COACHES

LUAN VERAS

LUAN IS THE ELDEST OF THE VERAS BROS, WHO BEGUN HIS MARTIAL ARTS JOURNEY AT A YOUNG AGE WITH KARATE. TRAINING UNDER HIS FATHER, SENSEI RAPHAEL VERAS, FROM THE TENDER AGE OF 3 YEARS OLD, 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 JUST IN KARATE, BUT ALSO IN JUDO, BJJ AND BOXING – BECOMING X3 TIMES ENGLISH CHAMPION. LUAN TRULY 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. ALTHOUGH LUAN HAS A NATURAL PASSION FOR TEACHING, HE BELIEVES THAT FOR HIM TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS SUCCESSFULLY, HE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND CONTINUES TO TRAIN LIKE A WORLD-CLASS ATHLETE AND CONTINUES TO COMPETE.

BORN IN ENGLAND TO BRAZILIAN PARENTS, MARTIAL ARTS WERE 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, INCLUDING A KNEE INJURY, WHICH HELPED HIM SUCCESSFULLY OBTAIN A NUMBER OF TITLES. LUAN HAS TRAVELLED ACROSS THE WORLD, NOT ONLY AS A COMPETITOR, BUT ALSO MOST IMPORTANTLY 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 RETURN TO HIS ROOTS, HE RETURNED TO BRAZIL WITH HIS BROTHERS TO CONTINUE WITH THEIR 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 NOTORIOUS 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 SEEN TODAY. AT THE TIME, UNLIKE CHILDREN OF HIS AGE, LIAM WAS GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY, WHICH HE WHOLEHEARTEDLY TOOK AND BENEFITED FROM, 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 COACH 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, WHICH WITH THE HELP OF MARTIAL ARTS, HE WAS ABLE TO OVER COME, REFUSING TO BE IDOL AND SUCCUMBING TO THE TEMPTATION OF GIVING UP. ONCE REGULATIONS WERE RELAXED, LIAM AND HIS BROTHERS TRAVELLED ACROSS BRAZIL REPRESENTING THEIR NAME AND THEIR HERITAGE IN VARIOUS BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU AND BOXING COMPETITIONS BUT NEVER FORGETTING 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 WAY THROUGH THE LUXEMBOURG MARTIAL ARTS SCENE, EFFORTLESSLY MOVING BETWEEN KARATE, JUDO, BOXING AND BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU. LIAM REGULARLY STILL 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 PERFECT HIS SKILLS HAS SEEN LIAM BECOME AN ASTUTE TEACHER OF MARTIAL ARTS; ONE WHO ANALYSES EVERY ASPECT OF HIS CHOSEN MARTIAL ARTS AND WHO 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 LIKE HIS SIBLINGS. STARTING WITH KARATE, LUCA WOULD SOON FOLLOW IN HIS BROTHERS’ FOOTSTEPS AND QUICKLY DOMINATED THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL KARATE COMPETITION CIRCUITS; AND LIKE HIS BROTHERS, ALSO GO FORWARD TO REPRESENT HIS BIRTH COUNTRY, ENGLAND, AT WKF AND EKF KARATE COMPETITIONS.

ALTHOUGH THE YOUNGEST OF THE THREE VERAS BROS, LUCA BY NO MEANS LIVES IN THEIR 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 CHAMPIONSHIP SILVER MEDALIST AND IBJJF EUROPEAN CHAMPION. LUCA HAS ALSO SEEN CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS IN JUDO, BECOMING ENGLISH NATIONAL JUDO CHAMPION AND IN KARATE, WHERE 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 AIMS TO SHARE HIS WISDOM.