14.01.2008

Nino Schembri

Back in Rio after three years, rubber-man Nino Schembri intends to compete in three modalities. Learn secrets of mobility and moves your opponents won’t see coming

First published October 2006

It seems reasonable to say that Antonio Schembri is happy. It is a simple assumption one can make from the laughs and smiles he lets show, quite frequently, on his face covered with allergy marks caused by some burly bug that attacked him while climbing the Pedra da Gávea mountain.

Nino has returned home, and he is full of the positive feeling of being surrounded by family. It is not that he broke up with Chute Boxe, nothing like that. Much to the contrary: Nino even thought of opening an affiliate to the Curitiban academy in Rio de Janeiro, but decided to install himself in the brand new Black House gym instead, so as not to have to worry about teaching and managing a school. There is only one thing on his mind: to compete, and a lot.

“I found the pace at the Worlds really fast, but I think that, for someone who hadn’t fought since 2000, I did well”

Which is something Schembri hasn’t been doing much of. Before the Worlds of 2006, in which he took third after being submitted in the semifinal by Andre Galvão, Nino spent six years without fighting in sport Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. And, during his three-year stay at Chute Boxe, he only fought MMA three times, against such fighters as Sakuraba, Ryo Chonan and Matt Lindland. Three defeats. But the pace now will be different, he affirms. The exit from Wanderlei Silva’s team does not mean he will be less dedicated to MMA.

Not at all. At 32 years of age, Nino says he feels young, and is still full of piss and vinegar to let out as a competitor. It is time to make up for lost time. Just as 2007 begins, he already has several propositions on his plate. “I have a vale-tudo in January, in an André Pederneiras event; I’ll do a fight for the site Luta Casada at the end of January; I fight on February 23rd in Santa Monica, in the United States; and I want to compete in the ADCC qualifiers at the beginning of February,” lists the black belt that managed to knock out Kazushi Sakuraba, in 2003.

Fluid style
So ok, we are in Black House, situated in the basement of X-Gym academy, in Barra da Tijuca, where Nino and his brother Pepe meet the GRACIE Magazine team to converse and teach. While he speaks, Nino stretches his legs in bizarre positions, as easily as one would crack one’s knuckles. He is literally at home, as the gym is less than 10km from where he lives. “[Manager] Joinha invited me, and this is all very pleasant and economic – I am not spending money on anything,” he says.

“Now I’ll play all across the board. But it doesn’t help to only train with the gloves and then, two weeks before a Jiu-Jitsu tournament, put on the gi”

Nino horses around with his older brother and discusses, with him and black belt photographer Gustavo Aragão, Jiu-Jitsu techniques. Nino is known for his fluid and unusual style, due partly to genetic characteristics; for one of the moves proposed, he shows a personalized variation: “But here I would do this.” As a little more play-time passes, he starts to show some moves that he has surprised adversaries and training partners with over the years. Many of them, once caught by such techniques as the police bar or the embarrassing catch-the-sucker, exclaim, “What the heck is that?” or even “That doesn’t count!” Nino’s response, he says letting out a jester-like cackle, is: “Tap out first, then I’ll teach you!”

“With more training time, I’ll get back to the top in my weight group in Jiu-Jitsu again”

Many of these moves require the flexibility that the vast majority simply does not have, and many might never have, even with great effort. Nino himself, while doing a maneuver reminiscent of the Cirque du Soleil, tells of how he was born with all the flexibility he now has. “My mom even told me once how my flexibility never got better – it just got worse,” he confesses. “Once I said, ‘Mom, I can put my leg behind my head,’ and she responded, ‘My son, you were even more flexible when you were younger.’”

“The beat-down is rough at Chute Boxe training sessions. I made a lot of friends and took a lot of bruises, but I’m back in one piece”

Nino tells of how he already loved to stretch when he was a blue belt of only 15 years of age, and that, upon receiving his black belt, he started intensifying his stretching routine as a weapon in combat. If you never were double-jointed, but have the open mind to learn some things that are beneficial to many aspects of the game, you are welcome to try some of the exercises proposed by “Mr. Schembri” to come. According to Nino, you should be able to reach incredible levels of flexibility in around one year of training daily. But be careful: the process is slow and you should respect your body; excessive stretching of the muscles, joints and ligaments can cause irreparable damage if done without supervision from an experienced instructor or physical trainer.