21.02.2008 Deconstructing MarcelinhoGRACIEMAG.com goes after the clues to uncover the enigma of Garcia’s excellence without the gi, according to him, his master and those that have managed to stop him
From the first no-gi training session to his third coronation as ADCC 77kg champion, not seven years have passed. Over this short period, Marcelo Garcia stopped being merely a promising Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and made his name synonymous with grappling excellence.
When asked, the man from Formiga who has lived in New Jersey and taught in Manhattan for around a year now does not hesitate to point out the one largely responsible for his expressive evolution, other than himself. His name: Fabio Gurgel. Marcelinho’s current opinion is the same he had in 2003, when he was the big surprise at the ADCC held in São Paulo. There, he won his weight group and the title of the event’s most technical athlete. “I was only able to win thanks to Fabio; he deserved it and I have come this far because of him,” he exclaimed shortly after the final against the Norwegian Otto Olsen.
From that tournament, the most noteworthy images were the victory over his hero Renzo Gracie and the 30-second submission that left Vítor Shaolin unconscious on the Ibirapuera gymnasium floor. Half a year later, after strolling through both weight and absolute divisions of the Submission de Campos 2004 tournament, Garcia took the time to shed light on some things: “Before Fabio Gurgel, I had never trained without the gi! He was the one that molded me and that’s that,” he said to GRACIE Magazine. So naturally the next step was to take advantage of a trip to São Paulo to head over to the Itaim Bibi neighborhood, in the south, and find out from the master what makes his student so deadly out of the gi.
“The first time he came to the gym to train, a no-gi training session was going on. I remember how he was always making mistakes, trying for gi grips,” recalls Gurgel, going back to the year 2001, when Marcelinho, having just arrived from Minas Gerais, started training at the Alliance matrix. The move was to fulfill Marcelinho’s need to feel his Jiu-Jitsu would continue to evolve, which had become impossible in his birth state. The daily work in the gym strengthened their friendship and fine-tuned their training. All of that complicity affords Gurgel a clear vision of his student’s qualities and defects: “Marcelinho managed to develop positions just for his body type.”
Being the good teacher he is, Gurgel is not fooled by the qualities and is forthright in pointing out what needs to be improved: “He still has a bit of an imbalance between his defense and attack, as his attacking abilities are much more developed. We work on the weak points to be rid of them.”
The initial idea for this report was rejected by the main character. In the USA, Marcelinho protested when he found out what the reporter had proposed his master: “What do you mean, show how to defend against my moves? No way.” As the three-time champion’s wish is a command, we looked for an alternative, and we decided to show the Alliance star’s most-used attacks, and his main rivals’ advice on how to stop this great little monster.
...
Marcelinho and Gurgel speak about...
Attacking efficiency:
“Even when the adversary manages to defend one of his attacks, Marcelo has two or three more ready.” Fabio Gurgel
“Only I know when I will attack. My adversaries worry so much about defending that they give me chances to attack. I always prefer the full-on attack to the counter-attack.” Marcelinho Garcia
Success without the gi:
“I feel that, without the gi, people have a harder time holding me, tying me up, so I have an advantage over the heavier guys. With the gi, sometimes the weight and size make a greater difference when holding out for a result.” Marcelinho
“I don’t think he is better without the gi than with it, but I think that without the gi it is harder to hold him. But his technical quality is the same.” Gurgel
Work and friendship:
“Our teacher-student relationship has matured a lot. Now, we almost never argue. He makes use of my greater experience and I, more and more, let him make the decisions regarding his career.” Gurgel
“Fabio knows me well. He knows how I train and how I need to train when there is a championship. He also knows how much I need to train. My Jiu-Jitsu is what my teachers taught me. I always relied on my teachers a lot, and still do.” Marcelinho
Training and competition:
“Every day I tell my students to forget what will happen in the competition and concentrate on what is going on in the academy now.” Marcelinho
“This is another quality of his. To Marcelinho, training in the academy and competing are almost the same thing. There is no pressure; he uses the same moves from the academy in the championship.” Gurgel
The absolute:
“There is no magic to it [beating the big guys]. The secret is to want it a lot through to the end. At some point the opponent will mess up and I win. I do think my game surprises a lot of bigger opponents, but the main thing is the desire. The truth is that I feel really comfortable fighting big guys and I am getting there. This year I made it to the final at the ADCC. Not too bad.” Marcelinho
“I don’t think the question of weight was a determining factor in his losses. Only against Pé de Pano do I think that the weight and, mainly, the size made the difference. Against Jacaré he made a mistake by not defending the kimura and against Drysdale we have to remember that on the other side was a technical guy, who has his own tricks too.” Gurgel
The vanquishers
Few athletes can look up and say, standing at attention like they were hearing the national anthem: ‘I beat Marcelo Garcia in submission wrestling!’ In fact, only four have had a taste of this feat and GRACIE Magazine went after each of them to find out how they did it.
Daniel Moraes (Gracie Tijuca / Humaitá)
Final of under 77kg category at Brazilian ADCC 2003 trials:
“I never saw the tape of the fight (above), but I remember it lasted 20 minutes. At the time, I was training a lot of standup and used the tactic of standing and going for the takedown. I remember I managed to take him down twice. Marcelinho already liked to armdrag and take the back at that time, and nowadays he is the best at it. I won on a penalty he took for trying to pull guard after points were being counted, but I think I would have won anyways, since I went after him and tried some submissions with foot locks. He is much better now, with competition rhythm and he has evolved a lot with his standup too.”
Marcio Pé de Pano (Gracie Barra)
Second round of ADCC 2003 absolute:
“I went into that fight very motivated. I had just won the over 99kg category. My strategy was not to make a mistake, as I knew any mistake could be fatal, since Marcelinho is a really fast guy. I don’t think my weight and size made the difference, especially since he has submitted guys much stronger and heavier than me before.”
Ronaldo Jacaré (Asle/Behring)
ADCC 2005 absolute semifinal:
“At that ADCC, everybody was saying I only knew how to fight on top and so I went out and beat three opponents pulling guard, including Marcelinho (below). I remember that I went into that fight very focused. I knew Marcelinho was a great grappler, among the best in the world. So I pulled guard and went after the kimura over and over till I got it. For a guy his size, he holds on real tight. His greatest quality is that he doesn’t give his adversary space, he moves so quickly.”
Robert Drysdale (Brasa)
ADCC 2007 absolute final:
“Marcelinho is the Ronaldinho Gaúcho of Jiu-Jitsu and submission wrestling. His game is really beautiful, but that’s not to say he doesn’t make mistakes. In my case, ever since Saturday [May 5th, first day of the ADCC 2007 competition], everybody was telling me I had the game to beat him. He goes for it trying to finish and I like to counter-attack, waiting for the other to determine what my next move will be. I think he was hoping I would pull guard on him, which I didn’t do. I kept it standing and offered my leg for the armdrag, which he tried a few times, until I sunk the arm triangle.”
Marcelinho in numbers
 Conquests:
No-gi
ADCC (até / under 77kg) – 2003, 2005, 2007
Submission de Campos (até / under 87kg) – 2004
Submission de Campos – (absoluto / absolute) – 2004
Submission São João da Barra (superluta / superfight) – 2005Grapplers Quest – Melhor de 4 / Best of 4 tournament – 2007
Arnold / Gracie Submission (peso leve / lightweight) – 2004
Arnold / Gracie Submission (peso médio / middleweight) – 2005
Honors:
Atleta mais técnico / Most technical athlete – ADCC 2003, 2007
Melhor luta / Best fight – ADCC 2005 contra Ricco Rodriguez / against Ricco Rodriguez
...and in the gi
Black belt:
Mundial / Worlds’ (peso médio / middleweight) – 2004, 2006
Pan-Americano / Pan-American (peso médio / middleweight) – 2007
Brasileiro / Brazilian (peso médio / middleweight) – 2004, 2006
Brasileiro / Brazilian (absoluto / absolute) – 2006
See more
on the internet:
“The only Marcelo Garcia video that matters”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY8JlJZBgCk
|
