Pablo beat Saggioro 5-3 to become the champion in the Professional black belt lightweight division. Photo: Personal archive

After succeeding in structuring his personal life in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, Pablo Mantovani resumed doing what he has always done well: competing. A teacher and athlete full-time, Pablo proved, in practice, that he is sharper than ever as he won the Grand Slam in Moscow, Russia.

In the tournament held by the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro Tour (AJP), Pablo conquered the 69kg division when he defeated Leonardo Saggioro (BTT) in the final, scoring 5 points to Saggioro’s 3, with a guard pass and a back-take. Pablo’s path was not easy: he also had to eliminate Abubakar Khadaev and win a tough battle against Raul Basílio in the semifinal, where the score was 4-4.

In a recent interview, Pablo analyzed his fight with Saggioro, one of the biggest names in the division.

“I’ve been following him for a while,” said Pablo. “He’s done a World Championship final with Rubens Cobrinha, he’s done several tough fights with Rafael Mendes, and because of that, I knew I couldn’t afford to make mistakes. I left my comfort zone, and since I’m a guard player, I decided to take on his guard and try to pass. He has a good guard pass; that was when I decided to move away from his strong game. In the fight, he pulled; I accelerated to pass and take the back. Later, I ended up losing the back adjustments, and he put pressure to try to pass, but I managed to contain his impetus.”

Victory against great athletes, a Grand Slam title and lots of confidence once again. But how did Pablo keep his mind strong even after going a fair bit of time without competing? He explained:

“I believe that now, at 26, I’ve reached the maturity of an adult. What do I mean by that maturity? I mean not feeling pressure. Many times, I lost tournaments due to feeling pressured to win or because my opponent was tough. This time was different; I ignored that factor. I simply went there to have fun. I didn’t put pressure on myself before fighting; I was just a lot more focused this time. I fought moving forward because I wanted to win. Maturity was a determining factor in my victory.

“I read a few times that other athletes became world champions when they lost the fear of making mistakes. I just did what had to be done: I believed in my game and my potential. It made a big difference. I was ready to become champion — that’s my mindset. It’s to fight moving forward, whether on top or on the bottom, without the fear of making mistakes.”

It’s worth noting that when Pablo isn’t teaching at Baniyas Sport Club, he’s training with the Abu Dhabi national team, led by Ramon Lemos, which brings together some BJJ fighters that reside in the UAE. All the methodology that was being used at Atos Jiu-Jitsu gets applied to the team.

Pedro Lott and his team during an IBJJF competition in USA. Photo: personal archive

Team Carlson Gracie is assembling, again, a strong competition squad for Jiu-Jitsu tournaments around the world. Currently a resident of Canada, Pedro Lott is a strong arm in this restructuring, and has as his mission, alongside Master Carlson Gracie Jr, the task of providing his athletes with opportunities to train at a high level, travel and compete in the main IBJJF tournaments and, above all, to have a career plan.

Pedro, a black-belt since 2008, spoke of how the roots of team Carlson Gracie — one of the biggest competitive forces of the aughts — remain strong, and how they plan not just to make good athletes, but for them to have solid careers in the sport.

“Master Carlson Gracie Jr. has been restructuring the team in such a way that all of today’s athletes will tomorrow have a future on the team, because competition is a short stage in the life of an athlete,” he said. “Today we’re champions, but tomorrow we have to pay bills, support families, and that’s what’s most important. The preoccupation of our master with these athletes is for them to be able, tomorrow, to live off the sport with dignity.”

The team’s most recent competition was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation’s (CBJJ) Brazilian Nationals, where it was represented by 126 athletes ranging from blue-belts to black-belts, including Guthierry Barbosa, Matheus Nascimento, Alexandre Molinaro — the team’s black-belts.

“From blue belt to black, we have lots of athletes,” said Pedro. “The names mentioned above, as well as Rerrison Gabriel, Cleison Santos, Yago Oliveira, Filipe Assis, Wesley Teixeira, Maria Raniele, Luiz Eduardo, are some of our athletes in the colored belts. They’ve been making some noise in the recent tournaments. They are students under Profs. Juan Lopes and Douglas Rufino, who are teachers with our team Carlson Gracie. We have other names that are greatly standing out, and you’ll know about them soon.”

Pedro, who leads his own gym on Canada’s West Coast, went on to talk about the challenges the pandemic brought — but also, on a better note, about the strides the sport has been making around those parts.

“BJJ on the West Coast of Canada was evolving at a pretty fast pace in the last seven years, but with this pandemic and the regulations by the Canadian government, things greatly slowed down around here,” he said. “In the last 19 months, our gym was closed for 12 months in total, opening and closing within the period. But the community will go back to growing again, and it has all my support to do so.”

He added: “At our gym, in Canada, we have many students who have been standing out in the masters; we have many IBJJF world champions. There’s a 23-year-old black-belt who won the Orlando Open in his first year as a black-belt, in 2020.

Chayse Diekema, Pedro’s student and Pan champion. Photo: personal archive

“I should mention my student Chayse Diekema, who, in the space of a year and a half, became champion at the European Championship in the blue belt without getting scored on, and in the same year, already wearing the purple belt, was champion at the Pan with a submission in the final. This year, she was runner-up at the No-Gi Pan with an arm that was injured from the quarterfinals on. At the gi Pan, she finished her opponents in all her fights, in an incredible performance. Her mindset in on another level; she’s going to take the brown belt by storm, and in the black belt she’s going to be in the top five of the world, without a doubt.”

Pedro ended the interview by talking about the legacy of the late Carlson Gracie.

“The fact that our team bears the Carlson banner makes our athletes and all our teachers stronger due to knowing that we don’t represent only a team, but rather a legacy that shaped the greatest athletes and representatives of the sport in the world. Carlson Gracie was Jiu-Jitsu’s ‘SWAT team’ for decades. When Jiu-Jitsu needed someone to defend its name and honor, it was Carlson or someone from his team who was there to defend the legacy.”

Photo: Divulgation

At a meeting held at the Brazilian Embassy in Ireland, professor Henrique Saraiva, counselor César Leite, and ambassador Marcelo Biato signed a partnership to support projects involving Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the European country.

Saraiva, a Jiu-Jitsu teacher based in the capital Dublin for six years, is one of the most active promoters of the sport in Ireland, through his academy, his social projects in schools, and sports competitions he holds.

At the Embassy meeting, the theme was the development of Jiu-Jitsu in Ireland and the rest of the planet in recent years. With the number of teachers that Brazil has exported to the world, the increase in the number of gyms, practitioners, and championships, the martial art has been an important diffuser of Brazilian culture.

The Brazilian community in Ireland today is estimated at 70,000 Brazilians and the Embassy has supported projects that consistently contribute to building solid bridges between Brazilian and Irish cultures. Jiu-Jitsu, like the rest of the world, has established itself as an excellent integration tool in the Brazilian community.

As the son of Orlando Saraiva, a red belt who started in the sport thanks to a social project, Professor Henrique is well aware of the importance of everyone’s support for the sport to put down its roots:

“Everything still seems like a dream, and it’s at the very beginning, but we are working hard to make it come true”, comments Henrique Saraiva.

Henrique e Darragh after the graduation. Photo: Reproduction

Jiu-Jitsu ace in Ireland, the country’s representative in several elite tournaments, Darragh O’Conaill has plenty of reasons to celebrate. Under the tutelage of Brazilian Henrique Saraiva, the Irishman received the second degree at his black belt, cementing his reputation as one of the main competitors in the land of Conor McGregor.

GRACIEMAG today recalls one of the most important duels in O’Conaill’s career, the middleweight final at the IBJJF 2018 No-Gi European Championship. Check out the pressure of the master with adult intensity in the video below. Oss!

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.

Júlio dos Anjos is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Master Júlio César Pereira. Photo: Ralfh Jigger

Julio dos Anjos, 28, is one of the main propagators of Jiu-Jitsu in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. An avid competitor, winner of titles from the IBJJF’s Pan and Euros, Julio now splits his time between his usual heavy schedule — teaching as many as six Jiu-Jitsu classes in a day — and the launch of his own gym, JDA Training Center.

The gym, located in Dubai, will provide bespoke training for students wishing to improve the quality of their lives or even becoming high-performance athletes, as Julio explained in a recent interview.

“JDA Training Center has a personalized training program for different needs,” he said. “If the practitioner just wants to train as a hobby, to have a healthy lifestyle, or compete also, this is the right place. I’m very excited to teach everything I know to my students and help them achieve their goals.”

JDA Training Center in Dubai. Photo: Ralfh Jigger

After five years — the time he’s been a black-belt — Julio is starting to reap the fruits of his decisions from when he was younger. If nowadays he’s starting his own business, previously he had tougher times, including financial troubles in 2017.

“In 2017, I had to leave Brazil with my family to seek out a better living standard, because we had lots of financial difficulty,” he said. “Thank God now is a new period; we are achieving our goals, and that makes us happy and motivated to carry on with our journey. My daughter will be turning two soon, and I’m able to give her a good quality of life. This country has taught me many things and made me grow a lot as a human being.”

A Jiu-Jitsu student since he was 14, he also plans to compete in the coming months — which means focusing on his physical preparation. “For a long time, it was hard focusing on the training,” said Julio, whose wife Enaile is a fellow black belt.

“Even when you are competing from time to time, it’s not the same as being 100% focused on the training like athletes today are. But I have plans now to train hard and, God willing, arrive better prepared at my next competitions.”

Raphael Barbosa is a Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Photo: Personal archive

Raphael Barbosa is among the most renowned teachers in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This 39-year-old has over 25 years of experience across classes, seminars and competition. A black-belt since 2007, when he was promoted by his teacher Luís Cláudio, Raphael teaches Jiu-Jitsu at the gym from Ultimate Fight Champion, known as UFC Gym, which has over 400 students just in the gi classes.

The owner of a unique methodology, full of steps for preparing a good student on their journey to the black belt, Raphael in a recent interview explained that his teaching belongs to a Gracie lineage, due to his teacher’s education under the legendary Rickson. Additionally, his students have been achieving better and better results on and even off the mat, given that he also uses the sport as a tool for personal growth.

“Jiu-Jitsu is a unique sport; it provides many things beyond maneuvers and moves,” Raphael said. “On the mat, you learn to be a better person, a more patient person. You become more confident, believe in yourself more, and that is reflected in your life. It’s perceptible to notice that in the white-belts, because they come in with no confidence and with fear, but as time passes, they become confident, they believe more in their own effort. I really like Jiu-Jitsu because of that. No matter how much knowledge you have, the sport is always going to teach you something more. It’s one of the strongest tools for personal growth in the world.”

Below we organized a list of five concepts shared by Raphael. He views these as important for a student’s evolution, regardless of their belt color.

1 Not skipping the process: “The practitioner needs to respect the process! We know that Jiu-Jitsu is a very complex sport and demands lots of motor coordination, and explores all of the student’s physical functions. Because of this complexity of movements, especially when it’s time to put it into practice, many students get frustrated, and there’s always that question: ‘Professor, when will I be able to do all these moves automatically?’ I see that this is a constant occurrence in beginners’ classes. Within this concept, here at UFC Gym, I place beginners’ classes separate from the others, where I teach them the entirety of the ABCs. They perform drills thousands of times, and, until they reach the second degree, I don’t even let them spar on their own. First they will learn how the whole process of a well-done technique works.”

2 Studying Jiu-Jitsu: “It’s necessary to study how Jiu-Jitsu was created, to know the story of the Gracie family. Understand how the promotion system works, the scoring — how everything surrounding the sport works. In order to know what you are doing, to know the basics to get a better understanding. A white-belt needs to know these things so as not to get lost.”

3 Practicing self-defense: “Jiu-Jitsu was created for this, for the smaller person to be able to defend themselves against the bigger one. So never ditch self-defense — we never know when we’ll need to use it. The white-belt usually ends up trying to learn advanced Jiu-Jitsu online, instead of learning what they really need, and ends up hindering the evolution process.”

4 Practicing takedowns: “Jiu-Jitsu starts standing, and lots of gyms neglect this! I see lots of sparring done only on the ground, and sometimes on the knees. The takedown side of things is essential for the student to learn. Practice Jiu-Jitsu as a progression!”

5 Listening to the body: “Respecting your body’s limit is essential! Sometimes, a white-belt, in that endeavor to evolve or prove something to themselves, to the teacher and to training partners, ends up not tapping to and armbar, not tapping to a choke… Then they end up blacking out or getting arms popped, causing an injury. This can’t happen — it’s foolish! If the student really loves Jiu-Jitsu, they will want to practice it for the rest of their life, but by acting that way they will only be shortening the journey. Think about it!”

Gustavo is a Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Photo: Personal archive

Until he was able to stabilize his life financially through BJJ, Gustavo Andrade had no easy times. Born in Duque de Caxias, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state, this black-belt traveled a long road of sacrifice, pain and, of course, success. In 2013, unaware of what would happen four years later, the Mountain View, Calif. resident was running raffles on social media to be able to continue training and competing at a high level.

The effort paid off later in one of the most popular BJJ hubs. Now also a teacher and legal resident of the U.S., Gustavo has begun enjoying the benefits the sport can offer to those who refuse to give up. If he had accepted the opinion held by some people close to him that “jiu-jitsu is not a job,” things would have turned out differently. At 29 and full of goals to reach, this student under Fábio Andrade gave an interview where he went over his trajectory.

“Many times, I thought of quitting,” he said. “People close to me thought that BJJ is not a job but, in reality, they had this view because they were not inside BJJ like me. My mom, before she died, also thought that BJJ was dangerous to me, but the sport ended up being the best decision of my life, and wherever she is, she will see that everything I have today is because of the sport.”

Gustavo added: “I used to life in Duque de Caxias. I used to run raffles to be able to fight. It was a ton of hardship — and now it has all changed! Today I’m living a stable life here, in the United States. Teaching BJJ has become my main source of income; I’m able to live and eat well, and I even save some money. But given that I’ve been a hard worker since I was little, I also work on some food delivery apps in my spare time. I’m always working.”

Unlike most Brazilian teachers, Gustavo arrived in the U.S. knowing how to speak the language, which helped. “I got here right away communicating really well with everybody; it’s really nice understanding and talking jiu-jitsu with the Americans,” he said. “The teachings from my physical education college helps me manage my classes in such a way that I can cater both to the competitive public and to the public that trains as a hobby, in a professional way that’s very different from the jiu-jitsu that was taught in the past.”

Having now lived in the U.S. for four years, Gustavo went on to compare the states of the sport in Brazil and in his adoptive home. “I believe in the U.S. jiu-jitsu is being more valued as a profession, and consequently your recognition ends up being greater,” he said. “But in regard to training, I believe jiu-jitsu in Brazil is tougher due to the fact that it’s in our nature, especially those who came from the bottom like me, to fight to survive. It’s easy to channel that aggressiveness necessary to win a fight, whereas in the U.S. jiu-jitsu is more commercial. There are good competitive teams, but it’s still different from Brazil.”

The owner of a ferocious guard and a swift wrist fold, Gustavo said he is ready for a superfight. With a record of two wins in Fight to Win, a promotion specialized in jiu-jitsu superfights in the U.S., he has some guys in his crosshairs. “I would really like to fight Otávio Souza, especially after he won the Pan as a medium heavyweight in 2020 and against Lo, which has always been a reference in the sport. Nothing better than facing your idols, which is the case with Lo.” Gustavo added, “If I had to mention someone from the new generation, it would be Gabriel Almeida. But, as always, I’m ready to answer any call. I continue to train hard!”

Patrick fighting in Moscow. Photo: IBJJF

From a childhood in Campo Grande, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, to teach classes in Russia and continue with intense competition training in Hawaii. Patrick Almeida tells his very unusual trajectory of those found in Jiu-Jitsu: he abandoned his career in medicine to follow his passion for the sport.

A lot has happened in the hiatus of his story full of challenges, consistency and determination, all thanks to the good old Jiu-Jitsu. Nothing was easy for black belt Patrick Almeida, 26, an athlete trained by professors Everaldo Penco and Fabinho Oliveira at Carlson Gracie Recreio. His successful trajectory can serve as an inspiration for you, a dreamer who wants to follow even more hard in pursuit of your goals.

Jiu-Jitsu appeared in Patrick’s life, as in many other cases, when he was still young, to fight the bullying he suffered at school. Patrick was the target of constant nicknames and constant assaults at school until his older cousin suggested that he enter Jiu-Jitsu classes. Patrick’s parents wrinkled their noses at first, fearing the still present image of bullies of the 90s, however, they ended up giving in to the sport.

Fabinho Oliveira and Patrick with Everaldo Penco. Photo: Personal archive

His first Jiu-Jitsu lesson was about adaptation. With a borrowed kimono and a lot of desire to learn, Patrick used his time after school to ride his bike to the gym and give his first “balls” at the Vikings academy, with professor Elienai Rodrigues. Later, the teacher moved and Patrick, already living at Recreio, had the opportunity to train at Team Nogueira, with professor Everaldo Penco, who was to be his master throughout his career as an athlete.

The training life was intense, but the biggest plan at that time was to study medicine at a federal college since Patrick had excellent grades at school. The entrance exam took him on a different path, which was to study Engineering in Minas Gerais, and there his first steps as a teacher started in a small social project. Subsequently, a general shutdown of the college in Minas Gerais took Patrick back to Rio, giving him another opportunity to study medicine, this time in icy Russia.

“I went to Kursk, a very cold and extremely remote city,” says Patrick, “at that time I didn’t have Jiu-Jitsu, but sambo, judo, and wrestling were part of their daily lives. In my college there was sambo and I decided to try it. I was lucky enough to get there on the day of solo training and I with Jiu-Jitsu lay down and rolled over the Russians. I earned their respect, but they didn’t relieve me from falling training. I didn’t know what floor or ceiling was in the felling class. In striking training, it was the same thing, only worse. I started attending the Bola de Neve church there and I was told that they had plans to open a Jiu-Jitsu training, except that a teacher was missing. I applied and the classes grew ”. Little did the black belt know that he would have been one of the pioneers of Jiu-Jitsu in Kursk, leaving a legacy in the city.

Patrick with his students, at the Moscow Open 2014. Photo: Personal archive

With the experience gained teaching classes and a referral from his friend Mahamed Aly, Patrick moved to St. Petersburg, also in Russia, to train and help at a Jiu-Jitsu academy, requesting a transfer to the St. Petersburg University of Medicine. As Patrick fought and won most national championships, his passion for Jiu-Jitsu began to speak louder than his ambition for medicine. Patrick then decided to take a risk, drop everything and pursue his career as an athlete. This was the first time, of many, that the black belt learned to reinvent himself.

Back in Rio de Janeiro, Patrick helped to found Carlson Gracie Recreio and, later, began to act as a teacher, giving some private Jiu-Jitsu classes. One of her students paid her hours in advance, and her biggest dream in Jiu-Jitsu would be realized: fighting the Worlds in California.

With tickets and hotel reserved, everything was fine to compete in the biggest Jiu-Jitsu tournament, if it weren’t for an unforeseen event: an ear infection hindered the final stretch of training and the weight didn’t go down as it should, forcing Patrick to rise from the middleweight. for heavyweight. Even with all the difficulty and against medical advice, and tears on reaching the Long Beach Pyramid, the tough guy came in to fight, being overcome.

“Once again Mahamed was at my side to help me,” revealed Patrick. “I had problems with the ticket back to Brazil that forced me to stay in the USA for a while longer. I did not fail and went back to Rio, where I would have another sensational experience. ”

Patrick with Leo Dalla and Mahamed Aly. Foto: Personal archive

Patrick spoke of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. A friend of the family indicated the sportsman to work at the event, coordinating the weighing area of several modalities such as judo, taekwondo, and boxing. This baggage made him receive a new invitation to return to the country that was indispensable in his career: Russia. This time Patrick was not going as a medical student but as a Jiu-Jitsu professor and partner of one of the largest academy chains in greater St. Petersburg.

“I got there at a time when the government supported newaza tournaments, a fight that was fought with submissions,” recalled Patrick. “Our students trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and were outstanding in these competitions. In the middle of this rush of classes and tournaments, Everaldo Penco traveled to Russia for a seminar tour, and when I got there I graduated to black belt. I was even training for the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship, with a focus on brown belt, but he said that I would have to turn around and fight as a black belt because I would graduate anyway. ”

As a teacher, Patrick won his weight class and won the no-gi absolute at the Moscow Open, in addition to refereeing in tournaments across Europe in cities like Copenhagen, Prague, Lisbon and Moscow, which he had previously referred. Unfortunately, in one of these tournaments, the beast ended up breaking two knee ligaments and had to reinvent himself a second time. Classes decreased due to the severity of the injuries, with some students being turned off by the lack of a teacher. After a while, he and his then partner, Igor Buchman, received an interesting proposal to sell the academy. And so they did.

With his knee injured and being forced out of competition for a period, Patrick took the opportunity to travel the world and visit other countries – more than 30, according to the athlete. His sabbatical season ended when he received a proposal to teach in Denver, USA, appeared, but another factor would tangle such a simple equation.

Patrick with the gold medal at Lisbon. Photo: Personal archive

“Tiago Oliveira, who is a soccer coach and trained with me and Everaldo at Recreio, came to me intending to take me to Hawaii, to give a seminar. They sent the tickets and when I got there, I met Keola Akao, an outstanding Hawaiian who introduced me to the local culture. I ended up falling in love with the place, the people and their hospitality. He commented that he was looking to expand the academy, form a competition team and such, so I talked about the proposal I had in Denver to teach, but I would still like to stay in Hawaii and continue my dream of being a top athlete. Keola made me a counteroffer, offering me all the support and we agreed that I would stay. I was also lucky to have the support of Horlando Monteiro, a black belt from Kimura, who is also here in Hawaii, as the team’s coach. We are of similar age and weights, being able to help each other in the process. I’ve been here for a few months and I’m applying to stay as an athlete, so I can live my dream again. ”

With a history that began in Rio de Janeiro, taking Jiu-Jitsu classes to defend himself at school, then going on to teach classes in Russia in parallel to his medical course and, finally, going to Hawaii, where he is currently continuing to your career as an athlete. Choice of dreams, changes in plans and, above all, a lot of determination and intense training. Patrick Almeida learned to reinvent himself with every unforeseen and opportunity that life offered him. “It is very difficult to stay away from the people we love, family, friends and give up so many other things for a purpose because this is your dream and you need to win in life. The price of giving up so many things is very expensive, but without that nothing is possible ”, says the black belt.

Patrick fighting against Tommy Langaker. Photo: Personal archive

In this way, we can conclude that even a young man in the face of such different dreams and having to reinvent himself several times throughout his career, was able to reach the world and will continue to fight until he conquered his goals in his career as an athlete. Even in times of pandemic, with quarantine in all parts of the world, Patrick’s baggage of overcoming and willpower makes the teacher deal with the moment particularly, already with plans for the end of the storm.

“‘ The winner is the winner for winning. The loser is a loser because he gives up. ’ Not even this quarantine will stop me. I operated on my knee during the severe winter in Russia, I couldn’t move around the neighborhood because of the cold and the ice accumulated on the street, which slipped a lot. I was practically in a semi-quarantine at that time, and I learned that stuck at home, you either sink or you rise to the maximum. We cannot let ourselves rest, staying at home makes us lazy. We have to fight comfort. I have used the quarantine to train more, read more and take several courses online. Take the time to invest in yourself and become a better person”, he concluded.