Carlos Eduardo spreads the Jiu-Jitsu message in Hamburg
GRACIE Magazine Association is in constant growth. New members join every day. That is the case of our new associate. Carlos Eduardo Guimarães is a black belt from Belo Horizonte, where used to train at Gracie Barra Caveirinha. One day he received an invitation to run a school in Germany. He accepted and now does a great work at Gracie Barra Germany, in Hamburg. He talked to GMA website:
Chalita, new GMA member
How do you evaluate the German Jiu-Jitsu market? It is new but it seems to be bery good. People of all ages here like martial arts. The thing is this people are used to practice ju-jutsu, which is a combination of stand up and ground fighting, but very theatrical. I believe that with time this culture will change and BJJ will have the space it deserves.
Tell us a little of your history in Jiu-Jitsu. I have always trained at Gracie Barra Caveirinha, in Belo Horizonte. My teacher was Daniel Matheus at first and then professor Aldo Januário. I have always loved to train and compete a lot. Jiu-Jitsu allowed me to travel to a lot of places. I began helping my professor out in classes when I was purple belt. As a brown belt, I began giving classes on my own. One day, a friend of mine called me from Germany saying he was not holding up the pressure of living abroad. He invited me to replace him and a I said yes. I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now work is nothing but improvement.
Class at GB Germany
Which are the main differences between teaching Germans and Brazilians? I don’t see that much of a difference, other than the language of course. The thing is that I believe that Brazilians have Jiu-Jitsu in their blood.
How was your adaptation to Germany? Was there any funny or weird stories? The weather is the harder to adapt to. The only thing that annoyed more than the cold was that I diddn’t have my mother’s cooking. Right in the beginning, I used to wear two paints to go out at night, because of the cold. You can imagine my situation when I had company at the end of the night. How was I going to explain to the girl the pj’s paints under my regular paints?
For more info about Carlos Eduardo, aka Chalita, log onto zanshin-dojo.de. Bellow you will find his academy address.
Gracie Barra Germany Mendelssohnstrasse 15 22761 Hamburg www.zanshin-dojo.de
stefan bruemmer - stefan.bruemmer@gmail.com | April 22nd, 2008 Chalita in Germany - hi gracie mag!
i am one of chalita's students here in hamburg, germany, and, man, are we glad to have him here! he is a skilled fighter, a gifted trainer and a good friend. i am sure that in the next couple of years, hamburg can be the mekka of bjj in germany, as bjj is becoming more and more popular in germany and as chalita is doing great work.
