Recém-homenageado pela Associação Internacional dos Embaixadores da Paz (AIEB Brasil) com a medalha Mérito Polícia Militar, o instrutor de Jiu-Jitsu Rodrigo Lins atuou no primeiro curso de formação de instrutores de Combatives Tactics da Pruja Tactical, evento que rolou em novembro, na Gracie Barra Fort Lauderdale, na Flórida, Estados Unidos, sob o comando do professor Rodrigo Shalom. O seminário teve excelente repercussão no site e nas redes sociais da GRACIEMAG, revelando o enorme interesse dos policiais para aprender técnicas de Jiu-Jitsu e aplicá-las nas patrulhas do dia a dia. Conversamos com Lins sobre o curso, veja:

Quais são os benefícios do curso para os policiais?
RODRIGO LINS: Os benefícios do curso de defesa pessoal para policiais são amplos. Primeiramente, os policiais adquirem habilidades práticas para lidar com situações de risco, melhorando sua segurança e a segurança da comunidade. Além disso, o treinamento oferece maior confiança e autocontrole em situações de alto estresse, contribuindo para a eficácia no cumprimento do dever.

Subcoordenador do curso, Lins demonstra posição com Pruja.

Os alunos ficam surpresos com a eficiência das técnicas?
Sim, os relatos dos alunos frequentemente destacam como as lições do curso poderiam ter salvado vidas em operações reais. Situações como abordagens a suspeitos, intervenções em distúrbios e confrontos em condições reais são cenários em que as técnicas aprendidas no curso se mostram especialmente eficazes, proporcionando respostas mais seguras e eficientes.

Qual é a técnica que faz mais sucesso no curso?
Uma técnica que se destaca no curso é a algemação e técnicas de condução devido à sua relevância direta para situações em que os policiais precisam manter controle dos suspeitos. A habilidade de algemar e conduzir o suspeito de maneira segura é enfatizada, pois pode ser fundamental em situações críticas, minimizando riscos para os policiais, para o suspeito e para as pessoas ao redor.

Photo: Personal archive

Jorge Fernandes, a twelve-year-old, is a jewel currently being shaped at American Top Team Ft. Lauderdale in Florida. Jorjão, as he is known, extended a good phase in competition as he won, for the second time, the Pan Kids, held recently by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) in California.

Despite being so young, Jorjão already knows that in order to conquer big challenges in his personal life, he needs dedication, perseverance and, especially, to forgo moments of leisure. That, in his view, is what enabled him to win the tournament again.   

“It’s the result of a lot of discipline and sacrifice to keep up with the diet and training,” he said in a recent interview. “I gave up a lot of fun times with my friends. Really, I like training and competing, so I’m always at the gym training and traveling to the competitions. And I believe this causes me to have more interest in the sport, and gives me rhythm and experience in competition.”

Taught by his dad, Junior Fernandes, who is a black-belt under Ricardo Libório, Jorjão revealed that, in one of his elimination matches, he used a spinning choke that he learned from his father. This move shocked the audience.

“It’s a choke I like to use when I fight playing guard, but I learned some variations from my dad to play on top,” said the young champion. “I just adjusted it to my game. I studied all my possible opponents, and that was a factor that defined my wins. Jiu-jitsu is a sport that requires studying; there are lots of intelligent athletes.”

The results of his studies are seen in practice, through his social media, when Jorjão shares the experiences he’s been having as he trains and competes in judo. “It’s not that I like judo the way I like jiu-jitsu,” he said; “it’s just because it’s the complement to my jiu-jitsu.”

Jorjão added: “I’m in second in the U.S. rankings. I know that judo helps me in my physical preparation as well, so I look at it like I do jiu-jitsu: wherever there’s judo, I try to go to fight and train.”

Jorge has accumulated several gold medals, and it’s worth noting his titles at the American Nationals and US Open Judo Championships.

Jacaré and Romero in 2015. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

In another episode of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s very own game of thrones, a substitution of one Brazilian for another defined this Thursday the main event for UFC Fort Lauderdale, scheduled to take place April 27 in Florida.

Previously slated to take on Paulo Borrachinha, Yoel Romero will once more share the Octagon with Ronaldo Jacaré. The middleweight duel may spice up the mêlée for the role of challenger to the division’s champion, Robert Whittaker, with an interim bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya also in the pipeline. The information comes from an interview UFC president Dana White gave ESPN.

Jacaré and Romero fought for the first time in 2015 at UFC 194. The Brazilian was defeated in a controversial split decision. Later Romero fought Whittaker twice for the belt, losing each time.

Jacaré (26w, 6l, 1nc), a two time absolute BJJ world champion and former Strikeforce champion, has been one of the strongest middleweights from his arrival in the UFC. He’s coming off a significant win over Chris Weidman, a former middleweight champion.

Romero (13w, 3l) has the two consecutive losses to Whittaker as his latest showings. But his brutal knee-strike win over Weidman, as well as his status as the No. 2 in the middleweight rankings, may end up allowing him to cut in line.

Jacaré e Romero em duelo no UFC em 2015. Foto: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Em mais um episódio da dança das cadeiras do Ultimate, uma substituição de brasileiros definiu, na noite dessa quinta-feira, dia 7 de março, a luta principal do UFC Fort Lauderdale, que rola na Flórida.

Antes escalado para encarar Paulo Borrachinha, Yoel Romero dividirá mais uma vez o octógono do UFC com Ronaldo Jacaré, no dia 27 de abril. O duelo entre pesos médios pode colocar ainda mais tempero na briga pelo próximo desafiante ao cinturão da divisão, hoje nas mão de Robert Whittaker, e que terá uma disputa interina entre Kelvin Gastelum e Israel Adesanya. As informações são do presidente Dana White, em entrevista a ESPN.

Jacaré e Romero se enfrentaram pela primeira vez em 2015, no UFC 194, e o brasileiro foi superado em polêmica decisão dividida. Meses depois, Romero enfrentara Whittaker duas vezes pelo cinturão, superado em ambas.

Jacaré (26v, 6d, 1nc), bicampeão mundial absoluto de Jiu-Jitsu e ex-campeão do Strikeforce, figura desde sua chegada ao Ultimate entre os melhores da categoria. Uma vitórias expressiva sobre Chris Weidman, ex-campeão dos médios, em sua mais recente atuação no UFC deixa o brasuca com moral na embolada categoria.

Romero (13v, 3d), por sua vez, amarga as duas derrotas seguidas para Whittaker em seu retrospecto mais recente. Contudo, a vitória anterior sobre Weidman, com uma brutal joelhada, e sua colocação no ranking como segundo melhor dos médios pode pesar ao seu favor numa eventual furada de fila.

E para você, amigo leitor, quem leva a melhor nesta revanche? Comente conosco!

Gracie Barra Fort Lauderdale

GMA member school Gracie Barra Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, had its grand opening last Saturday, April 11.

Professor Ricardo Pires and her son Victor Pires welcomed people into the brand new facility for a day of celebrations.

He wrote on his Facebook page: “Our Grand Opening was a huge success! We want to thank everybody that came out and also everyone that supported us by sending messages and stopping by. We are very excited to see everyone on the mats as often as possible from now on!”

The school is up and running and if you live close by, please pay them a visit.

For more info, go to gbfortlauderdale.com.

In this video, the family shows the various classes available at the North Miami Beach headquarters and the affiliates in Coral Gables, Pembroke Pines and Fort Lauderdale. Take a tour through the various rooms and what goes on at these locations run by the Valente brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw7eP5DG_6E

Learn more about the GMA Valente Brothers academy at www.graciemiami.com

Tammi earns her first black belt world title with a kimura submission at the 2013 No-Gi World Championship. Photo: Erin Herle

At nineteen years old, black belt Tammi Musumeci has made us all look incompetent. Not that she means to, but she definitely stands out as one of the most tenacious people I have ever met. We all know the studious ones in school who take the toughest classes, join all the right clubs and read books instead of gossip magazines. She is one of them. But more than just the academic achievements is the rare title of Jiu-Jitsu black belt world champion she can proudly write on her resume.

She continues to push the pace in her Jiu-Jitsu training and competition because she loves Jiu-Jitsu. She continues to push the pace in her academics because she wants to secure a future for herself that she’s imagined. It doesn’t involve a Jiu-Jitsu academy or the Olympics but rather a life of numbers and six-figures, perhaps, too.

I spoke with Tammi about her time on the mats and whether or not it ever became a job for her like it has for some. I wanted to know whether she pictured herself the world champion before the straight-A student. But I guess it didn’t matter because she found herself as both.

GRACIEMAG: I want to hear about your training with Jiu-Jitsu and if it has always coincided with school and any other priorities.

TAMMI MUSUMECI: I started training Jiu-Jitsu when I was six years old in the first grade.  Jiu-Jitsu has been a large part of my life, throughout my whole school career, and continues to be today. Balancing Jiu-Jitsu and school proves to be a challenge. In high school I had even more priorities besides studying and training. To get into a good college, I not only needed good grades, but an involvement in the community and school activities.

So throughout high school, I was involved in the various clubs and societies, which were extremely time consuming. Because community service hours were so important, I volunteered at various places such as libraries and hospitals. I completed a total of 475 community service hours.

In addition, throughout high school I took intensive SAT classes and spent my weekends, that were already spent working on various honors and AP class work, taking at least four hour long SATS. Good grades never came easy to me; I had to work very hard to achieve the grades I got.

With much of my day occupied with stressful obligations, I still made sure to find the time to train and workout hard, and to go on and win world titles at blue, purple, and brown belt, along with three pan titles, two at purple, one at brown all in the adult division.

[While in college she has earned a black belt world title from the 2013 No-Gi World Championship and a black belt pan title from the 2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship.]

Tammi wins the 2014 Pan black belt title. Photo: Erin Herle

How much is Jiu-Jitsu a priority?

Because of my busy schedule, prioritization is extremely important if I want to achieve all of my goals. Because school and school-related activities consequently have a huge impact on my future occupation those of course would be my number one priority.

Whatever time that was left would be spent between Jiu-Jitsu training, conditioning, eating and sleeping.

But I have also found an interesting relationship between jiu-jitsu and school: Jiu-jitsu helped me unwind from the ever present pressures of school. Even during my most stressful times, I always made sure to workout really hard, eat healthy, and get in some training sessions.

What are your studies like?

I guess I was, am, and will continue to be a big nerd. Throughout my life in school, I would spend literally hours studying when the other kids partied or went out. Socializing was not a priority for me.  As frustrating and grueling as studying was at times, I always hoped that it would pay off one day. This was and is the motivator that keeps me going.

My hard work landed me full scholarships to some of the best schools such as University of Miami, New York University, The College of New Jersey, Rutgers University, and Drexel University.

I chose to go the Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida because I received a full scholarship to their six year Accelerated Law Program BS/JD – 3 years undergraduate in accounting, 3 years law school.

All that studying and sacrifice paid off. Those tedious hours of studying sometimes till the wee hours of the morning were well worth it. Today, I continue to study really hard to get good grades and hope one day get a good job that will allow me to secure my future.

Incidentally, I never told anyone in school about Jiu-Jitsu. So when I went to school with the occasional facial scratch, bruise, or black eye, I would get the most interesting looks from my teachers and classmates.

I’d really love for you to spell out what your busiest day of the week from last semester.

In the final against Mackenzie Dern at the 2014 Pan. Photo: Erin Herle

My busiest day of the week last semester had to be Wednesday because I had to attend classes in the morning, be at a drilling session with my brother, Mikey, and Manny Soares at Jaco Hybrid Training Center at 1:30 p.m. After that, my brother and I would go straight to strength and conditioning with our trainer Cody Schovitz at Speed Evolution in Boca Raton, FL. From there at 5:30 p.m., I would rush back to Jaco Hybrid training center to teach my women’s class. Then on most nights my brother and I would attend an intense competition training session with Emyr “Shark” Bussade at ATT Wellington. The rest of the night would be spent studying, which sometimes would consist of an, “all nighter.”

What is your philosophy on competition?

I don’t believe that competition is necessary for all, but it is a great way to test yourself against other fighters besides the ones you train with. I love to compete, but most of all I love training for competing. It allows me to push myself to the limit and beyond that. I believe that real growth can only come from being uncomfortable. So I am very familiar with being uncomfortable.

How much do you love it versus how much is it about the end result?

The end result is very important to me as a fighter because it validates all the training and conditioning. I personally enjoy competing. I have been doing it for many years and it has become intricate part of my life.

How hard are you on yourself?

I am extremely hard on myself to the point where it is a flaw. This flaw is not only limited to Jiu-Jitsu, but also school. Somewhere along the line I came to believe that if you work real hard you will get the desired result you are looking for. But if you don’t get the desired result, you didn’t work hard enough. At this level however, I am working on changing my thinking because I am competing against the best athletes in Jiu-Jitsu and understand that I will lose not because I am not good but because they are just as technical and prepared as I am. I have a great deal of respect for my opponents and feel honored to even be competing against them.

What do the titles mean to you?

The titles I have won mean a lot to me. They tell me that my Jiu-Jitsu training, diet and conditioning were right on point. Again, I am extremely humbled by the thought of even competing at this level with such amazing fighters. So winning means that much more to me.

Will you ever open an academy?

I am not planning on opening an academy. I teach the women’s class at Jaco because I like to help the women achieve their goals and gain confidence, but I will not make a career of this.

What are your career goals?

My career goal is to become an accountant and lawyer and pursue a job in some aspect of business law or forensics accounting.

What parts do you not enjoy about Jiu-Jitsu if any?

The part of Jiu-Jitsu that I do not enjoy is the drama sometimes associated with it. There are times when beginners think they know all there is to know about Jiu-Jitsu when in reality, Jiu-Jitsu is a lifelong learning experience. I do not like when people are disrespectful to the instructor or to each other. A huge part of Jiu-Jitsu has to do with respect. Without respect, there is anarchy–not a Jiu-Jitsu class I would like to be at. I do not like when people refuse to tap. This is one aspect that I will never understand. Refusing to tap could result in serious injury that could side-line an athlete for months, or even years. Whether it be ego, or pride, this is a serious problem.

Finally, the last thing I do not enjoy about Jiu-Jitsu is when people react negatively when they lose. I believe that losing is an essential component in the making of an athlete.  No one is infallible.  I know I’m not.

It’s not how we win, it’s how we lose.

Winner of the most recent ADCC, in 2009, Pablo Popovitch carries on proving he’s a tough nut to crack in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. In the supermatches at last Saturday’s UFC Fan Expo in Boston, Popovitch beat No-Gi Worlds champion Lucas Lepri. The bout between our GMA’s was an evenly-matched affair, and Pablo won by 2 to 0. Check out the conversation with the black belt, our GMA in Florida.

How did the match with Lepri go in your view?
It was a great match but I felt we didn’t open the game until the last two minutes of regulation time. I was training a lot of MMA and felt my game was a little rusty. After eight minutes I kind of figured his guard out and that was when I almost passed his guard a couple of times. Lucas is a great fighter who has won many championships. It’s the second time we go against each other and both times I won with a tight score. His guard is really good and it’s hard to score, I want to thank him for taking the match on such short notice.

You were going to face Gregor Gracie, but he got injured and in came Lepri. Did that hinder you?
Not really. Both are great fighters, but I trained a lot and I was ready to face anyone. Injuries happen all the time; you have to prepare for this kind of thing.

When do you compete next?
I want to win the Florida State Championship, Pan and the No-Gi Worlds. I will train a lot and give my best to win each of those tournaments.

Do you prefer competing without the gi? Why?
Back in the day, when I used to train with Master Carlson Gracie, everyone was focusing on no-gi training. Right around the time when Arona won his first ADCC that’s when I fell in love with no-gi training and made it my goal to win the ADCC; that was my dream. For the past six years I was a finalist twice and won it last year. I love training with the gi, and I am sure it helps my no-gi game. But the truth is I enjoy competing no-gi a lot. Maybe I’ll get the itch to compete with the gi soon. If I do I will be prepared. I will need about three months of straight gi training, run a couple of smaller tourneys and I will be ready for the big show.

If anyone is ever in Florida, make sure to visit my schools in Ft. Lauderdale or Pembroke Pines. Here is my official website for more info www.bjjcenter.com.