 Eduardo began training in BJJ at age nineteen after his friend Renzo Gracie recommended he try a class at the Gracie Barra Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.For the first two years, he studied under Jean Jacques Machado, then the head instructor, who awarded his blue and purple belts before leaving for America.From then on Carlos Gracie, Jr. was his instructor and awarded his brown and then black belt (the latter in 1997 after 8 years of training).