THE STORY IS NOT OVER
Carlos Andres Robles Alvarez is the first blind Hispanic Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Losing his sight changed the course of his life. What followed gave him a new sense of purpose.
By Kacie Tzuo
Photo by Michael Dubrovin
When Carlos Alvarez lost his sight at 19, he thought his time in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu mat was over. A high school friend had introduced him to the sport, a lifeline for Carlos after years of bullying over his congenital glaucoma.
Carlos says he had trouble planning for his future as a teen. He knew complete vision loss was coming, and it felt like his life was over. He lived in Ecuador, where support for the blind was not readily available for most people who needed it. Martial arts seemed out of the question. College, even employment, felt impossible.
“I didn't know how to live like a blind person. I couldn't accept my reality,” Carlos says.
With encouragement from friends and family, however, Carlos made his way back to BJJ. He resumed training for up to seven hours a day, building the mental and physical strength needed to confront his new life. With renewed motivation, he applied for a continuing education program at Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, which supports independence for the blind and visually impaired through career training and accessibility programs. When a spot opened, he and his mother moved to the U.S. Carlos continued his jiu-jitsu journey in Miami, eventually earning a black belt.
“I remember the first time that I stepped into the gym. I was about to train, and I was crying because I was super happy that I was able to do what I love,” Carlos says. “I was also worried because I was thinking, ‘Everyone is going to kick my butt. It's going to be super easy to fight against a blind person.’”
Carlos Alvarez teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to blind and sighted students at Gama Filho Martial Arts in Miami | Photos by Michael Dubrovin
For Carlos, recovering meant finding connection to a purposeful activity that kept him strong enough to remain hopeful. While he was able to pull himself out of despair, others aren’t as lucky.
Across a range of profound losses, from physical ailments like blindness or amputation to emotional traumas such as the death of a close family member, research shows that those affected face a much higher chance of developing clinically significant anxiety or depression.
A recent CDC study found that adults with vision impairments had two to three times higher odds of psychological distress, for instance. Physical inactivity increased the odds of serious psychological distress in visually impaired people by 61%.
Carlos saw this firsthand while studying at Miami Lighthouse, where he was immersed in a community of other blind people for the first time. While he was grateful to connect with these new peers, he could feel their frustration. His friends often felt confined to their homes, which fed struggles with mental and physical illness.
Carlos wanted to help, and he was struck by an idea. In 2018, he gathered the mats and equipment he needed and introduced a group of his blind friends to BJJ. After connecting with Gama Filho Martial Arts, a Miami studio on Coral Way focusing on BJJ and Muay Thai, Carlos’s informal classes turned into a career. He’s been teaching BJJ classes for both blind and sighted people for more than eight years.
“I really feel that it’s my purpose in this life to help the blind community, but also to inspire any person on this planet and show that all is possible,” Carlos says.
Carlos acknowledges that his classes aren’t a replacement for therapy. He emphasizes the importance of talking through struggles, especially for those with disabilities, but says BJJ has given him and his fellow blind jiu-jitsu practitioners—or as he calls them, “blind warriors”—greater confidence to think beyond the obstacles they encounter.
“I want to encourage people to fight for their dreams,” Carlos says.
Photo by Michael Dubrovin
This article is sponsored by the Homestead Road Foundation. We’re grateful to our partners who collaborate with us to bring meaningful stories to life.
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