A Brazilian-American jiu-jitsu master who attended a friend’s wedding on Lake Como died after falling off a wall in Lake Como over the weekend.
Octavio Couto, 52, was in Italy for a wedding on August 25 and was walking back to his hotel when he stopped to look out over the lake from a wall.
Couto, husband and father of at least one daughter, “lost his balance and fell into the lake” some five meters away, Italian media reported.
Police were called and the man’s body was discovered around 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
Originally from Brazil, the man was a jiu-jitsu teacher, referee, event organizer and contestant and has been hailed as a “legend” in the community online.
“You were one of the greatest Jiu Jitsu masterminds, and an even better cousin and friend,” his cousin Rick Knight wrote in a Facebook post.
Octavio Couto was in Italy for a wedding on August 25 and was walking back to his hotel when he stopped to look across the lake at a wall and fell an estimated five meters into the lake.
Couto attended a wedding on Lake Como on Aug. 25 (pictured).
Originally from Brazil, Couto (pictured) was a jiu jitsu teacher, referee, event organizer and contestant. He has been hailed as a “legend” in the community online
According to Italy 24 News, Couto had returned to Tremezzo after attending a wedding at the Villa del Balbianello.
There he was dropped off by taxi boat and separated from the rest of the group.
Couto stayed in the temple of Villa Carlotta while many other members of his party stayed in the Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
While walking back, he is said to have stopped at a wall near the museum garden of Villa Carlotta and may have sat or lay down and fallen off the top.
It is unclear at this time whether alcohol was a factor and whether he died from drowning or from the fall.
Couto – whose nickname was ‘Ratinho’ – was the first place winner at the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Nationals in 1993 and the first place winner of the Copa Atlantico Sul in 1994.
He also notably took third place in the Internacional de Masters and Seniors in 2007, but is best known for training some of the best in the game.
He is credited with helping found and shape the careers of athletes like Fernando Terere, the Vieira brothers, and Felipe Costa.
Couto was also instrumental in launching the Alliance Barra Academy, a jiu jitsu academy that has formed dozens of black belts since it opened in 1994.
He eventually left his role at the academy and moved to the US in 2007, but continued to take an active role in training martial artists.
It is reported that the 52-year-old also traveled the world and worked as a consultant for academies, helping to shape the next generation.
Couto (right) was 1993 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Nationals first place winner and 1994 Copa Atlântico Sul first place winner
It has been reported that Couto (right) traveled the world and worked as a consultant for academies, helping to shape the next generation
Immediately after his death, tributes from close friends, relatives and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community in general.
In a heartbreaking post on Facebook, Couto’s wife Rebecca Da Silva shared a photo of their daughter looking out over the ocean.
“There’s not much to be said at this point to erase the pain so many are feeling,” Da Silva shared alongside the photo of their child on Friday.
“Tonight Octavio Couto’s daughter spent some time with his mind in the place he loved most: the ocean in winter,” she wrote.
Others on social media remembered him as a “beloved professor, mentor and friend.”
Octagon MMA, a mixed martial arts school in Dallas, Texas, shared a post on Facebook calling it one of the best in the world.
“(Couto) has taught and mentored hundreds of students at Octagon over the years, and thousands more on virtually every continent,” the post reads.
“(He was) one of the most respected BJJ coaches in the world,” the post continued.
Couto (pictured) is credited with helping found and shape the careers of athletes like Fernando Terere, the Vieira brothers and Felipe Costa
Social media remembered him as a ‘beloved professor, mentor and friend’
A former student said Couto was known to be just as helpful when he was not training as he was while training.
“Thank you for all the pearls of wisdom on and off the mats, Octavio,” Phuong Huynh wrote in a Facebook post.
a GoFundMe has now started helping Couto’s wife and daughter.
The fundraiser quickly reached its goal within days and raised a total of $28,000.
The money will be used to fly Couto’s body back from Italy to Brazil, where he will be buried. Extra money goes to his wife and daughter.