Paulo Miyao "Xino"

Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao was born on May 11, 1991, in Andirá, a small town in Paraná, Brazil, to a farming family of Japanese descent. He and his twin brother, João, started out in judo before switching to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at around age 16 under their first instructor, Adriano Carvalho, who quickly recognized their potential. Against their parents' wishes, the twins relocated to São Paulo to pursue jiu-jitsu full-time, joining Cícero Costha's PSLPB project, a social program that became the launching pad for their careers.

Even as colored belts, the Miyao brothers stood out for medaling in open-weight absolute divisions while weighing only around 64 kilograms, an unusual feat that drew significant attention from sponsors and media well before they reached black belt. Paulo and João were promoted to black belt together in June 2013, and Paulo quickly built a championship résumé at Light Feather, winning IBJJF World Championship gold in 2015 and again in 2019, along with multiple Pan American titles.

His career was interrupted in 2016, when he tested positive for a banned substance during USADA testing following that year's IBJJF World Championship; he was stripped of the title and served a two-year suspension. Paulo returned to competition in 2019 and picked up where he left off, adding another Worlds gold, ADCC bronze medals in 2017 and 2019, and further Abu Dhabi World Professional titles.

Technically, Paulo is one of the athletes most associated with popularizing the berimbolo at the highest levels of competition, using it in combination with de la Riva and reverse de la Riva guard entries to sweep or take the back of far larger opponents — a major reason the Miyao name became shorthand for a specific style of modern guard play.

In 2022, Paulo took on a head coaching role at Dream Art in São Paulo, and in 2023-2024 he and João opened their own academy, Studio 1908, in Jersey City, New Jersey, named as a nod to their Japanese-Brazilian heritage. He remains active in select superfights and tournaments, including continued IBJJF competition into 2025, but has clearly prioritized coaching and running Studio 1908 over a full competitive schedule in recent years.

A guard-first game built around the berimbolo and constant back-take pressure, using off-balancing sweeps and inverted transitions to make up for giving up sign