Tijuca Tennis Club, the origins of sport Jiu-Jitsu in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (GRACIEMAG.com archive photo)

At the time the first ever Jiu-Jitsu World Championship came around, in Rio de Janeiro in February 1996, GRACIEMAG was still a newspaper, the UFC was into its ninth installment, and you most likely were a white belt. And all of us were 17 years younger.

However, the big black belt stars were all there. Beasts like Fabio Gurgel, Murilo Bustamante, Amaury Bitetti, Saulo Ribeiro, Royler Gracie, Roberto Roleta, Wallid Ismail, Ricardo Libório, Roberto Gordo, Mario Sperry and other was all blazing the trail the sport would take.

Relive the experience through the following video of some of the techniques used at the 1996 Worlds, and comment: do you miss anything about those days?

André Galvão catches another neck, at Abu Dhabis trials. GRACIEMAG archive photo.

GRACIEMAG: Do you train differently for a 20-minute match where points don’t count? How are you preparing to face Ryron Gracie at Metamoris Pro this October 14?

ANDRÉ GALVÃO: I’m still training normally. For me nothing’s changed. I’m going there to win. I’m going to do my job as always. I see all this as being normal. The only difference is that it’s a challenge. This is the second time that Ralek Gracie [organizer of the event] and his brothers invite me to a challenge of this sort. So I accepted it under their rules. Now I’m just going to go there and do my job. I want to show my Jiu-Jitsu. I want to leave with my arm raised.

What do you think of the innovative rules? Is a 20-minute match with no points good for the fans? Is it good for Jiu-Jitsu?

In my opinion, the rules are fine for someone who wants to drag out a draw; in other words, for someone who wants to play defense the whole time. These rules were made to favor someone; that much is obvious. I prefer a points system, and I’ll explain why. It’s the same thing as doing judo and only ippons counting, or wrestling where all that counts is the touch, or boxing and MMA for the knockout. And all that within regulation time. I don’t feel it’s good for Jiu-Jitsu. A fight to the finish without a time limit is different deal. But to the finish with a time limit, that changes things, since the fighter has to work against the time factor just like a normal competition. I prefer Rickson’s rules for Budo Challenge, for example, with points for the one who attacks more.

Were you surprised when you were invited to face Ryron at Metamoris Pro?

I accepted because I like challenges. I like it. This is my life. Surprised? No, because there’s always someone who wants to fight me, especially those who need to make a name for themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFQB1oJyeOA

There are those saying he’s the underdog. There are others saying that’s not quite the case. What do you think?

You have to ask him what Jiu-Jitsu titles he holds. Look, I gave him an opportunity to compete against me. To try and say that I’m the underdog is a joke, isn’t it? I’m going to compete because I love Jiu-Jitsu. And if I win, they’ll say, “Sure, but it was against Galvão…” But if he beats me they’ll be shouting, “Dude, did you see what happened at the Metamoris Pro in San Diego???” So he certainly has a lot more to gain than I do… So I’m going to go there, compete like I always do, stick my neck out like I always do. Whatever happens, I’ll still be the same André Galvão I’ve always been.

You’ll be fighting right where you live, in San Diego, California. Do you think the crowd will be on your side?

I think they [the opposing team] will even take a band to cheer for them, and maybe even give free tickets away to their students… And it’s not far from Los Angeles, either. But I do hope to have my own noisy cheering section. I love when people cheer for me.

What’s your view of Jiu-Jitsu’s evolving into what it is today?

In the past, Jiu-Jitsu was real crude. Sometimes there was a really heavy atmosphere about it. The gang was really reserved and there was no contact between people who trained at different teams. Today things have evolved a lot. Jiu-Jitsu’s a sport. The gang trains a lot and the positions evolve a lot. It’s really different, much more professional. Look at how much has happened since the first Worlds, in 1996… In the future there will be even greater evolution in terms of sport, education and health. In five years Jiu-Jitsu will be at a different level. And it’s beautiful to see all that! Folks already recognize that there is no martial art more beneficial than Jiu-Jitsu.

Saulo Ribeiro is the sport Jiu-Jitsu ace on Chael Sonnen's favorites list. Photo: Gustavo Aragão.

The next challenger to Anderson Silva’s middleweight strap, Chael Sonnen dropped his guard in an interview on Brazil’s Sportv network, pointing out the five Brazilian fighter’s he admires most . Even a Jiu-Jitsu champion with no history in the UFC.

Duly ignoring the opponent for his June outing, the American fan of Palmeiras soccer club picked three Jiu-Jitsu black belts, one heavy-fisted boxer and a pioneer of cross-training with a luta livre, judo, Thai boxing and capoeira background.

Chael Sonnen wanted to pick José Aldo as a sixth name, but his list didn’t sound half bad as it was. He stuck with Royce Gracie, Junior Cigano Vitor Belfort, Junior Cigano and Marco Ruas. The fifth name came out of left field, for having been exclusively from Gi Jiu-Jitsu history: gold-medal collector Saulo Ribeiro, a Jiu-Jitsu teacher from the Brazilian state of Amazonas now living in  San Diego , who holds a winning record since the very first IBJJF World Champion.

SONNEN’S FAVORITE, EVEN WITHOUT MMA BACKGROUND

Check out what Sonnen had to say about each fighter, and check out an efficient self-defense from Saulo Ribeiro. The trick is to pay attention to the opponent’s shoulder, not their arms, and swap positions with the aggressor.

Royce Gracie: “He’s the greatest of all. I saw his fights, and I was blown away by the size of the guys he’d beat. He was much smaller. A hero!”

Marco Ruas: “What can I say about him? To me Ruas is the guy who changed our sport.”

Junior “Cigano” dos Santos: “This guy has been surprising everyone for some time now. He’s strong, and I like the way he fights. I also want to pick José Aldo, who’s excellent, but I’ll stick with Cigano.”

Vitor Belfort: “He’s an intense fighter. He’s one of my favorites, and my mom’s favorite. I like watching Vitor fight. He’s fantastic, came on the scene really young. And I consider him to be a good person.”

Saulo Ribeiro: “He wasn’t in MMA, but he was fantastic in Jiu-Jitsu. He deserves all the medals he won in the sport.”

Tijuca Tennis Club / GM archive photo

Three strong cards of the same suit – that’s how it was at the very first Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, in 1996, exactly 15 years ago, as remembered in the Anthology section of GRACIEMAG #172, on its way to a bookstore near you.

In the absolute divisional semifinal, at Rio de Janeiro’s Tijuca Tennis Club, Amaury Bitetti and Fabio Gurgel took to the match area, while Renzo Gracie arbritrated the showdown.

At the following year’s Worlds this matchup would be the grand finale, where the Carlson Gracie representative became the first-ever two-time absolute world champ, which you can revisit in the video below.

And speaking of Worlds, don’t miss getting your copy of the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG, with the finest coverage of the event around. To make sure you don’t miss a beat in the Jiu-Jitsu scene, subscribe here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du04WUzUEiA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4_W-q_Sv7U