COACHES

LUAN VERAS

LUAN IS THE ELDEST OF THE VERAS BROS. HE BEGAN HIS MARTIAL ARTS JOURNEY AT THE TENDER AGE OF 3 WITH KARATE. TRAINING UNDER HIS FATHER, SENSEI RAPHAEL VERAS, LUAN QUICKLY BECAME A SUCCESSFUL KARATE COMPETITOR, WHICH EVENTUALLY LED HIM TO BECOME A EUROPEAN CHAMPION IN 2020 WHILE REPRESENTING HIS BIRTH COUNTRY, ENGLAND. LUAN IS ONE OF VERAS ACADEMY’S MOST DECORATED ATHLETES, NOT ONLY IN KARATE, BUT ALSO IN JUDO, BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU AND BOXING – BECOMING A THREE-TIME ENGLISH CHAMPION. LUAN ENCOMPASSES THE ETHOS OF MARTIAL ARTS, AND HAS SHOWN A LEVEL OF DEDICATION RARELY SEEN. LUAN HAS RECENTLY ENJOYED THE SUCCESS OF A NUMBER OF PRESTIGIOUS IBJJF BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU COMPETITIONS, WORKING HIS WAY UP THE IBJJF RANKINGS. LUAN HAS A NATURAL PASSION FOR TEACHING AND HE BELIEVES THAT FOR HIM TO CONTINUE TO SUCCEED, HE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE. SO HE CONTINUES TO TRAIN LIKE A WORLD-CLASS ATHLETE AND CONTINUES TO COMPETE.

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HE WAS BORN IN ENGLAND TO BRAZILIAN PARENTS, SO MARTIAL ARTS IS A WAY OF LIFE FOR LUAN AND HIS BROTHERS. LUAN’S NATURAL TALENT AND CHAMPION MINDSET SAW HIM CONQUER MANY HURDLES IN HIS SPORTING CAREER, WHICH HELPED HIM SUCCESSFULLY OBTAIN A NUMBER OF TITLES. LUAN HAS TRAVELLED ACROSS THE WORLD, NOT ONLY AS A COMPETITOR, BUT ALSO AS A STUDENT OF MARTIAL ARTS; THIS HAS HELPED LUAN DEVELOP HIS EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE AND ENABLED HIM TO DEVELOP HIS TEACHING SKILLS BEYOND THAT OF HIS AGE.

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SAW LUAN GO BACK TO TO HIS ROOTS. HE RETURNED TO BRAZIL WITH HIS BROTHERS TO CONTINUE TRAINING. AFTER A CHALLENGING YEAR, WHICH SAW THE CLOSURE OF MANY TRAINING FACILITIES, LUAN REMAINED FOCUSED AND DEDICATED TO HIS BELOVED MARTIAL ARTS AND CONTINUED TO COMPETE WHEN ALLOWED. EVENTUALLY A DECISION HAD TO BE MADE. WOULD HE AND HIS BROTHER STAY IN BRAZIL OR WOULD THEY RETURN TO EUROPE TO CONTINUE THEIR TRAINING AND RESTART TEACHING? IN OCTOBER 2021, LUAN, LIAM AND THEIR BROTHER, LUCA, TRAVELLED TO LUXEMBOURG TO REUNITE WITH THEIR FATHER, SENSEI RAPHAEL VERAS – LUXEMBOURG’S NATIONAL KARATE COACH. LUAN AND HIS FAMILY ARE NOW HAPPILY SETTLED IN LUXEMBOURG, WITH ASPIRATIONS OF BEING ONE OF LUXEMBOURG’S TOP MARTIAL ARTS FAMILIES.

LIAM VERAS

LIKE HIS BIG BROTHER, LIAM STARTED TRAINING KARATE FROM A YOUNG AGE AND QUICKLY DISPLAYED HIS NATURAL TALENT FOR MARTIAL ARTS. A KEEN COMPETITOR IN KARATE, JUDO, BOXING AND BJJ, LIAM IS WELL KNOWN AMONGST THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CIRCUITS AND HAS PROVED HIS ABILITY TO BE ONE OF THE FINEST MARTIAL ARTS ATHLETES TODAY. UNLIKE MOST CHILDREN HIS AGE, LIAM WAS GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY, WHICH HE WHOLEHEARTEDLY TOOK, TRAVELLING ACROSS THE WORLD AND EXPERIENCING THE MARTIAL ARTS PATH LIKE SO MANY BEFORE HIM. WITH HIS TENACIOUS ATTITUDE, LIAM IS AN ACCOMPLISHED ATHLETE AND HOLDS SEVERAL TITLES, INCLUDING BEING THE IBJJF EUROPEAN SILVER MEDALIST, IBJJF PAN CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE MEDALIST, AND 2019 COMMONWEALTH JUDO CHAMPION.

LIAM’S TECHNICAL ABILITIES HAVE SEEN HIM DEVELOP AS A COACH AND HELPED HIM TEACH A NUMBER OF ATHLETES, INCLUDING HIS BROTHERS AT COMPETITIONS, CAREFULLY GUIDING THOSE IN HIS CORNER TO SUCCESS. LIAM TRAVELLED TO BRAZIL WITH HIS BROTHERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND FACED SOME CHALLENGES. BUT WITH THE HELP OF MARTIAL ARTS, HE OVERCAME THEM, REFUSING TO GIVE UP. ONCE REGULATIONS WERE RELAXED, LIAM AND HIS BROTHERS TRAVELLED ACROSS BRAZIL REPRESENTING THEIR FAMILY NAME AND THEIR HERITAGE IN VARIOUS BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU AND BOXING COMPETITIONS. BUT LIAM NEVER FORGOT HIS MARTIAL ARTS ROOTS – KARATE, WHICH HE SOON RETURNED TO AND ONCE AGAIN FOUND HIS PLACE ON THE PODIUM.

UPON MOVING TO LUXEMBOURG, LIAM IMMEDIATELY STARTED TO PAVE HIS PATH THROUGH THE LUXEMBOURG MARTIAL ARTS SCENE, EFFORTLESSLY MOVING AMONG KARATE, JUDO, BOXING AND BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU. LIAM REGULARLY COMPETES ALONGSIDE HIS BROTHERS, BUT IS ALWAYS SEEKING TO ADD TO HIS EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE AND WILL ALWAYS CLASS HIMSELF AS A MARTIAL ARTS STUDENT. THIS DEDICATION TO PERFECTING HIS SKILLS HAS SEEN LIAM BECOME AN ASTUTE TEACHER OF MARTIAL ARTS, ONE WHO ANALYSES EVERY ASPECT OF HIS CHOSEN MARTIAL ARTS AND EFFORTLESSLY PASSES ON HIS KNOWLEDGE TO HIS STUDENTS WITH PATIENCE AND WISDOM.

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LUCA VERAS

LUCA IS THE YOUNGEST OF THE THREE BROTHERS, AND AN EQUALLY TALENTED MARTIAL ARTIST. STARTING WITH KARATE, LUCA FOLLOWED IN HIS BROTHERS’ FOOTSTEPS AND QUICKLY DOMINATED THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL KARATE COMPETITION CIRCUITS. AND LIKE HIS BROTHERS, HE WENT FORWARD TO REPRESENT HIS BIRTH COUNTRY, ENGLAND, AT WKF AND EKF KARATE COMPETITIONS.

LUCA BY NO MEANS LIVES IN HIS BROTHERS' SHADOWS. HE IS A HIGHLY DECORATED COMPETITOR IN KARATE, JUDO, BOXING AND BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU. HIS FATHER, SENSEI RAPHAEL VERAS, FONDLY REFERS TO LUCA AS “TIGER” BECAUSE OF HIS GRACE, STRENGTH AND SHEER DETERMINATION ON THE TATAMI. HE IS THE CURRENT IBJJF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SILVER MEDALIST, IBJJF PAN CHAMPION & EUROPEAN CHAMPION. LUCA HAS ALSO SEEN CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS IN JUDO, BECOMING ENGLISH NATIONAL JUDO CHAMPION. IN KARATE, LUCA WAS A FIERCE KARATE-KA COMPETITOR KNOWN FOR HIS QUICK REACTIONS AND EXPERTLY DELIVERED TECHNIQUES.

LUCA LIVES IN LUXEMBOURG WITH HIS FAMILY AND CONTINUES TO PRACTICE THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES OF MARTIAL ARTS THAT HAVE SEEN HIM SUCCEED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. ALTHOUGH YOUNG, LUCA IS A TRUE STUDENT OF MARTIAL ARTS AND IS CONSTANTLY SEEKING TO PERFECT HIS KNOWLEDGE AND SHARE HIS WISDOM.