(20 Questions)
1. (Brief Bio)
a. Where are you from? (If from outside of Atlantic Canada, when did you relocate to the region?)
I’m from the land of the creators, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the craziest city in the world. I was kidnaped by my wife and brought to Halifax for the first time in 2000 but moved here with the family for good in 2014.
b. When not doing BJJ, what do you do?
(Profession/Career/business/hobbies and interests)
I own two coaching companies in Hong Kong, Tinytots coaching and Brazilian Football Academy.
2. When and why did you start training in BJJ?
In 2009 living in Hong Kong I bumped in to Rodrigo Caporal at a McDonald’s, he invited me to the gym he was teaching, it was about 2 min from my office, I showed up, got tapped twice by a 14 years old kid, went home devastated and came back the next day for revenge. Lol
3. Do you train in any other martial arts?
I did Capoeira when I was 12 years old but I was very tall and skinny and everybody made fun of me. My nick name in Capoeira was Perna longa. Long legs
4. When did you receive your black belt and can you describe how you felt when you received it? Did you face any hurdles or setbacks?
I got my black belt in January 2018 and I was very surprised, I didn’t think I deserve it but I took it home anyways. Lol
I broke my toe when I was a blue belt but I continue to show up to classes, I couldn’t pass guard because of my toe so I became much better at guard
5. Belt lineage?
I got all my belts from Quinton Arendse and Julio Cesar Pereira from GFTeam.
6. Where do you train? Other past locations?
Now I train and teach with the best at Halifax BJJ Society.
Before I trained with MXT Halifax, Fit Pluss Halifax and Versus Performance GFTeam Hong Kong.
7. Competition history? Are still you still competing?
I competed more often as a white, blue and purple belts. As a brown belt I competed twice and never compete as a black belt. I just don’t want to break the young fella’s heart.
8. Do you teach/coach and what does a good teacher mean to you?
I do teach and I love jiujitsu. I’m not sure if I’m a good teacher, only my students can say that but let me tell you, I’m having a great time sharing my knowledge with the amazing people that show up to my classes.
9. Preference GI or NO GI? Why?
I started BJJ in an MMA gym in Hong Kong so initially I liked no gi, but after I got my blue belt I started to lean towards the gi classes more often. I think the gi classes are more fun.
10. How often do you train now versus in the beginning?
For the past 5 months I didn’t train much as I have a bad injury. Now I’m back training 2 or 3 times a week but I like to train 5 times a week and go PORRADA everyday with everybody. When I started in Hong Kong, I was training everyday Mon-Fri lunch hours as the gym was just 2 min from my office. My instructor was very funny and we became great friends so I wanted to train everyday.
11. Advice you would give to your white belt self from yourself now?
I started jiujitsu when I was 34 years old, not so young so I think I still have the same mentality. Have fun, make friends, and kill the dead dogs.
12. Advice to anyone contemplating joining a BJJ club?
I would say people should go for trials to at least 2 or 3 gyms before making a commitment. You will be surprised how different every gym is from each other.
13. Advice to anyone feeling like they are not progressing in their training or become fixated on belts?
Not progressing I would say train everything and personally work on one thing at a time.
Fixated on belts: I would say, If you ask me for a belt you are going to keep dreaming about one for a long time.
14. Your top go to submissions?
I may have favorites from different positions. Bottom I would go for triangles more often. Top I think its armbars and more triangles Lol
15. Your game/guard? Any advice to someone in early stages looking for their style/game?
At the gym maybe I end up doing more guard, but I like to fight top. I think style is something that comes natural to you, the more you do the better you get at specific positions. When you get to purple belt, you will figure it out.
16. How do you feel about the evolution of leg locks in BJJ? Also, what are some of the most significant changes observed in the art since beginning BJJ?
I think there is just more focus in the leg now days which created more entrance to the positions, but the actual foot and leg submissions are already in place for a long time.
17. Who to you is the Greatest of all time BJJ athlete/competitor? If not the same, current fav competitor/practitioner)
I’m a big fan of Roger Gracie, I like him because I can use a lot of his positions in my on game.
18. Why do you feel BJJ is so addictive?
I think its because there is always something new to learn or to improve even if you are already good. Also, the fact that you can spar with some one 100% and make them quit is also addictive for me.
19. What has BJJ taught you or done for you personally/development outside of the gym?
I’m a much better person after I discover jiujitsu, time by time getting my ass kicked by a much smaller person added to this personal progress.
20. What keeps you motivated to train once you achieve that milestone of black belt in BJJ?
I motivate my self working and improving existing or new positions. There is always something to work on.
