By adminPublished: December 7, 2010Posted in: Interviews, NewsTags:
From:graciemag.com
Serginho also focuses on 2011 Worlds. Photo: Alicia Anthony.
Sérgio Moraes won the World Cup belt at this weekend’s Fernando “Fepa”-produced event in São Paulo. After winning the absolute on Saturday, the Alliance ace overcame then-title holder Alexandre de Souza (Gracie Floripa) on Sunday.
“The event was packed and it was awesome. I was stoked about my win. My best match was against Alexandre. I managed to come up with a good win in the end. I feel we gave the spectators a great match, and thank God, I’m the one who went home with the belt this year,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.
Now the fighter is getting ready for a move to the USA, where he will work on his MMA training, but he won’t be leaving the gi out of his training.
Check out what he had to say:
Will you compete in Jiu-Jitsu in 2011 or will you stay focused on MMA?
I intend to compete at all the main events, like the European, Pan, Worlds, ADC, World Pro, World Cup… The important thing is to train properly; so long as I’m trained I’ll compete in whatever comes up. I like it, that adrenaline from being matside or ringside.
When will you move to the USA for good?
I’ll spend the end of the year here in Brazil with family, then I’ll move to San Diego. I’ll teach at Minotauro’s academy.
I’m always focused on Jiu-Jitsu, whether in the gi or for MMA. We’ll get the guys training for real. Guys who train in the gi now how it helps determine technical quality, so I want to get everyone training in the gi. We’ll have some first-rate training.
What will improve for you at Minotauro’s academy (reminding of how Sérgio continues to represent Alliance)?
Being on Minotauro’s team will add a lot to my MMA and also, by being abroad, it will get me a lot more visibility. I’ll be on the side with the goal! But the first step is to train, evolve.
For starters here’s a few of Ryan Hall’s accomplishments:
2010 Chicago Open Absolute Champion (black)
2010 Chicago Open Champion (black medio)
2009 Abu Dhabi Bronze (<65.9 kg)
2009 Mundial Bronze (brown pena)
2009 ADCC Trials Champion (<65.9 kg)
2008 Mundial Champion (purple leve)
2008 European Champion (purple leve)
2008 Brasiliero Bronze (purple leve)
2007 No-Gi Mundial Champion (purple leve)
2007 ADCC Alternate Match Champion
13-time super fight champion (NAGA, US Grappling, Nevertap, Grapplers Quest, etc.)
Some notable victories over: Baret Yoshida, Jeff Glover, Wilson Reis, Rodrigo Ranieri, Rafael Correa, Jeff Curran, Renato Tavares, Joel Tudor, Jay Hayes, Frankie Edgar, Hermes Franca, Jim Miller.
Whether it’s from accomplishments like the ones mentioned above or criticism, the Jiu-Jitsu community would be hard pressed to deny that Ryan Hall is one of the most talked about grapplers today. In this interview Ryan discusses his early success, his involvement with the 50/50 guard, injuries sustained in training and competition, and a total change in his approach to being a better Jiu-Jitsu player.
BD: More and more of the jiu jitsu community is seeing and hearing about the 50/50 guard. Is this something you created or innovated and what or who inspired you to work on this position?
RH: I certainly didn’t invent the 50/50 position but I’m 99% certain that I coined the term. I started using it as a foot locking and heel hook position in no gi around late 2005, early 2006. To my knowledge, nobody started calling it “the 50/50″ until I made it up and Lloyd Irvin started releasing emails referring to it by that name. I was first exposed to the position–which wasn’t exactly a guard but a footlock position he called the “Cacareco” after Dean Lister’s victory using it at ADCC 2003–at a Brandon Vera seminar in 2004. Lloyd was always big on footlocks and as a result, we spent a lot of time drilling them. The 50/50 worked for me almost immediately because, even though I was lighter than most of the guys I trained with or competed against, it was a well tangled position that’s tricky to navigate through even if you’re a high-level leglocker. Because I spent a lot of time working on the position, I was able to use it effectively to find heel hooks and foot locks early on, even when I wasn’t so sharp with that stuff, and it just grew from there.
The people who I’ve drawn some inspiration from are guys like Cobrinha, Rafael Mendes, and Bruno Frazzato. Those guys are all so good that you can’t help but learn from watching them. I feel like I have made and continue to make consistent progress on it and it’s definitely a feature part of my game. I certainly wouldn’t describe it like many people do as a stalling position. Frankly, anyone who calls it that doesn’t understand what’s going on.
BD: Many people have seen the videos of well known guys like Xande giving his opinion and criticism about this position. Another criticism is that it is a dangerous position and can cause injury. How do you train it properly and how careful are you with your own students in this position? Are you ok with the novice level guys working the 50/50?
RH: I’m very careful with the way my students make their introduction to footlocks. I feel pretty comfortable saying that it is not safe for 2 beginners to be tangling up their legs and that injury is a pretty likely outcome if they do. Most new guys come into a gym and kinda thrash around, not necessarily because they’re trying to hurt each other, they just don’t know how to move safely. Kinesthetic sense takes years and years to develop to a high level, and because they haven’t put in the time yet, there is a very good chance that they don’t really have a feel for how the body works and tangling up the feet and knees can be a recipe for disaster. Worst part about it is the knee is such a vulnerable and at the same time a valuable joint, you can’t really do a whole lot without it. Even though I enjoy attacking legs and feet I prefer that my students avoid those positions early on in their training. I really believe that for someone to start learning leg attacks in a way that is going yield positive results (including safety for themselves and their training partners), they need someone who is experienced to sit down and work with them personally over a period of time to really get the hang of things.
When it comes to the 50/50, it’s caused injuries solely because of ignorance. Ordinarily, I would tend to defer to guys like Xande or anyone else who has experienced and accomplished more than than me but in this particular position I have no problem stating unequivocally that they are wrong. The 50/50 is no more dangerous then any other leg lock position,or arm position for that matter. Imagine if you put me in a Kimura and I started thrashing around and doing backflips trying to make you let go. Odds of injury for me? Pretty freaking high. Why don’t we see a worldwide outcry to ban armlocks due to their unavoidable dangerousness? Because there are enough people in existence who understand the way the arm/shoulder work and they let their students know what will happen if they don’t respect the arm attack and just move as if there was no danger.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many high-level foot lockers running around to teach people, and as a result, you will see injuries in training and competition. If you have my leg isolated and I start flipping around doing all kinds of crazy stuff trying to get out, I can hurt myself just as easily as you can hurt me. That’s not the footlock’s fault. It’s mine for being a moron. In order for us to train safely you have to be able to trust me that I’m not going to hurt you and I have to trust you the same way. If you feel my leg twisting in an unnatural way, it is your responsibility to let me out to prevent injury. Naturally, I would return the favor. We all have times when we think we’ve escaped a position but our training partner knows that they still have things locked up dead to rights. It’s our responsibility as good training parthers and friends to look out for the safety of the people we train with even when they don’t realize they need looking out for. As far as training goes, I can say with 100% certainty that I have never hurt myself in this position and I’ve never accidentally hurt anyone else, either.
Competition is definitely different. People generally aren’t trying to hurt one another, but your safety becomes your own responsibility, not your opponent’s. At a high level, you go until the other guy taps, and hopefully that tap will come before any sort of injury. That said, I have been around for a while and dealt with a lot of guy who don’t want to tap to a heel hook or don’t realize the danger they’re in. In the past, the M.O. was to finish things anyway because they should know better, but nowadays I don’t really have any desire to take someone’s leg off just because they don’t know what they’re getting themselves into. It actually cost me a match or two, but unless it’s ADCC or a superfight against another high-level guy, I’d just let them out. I’m really looking forward to the day that leglocks are a more widely understood part of grappling. It will make things even more interesting than they already are and there will be fewer ignorance-related injuries, as well.
On a side note, when people sit there and call the 50/50 a bunch of bad names, the only thing they really accomplish is creating a mental block that prevents them from understanding the position because they refuse to look at it critically. It’s been semi-fashionable these days for people, some of them very important in BJJ, to say that the 50/50 is a step backwards in Jiu-Jitsu and it’s a terrible position. The thing that confuses me a little is that we’re talking about some guys who are so good and so experienced, I guarantee you that they could figure the whole position out. If someone like Xande Ribeiro or Cobrinha started messing around with it for a while they would figure it out entirely and probably better than I have. That’s what really surprises me. I feel like a lot of people just dismiss it outright rather than say, “let me figure this out.” I think it’s too bad, because those guys would figure the ins and outs of it in no time.
BD: Where do you see the 50/50 guard in MMA? Have you seen fighters use? How do you see it progressing?
RH: I think the 50/50 is a valuable position, it can be used like any other footlock but again it’s gotta be used carefully. In my mind, it is better than a standard heel hook or going for a kneebar because it can be used to off-balance an opponent safely without the use of your hands which means I can use my hands to protect my face, to hit you, to push off the ground or to attack the feet. Whereas in other positions such as the regular heel hook I have to have a full commitment to your leg–which usually means I’m either going to submit you or you’re going to punch me in the head a whole bunch of times. Honestly, I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it progresses. I know I’m going to make use of it because I’ve spent so much time on it. Just like anything else, if you’re not proficient with getting into and out of the 50/50 at will, sweeping with it, passing with it, defending with it, and how to affect the other person’s balance, you’re not gonna be reliably effective with it. In my limited experience in MMA, “not being reliably effective” with something usually means you get punched in the face really hard when it doesn’t go according to plan.
A few guys who I’ve seen use it effectively are Masakazu Iminari, who is the DEEP champion at 145lbs, Rousimar Palhares has used it well. Again, it’s only going to be able to be used well by people who are truly high-level footlockers with good Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling. If you don’t have all your ducks in a row…you’re probably going get the shit beaten out of you.
BD: Do you see yourself getting more serious into MMA? Do you coach MMA?
RH: I’m kind of in a rough spot to be honest. I feel like I have good grappling partners and instructors and same goes for wrestling but I don’t really have easy access at the moment to really good MMA training partners or really good striking partners. I feel like I’m within reach to win the Mundial in the next few years and I’ve got ADCC in 2011 and I really want to try to go back because I felt that I had a good showing last time and there’s a lot more to be accomplished. So I’m really focused on Jiu-Jitsu for the next year or 2 exclusively. I’m spending a lot of time on my wrestling and as a result I know that’s going to help when I do make the transition over.
One thing I have been thinking about a fair amount, though, is that if I’m running a gym, I know I can’t reasonably expect to train, teach, coach and also have an actual real MMA career. I may be able to beat up on some lower level guys but eventually I’ll run into higher level competition and I have to be ready for that. I’ve been to some MMA camps like AKA in San Jose, it’s really cool what they do there. They have some of the best fighters in the world over there coupled with some great coaches. When I do transition to MMA, I would hope to be able to try to go away to train there or another great MMA camp for a few months at a time. I really want to take MMA seriously and don’t want to be another name on the list of high-level BJJ guys who didn’t properly prepare and got in over their head very early on in their fighting career.
As far as coaching MMA, one of our guys (Kenny Savercool) has an amateur title. He’s won his last 4 fights and finished them all. I feel like I can help from the grappling perspective but again I prefer to defer to those with more and better MMA coaching experience than myself. We had Darren Uyenoyama (Ralph Gracie black belt, Dream/Strikeforce vet) helping Kenny before his last fight and it really made a big difference. On the other hand, though, there are guys out there like Marc Laimon who, although he’s never fought, he’s obviously a phenomenal MMA coach–the guys from Team Takedown and the others over there at CobraKai are evidence of that. Dave Camarillo is another great example (though he has fought before) of a guy who is a fantastic MMA coach because of his grappling experience coupled with being a huge fight nerd/student of the game. I hope to one day get better and gain more experience so that I can try to follow in the footsteps of guys like them.
BD: Speaking of other schools, if you had the greatest super fight of your life in jiu jitsu and you had to train at another school, not your own, where would you go and the same question for MMA?
RH: For Jiu-Jitsu Marcelo Garcia’s in NYC. One of my good friends Paul Schreiner is the assistant coach there. I’ve been up there and trained with Marcelo and, shockingly, he’s unbelievable (laughs). Speaking of super fights I have one coming up against Hermes Franca for the UFC fan expo in Boston for the Grapplers Quest.
Assuming the fight wasn’t vs. Cobrinha, it would be really cool to go to Alliance Atlanta. It would be an honor to get to train with him. Another great spot would be Paragon. They have produced some of the best Americans guys like Jeff Glover, Tyrone Glover and Bill Cooper. Also considering the match wasn’t vs. any of the Atos guys I’d love to be there to train with the likes of Frazzato, the Mendes brothers, even though I want to compete against those guys too it would be really unbelievably cool.
For MMA I don’t have a whole lot of experience but I mentioned how much I like AKA so that would be a great place to train. They have excellent coaching in every aspect of the game and everyone trains hard. It really is a team, not just a group of individuals. Another camp that seems to be really good is Greg Jackson’s. I’ve never been there but the results speak for themselves. Those are the 2 that stick out in my mind.
BD: How did you decide to go off and start your own gym and leave Lloyd Irvin’s team? Also you recently have named Felipe Costa as your coach. I know he has been considered an inspiration to many jiu jitsu players out there. What about Felipe made you want to be under his tutelage and banner?
RH: Well, in the beginning of my career I guess I had showed some promise and was picked up by Lloyd to go and train full-time and compete out of his main school. When Mike Fowler left and went to a few different places before eventually settling in Guam, I kinda slid into his spot in terms of flying around the world and competing for Lloyd’s team. I left for a variety of reasons but I definitely appreciated my time there. I learned a lot on a series of fronts and I have made friendships there that still last to this day. I prefer not to get into the details about why I left, but I will say that although I feel fortunate for my time there, I’m also very glad to be gone. It’s a good team it just wasn’t for me. When I felt like I was at a point in my life where I could move forward, I did.
As far a Felipe goes, I’ve been friends with him since 2007. I met him then at a seminar and when I went to Brazil and competed in the Brasilero in 2008 representing Brasa, he was in my corner coached me to a medal at the toughest tournament I had ever done to that point. He’s always been a big help, very supportive and a good friend. Aside from being a great Jiu-Jitsu guy with all his championships at the black belt level, he’s really done it all. Like you said he is an inspirational guy. He had never won any major competitions before he received his black belt, but since then he has won every important title that gi Jiu-Jitsu has to offer. He is proof positive that through consistent hard work and dedication and belief in yourself you really will be able to accomplish your goals. It is truly an honor to represent him and I feel very fortunate to have him as my coach and mentor at this point.
When I left Lloyd’s I didn’t want to jump into an affiliation with someone who I really didn’t know. I was mainly concerned with the team I decided to represent that I had a good relationship and friendship with them. Felipe definitely falls into that category.
BD: There’s some criticism today on the bigger jiu jitsu tournaments like the mundials and pan ams. Some say it’s not exciting as it used to be and guys are playing things too safe. How do you feel about that and is there anything that can help improve these comps?
RH: I generally try to reserve comment on issues like this one, but I’m inclined to call bullshit here. The fact of the matter is there are just way more good guys out there today then there were even a few years ago. Take a look at featherweight/lightweight/middleweight for example, it’s unbelievable how many really good guys there are. There’s like 5 guys who have a legitimate shot for the gold and then there’s a bunch more that have a good to outside chance to medal. Situations like that don’t lend themselves to long-term dominance by anyone. Do people complain that there aren’t enough pins in the finals of the NCAA D-1 wrestling championship and that it’s boring as a result?
If anything, I would say that Jiu-Jitsu could take a page out of wrestling’s book and develop a much more effective stalling call from every position. In wrestling, I can’t take a whole bunch of steps backwards without penalty. In jiu jitsu you see guys running from each other or using guard to stall. Obviously it’s not an easy fix or someone would have done it already. For instance, if I’m holding the fight I should be forced to progress. But what if I’m winning? At what point is the onus to move on the losing or disadvantaged fighter? Also, do people realize that, by making rules that demand constant movement, we not only change the way that Jiu-Jitsu is going to be expressed, but we also increase the requisite level of athleticism of the competitors involved? In my mind, that is a good thing. However, at what point does heavy referee involvement start to take away from the purity of things? Not that I’m bringing up anything new, but overregulation has hurt many sports in the past and any attempt to modify the current ruleset would have to be monitored very carefully.
At a high level where the skill gaps between winners and losers are often not that great, intelligent competitors will utilize the rules to gain strategic advantage over their opponents. I see nothing wrong with this as it is a natural aspect of any compeition, sporting or otherwise. Obviously not everyone would agree with me, though. I guess the long and short of it is that I don’t have an answer and “just changing the rules” is nowhere near as cut and dry as some would like to think it could be. All you can do is try to be the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter you are capable of being. If you’re honestly out there fighting hard every time and looking for the finish, your Jiu-Jitsu will be fine. Just be introspective. Ask yourself,
“would this work if there were punches? why or why not?”
“would this work if there was no time limit and no referee? why or why not?”
” would this work if the other guy didn’t have to engage me on the ground?”
Let other people worry about themselves.
As far as the matches being so close and not everyone winning by sub of course it’s going to be that way. You don’t usually see the FIFA World Cup final being won by a blowout–that’s just not how it usually works when two elite-level opponents face off. When you have 2 good guys at a high level the game is, generally speaking, won by inches instead of miles. Every now and then you get a blowout but that could be for any of a number of reasons: one guy was sick/injured, someone slipped, someone has a new angle their opponent doesn’t know about, etc. Very rarely will someone not named Roger Gracie just pass and mount and cross choke every one of their opponents for years on end. That’s unrealistic to expect. Also, if people think that things are tough now, give it 30 years. Every black belt weight class will be filled top to bottom with killers. Then it will be a game of inches for sure.
BD: Which matches do you want see in jiu jitsu?
RH: There’s so many: Rafael Mendes vs. Cobrinha, Cobrinha vs. Jeff Glover, Dave Camarillo v. Rafael Mendes. Lightweight and middle just get ridiculous considering how many great guys there are out there: Bill Cooper vs. Marcelo Garcia. Marcelo would be the big favorite but Bill is so dangerous and on any given day he could beat just about anybody. Kron Gracie vs. Murillo Santana, Murillo is one of the best guys I’ve trained with, he beats the crap out of me. He might not be quite as well known but I think he just may be the second best middleweight in the world.
Bruno Frazatto vs. Glover, JT Torres vs. Cooper, Michael Langhi vs. any top guy his weight and same goes for Marcelo and Jacare. Roger is so dominant but I like to see him against anybody. Caio Terra vs. Bruno Malfacine, pretty much take any of those top 5 or so light featherweights and stick them in there vs. each other. The great matches go on and on…
BD: Who would you say are the top guard passers?
RH: Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, Leo Viera, Cobrinha, Pablo Popovitch, Murillo Santana to name a few.
BD: Who has the best sweeps?
RH: Cobrinha, Rafael Mendes, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, Marcelo, Langhi. Roberto “Roletta” Magalhaes, if I can pull anybody from any time period, he was just unbelievably creative. It may be hard to find video on him but if you do he’s bound to show you something and if you can’t learn from it, have your friend punch you repeatedly in the face and then try again. You’ll come around.
BD: Best finishers?
RH: Marcelo, Roger, Cobrinha, Rafael Mendes, Braulio Estima. These guys are going out there tapping almost everybody. They don’t play games, so it’s really fun to watch.
BD: Do you have anything you’re working on right now as far as DVD’s or other instructionals?
RH: I just shot 2 more DVD series with World Martial Arts, the same guys who produced my 50/50 and triangle DVD’s. These new ones are with the gi going over deep half and attacking the back. I hope they come out as well as I think they will. I really tried not to hold anything back and discussed theory and understanding and strategy in addition to the techniques and movements. I tried to put everything into perspective and I really hope that people enjoy them when they come out. If not…I apologize in advance. (laughs)
BD: You had mentioned to me that you believe guard passing is your best skill, if you were to go back a few years and look at the forums and see all the hits for Ryan Hall and your success with the triangle and inverted guard and what not, it’s completely different with your mentality now. You’ve gone through a transformation and have changed since then. Your whole jiu jitsu philosophy has changed. How did his all come about?
RH: I agree with you on your statement about my change in Jiu-Jitsu mentality. I feel like my game was developed improperly at the beginning. I’ve had to do a lot of fixing and tinkering with my game, but I’ve always looked at the best guys to see what they are doing and why, basically try to become more like them. What’s really allowed me to improve is developing a deeper understanding of all of the movements I know and how they fit together into a cohesive framework and strategy–this has been the key for me. I was forced into introspection when I had surgery on my wrist in the end of 2008, keeping me off the mat with no training for 8 months.
Though I’ve had 5 surgeries since I began training, it was the longest period of inactivity for me and I was left with a lot of time on my hands to consider how I could improve the things I was doing. I came to the conclusion that a solid 75% of the things I was doing with my Jiu-Jitsu were either fundamentally flawed or at the very least, could use some pretty serious overhaul. After months of depression from lack of training mixed with more hours of analysis than I had put into my game in the past few years combined, I was able to start to figure out what wasn’t quite right and how I could fix things. With all these mental adjustments, when I was finally able to get back on the mat, I was so much better than before the injury in spite of all the time off. Two months after I came back from the injury I won the 2009 Abu Dhabi Trails submitting everyone, placed 3rd at the worlds and then 3rd again at ADCC. Just a lot of introspection. That’s what changed me and set me apart.
BD: Being away from the mats for so long did you watch a lot of videos to compensate for not training and if so what did you and what do you watch now to learn? What do you recommend us to watch to maybe better our own games?
RH: Youtube Cobrinha, Roger Gracie, Marcelo Garcia, Michael Langhi, Leo Viera, etc. footage on these guys are so readily available because they’ve been so successful and they’re careers are well documented. I have to say there is a lot of junk on the internet, too, but you can find great stuff if you look around a little bit. Watch Roger if you want to see incredible control. Anyone who tries to tell you he’s doing the same things as everyone else is either deluding themselves or out of their mind. Try to figure out what he’s doing and what makes him different. These guys that I mention over and over in this interview are the best. In my mind, there’s no reason to watch anyone else. Not that you can’t learn anything from other guys but, in my opinion, these here are the prototypes.
BD: When all is said and done and you look back on your jiu jitsu career what is it that’s going to make you say, “I was successful?”
RH: Abu Dhabi champion and black belt world champion. Honestly, this is my life now. I don’t want to be the guy who looks back and says I could’ve done this or that if only whatever. It’s part of the reason I’ve competed as often as I have (400+ matches). I’ll take a loss here and there to someone I might not otherwise lose to on a good day, but it’s all in the direction of my ultimate goals. I’ve dedicated my life to doing this and because I started at 19 years old, I feel that I’m already late and have to make up for lost time. In my mind I’m not going to accept anything less than being the best. Nothing else would justify the sacrifices I’ve made in education, family, etc. I know it’s not going to be easy but I will continue working hard.
BD: I appreciate your time especially with your busy schedule. I want to give you the opportunity to give any shout outs and thank you’s and anything else you want to add.
RH: Thank you very much Bobby for doing this interview. I hope it wasn’t too boring (laughs). Thank you to Felipe Costa for allowing me to represent his team. Thanks to Paul Schreiner for always being there to help me and coach me and for all his advice. Thank you to my friend, Seph Smith, and our students for believing in me and in our team and always working hard. We’ve got guys who are doing great. Blue belts beating black belts and guys winning advanced divisions at Grapplers Quest as blue belts and things like that. 2 Pan American champions, and 4 medals from the Mundial since we opened last year, and some of the best male and female BJJ players in the world stopping by to teach and train on a regular basis. Honestly, I couldn’t have hoped for more in such a short time when I started out.
When you get a group of motivated people who all believe in the same goal and are willing to put in the work over a long period of time, you can accomplish so much. That’s what I’m trying to develop here at 50/50. I feel really fortunate to have a core group of guys, especially at the featherweight/lightweight blue-brown belt level, who are training hard every day to make a big impact on the World level in the years to come. Kenny Savercool, Quang Nguyen, and Rick Slomba: keep your eye out for them.
In closing, thanks to all the people who’ve supported me and thank you very much to all the people who continue to say that I’m not that good and I’ll never be anything because whenever I’m short on motivation I just need to look on the internet and it’s like lightning in a bottle.
With 17 wins and no loss on MMA, Charles “Do Bronx’s” Oliveira debuted on UFC in great style. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt got a submission over Darren Elkins in only 41 seconds. From an underdog, Charles started to be noticed on his second fight on UFC, which happened a month later, already on the main card, against Efrain Escudero, and he got another impressive submission. The next mission of the lightweight is to fight Jim Miller, who is coming from a sequence of five wins, on a fight scheduled for December 11th. The performance of the fighter has been pleased so much that it’ll be his third fight in less than four months and TATAME talked with the guy about many subjects. The guy of only 21 years old talked about his career, told us the first thing he’s bought when he earned the US$40 thousand bonus for the best submission of the night, commented his dream of fighting BJ Penn among many other subjects which you can check below.
You appeared to the world on Predador’s GP. How was it like?
So, on Predador the division was 170lbs, and I weighted 158,7lbs wearing jeans, sneakers and a coat. Thanks God I did three great fights. I’ve beaten guys who had 15 wins, like Lima Braga, Jackson Pontes, and I had just turned 18, I had just have my debut and I didn’t really know what MMA was. I went there without knowing much about it and there were great guys, but I managed to do my job, use my JIu-Jitsu thanks God. I’ve won three fights, in great style.
Of course you go there trusting yourself… But, back at that time, did you think the outcome would be as good as it was?
No, it’d never guess, I told my coach I didn’t know I could win three fights. We’ve talked a lot and we knew that I didn’t exchanged well, I really didn’t know how to do it. I’ve never trained MMA. I only knew my Jiu-Jitsu was better than any guy in there. My team told me and I’ve believed them. They said to me: “your Jiu-Jitsu is the best in the world. If you take the guys down, you’ll win”. And it turned out to be true. On my first fight, when he came, I kept spinning around, hoping to find some space to take him down. I got him on a rear naked choke. On my second fight, I was so surprised because I knocked the guy out, and on t he finals I confronted Diego Braga, and I submitted him too. I did pretty good job. In my mind, I didn’t hope for it. In my mind, I knew I could do a good presentation, but not winning.
I’ve met you on Eagle Fight, in Guarulhos, Sao Paulo, and I was impressed with your exchange, and then I’ve found out you are a Jiu-Jitsu guy. Do you practice Muay Thai for how long?
Man, I’ve started to train MMA when I turned 18.
Since then it was just Jiu-Jitsu?
Only Jiu-Jitsu… After my first fight on Predador, I’ve started training MMA, which is a mix of everything. I’ve never trained Muay Thai separately, I’ve never done a Boxing training… I only do Jiu-Jitsu trainings apart from the others. I’ve always done a mix of all arts. Right after people started to know me, they kept saying: “Charles do Bronx’s only knows how to submit, he only knows Jiu-Jitsu”, and I couldn’t get that off my mind, I knew I had to learn new things. That was a positive thing for me, because when I trained with the guys, they knew much more about it than me, and I didn’t take them down, I stood there, being hit because it’s when you is hit that you learn. Back then, Macaco still was here in Brazil and we came here to Sao Paulo’s main gym and I used to train with the best guys in Brazil at that time, the best team of the world. I was training like a desperate man, training on a gym with great guys and then I’ve started to learn how to exchange.
At what point in your career you started thinking you’d be ready for any challenge?
I think in all my fights. Each fight I did, I kept learning more. Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine, and we were saying that when the guy wins, he thinks he’s doing fine in the game. Not me. On my first time, I fought for 41 seconds on UFC, and I’ve watched those 41 seconds like a hundred times. I’ve exchanged he wanted to take me down and I tried to submit him from that position. I’ve watched this fight all over again, and I enjoy learning, to see what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve done right, to know what I should do. When a guy teaches me something, I want to learn it, really learn it and take the best lesson from it I can, and I think that’s it.
Even having trained a lot, were you anxious for you debut on UFC?
We always get there trained. On the first fight I fought on a ring, I was pretty tense, my family knows it, they were speaking to me on the phone and they could tell I was tense. But on UFC I was at ease, it was a dream for me, I knew that was the thing I’ve wanted to do. If I was focuses, if I was in a good state of mind, I could do a great fight…
You’ll have to face much tougher guys, like you did on your second fight, against Efrain Escudero, a guy who came directly from TUF…
The guy belonged to Minotauro’s team, he joined Ultimate’s cast and did great fights, he’s a good name. I’ve won a fight in 41 seconds and they’ve put me against a tough guy. I’ve always wanted to fight the bests. If I’ll win, I want to beat the bests, I can’t pick who I’ll confront… I’ll fight whoever they ask me to. I did a great fight. His game is about coming forwards and backwards, and I didn’t want to play it, so I started playing my own game to that I could test myself, knowing I’d had to manage to handle the three rounds because I had a good conditioning.
He hit you with an illegal knee, it was hard on you and he started trying to bring the fans to his side…
On the lock room, me, Ericson and Macaco were talking, saying that, in most of his fights, he hits the guy’s private parts, and I knew it could disturb me. My kick, I’m sure it didn’t catch him, but I apologized immediately. You can watch the video, you can see I didn’t hurt him, his chill slipped. When I kicked him, I cut my feet, I concentrated so I wouldn’t lose my mind. Macaco told me to take it easy, Ericson also told me to stay calm, and when I came back, I kept playing the game I was playing. I was winning the two first rounds, but I knew I had to knock him out or submit him, because I can’t leave it to the Americans to decide.
And about the takedowns?
I was training hard my exchange and I left this aside, so I think that, for my next fight, I’ll have to train more this part. On Escudero’s fight I wanted to show I could trade punches with him so people know I don’t only know Jiu-Jitsu. I took him down once on the second round and one on the third, but now I want to bring a new show, I want to be more aggressive… I want to be more and more aggressive on the octagon.
What do you think it’s the best way to beat Miller?
Man, Miller is a guy known for being the best Jiu-Jitsu guy, but I don’t think so. I think he’s a complete guy, who can play standing up or on the floor. From my part, I want him to come forwards on the first round because I know he’ll come hungry for me and, in my fights, no one has done it to me. I think he’ll try to risk it all, he’ll try to knock me out or submit me. I think he’ll try to take me down, but I’m not afraid of going to the floor. My Jiu-Jitsu is as good as it always was, so I don’t think it’ll be any different than it was in Brazil. I’ll work the ground game taking one step at a time, but always moving forwards. On the second round, I have to be more aggressive, exchange with him, take him down. But that’s just what I’m saying here, when you get there you can never know. He can make a mistake, he might want to only exchange, or only take me down. I think it’ll be a fight between two warriors, and I think he’s more likely to win the belt because he has more wins than I do. He wants to make some space for himself, but I also want to make a statement.
Your professional record, on the website Sherdog, isn’t right. Which is your currently professional record?
Now I have a professional record of 17 wins and no losses. It’s wrong on Sherdog, I’m trying to fix it…
And about KOs and submissions?
Man, I think there’re eight submissions, seven KOs and one decision…
Do you think this fight might take you to another level, on the journey for the title?
In my life, in my career, I’ve always wanted to take one step at a time, not only when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, but in all aspects. I don’t want to jump to a level I’m not prepared for yet, I’m not in a hurry and it won’t be any different, it’ll take it slowly. It’s the same I’ve told my coaches: “guys, I don’t pick fights”. I’m sure that if I beat him, I can climb one more step on the stair of UFC and I leave it for them to decide who will and who won’t have a title shot.
How do you see this weight class currently, with Frankie Edgar as the belt holder?
Man, Frankie Edgar deserves everything he’s got, but I think that ‘the’ big name of the division is BJ Penn. BJ is the guy. On his fight, he proved the world that, when he’s into it, when he wants… I think he beat every opponent he had for too many time, he remained unbeaten for a long time and it destabilized the guy. It’s good to lose. Congratulations to Frankie Edgar, but I think BJ wasn’t at his best, on his timing. This fight he proved it to the world. I think he owns the division.
If you have to face him, how will it be?
That’s my dream. When I saw Frankie Edgar, I thought I’d had to fight him, if it was for the belt, I’d do it, but I’d be an honor to me fighting BJ, independently of the outcome. I’d like to use my game to fight him because he’s the guy, he’s the guy of this division. I cheered for him. If he comes back in that style, he’ll rule this division.
You’re a guy with humble origins, and now you make a lot of money on UFC. How do you do to keep your feet on the ground?
First of all, I think my family comes first, it’s the foundation of everything, I have a girlfriend… I never went to a nightclub in my life, I’ve never smoked, did drugs or drank. I think that here in Brazil guys always did it, these are things everybody knows that happens. These things aren’t for me. A truth athlete doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t go to nightclubs. I have my fun… I go out with my girlfriend, we go to the beach, we call our family and go to a farm of a friend of mine. When I won my first fight, I’ve earned US$40 thousand. Do you know what was the first thing I’ve bought? A little remote control car on the United Stated. I’ve never had one… Yesterday I was back home and I was flying a kite with the boys there, we’ve bought row and went flying kites…
I like two streets from the slum, I know everybody. Despite of what I’ve earned, with all the money I have, I got that money and fixed things at home, gave the best things to my mom. Today, thanks God, I can give my mom and dad what they have given me. Now I’m focused, I’ve never had that kid spirit. We go to UFC and the guys ask to take a photo with me and I go there and take a picture with them… There’re guys who say they can’t. I think it’s bullshit. You have to be humble. Sometimes, I make a mistake, and then my mom comes to me and say: “Charles, be careful. You forgot this”. Sometimes it’s hard because people start to think you’re snobbish and you’re not.
Black belt of Nova Uniao, Wagnney Fabiano got on WEC being respected because his wins on the extinct IFL, but two loses in six bouts made him alert. Aware of the need of a win on his next fight, now on UFC, Wagnney talked to TATAME and commented the future. “My last fight didn’t please me at all, I have skills to do much more than that and I was very disappointed by the way I lost”, said Wagnney, who was submitted by Joseph Benavidez. On the exclusive interview, the fighter still talked about the fusion between WEC and UFC and the learning from his defeat. Check it below:
What went wrong on this last fight?
It was like a thump for me. I was well trained, feeling fine, but I was defected at that time, I don’t know what happened, I froze. I was fine on the two first guillotine chokes, but then I stopped, froze again and, when I realized, it was too tight. It was very frustrating for me. I know I still have four more fights, but it doesn’t mean a thing. My loses bring much learning to me and I’ll change it all for my next fight.
What did you learn from this fight?
It’s that thing: you won’t change a winning team… I’ve been doing the same training for all my opponents, but this one was completely different. I didn’t expect him to be so aggressive, I thought he’d use his Wrestling skills, so I was lost… I was cool, but then I just froze.
You lost on a crucial moment of the merge between WEC and UFC. Did they say anything about it?
I’m there. I have four more fights to do, but it doesn’t mean a thing, everybody knows that. My next fight must be different, I’ll change it all, I have to go there and win because I couldn’t get this one… Let’s move on and keep the hard trainings, trying to improve more and more because that’s the main goal: to keep improving. Let’s see, let’s go there and try to bring this win home.
What do you think of the merge of the events, worshiping the light weights?
We already expected that, everybody knew it. For me, it’s perfect. Now it’s the dream come true, fighting on Ultimate. Here’s the thing: I have to improve in all aspects, look for different trainings, try to win this next fight. I’ve fought six times there, I have four wins and now two loses. That, for sure, isn’t a bad average, but it’s not what they are looking for. My last fight was very disappointing, I have enough weapons to be much better so I let myself down by losing the way it happened, but let’s see. If it’s God’s wish, everything will change.
Once you’ve said you were frustrated with the financial matter on MMA. Do you think it’ll change on UFC?
What’s what everybody’s expecting (laughs). Everybody has a contract, so I won’t say it’ll change the financial condition of everybody because they’re not stupid, they are not there to simple give people money… Everybody has to fulfill the contract, but you know it’s UFC. If you submit a guy, you get a bonus… They really incentive the fighters to pull their heart out, to make good fights. Bonus, checks sent my mail of US$30 thousand, so it really motivates the fighters to give their best.
By adminPublished: November 30, 2010Posted in: Interviews, NewsTags:
From:tatame.com.br
By Guilherme Cruz
Photo Marcelo Alonso
Number one among the welterweights pound by pound of the planet, Georges St. Pierre will put his UFC belt in line on December 11th against the American Josh Koscheck, and convoked the Brazilian Gustavo Ximú for helping him on the trainings on the ground and standing up. “I gave him many tips about the half guard, whether he’s on top or on the bottom, in bad situations on the grid, how to escape from foot locks, even if the guy doesn’t completely gets him, using it to sweep the opponent”, tells Ximú. Back to Brazil, the black belt chatted with TATAME and analyzed the duel for the title, the future of the division of GSP and a possible confront between him and the Brazilian Anderson Silva. Check it:
How were the trainings with GSP in Canada?
The trainings were great, for me on the Wrestling part and for him on the ground game and Muay Thai. We did many ground trainings, Muay Thai and takedowns, it was pretty nice because the guy is very humble when he is learning and also when he’s teaching me something. It was a good thing for me to go there, like he said… I gave him many tips about the half guard, whether he’s on top or on the bottom, in bad situations on the grid, how to escape from foot locks, even if the guy doesn’t completely gets him, using it to sweep the opponent.
What do you expect of this fight between him and Koscheck? Do you think it’ll be like the first one?
I think GSP is very prepared for it, training hard. I’m not underestimating his opponent, but GSP is very strong, has a good conditioning and has a good state of mind.
Jake Shield might be the next one on the line for the belt. Do you think that there’s someone on this weight class capable to beat GSP currently?
I think Jake is a hard and complicated guy, obligating GSP to be more conditioned because, of course, they’ll be on fire on the ground. But GSP is much more complete. Jake is good on the ground game, grabs you on a position and stick to it, always trying to get a submission.
Many people speculate about a super fight between GSP and Anderson Silva. Do you think this fight will happen?
It’d be a tough fight, for sure. I think it won’t happen, GSP said he’s too light to fight Anderson. At least until next year, it won’t happen.
Even if it was on a catchweight, like 80kg?
But I think many things are about to happen to both of them, on their own divisions, so I think they won’t meet each other along their way. But Dana White is the guy, he leads it all.
Do you think that Anderson will continue to be the champion in 2011, facing opponents like Vitor Belfort e Yushin Okami?
I don’t even think about Okami, both Brazilians can beat him, Anderson or Belfort… It’ll be a tough fight. For example, BJ Penn vs. Matt Hughes: who would expect a knockout in 21 seconds? Both fighters are preparing themselves a lot.
It’s true… Would you belt in any of them?
Two Brazilians? It’s a hard one… It’ll be very tough, Vitor is very explosive and Anderson is talented, as if he dribbled.
By adminPublished: November 18, 2010Posted in: Interviews, NewsTags:
From:bjjlegends.com
Written by Michael Sergi.
He was known as just Roberto Abreu back in early 2000. A tough blue belt that loved to compete and hungry to be a world class bjj black belt. Just four short months after having been in a horrific car accident that was to leave him with having to give up the sport he loved he went on to take 2nd in the Brazilian Nationals. That’s when it all changed.
Roberto already knew, and now everyone else does too, that he was still on a path to accomplish his jiu-jitsu goals. But how could he. How could Roberto from the Brazilian country side make such a quick come back? How could he make a come back at all? It wasn’t normal. It’s like he’s some kind of a machine or mythological figure. A BJJ player of his size with the quickness of a feather weight, the technical ability of someone raised in Rio and playing on the mats from infancy, and the power and pressure of a super super heavy weight. “Cyborg” could be an understatement.
Cyborg came to the US just 3 short years ago and has been on a tear competing in nearly every major tournament all over North America and Europe. Not only has he been competing he has been winning. Cyborg has beaten some of the biggest names in the sport. Coming off a huge win with his newly formed team as a competitor and now coach Cyborg took some time out of his busy schedule to speak with BJJ LegendsTMMagazine about his past, present, and future.
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu: I was addicted to sports since I was little. I have always participated in some kind of sport. I have done everything from swimming, where I was multiple time state champ, to all kinds of martial arts like judo, karate and capoeira. I was born and raised in the country side of Brazil. I always had a pretty rough attitude and loved to fight. One day a friend of mine that was really skinny asked me to fight him at a party. I couldn’t believe it. I laughed at him and told him he was too small for me to fight. The next thing I knew he submitted me many times. I didn’t understand what all of that was. I had never seen BJJ before. After the fight I really got excited to learn that stuff. I made him take me to his gym and that was it. I fell in love with the Gentle Art. I was still 17, but I won my first tournament in the adult heavy weight division with 2 weeks of training. I got my black belt in 5 years. Now after 12 years of training I can only see how good BJJ has been for my life!”
BJJ LegendsTM: You had a bad accident early in your jiu jitsu career, which nearly caused you to have to give the sport up. Can you tell us more about that?
RA: It was back in 2000 when I was still a blue belt. I was in a car accident and my car flipped many times. I got thrown out the car and the car landed on me. It shattered my left arm giving me 300 stitches. There was lots of glass and debris inside my arm. The doctors said I wouldn’t be able to move my arm again. Four months after the accident I took 2nd at the Brazilian Nationals. My coach at the time was Isaias and he said that I must have been a cyborg to make a come back like I did in such a short time. The name Cyborg suited me well and it stuck with me.”
BJJ LegendsTM:You have a very unique style and you’ve been noted as creating the tornado guard. How did you develop the position?
RA: I started doing my tornado guard when I still was a blue belt. I was always really creative with my training. My natural flexibility also helped me a lot in doing different moves. I was always trying plastic moves. One day I pulled out a sweep from half guard that I didn’t understand, but felt really cool. After that I began playing that style more. Since then, it was my main weapon. No one at that level understood what I was doing. When I got my purple belt in 2002 I opened my first school and named it Fight Sports in my home town of Campo Grande MS. Most of my students were smaller than me and pretty much all white belts. I had to let them move in order for me to have some good training. It helped me a lot in loosening up my game. Today many people say I move like a feather weight. I love to train with smaller guys and try to beat them on speed. Jiu jitsu for me has to be cool and fun. I always try to improve my mobility and balance. Playing top or bottom.
BJJ LegendsTM: What are you thoughts on gi vs no-gi training. Can the gi make you a better no-gi grappler?
RA: I love to train Jiu jitsu – period! I used to train only in the gi, but when I got my black belt I started training no-gi. I fell in love with it. But truly, I like the gi better.
Most of my classes, especially for beginners are with the gi on. You can not learn BJJ without putting the gi on. For sure they complement each other. Training with the gi on is like running in the sand. It’s harder to move because of the grips, but when you take the gi off you fly. The same happens the other wayaround. No-gi training helps you tighten your game. To be a complete grapplers you must do both.
BJJ LegendsTM:You also have a very solid wrestling background. You were a national team member for Brazil. How did you get into wrestling?
RA: I have always had a lot of talent for take downs. I won the Brazilian Nationals of wrestling without ever having seen a wrestling match before. After that I fell in love with wrestling and I became part of the national team. Now wrestling is an important part of my schools curriculum. I train it as much as I can.
BJJ LegendsTM:You were finalist at the 2009 ADCC. Were you happy with your performance?
RA: The ADCC is the royal spot for grappling competition and I was very honored to have received the invitation to fight. I worked hard to be at the top of my game with Pablo Popovitch and it was amazing to be in the finals at my first appearance at the tournament. Of course, I wanted the gold, but I was really happy just to be there. Next time I’ll be hunting for the gold.
BJJ LegendsTM: You moved from Brazil to Miami. How long have you been in Florida now?
RA: I moved to Florida 3 years ago and I have made this place my home.
BJJ LegendsTM:Do you have any big plans? What are you working on now?
RA: Today I have 2 awesome gyms here and business is awesome. One of the gyms is called Fight Sports. It’s an awesome 3 story gym located in front of the beach in Miami Beach. This is where I have the Fight Sports Miami Camp – a hotel for people from around the world that want to come and train BJJ with me. The other gym is called Legacyfit and that is where I coach MMA Fighters. It is an amazing facility with strength and conditioning, Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It’s complete training for MMA. We have a full size ring, an octagon, huge mat space, weights, and everything you need to be an MMA champion. You guys can look for it at legacyfit.com or cyborgbjj.com. Other than that I have been opening associations around the world. I’m sending my black belts everywhere.
Cyborg Fight Sports team is getting stronger each day. I just started a team with my brother Pablo Popovitch called The Avengers BJJ. Pablo and I have been working together for a while. Both of us have strong teams here in Florida and we train together full-time. It has already brought us important titles in pretty much all the bigger tournaments. Now with our fusion the results are going to be even bigger and better. So we built the super heroes of BJJ to destroy the tournaments (he says laughing). It is going to be fun!
BJJ LegendsTM: Tell us about the new team that you formed called The Avengers.
RA: The Avengers is a team formed by myself and my brother Pablo Popovitch. If you’ve ever been a comic book fan, then The Avengers is definitely a series you could never forget. They are defined as “earths mightiest heroes formed to fight the foes no single hero could withstand”. This definition sounds surprisingly close to what’s going on in south Florida these days on the BJJ/grappling circuit. If you could witness the training that takes place at our gyms you would understand how we came up with that name.
Everyone of our guys have an extensive list of titles and accomplishments such as ADCC, World, Pan Am and pro divisions across the world.The Avengers is the only name that accurately fits the assembly of talent we have. When you figure they were the “most prestigious super-hero team in the world” the name is perfect. Not only are these guys talented but their athletic builds also fit the mold perfectly. As 2010 is coming to the final stages of the year, the BJJ/Grappling world will no doubt feel the wrath of The Avengers. It will be history in the making and the start of a great alliance. We have already showed what we have came for.”
BJJ LegendsTM: You and your team have had a great 2010. Can you give us a recap?
RA: The year of 2010 was a gift. I had the blessing of closing out pretty much all of the weight and open classes at many major tournaments with my teammates this year. We won the Grapplers Quest Texas, I had a great fight against Rolles (Gracie), Honolulu Open, Miami Open, the No-Gi Pan-Am’s, and the No-Gi Worlds open classes closing out with Buchecha and Pablo. We also won the team title at the No-Gi Worlds, which was something unbelievable. Our students also won almost every open class at the No-Gi Worlds. Now is time to rest and organize the house. Pablo and I are going to sit and make the plans for next year. I’m really confident the year of 2011 is going to be awesome!
BJJ LegendsTM: That reminds me. Tell us about the choke you used in your match against Stephen Hall at the Miami Open. I’ve never seen anything like that before.
RA: I’ve been using that choke for a long time. As everybody knows I love to move a lot, so I use the knee on the belly a lot to control my opponents. That is a variation that I use applying the knee on my opponents neck and believe it has a lot of pressure. It’s for sure one of my trade marks.
BJJ LegendsTM: Any plans on a seminar tour. If so, when and where?
RA: Thank God my work has been recognized. The tornado guard has had a big impact. I’m really happy and living a dream making my life with BJJ. I didn’t stop the whole year. I traveled a lot doing seminars and it was awesome! I got to train with a lot of different people and got to visit wonderful places with my jiu jitsu adventure. Next year promises a lot. I’ll start in January with a trip to Australia. I’m supposed to have about 12 seminars in 14 days. It will be crazy!
I’ll have another tour in Europe where I expect to go to more than 8 countries. I’ll be in Mexico at some point along with some countries in Asia. Of course, I will be all over the USA. Pablo and I are even going to be conducting some seminars together. We plan on conducting seminars where I teach my guard game and Pablo teaches his wrestling and guard passes, which would be perfect. For sure 2011 is going to come with many good things and many big tournaments. It means a lot of hard work and success!!
BJJ LegendsTM: Is there anything else you would like to mention?
RA: Thanks everyone for the good vibes always!! JIU JITSUUU!!!!
At 1.83 meters (6′) tall, Demian Maia is getting ready to deal with the reach of the 1.99-meter (6’5”) Kendall Grove. The fight is set to take place December 4 at the grand finale of the twelfth season of the “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, and to get around his opponent’s spindly arms and legs, Demian sought out taller training partners, among them Brazilian national No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu champion Antonio Peinado, of team Alliance.
Check out the GRACIEMAG.com interview with Demian:
Do you think Grove’s height will make things rough on you?
It may hinder or may help. Truth is that it’s something different. Só I’m training with taller people and taking the opportunity to adapt to it. But I don’t feel it’ll be harder or easier, just different.
And who are these tall sparring partners you brought in to help you?
Ednaldo Lula, who fights in the WFE promotion, is helping me. He is over two meters tall. But I also called on Batista, Antonio Peinado, who just won the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. He’s going to help me. He’s not quite as tall as Kendall, but he’s really tall and long-limbed. I also have some tall students who are helping me out.
Are you still training in the USA?
I was in the United States, where I trained wrestling for a couple of weeks, but I’m aready back in Brazil. Now I’m heading to Bahia.
Peinado won two matches at Brazilian Team Nationals. Photo: Gustavo Aragão
Forget about how fans and critics see Roger Gracie. In this interview, published in a special Worlds issue of GRACIEMAG, we sought to find out how the best in the world see the only three-time absolute champion on the planet.
Rodrigo Cavaca (CheckMat): You are the greatest Jiu-Jitsu competitor of all times. How long before the World Championship do you begin your preparations for the competition and how long do you spend training with the folks at Gracie Barra?
I train one week with the Gracie Barra folks in California. I start preparing about twelve weeks before the competition. That’s when I pick up the intensity by training twice a day.
Cavaca: Do you ever think of returning home to Brazil to live, or are you completely settled in London?
At the moment, it would be hard for me to live in Brazil. I’m opening my third academy in London. I wouldn’t be able to return even if I wanted to. But I’m not thinking of living in London forever. My son, Tristan, is one year old and will start school in England, so I won’t be going back any time soon. But forever is a long time; I do plan to live in Brazil again someday.
Bernardo Faria (Alliance): I feel I evolve a lot after losing. I see what I did wrong and work on correcting it. You practically never lose; so how do you get your Jiu-Jitsu to evolve experiencing only victory?
One should learn from both victory and defeat. At a championship, one comes across a variety of different errors: tactical errors, errors in preparing one’s self… Just by training you become aware of the flaws in your Jiu-Jitsu.
Bernardo: What’s your physical conditioning routine like throughout the year?
When I’m not competing, I do workouts aimed at building strength and explosiveness three times a week at most, without a lot of repetitions. With a championship coming up, I change up the kinds of workouts I do, doing more repetitions to improve my physical conditioning, setting strength and explosiveness aside.
Marcelo Garcia (Alliance): What part of having been born into the Gracie family most benefitted you?
Incentive. There’s a lot of stimulus in the family. It comes from everywhere and is there the whole time. We also model ourselves on our family members, and have support from a lot of people, including technical support. I was able to learn a wealth of technical details from a variety of different people.
Marcelo Garcia: These days, I feel we get along better, are more cordial than we were those years when we were in the same brackets of the absolute. Is it just me, or do you treat your opponent’s differently in the lead-up to a competition? Does the fact we no longer compete against each other change anything?
On the day of a match, I avoid contact with everyone, especially those I’m about to fight. I don’t want to chat with someone I’m going to be facing. It’s not that I have something against you or any other opponent, I just want to concentrate for my match against you or anyone else. Once it’s over, though, I’m 100% on good terms with everyone. Once, on the podium, someone came and joked, “Whoa, I’ve never seen you smile before.” “Now it’s all over I’m all smiles,” I replied.
Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance): What tips do you have for me to make my Jiu-Jitsu as tight as yours? What’s your training like in England, where oftentimes you don’t have the Estimas, Lagarto and the other tough black belts around?
The way I see it, you shouldn’t train just for training’s sake. It’s about the objective you create for yourself with every workout. Of course there are days when your training doesn’t yield that much; all you did was go to the gym. But you need to direct your training towards something specific, some improvement. If all you do is roll, you don’t work specifically on what you do wrong. One needs to train specifically for each position you might encounter. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was young and continue to do in England, regardless of who I train with, as I don’t always have the Estimas or Lagarto with me in London. One tip is to go down the line of your students, because when you’re tired you end up dropping to the same level as your lower-level students. Another pointer is to always put yourself in danger situations, positions where no one likes being, out of pride. Sometimes you get submitted, and it bugs you, but the important thing is to forget your ego while training so you can put your head to work. If you end up facing some tough guy at a championship you’ll know how to escape because you practiced it in training.
(Specialists try to decifer Roger’s style in video below.)
Michael Langhi (Alliance): How do you manage to keep motivated for a World Championship after having won so much already? Where do you find the motivation to train?
As my life involves Jiu-Jitsu 100%, it kills me if there’s a competition like the Worlds going on and I’m not in it. I feel obliged to participate, regardless of the titles I’ve won in the past. I couldn’t care less about titles. I’m not into that. What I think about is the confrontation, match by match. I recognize that if I’m not physically well I won’t be able to do nine matches the way I’ve been doing and my technique won’t be enough to overcome my opponent. I try to reach new heights in every way: reach new heights with my technique, standing, on the ground, physically. I seek perfection as a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, knowing full well perfection doesn’t exist. What motivates me is knowing I can always do better. There are a lot of people who stop in time because all they think about is the title; they don’t think about doing better next year. I couldn’t care less about titles, winning a third title, breaking records. I want to push my limits. I do, however, like that trophy. Recognition for what you do is always nice. I’d be just as happy without the trophy, though.
Langhi: How do you keep in rhythm competing at just one championship per year, submitting everyone and even entering and leaving your matches without huffing and puffing, with a tank full of gas?
I compete twice or thrice a year, whether in MMA or in no-gi Jiu-Jitsu. But twelve weeks does the trick, so long as you’re at thirty, forty percent in shape.
Rafael Mendes (Atos): Here’s a hypothetical situation. You’re down by two points and you get one hook in from your opponent’s back thirty seconds from the end. Do you try and get the tapout even if you run the risk of your opponent holding out, or do you put the other hook in for the win?
I’ve been in similar situations before. I’ve tried for the choke and lost the fight. I was hindered by thinking of the attack and not the points, looking to be offensive. These days – looking back at it all – I think I’d opt for the points – but my head is always thinking about the finish. I’d put in the hook. At least that’s what I say now. When it comes down to it, though, I might just go for his neck (laughs).
Rafael: What do you feel can be improved in your Jiu-Jitsu?
Every aspect. Defense, back mount, mount, half-guard, standing, attacking from side control. I’m aware there will always be some so-far unnoticed detail that will make a giant difference in my game. Just by knowing you need to improve, you are improving. If you think you have nothing to improve, you’re making everything worse.
Forget about how fans and critics see Roger Gracie. In this interview, published in a special Worlds issue of GRACIEMAG, we sought to find out how the best in the world see the only three-time absolute champion on the planet.
Rodrigo Cavaca (CheckMat): You are the greatest Jiu-Jitsu competitor of all times. How long before the World Championship do you begin your preparations for the competition and how long do you spend training with the folks at Gracie Barra?
I train one week with the Gracie Barra folks in California. I start preparing about twelve weeks before the competition. That’s when I pick up the intensity by training twice a day.
Cavaca: Do you ever think of returning home to Brazil to live, or are you completely settled in London?
At the moment, it would be hard for me to live in Brazil. I’m opening my third academy in London. I wouldn’t be able to return even if I wanted to. But I’m not thinking of living in London forever. My son, Tristan, is one year old and will start school in England, so I won’t be going back any time soon. But forever is a long time; I do plan to live in Brazil again someday.
Bernardo Faria (Alliance): I feel I evolve a lot after losing. I see what I did wrong and work on correcting it. You practically never lose; so how do you get your Jiu-Jitsu to evolve experiencing only victory?
One should learn from both victory and defeat. At a championship, one comes across a variety of different errors: tactical errors, errors in preparing one’s self… Just by training you become aware of the flaws in your Jiu-Jitsu.
Bernardo: What’s your physical conditioning routine like throughout the year?
When I’m not competing, I do workouts aimed at building strength and explosiveness three times a week at most, without a lot of repetitions. With a championship coming up, I change up the kinds of workouts I do, doing more repetitions to improve my physical conditioning, setting strength and explosiveness aside.
Marcelo Garcia (Alliance): What part of having been born into the Gracie family most benefitted you?
Incentive. There’s a lot of stimulus in the family. It comes from everywhere and is there the whole time. We also model ourselves on our family members, and have support from a lot of people, including technical support. I was able to learn a wealth of technical details from a variety of different people.
Marcelo Garcia: These days, I feel we get along better, are more cordial than we were those years when we were in the same brackets of the absolute. Is it just me, or do you treat your opponent’s differently in the lead-up to a competition? Does the fact we no longer compete against each other change anything?
On the day of a match, I avoid contact with everyone, especially those I’m about to fight. I don’t want to chat with someone I’m going to be facing. It’s not that I have something against you or any other opponent, I just want to concentrate for my match against you or anyone else. Once it’s over, though, I’m 100% on good terms with everyone. Once, on the podium, someone came and joked, “Whoa, I’ve never seen you smile before.” “Now it’s all over I’m all smiles,” I replied.
Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance): What tips do you have for me to make my Jiu-Jitsu as tight as yours? What’s your training like in England, where oftentimes you don’t have the Estimas, Lagarto and the other tough black belts around?
The way I see it, you shouldn’t train just for training’s sake. It’s about the objective you create for yourself with every workout. Of course there are days when your training doesn’t yield that much; all you did was go to the gym. But you need to direct your training towards something specific, some improvement. If all you do is roll, you don’t work specifically on what you do wrong. One needs to train specifically for each position you might encounter. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was young and continue to do in England, regardless of who I train with, as I don’t always have the Estimas or Lagarto with me in London. One tip is to go down the line of your students, because when you’re tired you end up dropping to the same level as your lower-level students. Another pointer is to always put yourself in danger situations, positions where no one likes being, out of pride. Sometimes you get submitted, and it bugs you, but the important thing is to forget your ego while training so you can put your head to work. If you end up facing some tough guy at a championship you’ll know how to escape because you practiced it in training.
(Specialists try to decifer Roger’s style in video below.)
Michael Langhi (Alliance): How do you manage to keep motivated for a World Championship after having won so much already? Where do you find the motivation to train?
As my life involves Jiu-Jitsu 100%, it kills me if there’s a competition like the Worlds going on and I’m not in it. I feel obliged to participate, regardless of the titles I’ve won in the past. I couldn’t care less about titles. I’m not into that. What I think about is the confrontation, match by match. I recognize that if I’m not physically well I won’t be able to do nine matches the way I’ve been doing and my technique won’t be enough to overcome my opponent. I try to reach new heights in every way: reach new heights with my technique, standing, on the ground, physically. I seek perfection as a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, knowing full well perfection doesn’t exist. What motivates me is knowing I can always do better. There are a lot of people who stop in time because all they think about is the title; they don’t think about doing better next year. I couldn’t care less about titles, winning a third title, breaking records. I want to push my limits. I do, however, like that trophy. Recognition for what you do is always nice. I’d be just as happy without the trophy, though.
Langhi: How do you keep in rhythm competing at just one championship per year, submitting everyone and even entering and leaving your matches without huffing and puffing, with a tank full of gas?
I compete twice or thrice a year, whether in MMA or in no-gi Jiu-Jitsu. But twelve weeks does the trick, so long as you’re at thirty, forty percent in shape.
Rafael Mendes (Atos): Here’s a hypothetical situation. You’re down by two points and you get one hook in from your opponent’s back thirty seconds from the end. Do you try and get the tapout even if you run the risk of your opponent holding out, or do you put the other hook in for the win?
I’ve been in similar situations before. I’ve tried for the choke and lost the fight. I was hindered by thinking of the attack and not the points, looking to be offensive. These days – looking back at it all – I think I’d opt for the points – but my head is always thinking about the finish. I’d put in the hook. At least that’s what I say now. When it comes down to it, though, I might just go for his neck (laughs).
Rafael: What do you feel can be improved in your Jiu-Jitsu?
Every aspect. Defense, back mount, mount, half-guard, standing, attacking from side control. I’m aware there will always be some so-far unnoticed detail that will make a giant difference in my game. Just by knowing you need to improve, you are improving. If you think you have nothing to improve, you’re making everything worse.
Pablo Silva (Gracie Barra): Now you’ve won every Jiu-Jitsu title possible, what are your plans for your MMA career?
The goal for 2011 is to copy 2010 (laughs). Or to outdo what I’ve already done. I recognize that in MMA I’ll be fighting tougher and tougher opponents. That’s the natural progression and what will continue to happen, until I eventually make it to becoming the divisional champion, should things play out that way. But I don’t watch anyone’s MMA fights; I let a matchup materialize and then worry about it. The plan is to compete at the next Worlds, have another MMA fight this year and then another two next year. I’m also thinking of competing at the World Pro 2011 in Abu Dhabi, but nothing’s certain.
Bruno Malfacine (Alliance): What’s the training secret to making it all seem so easy in your matches?
There’s no secret. There’s no secret training formula to make a match seem easy. The match may seem easy to those watching, but you can be sure that for the one in there it’s really difficult. The trick is to be technically, physically, and mentally one hundred percent prepared at the time of the championship. If anyone finds out the secret, let me know what it is.
Bruno: What’s your goal in life? Do you think about fame, being a good teacher, an MMA champion?
I don’t fight for fame. This is the life I chose for myself and I only think about fighting. That’s my goal for now. Once my fighting career is over I’ll probably start my career as a teacher, but I’m going to get one out of the way before thinking about the other.
By adminPublished: November 4, 2010Posted in: Interviews, NewsTags:
From: Grapplingweekly.com
By:Baleia
GRAPPLING WEEKLY – First off congratulations on your recent win at the European ADCC Qualifier. How did your matches go at the qualifiers?
Jorge Britto – Thanks ! I had 5 matches. I won my two first by sub , and the 3 last ones by points.
GRAPPLING WEEKLY – Was this your first time competing for an ADCC event?
JORGE BRITTO – No was my second , first time was in 2007 at the south american trials in Rio de Janeiro .
GRAPPLING WEEKLY – For those who don’t know you, give the Grappling Weekly followers a little background on your training history, where you came from and where you are now?
JORGE BRITTO – I came from Rio de Janeiro Brasil , i started train Jiu jitsu in 1993 ,in a little Jiu jitsu club in my neighbourhood (tijuca) with a Carlson Gracie black belt (Fernando Nutry Baby)
until 1997 when i change to Gracie Tijuca there i had Saulo Ribeiro and Vini aieta as a professors always with Royler Gracie supervision,
I recieve my black belt in 2005 and compete in BJJ was always part of my life and i learned a lot on this years competing and training at Gracie tijuca and Humaita.My MMA career start in 2004 and i had opportunity to train in many diferent camps but the opportunity to train at BLACK HOUSE in 2007/08 was very important as an athlete , i felt a big improvement after the whole seasson over there. Then in 2008 i move to Canada and here I am!
GRAPPLING WEEKLY - Being a full time instructor in Toronto, how were you able to prepare for this competition?
JORGE BRITTO – My camp is in my academy with my students .We have a lot of though guy here and im vary happy to have my soldiers as my training partners, but i cant forget Xande and Saulo when they come here itry to training with then as much as i can.
GRAPPLING WEEKLY – Will you be fighting MMA events more this year or will you mainly focus on competing at the upcoming ADCC?
JORGE BRITTO dont know yet, just if something really good show up. Lets see how the things go.
But for now main focus on the ADCC.
GRAPPLING WEEKLY – Is there any sponsors or people you would like to thank for helping you to get this opportunity and win?
JORGE BRITTO – First I’ll like to thank JESUS he is everything in my life and if something happend its to show his power in my life !
For sure all my family from Tronto BJJ every single person !!!! My beautiful wife to be with me all the time and you to give the opportunity to show my work.
God Bless all!!
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