[1] França began learning martial art from Soshihiro Satake at his academy in at the Rio Negro Athletic club, the first jiu-jitsu/judo school ran by a Japanese in Brazil, located in Manaus.
[5] França then moved to São Paulo to continue his training under another Japanese judoka called Geo Omori[2] (He later fought a grappling match against Carlos Gracie that ended in a draw).
[5] França then moved outside Rio de Janeiro, where he taught police officers, soldiers, and the favela's poor.
One of his student, Oswaldo Fadda, a young Marine, carried on França's mission of teaching jiu-jitsu to the impoverished population.
[4] França’s style of BJJ can be found today in teams such as Nova União and GFTeam.