Denilson Pimenta during a Jiu-Jitsu class. Photo: Personal Archive

Denilson Pimenta, 40, has tons of experience to share. From his tough beginnings in Rio de Janeiro, he learned to overcome obstacles as masterfully as he teaches jiu-jitsu — an art he has been practicing since 1991, which was a way he found to focus on positive things and get away from the dangers that plague the city.

Today, with more than ten years of teaching experience and over a thousand medals, Pimenta lives in Naples, Florida, where he leads the entire jiu-jitsu methodology at Evolution MMA — and Orlando BJJ, on weekends. But it was only in 2008, the first time he traveled internationally to fight, that Pimenta realized that BJJ could become his job and change his life for good.

“I came to fight in the U.S. for the first time and was impressed by the way our art is respected and valued in these parts,” he said in a recent interview. “This motivated me to train more and become more and more of a professional. I learned to teach class, I learned training methodology and, mainly, how to communicate better.”

He added: “Traveling is important because you learn a lot and increase your cultural repertoire. I went back to Brazil invigorated and today I’m here, with my family. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth the effort.”

With 11 years’ experience as a teacher, Denilson — a master champion himself — has begun seeing his first champions emerge. In 2020, for example, one of his students took gold at the Master Worlds.

“As soon as I moved to the U.S., I had to dedicate myself more to teaching, and thus I changed my teaching method for the better, so that my students would understand things faster,” he said. “Due to this change, I had my first master world champion student. I hope that, in three years, I’m able to make a student into an adult world champion — among them, my son Arthur Pimenta, who will be competing in his first World Championship.”

Pimenta, a black-belt under Julio Cesar Pereira, left us with his final thoughts:

“In Brazil, we have a teaching method focused on competition — as much as that’s been changing through the years. But in the U.S., teaching focuses on improving quality of life, because not everybody competes. Here jiu-jitsu is sold as quality of life and a tool for personal development, because you see a person evolving in life due to practicing a sport.”

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that jiu-jitsu changes people’s lives, from the poorest to the richest, from the youngest to the oldest. That, to me, is incredible.”

There’s no better supplement a human can take than good old physical exertion.

That’s what you’ll get if you go with Ginástica Natural, a workout method that’s handy in helping you to build endurance, improve your posture and get more power behind your moves. And the best part: you don’t need any equipment, just the weight from your own body.

Want to get started today? Physical conditioning coaches Álvaro and Raphael Romano have a brand new challenge for you, to whip you into shape good and quick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQjkJ4ATjs

Today’s exercise needs to be done in pairs. The first thing to do is decide who’s going to roll first and who’s going to leap. The second step is to determine how many repetitions there’ll be—two sets of ten reps is what they recommend.

When doing the leap, it’s important that you use your legs to thrust as well as to absorb the impact. At first sight, people often think the thrust is created by the upper body.

Ready for the challenge? Enjoy the workout and be healthy.

Álvaro Romano and Rodrigo Minotauro warm up before training. Photo: GRACIEMAG

A Jiu-Jitsu black belt, physical conditioning coach to MMA stars and a GRACIEMAG columnist, Álvaro Romano is launching his latest Ginástica Natural DVD.

Through the special eight-DVD box set, you’ll learn new lesson sequences and programs that will improve your flexibility and quality of life, whether you’re a Jiu-Jitsu fighter or not.

Get a glimpse of some of what you can have at home to improve your health. To get your DVD box set, click here.

If you’re reading GRACIEMAG.com, it’s likely Jiu-Jitsu is one of your favorite exercises. But it’s not the only one out there, as you can see in the following video, shot with Alvaro Romano in Rio de Janeiro.