Henrique Saraiva teaches Jiu-Jitsu in Dublin. Photo: Divulgation

“Sit down. Be humble”. With this mantra on the wall, Professor Henrique Saraiva resumed Jiu-Jitsu classes at his schools in Ireland in September, after more than a year of closed gyms in the country.

Son of the great master Orlando Saraiva, the professor celebrated the new phase in Dublin and shared the teachings with our team.

“I think the greatest learning I could gather during this difficult period for everyone comes from an analogy I made with Jiu-Jitsu”, reflects Henrique. “Which is: in life, we ​​don’t have control of many things. In times of difficulty, it is necessary to be wise enough to wait for the right time to react, the important thing is not to waste energy unnecessarily. Nobody throws themselves into a sea to face a storm, nor is there any point in embarking without wind”.

Saraiva took advantage of the forced stoppage to promote changes: “On my way back, I started again in September in a new dojo, in a region that still didn’t have any Jiu-Jitsu academies. I hope to grow a lot around here. The academy in D15 continues as well, so we grew in the end.”

Henrique Saraiva also took the opportunity to keep up with the conversation, and the teachings, up to date in Brazil. “I flew to Brazil at the beginning of the pandemic and so I was able to enjoy my family. Since I moved to Ireland, I couldn’t spend as many months with them. Even when I lived in Brazil, I had never been this close to my parents. It was a great opportunity, I was able to talk a lot with my father and absorb as much of his experiences and his great stories on the mat, with masters Carlson and Paquetá.”

According to Saraiva, the Irish team returned more excited than ever, and they have already started to plan their return to the championships as well. “I think Jiu-Jitsu in Ireland will be even stronger, the spirit of the young ones was renewed. I see it in the children of our team, who are even more excited, wanting to spend all that piled-up energy. I hope to see my students fighting at events across Europe soon. We’re getting there, at last.”

Alex at the podium. Photo: Reproduction

Based in the US state of Texas, Alex Martins, from AMBJJ, has plenty of reasons to celebrate. After the complicated period of restrictions of the pandemic, the black belt hit the Miami Open mats with all his strength and scored gold in the competition, shining among the middleweights and in the master 3 absolute.

With another event already in sight, Alex chatted with the GRACIEMAG team about the challenges he faced both in the isolation period and in his return to competition. Check the lines below and absorb valuable lessons from those who excelled in fighting. Oss!

GRACIEMAG: How did AMBJJ deal with the pandemic?

ALEX MARTINS: At the beginning, we had a lot of difficulties. Due to the social distance and isolation necessary to contain the virus, our classes were held through videoconferences. Our goal was to keep our students focused and disciplined while they stayed active in their homes. We held meetings, drills, and discussed techniques, all through video.

As the pandemic progressed, flexibility measures were implemented that allowed the reopening of certain establishments. How was this period for your gym?

Here in Texas, we have a very capable governor with immense understanding. After four months in isolation, he managed to open the state and our academy reopened. We had a list of observations and precautions we needed to follow to keep it going, such as social distance and occupancy limits. In this way, we reduced the classes and divided the times, but kept the activities. Due to the distance, we only did stretches, but after about a month, we were able to implement classes in pairs. Two months after the reopening, we went back to doing the regular sparring, but only in groups of two or three, to maintain control in case someone got infected.

How was the competitive training during this period?

At the end of 2020, we were able to return to a good level of training with the division of belts, so we started to give more focus to competitions. The IBJJF had already come back with events a few months before, but we preferred to talk it through, agreed to train in a safe and disciplined way, and come back to tournaments when we were ready.

You were recently champion at the Miami Open 2021. What was it like to return to competitive mats?

It was difficult, but I decided to fight in this event knowing it would be a challenge. The Miami Open welcomes many athletes from Florida, which is a place that has many strong gyms. I was aware of that, so I trained a lot and managed to be champion twice, weight and open class. In all, I fought six times, four of the victories were by submission and two were in points. It was a rewarding experience for me and I am very happy with my result.

Have your eyes on another tournament yet?

I’m going to participate in the American National, which will take place between June 24th and 26th, in Las Vegas. My category will be difficult, with several challenging athletes, but I like it anyway. The more strong opponents, the more I feel motivated to train. In addition to this event, I also want to participate in the Pan in September, but I am keeping my focus on the American National.