Ronny and his young students. Photo: Reproduction

A teacher at GB West Bay Doha, in Qatar, Ronny Carvalho is well acquainted with the challenges of an athlete’s life, always looking for titles in Jiu-Jitsu. With that in mind, the black belt opened his chest of stories to GRACIEMAG and told about his path through the gentle art, his focus on training, and the qualities needed to win the dream gold in competitions. Check the lines below!

GRACIEMAG: What was your first contact with Jiu-Jitsu?

RONNY CARVALHO: I’m from Formiga, a city in Minas Gerais that generated big names in Jiu-Jitsu like Rodrigo Ranieri, Marcelo Garcia and Matheus Diniz. It was through Ranieri that Jiu-Jitsu began to gain strength in Formiga and it was because of him that I got to know the sport. At the time, I was 14 years old and I fell in love quickly. A short time later, I met master Paulão Rezende, who taught Jiu-Jitsu to Ranieri. He lived in Poços de Caldas, which is a neighboring city, and was responsible for polishing this generation of athletes who left Formiga. We left our hometown and went to live there to train with Paulão.

How were your first years in Jiu-Jitsu?

Moving to Poços de Caldas was a big change in my life. The city was already famous in Jiu-Jitsu because Marcelinho Garcia had won the Worlds at blue belt and because of other athletes who left there and left their mark on the sport. When I arrived in the city, I started to have a different view of Jiu-Jitsu and decided that I wanted to make a living from it, but I understood that for that I would need to adapt to Paulão’s training system, which was very tough. Not to mention that the championships were held monthly and everyone competed, encouraged by Paulão. Sometimes we didn’t even have money to travel, but we got together and went in the race to participate in competitions. It was a time full of ups and downs, but it was also a great experience and a very good time in my life. Despite being at Gracie Barra today, together with Bráulio Estima, to whom I am very grateful, I maintain my respect and admiration for Paulão, who taught me everything I know about Jiu-Jitsu.

Eventually you left Minas Gerais and stayed in Brasília, under the tutelage of Professor João Roque. What motivated this change?

Despite living in Poços de Caldas, I often needed to leave the state because of work and, on these occasions, I looked for other gyms to train. When I went to Brasília, I looked for João Roque on the advice of my master and I adapted well to his style. João is an incredible master and I started to consider him and the people there as my second family in Jiu-Jitsu. I kept competing monthly and I was impressed with the athletes there, all very tough. After a year and a few titles won in Brasília, João Roque graduated me to brown belt.

Ronny e the silver medal acquired at the IBJJF European 2008. Photo: Reproduction

What are the most memorable memories of your graduation to black belt?

I was graduated to black belt at the end of 2008, at the hands of Professor Reinaldo Ribeiro. Shortly after receiving the brown, Bernardo Pitel, who was a student of João Roque, asked me to go with him to compete in the European Championship. I was runner-up in the Master 1 category and decided to stay there, training with Reinaldo. I was raised with him in Jiu-Jitsu, we were on the same team. I felt very honored to receive the black from his hands, a guy who demanded a lot and taught me even more about Jiu-Jitsu. I debuted my black belt the following year and reached third place at the 2009 IBJJF European.

Teaching is an aspect of Jiu-Jitsu that is increasingly sought after by practitioners, regardless of age. In your opinion, is it possible to balance the life of an athlete and that of a teacher?

I think it’s important to stay focused on our goals. If the athlete seeks to be a champion, regardless of being state, national, or world, he needs to keep this focus. The path to reach this level is not easy, there are many challenges and difficulties. Preparing a student who lives with a competitive mindset to be a teacher, especially if they’re young, is something I’m not in favor of. I prefer to work on this athlete’s psychology so that he doesn’t miss his objective, always keeping in mind the things he needs to do to reach this goal, such as training a lot, eating well, and sleeping early.

What training is always a part of one of your classes?

I always use one of the training techniques I learned from Paulão Rezende, in my early days back in Poços de Caldas. I have the students do three minutes of guarding and then, still in the same pair, another three minutes of guard passing. I divide this training into four rounds, with the first two allowing submission, and in the last ones, we only keep the pass. As the goal is for the student to be able to pass the guard quickly, we have a margin of thirty seconds to complete a sweep. This greatly increases the athlete’s level in competitions.

What are the key elements for an athlete to become a champion?

In the physical part, I believe that a champion needs to have at least six hours of Jiu-Jitsu training a day. These hours can be spread over several sessions in the day, but the athlete needs to formulate a strategy and practice a lot. The champion’s game must consist of, at most, four positions that he will use in fights, that is, keep the training focus on what he already knows how to do. A takedown that he can do well or a sweep that he is used to, are movements that should be part of this athlete’s game and should be the priority in training.

On the psychological side, in my view, it is a joint effort between the teacher and the athlete. On the one hand, the athlete needs to have the discipline and dedication to reach the high level necessary to become a champion. Drinking alcoholic beverages, or even soft sugary drinks, and sleeping late is not part of the life of a professional athlete. On the other hand, the teacher needs to know how to manage the psychology of this student, without going overboard. In addition to physical fitness, a champion needs to be mentally shielded to put aside the difficulties of life on and off the mat and successfully execute his strategy in the competition.

Bruno Bastos gives out some tips to reach a champion’s performance. Photo: Personal Archive

Bruno Bastos has been around the block. He has decades dedicated to BJJ, present at the biggest competitions, always an example of tenacity and persistence. From his 2013 Master Worlds title, he took seven years to win the same tournament.

This time, in December 2020 in Florida, the Brazilian — now living in Midland, Texas — seized the gold after beating Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu and three others.

“Despite having taken seven years to win the Master Worlds again, I was the champion of multiple tournaments during that time,” Bruno said in a recent interview. “I won the No-Gi Worlds, the gi and no-gi Pan, the Brazilian and American Nationals in gi and no-gi… The Master Worlds has a greater value, and on top of it being the performance of a champion, I paid the price to be the champion. There were times I had the performance of a champion but didn’t pay the price. I can tell you this cost me the title two other times, which are clear in my mind. I knew it was a question of coming in strong and having a champion’s performance.”

He then offered thoughts on what separates a merely good campaign from a champion’s campaign. “These are two very different things. Of course the negative result brings frustration, but it’s super-important to understand that only one person walks out with the gold medal. Regardless of winning or losing, on Monday I’m back to work.”

To achieve a champion’s performance, Bruno had to acquire new habits, especially in regard to his nutrition. This time, he hired a nutritionist to put together his food plan, which paid off handsomely.

“I believe the difference was in the lifestyle,” he said. “I’m in a very good place and I have always believed I could beat anyone in my division. It’s not what I ate, but how I ate. Ever since I started working with Nathália Chantre, I’m not just evolving on the physical side, but also learning more about nutrition and how my body reacts to the strategies she utilizes. Nathália is a sensational professional — there are no pre-made diets. Being with her today, I can say that every high-level athlete must have professional monitoring in their nutrition and supplementation. On my physical side, the person responsible for taking care of me is Jarret Jones.”

To wrap up, Bruno tried to explain what has caused the Master Worlds to go up in quality so dramatically compared to its first few editions. “I believe that, nowadays, the jiu-jitsu audience in general understands that the level is as high as the adults’. You see guys that win at the adults’ and lose at the masters’ all the time. The match duration, fight style and strategy are different. The adult division will always be the ‘Champions League,’ with more prestige. However, the results show that a high-level master competitor can hold their own again adult athletes or athletes still in activity amongst adults.”

The true is smoothies and juices are both very good for you. However you will only enjoy the full benefits of each drink, if you understand the nutritional differences between one and the other.

Although both drinks use raw ingredients, like fruits and vegetables, and because of that are filled with healthy nutrients, their preparation method is distinct and that changes their nutritional value.

When you make a juice using a juicer, you eliminate the pulp, which contains all the fiber. The same does not happen when you prepare a smoothie using a blender. In this case the pulp is broken down into a thick liquid. Yet, if you drink the juice your body will absorb the vitamins and minerals in it much faster than if you were having a smoothie. This happens because your body will take longer to digest the fiber so the nutrients would be released slowly into your organism.

In the September 2014 article of the Australian “Women’s Weekly” magazine written by Fern Green called “Go green for health”, the author explains the difference of drinking  juices and smoothies for your health, “If you put some fruit and Vegetables in your juicer, a great drink full of vitamins and minerals will pour out – one that you can drink in one go and will no doubt give you a energy boost because all the nutrients will enter your bloodstream in a matter of minutes. Juicing is the quickest way of getting healthy greens into your body. The pulp that is left in the juicer is where the fiber is. Fiber slows down the absorption of nutrients, which would then release slowly into your system. In the order hand, the author highlights the importance of consuming fiber: “Smoothies contain fiber from fruits and vegetables, which is important to help the body to eliminate waste because it cleans your digestive tract and colon.”

This way, indulging in smoothies and juices on a daily basis will ensure that we are getting the vitamins and minerals our body needs to function properly and stay healthy. Maybe having a juice when you need a fast energy or vitamins recovery, and drinking a smoothie when you need to eat something so you feel fuller for a longer period of time is the best solution to optimize the benefits of consuming these elixirs of health.

O twister premiado de Chan Sung Jung no UFC. Foto: Divulgação/UFC

Um anúncio feito na noite de ontem mudou a forma como conhecemos as premiações do UFC. Após anos contemplando as melhores finalizações e nocautes de cada edição, esses prêmios deixam de existir. Em seu lugar, Dana White, junto de sua cúpula, decidiu criar uma bonificação por atuação.

Os bônus continuam sendo de 200 mil dólares por edição, mas o formato ficou da seguinte forma: 50 mil para cada atleta da melhor luta da noite, bônus que se mantém no mesmo formato que antes; e mais dois prêmios de 50 mil dólares para os dois atletas de melhor exibição na edição.

O argumento de Dana é que os shows ficavam sem premiar ninguém, por vezes, devido a falta de nocautes ou finalizações na edição. O prêmio de melhor atuação individual vai estimular os atletas a buscar mais a luta e se apresentar de maneira mais contundente ao público.

E você, leitor, o que achou das mudanças na política de bônus do UFC? Comente com a gente.

Triatleta nas horas de folga, Jenson Button indica a hidratação constante para atletas de alto rendimento. Foto: Divulgação

English racer Jenson Button doesn’t limit himself to moving just his neck and steering wheel when in the cramped cockpit of his Formula 1 race car. When he’s not zipping around tracks at 300 km/h, he’s taking care of his physical shape by lifting weights and doing hobbies like triathlons, mountain biking and hitting the weights.

In a recent interview by British journalists, Button was asked to share a pointer for readers who practice impact sports. He was quick and precise in answering:

“Make sure you’re hydrated; it’s crucial to performance no matter what sport you’re in. Set a goal of drinking 500 mL of water every hour. That how I keep my body hydrated for moments of great exertion,” he advised.

Did you know that your lungs, so vital for getting oxygen to your body during training, are comprised of around 90% water? Jenson Button surely knows.