Winter Camp 2027 — Pedro Sauer Association

Winter Camp 2027 brings the Pedro Sauer Association back to Petrópolis, Brazil on January 16, 2027. Pedro Sauer is one of only 16 black belts ever awarded directly by Grandmaster Helio Gracie, receiving his belt in 1985 from Rickson Gracie and Helio Gracie together, and a year later became the first non-Gracie to receive Helio's Técnico de Jiu-Jitsu teaching certificate. He now holds 8th-degree red-and-black belt rank and leads an association with more than 150 affiliated schools worldwide from its headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Camps run by the Pedro Sauer Association typically center on traditional, self-defense-rooted jiu-jitsu as taught directly by Helio Gracie, rather than a purely sport-focused curriculum, reflecting Sauer's decades spearheading the association's First Wave of U.S. jiu-jitsu instruction starting in 1991. Held in Petrópolis — a mountain city outside Rio de Janeiro with historical ties to the Gracie family's roots — this winter gathering draws affiliated instructors and students from across the association's global network for direct instruction from Sauer himself.