Jean Jacques Machado in ADCC / Photo by Susumu Nagao

One of the attractions on tap for the October 14 Metamoris Pro event in San Diego, California, is the matchup between gentle-art professors Jean Jacques Machado and Nelson Monteiro, the two gentle-art idols from the early days of Jiu-Jitsu in Abu Dhabi facing off in a 20-minute match where only submissions count for the win.

Riding the wave of intrigue surrounding the match where neither points nor advantage points will be scored, the black belt Eddie Bravo, a student of the Machados’ from way back, brought up the way in which his teacher Jean Jacques overcame the lack of fingers on his left hand, living and touching proof of the adaptability so characteristic of Jiu-Jitsu.

“For those who don’t know, my master Jean Jaques Machado has no fingers on his left hand. That’s why his overhook is the best in all of Jiu-Jitsu. No one comes even close to his overhook. If he had fingers, he’d be grabbing the gi just like everyone else. Because he had no fingers he couldn’t grab anyone sleeve; he had to overhook everything. Over the years, he developed an Olympic wrestling overhook,” says Bravo in the following video.

“That’s why in Abu Dhabi, when everyone was trying to figure out what to do with the No-Gi game, we had all these legends in Jiu-Jitsu who were masters of passing guard and finishing, but they didn’t know what to do without the handles, and they were going up against all these wrestlers who were masters of controlling bodies without handles, but they didn’t know how to pass guard or finish. […] epic battles of nothing going on […] a sleeping pill. And then Jean Jaques came along and crushed everybody, finished everybody,” he elaborates.

Take note of the effectiveness of Bravo’s left hand, inspired by Jean Jacques, and watch how he uses it to bring the opponent to him, remove his base and hook sweep in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

Jean Jacques Machado no ADCC. Foto: Susumu Nagao

Entre as atrações do Metamoris Pro, no dia 14 em San Diego, está a presença do professor Jean Jaques Machado contra Nelson Monteiro, numa luta de 20 minutos dois antigos ídolos do Jiu-Jitsu em Abu Dhabi.

No embalo da luta sem pontos ou vantagens, o faixa-preta Eddie Bravo, pupilo dos Machados, decidiu lembrar como Jean Jacques supera a falta dos dedos da mão esquerda, numa prova viva e emocionante da eficiência e da capacidade de se adaptar próprias do Jiu-Jitsu.

“Para quem não sabe, meu mestre Jean Jaques Machado não tem dedos na mão esquerda. É por isso que seu overhook (movimento de laçar o braço adversário com seu braço por cima) é o melhor de todo Jiu-Jitsu. Ninguém chega nem perto dele nesse quesito. Se ele tivesse dedos, ele faria pegadas no pano igual a todo mundo. Por não poder pegar nas mangas, desenvolveu este estilo particular, um overhook de luta olímpica”, diz Bravo, no vídeo a seguir.

“É por isso que em Abu Dhabi, nos ADCCs, quando todo mundo estava tentando descobrir como lutar sem kimono, vimos algumas batalhas contra wrestlers onde nada acontecia, verdadeiros soníferos muitas vezes. Foi quando Jean Jaques entrou em cena e arrasou com todos”, discursa Bravo.

Observe a pegada de mão esquerda eficiente de Bravo, inspirada em Jean Jacques, e veja como ele a usa para trazer o oponente para si, tirar sua base e raspar de gancho no Jiu-Jitsu sem kimono.