Our GMI in the United States, Deivid Dias has excelled in the roles of athlete and content creator on social networks.

The brown belt of the GFTeam DC team, based in the US capital of Washington, plays an important role in the training of several students on his team and promotes his work through digital platforms. Deivid believes in the power of verbal and non-verbal communication to connect with audiences effectively and achieve goals.

In a chat with GRACIEMAG.com, Deivid explained why he started investing in a career as a digital influencer, talked about the teacher’s need to know how to communicate with students, and shared his next goals in Jiu-Jitsu.

GRACIEMAG: What are the biggest challenges of teaching Jiu-Jitsu abroad?

DEIVID DIAS: The biggest challenges are communication and adaptation. But I mean communication as a whole, not just the words and the English language. We Brazilians have a hard time teaching a good class in Portuguese. Many of us do not study and teach in the way that we were taught. And Professor Albert Mehrabian concluded in his study that words account for only 7% of communication. Tone of voice (38%) and body language (55%) play a much more important role than the voice itself. So communication is essential to give a good class. In the United States, it is essential to be a good teacher and to know English. It is not enough to be a good teacher and not know English or vice versa. The two walk side by side. As for adaptation, the teacher may have difficulty getting out of the comfort zone even if they speak the local language and teach a good class. It is very difficult for anyone to be able to open new doors and adapt. There are several factors that influence: the weather, food and even the jiu jitsu workouts themselves, which are different from your home gym. It is crucial that one comes with an open mind. It’s complicated, but possible to succeed abroad.

How long have you lived in the United States? And what do you miss most about Brazil?

I have lived in the United States for 16 years, I am married to an American and I have two little American children. And what I miss the most are Brazilians. There is no such thing as the Brazilian people. We are very warm, united, close and that doesn’t exist much here. Customs are also needed: walking in flip-flops on barefoot on the street, or without a shirt on. Here this is not seeing so often. I also miss my family and great friends, the locals spots and the food. You will never find rice and beans as well made as in Brazil.

You produce a lot of content on social media and share the roles of athlete and digital influencer. What motivated you to start recording position videos?

True, I’ve been producing a lot of content and it was my students who motivated me to start posting positions on social media. I sent the videos separately in the group. We already had a lot of content and people started encouraging me because other people could also benefit from the techniques. So we started posting and the public embraced it. Today my Instagram is crazy busy in a good way. It is important to note that Instagram is my second source of income. It’s the future. Teachers and athletes who are slow to migrate to social networks will lose space over time. The future will be more and more digital. Jiu-Jitsu is already well digitized and the trend wont stop growing. It needs to be structured. The future of Jiu-Jitsu will be wonderful.

You have been winning lots of championships. What has been your biggest victory so far?

Thank God my athletes and I have been standing out in the competitive scene. I come from three consecutive major titles. I’ve won the American Nationals, the AJP Grand Slam, and I’ve recently won the Pan Ams in Orlando, FL. My main objective is the Masters Worlds, which I finished third last year and I’m looking to win this year. I would like to highlight the performance of my students. At the Pan, we got a two gold medals, four silver and four bronzes. We helped our academy GF Team bring home the youth and master trophies.

What is your game’s strongest point?

The point of my game is the grip. I always try to frustrate opponents with the grip strength. My game starts from a gorilla footprint. I realize, I feel, that my opponents have a hard time breaking my grip and I take advantage of this moment of distraction to capitalize on a blow and come out with the victory.

What are the values behind your team, GFTeam DC?

Our value is to add discipline and confidence to help our community members improve physically and mentally through Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense practices. We achieve this by providing a friendly, professional Jiu-Jitsu experience and top-notch personal training that challenges our students mentally and physically, all carried out in a safe and clean environment. Our main goal is to encourage everyone to make healthy exercise habits part of our lives.

What are your next goals in Jiu-Jitsu?

I have several goals and dreams ahead of me in Jiu-Jitsu. My first is to become a grandmaster, not just a black belt. An example on and off the mat for my students and athletes from other teams. I would like to have some academies, train world champions at black belt. I want to be a digital reference for the younger generation and for people who came from Baixada Fluminense, just like me, who am from São João de Meriti. Sometimes we think we won’t make it, we have that popular “mutt syndrome”. My mission is to show that it is possible to be a big winner in life or even bigger than our idols, with hard work, love and consistency.

In the final match, Igor beat Jason Tan (SBGI) with a beautiful sweep.

See how he did:

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Photographer Jesper Aggergaard has sent us 27 images of the best that took place last weekend in Rome, Italy.

Browse through the photo gallery and relieve the thrills of Gi and No-Gi action in the Eternal City.

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The black belt open class podium. Photo by Paolo Restucci – paolorestu@libero.it

It was a busy weekend in Rome.

On Saturday, fighters wore their gis for the Rome Open, and Ricardo Evangelista won the black belt absolute championship.

Sunday was dedicated to the second edition of the European No-Gi. Caio Terra, from Brasa, feared not the heavier opponents and caught the black belt absolute championship title.

To achieve this feat, Caio defeated Alan Finfou (CheckMat) in the open final. Caio also won the light-featherweight, when he overcame Jordy Jean (Gracie Barra).

In the lightweight, AJ Agazarm (Gracie Barra) beat Daniel Riou (U.S. Power) in the final. Eduardo Rios (Frontline) nipped the gold in the medium.

The ultraheavyweight was dominated by Ricardo Evangelista (GFTeam) who beat John Michael (Malice) in the final.

At the teams competition, Gracie Barra took gold, followed by CheckMat and Alliance in third. Check out the results:

1. Gracie Barra – 170

2. CheckMat – 88

3. Alliance – 57

Official results here.

Ricardo Evangelista atop the podium in Rome

The first edition of the Rome International Open went down this Saturday at the Palazzetto dello Sport.

Ricardo Evangelista (GFTeam) was the absolute black belt champion.

Evangelista won the Open by beating in the final Alan Finfou (Check Mat), the light heavyweight champion.

Ricardo also won the ultra heavy with a victory over John Michael (Malicia Team).

Caio Terra (Brasa) won the light-featherweight, while AJ Agazarm (Gracie Barra) won the lightweight championship in his first event as a black belt.

In the teams competition, GB took the lead followed by Alliance and Carlson Gracie, in third.

1. Gracie Barra – 196

2. Alliance – 52

3. Carlson Gracie – 40

Check out the official results at IBJJF.com.

Lead by Professor Julio Cesar, Rodolfo Vieira and his teammates are training hard for great results in Long Beach.

Here is what they said.

The 2013 Worlds Pay-per-View is already available. Buy yours at ibjjf.com.

Don’t miss the IBJJF Houston Open! Registration ends Feb 8 at www.ibjjf.org!

The IBJJF Houston Open has been the place to be in February since 2010. Big names from all over, at every belt level travel to the lone star state for IBJJF’s annual competition.

In previous years, the names we saw were from multiple teams, as the Texas land and surrounding states hold hubs for many. In the past years we’ve seen the competition flooded by Andre Galvao, Mendes Bros, Pablo Silva, Justin Rader, Bill Cooper, JT Torres, Jimmy Harbison, Stephen Hall, Bruno Bastos, Danny Alvarez, Ryan Hall and more.

Because of the growing Jiu-Jitsu community in Texas and their many teams, we can expect even more attendees to face off for the Houston Open title. Already confirmed are competitors stemming from Lovato Jiu-Jitsu, Paragon, Gracie Barra, Alliance, GF Team, Soul Fighters, Nova Uniao, Lloyd Irvin, Carlson Gracie, BJJ Revolution to name a few!

Will you be one of them?

The tournament will be held on February 16-17 at Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center: 3800 Montrose Boulevard  Houston TX, 77006.

Registration ends on February 8 and you can register at www.ibjjf.org.

Stay tuned for more information regarding schedule and brackets! Hope to see you there.

The GRACIEMAG.com crew is back from carnival at full steam.

This Thursday we were ate GFTeam general headquarters in the Méier neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro’s North Side.

Welcomed in by Professor Julio Cesar Pereira, we also had the good fortune of crossing paths with a certain absolute world champion.

After midday training in nearly 40-degree Centigrade (104 Fahrenheit) heat, Rodolfo Vieira got in a few words with the website and even demonstrated a position.

Take advantage of this rare opportunity; learn this guard pass from the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter around at present, helped out by another of the team’s stars, Vinícius Marinho.

Next, check out an exclusive interview with Rodolfo.

A equipe do GRACIEMAG.com voltou do carnaval à toda.

Nesta quinta-feira, estivemos no quartel general da GF Team, no bairro do Méier, zona norte do Rio de Janeiro.

Recebidos pelo professor Julio Cesar Pereira, demos de cara também com um certo campeão mundial absoluto.

Após o treino do meio-dia, sob um calor de quase 40 graus, Rodolfo Vieira bateu um papo com o site e não fugiu de mostrar uma posição.

Aproveite e tenha uma aula rápida de passagem de guarda com o melhor lutador de Jiu-Jitsu da atualidade, ajudado por outra estrela ascendente da equipe, Vinícius Marinho.

Em seguida, confira uma entrevista exclusiva com Rodolfo.

Rodolfo Vieira and GF Team member / Photos: Deb Blyth

Rodolfo Vieira of GF Team “wowed the crowd” with his feats in both the absolute and heavy weight division. In the open class Vieira had four matches. In his first and second matches he finished his victims with the choke from mount, and in his third he dominated with a choke from the back. In the semi-finals, he faced Antonio Braga Neto of AB MMA and submitted him with a choke as well. In the finals he took on Bernardo Faria of Alliance for the second time that day, and beat him by points. “I knew I couldn’t mess up,” Vieira said, “I got a couple advantages during the match that gave me the edge in the final minutes.”

Vieira also captured the heavyweight division at the Pan, giving him double gold for the day. Leading up to the finals, he’d won three matches. He dominated his first match 28-0, won the second with four advantages and choked out his opponent in the third. In the Finals he faced Bernardo Faria and beat him 8-0. “It was a tough fight, but I was able to win,” Vieira said.

Vieira was very happy with his performance at the Pan. “I always trust myself,” he said, “I train so hard every day.” Vieira says beating Faria twice in one day was, “Perfect. It couldn’t be any better. Him being the title holding champion couldn’t be any better for me.” Vieira says he’s thankful to God for supporting him, along with his family and friends and his sponsors, Koral Fight. “I also want to thank Marcelo from my gym, Pro Combat, who helped me with my cardio training.”

In the female brown/black open class, Gabrielle Garcia and Luanna Alzuguir closed out the bracket for Alliance. Heading into the finals, Alzuguir, had four fights under her belt. She got a bye in the first round and took on Tammy Griego of Gracie Barra New Mexico in the second. “She’s a really good girl,” Alzuguir said, “I fought her last year. I was able to submit her with a choke from the back.” Then she was on to Vanessa Oliveira from GF Team. Alzuguir finished her with another choke from the back. In the semi-finals, she faced Beatriz Mesquita from Gracie Humaita. “It was a hard fight,” Alzuguir said, “I tried to take her back and submit her, but I didn’t get it.” Alzuguir pulled out a 4-0 win, sending her to the finals.

In the meantime, Garcia also had four fights leading into the finals. She got a bye in her first match and her second was against Katrina Weilbacher of Paragon Academy. “She’s very technical and strong,” Garcia said, “She’s a tough girl.” Garcia ended up winning on points. In her third match she went up against Gracie Barra’s Fabiana Borges and beat her on points, 2-0. In the semi-finals, Garcia faced Luiza Monteiro of Checkmat BJJ and was able to finish her with a kimura early on in the match.

In their divisional matches, Alzuguir fought in the brown/black female middleweight division, a change from her usual lightweight status. “I fought different girls this time,” she said, “I trained a lot for this tournament.” Alzuguir had a bye in the first round and then faced Vanessa Oliveira in the second. She finished her with a foot lock. “It was a very difficult fight,” Alzuguir said, “She’s really good and she has really long legs, so it was hard, but I was able to get the foot lock in.”

Gabi and Luanna

In the finals she took on Hannete Staack of Brazil 021. “She’s my idol,” Alzuguir said, “I was so happy to fight her. She’s so strong and her Jiu-Jitsu is so good. She doesn’t block or hold positions. She fights.” Alzuguir said the match was a very important one for her. “We fought in 2007 at the Worlds and she won by two points. Now we fought again and I won by one advantage.” Alzuguir went on to say that this match was the most difficult she’s ever had. “If you make one mistake with her, she capitalizes on it. You have to be perfect to fight her. So, I didn’t open to her at all. I played a very tight game.”

In Garcia’s brown/black female heavy division, she had a tough road to the finals. She said her fights this year at the Pan were the toughest she’s had in two years. She said she normally submits people early in her matches, but was unable to finish all of her competitors this time around. Garcia got a bye in her first round and then faced Katrina Weilbacher in the second. In the semi-finals she took on GB New Mexico’s Tammy Griego. The crowd went wild when Griego got a takedown on Garcia. She played a smart game against Garcia, but eventually succumbed to her in the end, giving Garcia the gold in the heavy weight division. “It was a good fight,” Garcia said, “Tammy’s a really good girl. She’s really tough. She’s an American girl and the new generation of Jiu-Jitsu. What she’s doing is important for the girls in Jiu-Jitsu. She has my respect.”

Garcia and Alzuguir were very excited with their wins and believe they are always fighting together, regardless of their divisions. “Whenever I’m fighting, I know Gabi’s making good fights, too,” Alzuguir said, “We always want to close out together.” Garcia agrees, “Seeing Luanna fight, motivates me.”

At the Pan this year, with both of them closing out the Open Class, emotions could not be higher. “I got to close out the finals with my best friend and sister, Luanna,” Garcia said. Alzuguir concurs, “We always want the best for each other. I always hope she wins and she always hopes I win.” The two are thankful for their professor, Fabio Gurgel, whom they say, holds their feet to the fire. “We train all the time,” Alzuguir said, “We train a lot. We are always ready to fight.