Paulo was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and raised in a small surfing town called Barra de Tijuca. At 2½ years old, his mom had already started teaching him to swim. He played soccer from a very young age, as he explains all kids do in Brazil. He was also very into basketball, playing point guard up through his teenage years, and at 13 years old, he was the third highest-ranked three-point shooter in Rio. He got into boogie boarding at age 11 and enjoyed it, as he says boogie boarding was pretty big in Brazil at the time. A friend gave him his first surfboard, a 6'5" thruster, by junior high school, which he says was a pretty tough transition. But he knew it was time to stand up and get barreled, which he loves doing to this day. In seventh grade, he says there was a guy who was bullying his two best friends. Soon enough, this guy turned his attention to Paulo, who was 13 years old at the time. At school, the bully came looking for Paulo in his classroom and told him to meet outside at recess, where he and three of his friends got violent, four-on-one style. So, Paulo decided enough was enough and went to find a martial arts dojo. The first one he found was a karate studio, but he saw the bully training there. So, he left to look elsewhere. Eventually, he found a jiu-jitsu school and the rest is history, as they say.

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