Meet Diego Santana | Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, First Degree

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diego Santana and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diego, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It had always been one of my goals to support myself and live through Jiu Jitsu. One of my life-long dreams was to be able to open my own martial arts school.

While I have been a professional Jiu Jitsu athlete most of my life, I also have a huge passion for coaching and changing people’s lives through health, fitness, mental wellness, and self-defense. Being able to teach and train Jiu Jitsu is my channel for that, whether it be to help a 40-year-old dad or mom get in shape, or to teach a kids that are being bullied in school how to stand up for themselves.

Having a Jiu Jitsu gym is not just coming in to workout and then leaving like a lot of commercial gyms. You build a community and develop friendships with your training partners. There is a lot of trust involved with Jiu Jitsu and for me, being able to share that with the community is truly one of my passions.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
For starters, I don’t try to compare my teaching style or my gym to others. We all have our own way of learning and vibes that we fit in with. These are both important factors when trying to find a Jiu Jitsu gym to train at. Person A might find a home at my gym but Person B might be a better fit for another gym or sport. My focus is building a strong sense of community within our school and to teach great Jiu Jitsu.

I put a lot of attention to detail, whether it comes to the type of mats I want to line our floors, the decorations on the wall, and even the types of chairs I have in our lobby and waiting area. This attention to detail also reflects in the way that I teach techniques for Jiu Jitsu. I like to explain the reason why we make a certain grip or why we put our left foot forward and not our right. For those who have never trained Jiu Jitsu before, there is a lot of physics involved. In order to perform a technique successfully, it’s important to do everything step-by-step and to learn all the fundamentals to prevent injury. It’s how I can teach a woman that’s only 100lbs to be able to throw someone twice her weight over her shoulder. Again, it’s all physics and learning about the center of gravity.

It was definitely not an easy path to get where I am today. Coming from a foreign country and moving to the U.S. with nothing but a job offer and a backpack full of clothes was definitely a bold step for me. This was back in 2018. I barely spoke English back then and the moment my flight landed, I jumped headfirst into teaching in an unfamiliar language at the gym where I used to work.

It was definitely not easy and there were hard days when I wanted to call it quits, but I try to put discipline over motivation and that has helped me keep my goals in focus.

Some of the lessons I learned along the way is that it’s important to keep good people around you, people who support your goals and your visions, people who share the same morals and values as you. These are the people who will push you up to be the best version of yourself. You need people around you that believe in you.

I want the world to know my story, about where I came from, and how I got to where I am today. If there’s a troubled kid reading this today, I want them to know that that was how I was too. I found Jiu Jitsu, channeled all of that energy and anger into the sport, learned the respect, values, and discipline that comes with martial arts, and found my way out to open my own gym. And if I can do it, I want them to know that they can do it too.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Funny you should ask this. My dad visited a few weeks ago from Brazil.

One of my favorite places in DFW is the Katy Trail. I’m a very outdoorsy type of person but I also grew up in the big city. Katy Trail gives you the perfect mix of urban and nature. Also as a professional athlete, working out is a must for me. I can jog, walk, bike, and even run the stairs on the trail. And for those that aren’t as into working out as me, Katy Trail also has a few restaurants along it so you can grab a cold drink and some food, and enjoy the vibes.

Deep Ellum and Greenville Avenue are also must visits if you want to enjoy night life a bit. One of my favorite places to grab a bite is Serious Pizza in Deep Ellum.

There’s also some great Brazilian food in DFW: TG Steakhouse for Brazilian barbecue, Casa Pollastro for rotisserie chicken and Brazilian side dishes, and Brazil Latino Market for an authentic Brazilian bakery and cafeteria style experience.

And of course, I would bring this friend or family member to visit my gym. We have one of the largest tatami mats with a subfloor in the metroplex, with almost 2,400 square feet of training space. For those who aren’t sure what a subfloor is, it’s spring or foam reinforced flooring underneath a tatami to help soften landings during training. So it’s not just me tooting my own horn. I would love for them to see the blood, sweat, and tears that went into building this facility.

Lastly, you can’t leave without getting the full Texas experience. The Forth Worth Stockyards is definitely a must-see for visitors. You’ll get to feel like a cowboy or rodeo star for a day and enjoy some free shows, see the cattle drive, and eat some good Texas styled barbecue.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A huge part of who I am today and the values and discipline I learned through Jiu Jitsu stemmed from training under my Professor, Luciano “Casquinha” Nucci, back in Brazil.

Casca, as we like to call him, is an accomplished black belt under the famous Ryan Gracie. He is also the founder of Alliance Mooca back in São Paulo. I met him and joined his school back in 2008. It’s where I spent most of my time when I was a rowdy teenager still trying to find my way in life.

I can’t say that Casca and I got along all the time. In fact, we butted heads quite frequently. But he was always like a father-figure to me and taught me a lot about respect, setting me on the right path, and he is one of the biggest reason why I decided to dedicate my life to this sport.

We still keep in touch to this day and back in 2022, I was even able to bring my family from the U.S. to his gym in Brazil to meet him.

Website: https://underground-bjj.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underground_bjj1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndegroundJiuJitsu

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/underground-jiu-jitsu-plano

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5K7rpfewIfYlPYtIGaGucw

Other: Diego’s personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diegosantana0001/