Gabi showed up to inspire the group. Publicity photo.
Once upon a time at a school in São Paulo, there was a computer and English teacher who believed in the power of Jiu-Jitsu.
Everton Rodrigo, a De La Riva team purple belt, used to teach computers to kids at Colégio Alpha, in the town of Arujá. One find day, in 2009, some wise students of his asked him to teach them that thing called Jiu-Jitsu.
The owner of the school was reluctant at first, and she had some reason to be. Parties in São Paulo were always ending in fights, the media blamed practitioners of the art, and to make matters worse, her son had been kidnapped – it was even covered on TV. The educator’s mind was dead set against Jiu-Jitsu, or any other martial art for that matter.
Everton and Gabi: faith in Jiu-Jitsu at schools
Everton insisted until she finally caved in – first onlywith teenagers and older students. Eight of them were down for it.
Supervised by school teachers Roberto Matsumoto and Bruno Almeida, Everton dropped the English classes at other schools to dedicate more time to training. The subsequent improvement in the kids’ school performance was clear, not to mention their performances at championships, and Jiu-Jitsu put all suspicions to rest.
Now with 25 students, the little group at Colégio Alpha will going big time, with a seminar by Corinthians star and world champion Gabi Garcia of team Alliance. “Her support really meant a lot. I think it’s a cool story because there aren’t any other schools in São Paulo that teach Jiu-Jitsu,” remarks Everton.
Is that so? If you, dear reader, know of any schools around your area where Jiu-Jitsu is being taught, let us know in the comments section below and tell us what the experience was like!
