like the Pan-Pacific No-Gi Championship, Professor Fernandes has spent decades cultivating a thriving, highly cohesive martial arts culture. Hand-crafting a long line of world-class regional competitors, his academy remains a mandatory hub of technical authenticity, keeping his ancestral lineage vibrant for the next generation.