Otávio Sousa teaching at GB Irvine / Publicity photo

A Zé Radiola-trained middleweight, Otávio Sousa was the big name at the Spring Open, an IBJJF tournament that saw its first installment last Saturday at the Long Beach Convention Center in California. The young professor of Jiu-Jitsu at Gracie Barra closed out the middleweight division with his teammate Claudio de Mattos and secured the absolute title after closing out with his buddy Rômulo Barral.

“The championship was awesome, super well-organized as always. I feel the IBJJF is to be congratulated for always seeking perfection, just like in Jiu-Jitsu, for championships to go through without a hitch,” said Sousa in praise.

“As for my performance, again I’ll say it couldn’t have been better. I managed to come up with two more gold medals and got the finish in all my matches, all of them via choke—one from the mount and the rest from the back,” he recalled.

What GRACIEMAG.com wants to knows from Otávio is what his special secret to winning in Jiu-Jitsu is, if there is one.

“One of the things I always try to do is push for the finish the whole time to not give my opponent time to think. While he’s defending one finish, I’m already setting up another onslaught,” he said, offering a simple yet precious lesson. Of course, fighting like that takes years of training and a slick plan for attack.

Otávio recalled another recipe, one that’s ever-more necessary in the burgeoning, high-level sport.

Never underestimate anybody

“With each passing tournament I note that you can’t let yourself underestimate anybody; you have to respect everyone and be humble in there. I learned to be like that when I was little; my parents and teacher always told me that by being humble you’ll go far. I feel that’s where it’s at, and these days some athletes are missing that,” he noticed.

A couple of weeks out from the Worlds, coming up in late May, Otávio feels confident, but he says there’s a bit missing for him to get the gold.

“This Worlds is going to go off. Mainly in the middleweight division, where I’ll be fighting, all the competition is burly. I’m going to stay focused on my objectives, with my Gracie Barra teammates, who put in great performances at the Expo,” he said in conclusion.

Michelle Nicolini armbars Monica Vanessa at European Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Photo: Raphael Nogueira/GRACIEMAG.com.

The black belt Michelle Nicolini (CheckMat) won the women’s absolute division at the IBJJF European Championship this past weekend, outdoing two opponents. In her first match, she submitted Monica Vanessa with an armbar. In the final, she went up against her teammate Ida Hansson, who is soon to become a medical doctor, and won by 16 to 4.

Even after a near perfect campaign, the new queen of Portugal sees her conquest through the lens of a champion: she doesn’t want to rest on her laurels; she wants to pursue new questions. Perish uncertainty, in with the next queries.

The Rodrigo Cavaca-trained champion, who literally lost count of how many gold medals she has in Jiu-Jitsu, remained in Europe, where GRACIEMAG.com caught up with her for a chat about errors, training, strategies and her evolution.

“I’m in Germany, then I’ll head to Switzerland, Sweden, and then Brazil. On February 11 I have a seminar with Andrei Andrezzo in São Paulo; all the readers are invited,” said Michelle in invitation.

IF GOLD IN JIU-JITSU COVERS UP MISTAKES, ABSOLUTE GOLD COVERS UP ABSOLUTELY

“I agree in full that victory covers up mistakes. And that doesn’t happen only in Jiu-Jitsu. In competitions of all kinds, the ones who win most are the ones who make the least mistakes, or know how to capitalize on the opponent’s mistakes best. But the error will always be there! As professional athletes we can realize where we went wrong and tune in to our trainers’ orientation regarding it. With so many years competing, I can tell how victory is something complex that depends on a lot of different factors, which mount up starting from concentration, controlling anxiety, patience, even mental and physical conditioning, the referee’s state of attention and the state the opponent’s in. Often we make mistakes, veer off the path we had set for ourselves but the opponent can’t capitalize on the situation and we get a chance to get back on track during the match.”

CHAMP MICHELLE NICOLINI’S MISTAKE

“Yes, I messed up at the Europeans. It was in the absolute final. I made a mistake, Ida scored, but I managed to keep up the pace and stay ahead on the scoreboard. This situation of risk is there the whole time in Jiu-Jitsu, and we have to keep on our toes to make sure we don’t repeat the mistake—after all, we might not get a chance to correct it during the course of the match.”

HOW TO ANALYZE MISTAKES IN JIU-JITSU

“With one keyword: Study. In my opinion, study via observing and analyzing matches are the tools that help us to be more keen to mistakes. I always ask for technical opinions from people who watch my matches and observe my opponents in action. I always see things in a different light that way. I also talk to Cavaca a lot about how my game is evolving. And there are some folks on my team who have a good strategic vision, like Leo Vieira and Carlos Holanda [also European champion]. I really like listening to what they have to say about my opponents. As they are very familiar with my style of fighting, they can point out where I might run risk, what the best strategy is for each match, and the best way to try and win.

NUMBER OF JIU-JITSU MEDALS

“I’ve been in lots of competitions in the main division over the last few years, besides the medals I won at the lower belts; that’s why I have to confess that I have no idea how many medals I’ve won. But you got me curious, I’m going to count them all as soon as I get back to Brazil!”