Eduardo Telles - The Creator Of BJJ Turtle Guard

Eduardo Telles, in his initial teens, like many BJJ fighters, got interested in judo at first. He then, after a few months, started practicing. He is known as the most famous BJJ fighter in the world. He is the generator of the “turtle guard,” first known as the turtle position, and is considered the weaker position by most fighters.

He has developed some marvelous teams and teammates. He taught many techniques, some of which are a great source of bait for opponents.

Eduardo Telles was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1976. He started the BJJ at a very young age. He used to practice judo first, which enhanced Telles’s interest in the game and he began to get involved in Jiu-Jitsu.

In the mid-80s, there were no Jiu-Jitsu academies in Sao Paulo; however, they are readily available in areas like Rio. Eduardo Telles first learned about Jiu-Jitsu when he visited his father’s homeland.

In 1993, as the UFC started, Jiu-Jitsu teachings became common in every other academy. Riding on the same wave, Telles Karate Academy started teaching Jiu-Jitsu.

Telles started his BJJ training journey under Fernando Yamasaki. Fernando was Telles's first instructor, and he stayed with him till his blue belt.

Eduardo Telles moved to San Diego US to learn English and met the black belt Carlos Valente there. Telles decided to avail this opportunity, continued his training under Carlos, and earned his purple belt.

After receiving the purple belt, Eduardo Telles returned to Sao Paulo. After reaching home, Telles decided to go to Alliance headquarters.

Many Jiu-Jitsu personalities, like Demian Maia, were getting trained under Fabio Gurgel. At the academy, Gurgel met Fernando Augusto "Terere," who later became his very good friend.

Terere was a very powerful fighter, and his career was ready to take off at the point when Eduardo Telles joined the academy.

Telles began learning BJJ more effectively with Gurgel's help and his clenched bond with Terere.

Eduardo Telles’s success story started in 1999 when he received the Silver Medal as a purple belt, the Bronze Medal as a brown belt, and the same year he received his black belt.

Telles earned the reputation of the “Weird JIu-Jitsu” because of the positions he put himself in, like the turtle guard.

This is only because, before Telles, no fighter went for the turtle guard, considering it to be the weaker style.

On the other hand, Telles used the turtle guard to bait his opponents and defeat them.

In 2002, Telles went on to help start the Brasa Team, and along with his friend Fernando Terere, he opened the Master team, the TT team.

The TT team was a great success and earned a name in Jiu-Jitsu.

After two years on the TT team in 2004, Telles went into the dark phase of his life and got addicted to drugs.

After recovering from his addiction, Telles decided to open an academy on his own and named the academy "Nine-Nine."

The logic behind the name was that ninety-nine is almost exactly equal to 100, which denotes perfection, which was Telles’s goal, and he succeeded in reaching it.

Eduardo Telles, after his achievements in BJJ, decided to start his MMA career, had his first fight against the experienced Gracie Barra’s Rafael, and won the match by a head kick.

This didn’t last long when he fought with Landro Silva and got defeated. This is when he realized that he needed to join a professional MMA academy and then he joined X-gym in Rio De Janeiro.

Eduardo Telles is the kind of instructor who likes to keep things very simple instead of making them complicated. Many students of Telles often used to say that he as a professor is very easy to understand because of his simpler and explained teaching style.

In 2014 American National Black Belt Adult Male Medium Heavy Final, Eduardo faced a tough competitor, Keenan Cornelius, Telles used turtle guard and Cornelius tried hard to apply submission but didn’t get success. In the end, Cornelius won the tournament.

Both Jiu-Jitsu grapplers gave it their all and played brilliantly in, what was an amazing match. Otavio Sousa grabbed Eduardo Telles early in the game and attempted a leg lock, but Telles managed to free himself and got Otavio with an ankle lock. Both fighters performed well, and Telles won this fight.

It was a fantastic Jiu-Jitsu fight, From the beginning Telles go for submission attempts and Arrivabene tried to escape but he was unable. Telles applied a choke from the back and got the submission win.

Keenan Cornelius vs Eduardo Telles

Eduardo Telles VS Otavio Sousa / World Championship 2010

Eduardo Telles VS Eduardo Arrivabene / Pan Championship 2007

Photo Credit: @eduardotelles99