Luigi Mondelli

Luigi Mondelli (born March 24, 1972) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and MMA Coach based in Danbury, Connecticut. He is the head coach of American Top Team's Connecticut program under the umbrella of Ricardo Libório^[1] and the co-founder and head coach of his own program, KORE.^[2] Mondelli is a five-time Panamerican champion and a three-time world masters champion.^[3]

Mondelli began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1991 under the instruction of Adalberto "Buda" de Souza and Crézio de Souza^[4] at their school in Petropolis, until attaining the rank of purple belt. When his family relocated to Rio de Janeiro, Mondelli continued his training receiving his black belt in December 2001.^[5] Most recently Mondelli was awarded his fourth degree by Adalberto "Buda" de Souza in 2015.

In addition to winning multiple championships, Mondelli has graduated a number of successful black belts and professional MMA fighters, notably Glover Teixeira. Mondelli oversees the curriculum of his Kore program from its headquarters in Danbury, designed to link the disciplines of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling and judo in a fluid and practical method of application.

Luigi Mondelli began competing during his teenage years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, first winning the Masters Purple Belt Category in 1999 before winning the Pan-American Championship five times. Mondelli is also a three-time IBJJF world champion as a black belt in the Senior division in the gi and no-gi categories.^[6]

En 2003, Mondelli se mudó a Estados Unidos, estableciéndose finalmente en Connecticut. Poco después de su llegada, Ricardo Liborio lo invitó a formar parte de American Top Team (ATT). Mientras representaba a ATT durante su carrera en Estados Unidos, Mondelli fundó su propia asociación de artes marciales en 2011, llamada Kore Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. La asociación afirma tener una filosofía centrada en promover las tradiciones y técnicas de agarre en el deporte del jiu-jitsu brasileño. ^{[ 5 ]}

Mondelli ha sido instructor invitado y entrenador en The Pit, un campamento de artes marciales fundado por John Hackleman , conocido por haber entrenado a luchadores destacados como Chuck Liddell y Glover Teixeira . Mondelli también ha comercializado una línea de instrucción en defensa personal y combate para personal militar y policial. ^{[ 7 ]}

Luigi Mondelli también posee el cinturón negro de 5º dan en RMA bajo la tutela de Walt Lysak, y el cinturón negro de 2º dan en Kenpo hawaiano bajo la tutela de Greg Davis.