Ruas is the founder of Ruas Vale Tudo, a hybrid of submission wrestling and kickboxing. He also used to train in the art of capoeira with renowned Mestre Camisa in Rio de Janeiro at the Santa Luzia club, downtown Rio. He has instructed fighters such as Pedro Rizzo and Renato Sobral. He is also a black belt in Luta Livre, who faced up a legendary quarrel against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters in the 80s and 90s. After the match against Pinduka, he started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Osvaldo Alves. Later he trained Joe Moreira before his fight against the Russian boxer Yuri Vaulin. Seeing his good skills in grappling, Moreira gave him a black belt in brazilian jiu-jitsu and caused a commotion among his fellow Brazilians. His instructors included Euclydes Hatem.