Barral applies a basic choke on Rodrigo Pimpolho in the medium-heavyweight final of the 2013 European Championship. (Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com)

Appearing for the first time in the ten-year history of the tournament, Gracie Barra black belt Romulo Barral went to Portugal and didn’t go home empty handed.

On Sunday, the Brazil-California transplant sent himself through to the medium-heavyweight final. The problem was that at the other end of the bracket there was another Gracie Barra professor, the black belt from Curitiba Rodrigo Fajardo, then the European champion of the division. The solution? They locked horns to see who is best between the four lines.

“We’re from Gracie Barra but hail from different cities. We’ve never trained together and both want to be champions, so there’s nothing more fitting than for us to fight,” Romulo told GRACIEMAG.com. “I had a sensation of having accomplished my duty. I had an excellent campaign; I managed to win all my matches with the choke from the mount. Nothing’s more meat-and-potatoes than that.”

To Barral the greatest lesson he derived from the European Championship was precisely that: believe in the traditional and most basic.

“It’s a tip that’s valid for practitioners of all belts. Don’t worry about learning only the modern positions. First you have to get good at the basics,” he said in teaching the lesson.

His only regret was having not entered the absolute.

“I wasn’t sure whether to compete in the absolute, because I caught a nasty flu on the week of the tournament. As I wasn’t feeling quite 100%, I chose not to risk it. But it was hard to decide while watching everything from the sidelines,” remembered Romulo, who will next try his hand at the Feb. 9 and 10 Abu Dhabi WPJJC tryouts in Miami.

For the time being, though, he’ll be celebrating his first gold medal at a European Open:

“It was awesome to be here to enjoy my first European Championship. I feel I did a great job of preparing. I had an attacking game without leaving any openings or making any mistakes my opponents could capitalize on. Hence the result,” said the GB ace in closing.

 Click here for the complete results from the 2013 European Open.

Rodolfo Vieira, the current number one, is tuned in to the other monsters on their way to Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.

The Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championship kicks off this coming 29th of March in Irvine, California. There in the match areas will be the most masterful grappling wizards of the new generation of world Jiu-Jitsu; however, one name is missing from the roster. Last year’s champion at weight and open weight, Rodolfo Vieira, is the biggest hit to the IBJJF tournament lineup.

“It would be cutting it really close to he Abu Dhabi WPJJ on April 13, so I decided to focus only on one event: I’d rather compete only in the Emirates,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

The GFTeam black belt has been training hard for a repeat of his 2011 performance, when he won weight and open weight in the Middle East.

“I’m working on everything, doing specific training on bottom, on top, takedowns. I’ll show up in Abu Dhabi well-rounded. I lift weights in the morning, then do technical training. In the afternoon I roll some, and at night I do judo and Jiu-Jitsu,” said the black belt, who will likely cross paths with Xande Ribeiro, André Galvão or Bernardo Farias.

“IN JIU-JITSU WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING”

“I’m always watching his matches, and I know more or less what he does. When training, you can’t be thinking about just two or three fighters; there are a lot of tough guys out there, and in Jiu-Jitsu we have to be prepared for everything,” he said.

Voted the GRACIEMAG number-one competitor of 2011, Rodolfo revealed which moves he most likes putting to use in competition.

“I do a lot of everything in training, but what I really like is doing chokes from back control, a move I’ve been doing ever since the first tournaments I was in; I’ve tapped a lot of people out that way. I like the armbar and choke from mount as well,” said the heavyweight, before offering two pointers to our practitioner readers:

“PRACTICE THE SAME POSITION OVER AND OVER TO GAIN CONFIDENCE”

“You have to do a lot of repetitions to get everything just right in training before putting it to practice in competition. You have to be confident in the position for it to come out perfect,” Vieira explains.

THE DEEPER THE HAND THE TIGHTER THE CHOKE

The current IBJJF absolute champion also teaches how to get a better squeeze on opponent’s necks.

“When choking from mount you have to get the hand in deep, and then move it to the side where you have no base. The other hand has to be firm, real tight, to not lose the hold,” the Julio César student teaches.

Watch Rodolfo putting his pointers to practice in his match with Paulo Tarcísio at the 2012 European Championship, where he passed guard and finished up with a bow-and-arrow choke.

Rafael Gordinho and Roger come from similar schools, and Roberto Gordo’s younger brother, the head of Evolve academy’s Jiu-Jitsu department and our GMA in Singapore, also makes a point of reinforcing his students’ base so they can evolve without weaknesses in their games.

In the video below the black belt demonstrates tight moves for mounting and getting the choke. Lower belt-rank practitioners, pay close attention. Higher-level practitioners, maybe you can pick up some useful details.

Speaking of Gordinho, he’s heading to Gracie Oceania (Ryan Gracie Team), our GMA in Australia, to teach some seminars. For further information, email gracie.oceania@gmail.com or call 0406 456 766.

Check out the challenge with the quirky Masumi Yagi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8wV2kVJM4M