COACHES

Alvaro Cornejo

Álvaro Cornejo (AACR93) is a former chef, sports enthusiast, MMA and BJJ fighter and one of the two HOGA Head Coaches in Zürich, Switzerland. 

In 2009 (at the age of 15) Álvaro started his training under Juan Miguel Iturralde, black belt under Fernando "Soluço" Di Piero and Head Coach of the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Team in Ecuador. 

At this time, Alvaro competed in BJJ, Muay Thai and MMA and won several national and international tournaments throughout South America.

In 2016 Álvaro left Ecuador in search of new cultures and attended the HTMI School (Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management) in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, where he completed his PGD in European Baking & Pastry Arts.

After graduating, Álvaro dedicated the next 4 years to working as a chef in numerous hotels and restaurants throughout Switzerland and settled in the city of Zurich. 

He continued training under Juan Iturralde and received his black belt in March 2020 during a visit to Ecuador. Álvaro is a motivated professional who enjoys applying the organization, structure and determination he uses in the kitchen to his classes. He teaches with great passion and wants to help everyone improve on and off the mats.

Bilal Benmahammed

Bilal Benmahammed, one of the HOGA head trainers, is a black belt under Cicero Costha.

Born in Saint Denis in 1994, he grew up in La Courneuve near Paris. BJJ he discovered in 2011 his team, "Ten Chi Budokan" led by Professor Alexandre Dabadi.

After graduating in technology, he decided to become a professional athlete and fighter. He flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2016 to the famous Cicero Costha Academy where he trained with a golden generation of champions.

As an active competitor, his hard work and dedication to the sport led him to compete, train and teach in more than 25 different countries, bringing him numerous successes during his color belt years.

During his extended stays in Canada with a professional team "Action Reaction" and in Egypt at the Cicero Costha Academy there, he never lost focus and always remained ready for the next challenge.

Now based in Switzerland, Bilal advocates training that allows anyone to achieve a high level of athleticism while remaining combat ready at all times.

 As a Jiu Jitsu Stakhanovist and advocate of consistency, you can expect a good dose of effort that will allow you to achieve unimagined goals.