Nivaldo Oliveira plays top position on William Martins at 2012 Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com.
The city of Barueri, Greater São Paulo, will be hosting the São Paulo International Open this weekend at José Corrêa Gymnasium. Among the aces set to take to the mats is Brazilian national champion Nivaldo Oliveira, who’s gunning for top spot on the podium. “My outlook is always the best possible; I always try to be at my best when I compete. And as this competition is in São Paulo, I expect there to be good fighters. In the end each competition is just a good way of preparing yourself,” Nivaldo told GRACIEMAG.com.
With medium heavyweight and absolute titles from the Brazilian National Championship on his record, the CheckMat black belt forges ahead in training, with his priority on physical conditioning. “I’m doing the usual daily training, nothing special. I’m going to use this competition as a way of keeping in shape for the Worlds. I want to return to competition in the second half of the year, and this is a good opportunity to keep focused,” he said, going on to elaborate on what he’s concentrating on in training.
“I’ve been working on guard passes, a really important Jiu-Jitsu fundamental—when you have a good pass, other positions arise during the match, like taking the back, for example,” the São Paulo native added. “To sharpen up my pass, I work on using my hip weight more,” he explained.
The São Paulo International Open rgoes down this weekend in Barueri, São Paulo. Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com to find out how the IBJJF tournament went.
