Bernardo Rezende, 51, coaching for the last 20 years, holds more than 30 major volleyball titles and earns up to 35,000 reais per lecture, where the theme is almost always the same: strategies and tactics for becoming a superchampion.

In a recent interview with reporter Milly Lacombe in “Gol” magazine, the Brazilian national volleyball team coach taught what he did to make a living through his passion, volleyball, and laid out some important topics for finding success in training and competition. GRACIEMAG.com compiled the highlights. Read, reflect, and dedicate yourself.

Bernardo, in CBV publicity photo

Mistakes:

“Making mistakes is key. But when you make that big mistake all you think is, ‘Shoot, this is really bad.’ You can’t see the bright side of it, and it tortures you so much until you go off in pursuit of another route. When you make a mistake, you question yourself, and the questioning breeds change, change breeds growth, and growth breeds satisfaction. The only ones who don’t make mistakes are the ones who don’t try. There’s a ton of people out there who don’t make mistakes because they don’t do. All they do is talk about what the other people do. At first, when we make a mistake, we end up in a miserable funk, overwhelmed with frustration. Only afterward do we manage to get out of it.

Getting over the hump:

To get out of it you have to assume responsibility. In Brazil, culturally, people aren’t big on assuming responsibility. “It was the government that didn’t do it,” “The opponent was better.” It’s always someone else’s fault. If you don’t assume responsibility, you’ll never understand why you messed up or how to fix it.

Comfort zone:

Discomfort is a perpetual part of life. If I feel comfortable, that in itself is a discomfort to me. But it’s discomfort that makes me forge ahead. I can’t sit back and relax. I try keeping the players on a tight leash. Anyone who can’t handle pressure can’t be on the team. I’m almost never in an absolute comfort zone. When things are going too well I get worried; something’s wrong. I’m not that good, it can’t be that easy. Feeling relaxed is unwelcome.

Fame:

Public recognition and the fans’ affection instill two feelings in me. The first is almost pride. I see it and I think, ‘Cool, we did something great.’ But then I get home and think, ‘I can’t allow myself to disappoint these people.’

From the 8^th to the 11^th of April, a similar number of people will fill the university gymnasium, competing, cheering, and feeling the excitement. Even those who aren’t Anteaters.

That’s the mascot for the sports teams of the university, a typical American institution of learning, with fraternities like Alpha Gamma Alpha, Delta, Lambda Theta Delta and 44 others, and lodgings dubbed with the names of characters and places from “The Lord of the Rings”, J.R.R. Tolkien’s most famous book.

But on the second weekend of April the fraternities to take front and center will be Gracie Barra, Alliance, Gracie Humaitá, CheckMat, Carlson Team, Lloyd Irvin and countless others.

Around three thousand athletes, a new record, are expected to be there, and droves of spectators will fill the ample and inviting gymnasium, which already found its place in history before the Pan 2010.

Statue of UC Irvine mascot. Photo: Ally Union / Publicity.

The university’s men’s volleyball team, which trains in the gymnasium conceded to Jiu-Jitsu, is the current college champion of the USA. And you had no idea anteaters could be so popular.

Grab your gi, the whole kids, and stick some ants in your pocket, and get ready for a momentous event in the sport’s history.

After all, as one master from another university once said:

“One needs to understand that not every Jiu-Jitsu practitioner is a competitor, as not every champion is a good teacher. The only thing I recommend, though, is that every practitioner enters a championship at least once in his life. You might not like it, you might realize that’s not for you, but you’ll have tasted the adrenaline, lived the intensity of that moment and have for yourself the feeling that you were there.”

The lesson above comes from Royler Gracie, and was published in a recent issue of GRACIEMAG. Anyone who competes at the Pan, as you can see, won’t just gain a magazine and t-shirt. They’ll gain much more.

Don’t forget to send in your stories and accounts, along with a cool photo, to make yourself one of the characters from the event on GRACIEMAG.com!

Today it’s the last day to register, so sign up by clicking here.