Nivaldo Oliveira against William Martins at Brazilian Nationals / Photo:Carlos Ozório/GRACIEMAG.com

There’s a curious hex that looms over the absolute division of the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Held annually since 1994, only a single black belt has ever won the open weight division on more than one occasion. That man was Fernando Tererê, the winner in 2001 and 2003. The traditional round-robin was upheld in 2012, and the new open-class king, Nivaldo Oliveira Lima, harks from CheckMat academy in São Paulo.

The medium heavyweight captured gold in his weight division as well, and he commented to GRACIEMAG.com about his achievements. “Having taken on the best, this win was a strong sign that my Jiu-Jitsu is evolving,” he said.

1. WHERE DOES NIVALDO OLIVEIRA COME FROM?

I started practicing where I was born and raised, Guarujá, São Paulo State. These days I live in Vicente de Carvalho, a neighborhood better known by its old name, Itapema. When I started out in Jiu-Jitsu I was 16 years old, in 1999. I started training because of my elder brother at about the time Royce Gracie was fighting in the UFC. The first team I was on was Integração Jiu-Jitsu, led by Master Elcio Figueredo. Nowadays I train with Rodrigo Cavaca, and we’ve got a good group there, really high-quality training. I train with Bochecha, Palito, Baiano, Thiago Magrinho, Ingmar, Renato Cardoso and others.

2. WHEN DID YOU START TO SEE YOUR JIU-JITSU PAY DIVIDENDS?

I think last year, when I won the tryouts for the Abu Dhabis in Gramado. Ever since, I’ve been feeling good in competition. I’d made it to the finals at the Brazilian Nationals before, but I came up short by a hair twice. These days I feel a lot more experienced and sure of myself.

3. WHAT WAS THE WATERSHED IN YOUR CAREER?

The watershed was listening to the more experienced guys at the academy. I saw that if I put in a lot of hard work I could make it to the top. When you see someone who trains with you become world champion, you feel you’re in the right place to become a champion yourself. And it all depends solely on you, if you’re happy with what you’re doing. If you do something for the love of it, there’s no sacrifice at all. The lesson is to strive to do things right and shorten the path to victory.

4. HOW MANY BRAZILIAN NATIONAL MEDALS DO YOU NOW HAVE?

I won gold as a purple belt, now I have two titles at black. I took runner-up at brown and twice at black, not to mention taking third place in the absolute in 2011.

5. WHAT’S THE MAIN LESSON YOU DERIVED FROM THIS BRAZILIAN NATIONALS?

I learned that I have to compete without demanding too much of myself, just compete because I like it. With the desire to compete the results come naturally.

6. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TECHNIQUE? WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY, SO YOUR OPPONENT WON’T BE ABLE TO DEFEND?

I really like playing from the bottom in half-guard; it’s a really efficient position. I learned a lot about the technique from Lucas Leite. It’s not a position you see so often in championships; not too many people use it, in my opinion. What makes the difference in the position is some details and especially its variations, which render the opponent defenseless.

7. WHAT NOW, WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT GOALS?

The Worlds, the main focus of the year, is coming up in Long Beach at the end of this May. After the Worlds there’s Copa Pódio, to which I was invited to take part in the Middleweight GP. The focus now is in California, now the Brazilian Nationals are out of the way.

Ary Farias at Abu Dhabi tryouts in Gramado / Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

A slight-framed fighter who commands respect, Ary Farias wasn’t the slightest bit satisfied with his last performance in Jiu-Jitsu, last March at the Gramado leg of the Abu Dhabi tryouts.

“I’m indignant, to tell you the truth. To be honest, I feel that that was one of the worst performances of my entire career. I was lagging, wasn’t moving, couldn’t muster up any pressure and was in bad physical form. A car without fuel can’t get anywhere. I feel that when you’re not doing something for the love of it and are unmotivated, the result will always be negative. And that’s what happened. I didn’t give my max in training,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

“I feel I was also suffering from being so far from my family; but that’s life. Now I’m back to my full focus, doing my best in training, and I’ve got an efficient method for my physical-conditioning work. Now I’m only going to compete if it’s to shine. I went to Gramado because I missed being on the mat, and I also went because there were folks who wanted to see me fight. I went against the orders of my master Ramon Lemos. He’d told me: ‘You’re not prepared, and it won’t end well,’ and I went anyways,” he revealed.

A Brazilian National champion many times over and runner-up at the last Jiu-Jitsu World Championship after closing out with Gui Mendes, the Amazonas State native addressed his main mistake at the Trials, when he lost to Isaque Paiva via judges’ decision.

“I don’t like making excuses for losing but I know and am fully aware of the mistake I made. I did everything wrong. I messed up in training, in my diet, was stubborn and made a hash of my strategy. In other words, I didn’t do anything to achieve victory. Most people don’t know it, but I only had three weeks to get ready for the competition, and in three weeks it’s impossible to become a champion; there’s no such thing as a champion who hasn’t trained. Champions are built on sacrifice and grueling training,” philosophized the black belt, who was plagued by injury but is now healed.

DEFEAT ON A TRIFLE

“I got injured after the Worlds and was sidelined from training for practically seven months. But I showed that I’m not afraid to lose; I don’t duck a challenge. Congratulations to my opponent for knowing how to capitalize on where I went wrong. The kid deserved it and was worthy of the win. The outcome of the match came down to a mere trifle, and that’s what vexes me the most, because when you enter a match and get left in the dust, you have to put it in your head that you have to put in a lot of training to overcome that adversary. Now when the outcome of the match comes down to minor details, it eats you up inside. But now I’m doing everything just right and in earnest in training. And I’m dying to face him again,” he added, targeting a rematch with Isaque Paiva in the featherweight division at the Brazilian Nationals this coming weekend.

“I feel the best response is to overcome him—defeat doesn’t sit well with me. I’m the kind of kid who demands a lot of himself, so losing to me is something overwhelming and a symbol of frustration. The best I can do to dispel this bitter feeling that’s making me lose sleep is to train, train, train. I’m going to make up for the ground I lost, because crying about it won’t help me at all. So it’s about forging ahead,” he said.

Ary also brought up that he was “dubiously” docked a point in the tryouts semifinal.

“It’s rough going out there with the referee against you, practically the entire gymnasium wanting to see you lose. I can’t figure out why there are so many begrudging people out there. They can’t find it in them to root for others to succeed. I’d like to understand and know from the match referee what his criteria was for penalizing me that point at the end of the match. For lack of combativeness? I was in my opponent’s closed guard, him with his hand on my belt, making it impossible for me to move. I’ve always played an attacking game and strived to tap opponents out. But as I always say, the biggest mistake was mine: letting the match go to an ill-prepared referee’s decision,” he said in closing.

Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com this weekend for complete coverage of the Brazilian Nationals.