Facebook Fans Interview
Friday, July 3, 2009 at 11:20am

Thank you to all who posted questions – there were nearly 70 questions from people all over the world. To make the interview smooth, my team had to consolidate similar questions and rephrase a few. I wish I could have answered everyone’s directly. I hope you enjoy the interview …

Background/History

Please tell us exactly when and how you were introduced to jiu jitsu? (Michael Carn)
I started jiu jitsu in 2000. I was teaching Capoeira at a friend’s Martial Arts school. He decided to add a jiu jitsu program to his curriculum because it had become very popular in Brazil, and he suggested that I come try it. In my first class, I got spanked, despite the fact that I was a contre mestre in Capoeira. I had a hard time understading how someone could beat me so easily. It made me want to do it again, and again, and again. I started training & practicing a lot. Little by little, I began spending more time training jiu jitsu than capoeira.

How long did it take you to progress to each belt level? (Gareth Murphy)
I earned a new belt approximately every year. I received my black belt in 2005, after 5 years of training. I won my first IBJJF World Championship as a black belt the following year (2006).

How did you progress so quickly? (Gareth Murphy)
I believe the primary reason that I progressed at the rate I did was because I was very dedicated to training. I trained every day and enjoyed drilling positions over and over. I also think the skills that I had gained from capoeira helped me a lot. From capoeira, I had very good balance, flexibility, and conditioning … all definitely helped my jiu jitsu tremendously.

What are the key differences in your jiu jitsu style as you progressed from belt to belt, or do you feel that your style has remained constant? (Jadon Ortlepp)
My style stayed basically the same over the years, but of course, my technique, timing, pressure, and anticipation improved.

Who were your most influential instructors and what did you learn from each of them? (Paul Moran, Sky Kauweloa, Ian Hardcastle)
I have been very lucky to have some amazing instructors in jiu jitsu, all of who have been a big influence for me. My first instructor was Mauro Pacifico. He gave me a really good base and helped define and develop my guard. Terere became my instructor when I was a brown belt. He polished my jiu jitsu and developed my passing game. Fabio Gurgel played a big role directly in helping improve my back control, but of course a lot of Terere’s jiu jitsu and instruction was influenced by Fabio. Currently, I learn something new with Jacare every day. He pushes my training in the right way and helps me identify and fix my mistakes.

When did you decide that BJJ would be a career and not just a hobby? (Chris Visentin)
In 2004, when I was a brown belt, many things came together to clear a path for a jiu jitsu career. I had opened my own bakery but was having some business problems with the landlord. During that same time, I went to compete at the Federacao Paulista de Jiu-Jitsu’s Championship where Fernando Augusto “Terere” watched me compete and asked me to move to Sao Paulo to train with his team. After my instructor Mauro Pacifico told me that I could not pass up that opportunity, I left my bakery, two other jobs, and my family to go to Sao Paulo to train with Terere. I will tell you that the adventure of going to the big city of Sao Paulo from little Sao Carlos was a big adventure, which is worth sharing sometime. Anyway, it was upon arriving in Sao Paulo and beginning to train with Terere’s team that I knew I had a good opportunity to make a career out of jiu jitsu.

How has jiu jitsu changed your life? (Michael Carn, Nate Mann)
Before jiu jitsu, I liked my life very much. I enjoyed capoeira and I also enjoyed being a baker, which was my primary way to earn money. Jiu jitsu has given me an opportunity to travel much more than I did previously, and I have been privileged to meet people from many different cultures. I have a better respect for people’s lives all over the world. My success in jiu jitsu has also put me in a position where some people look up to me. That is both a big honor and very humbling at the same time. Finally, I am very glad that my life allows me to teach others. I think many lessons of jiu jitsu are lessons of life, and I am happy to be able to help others gain attributes that can help them on and off the mat.

When did you finally know you had made it big in the jiu jitsu world? (Chris Visentin)
When I got the opportunity to come train with Terere, that is when I knew I had a good chance to be successful in jiu jitsu.

Before we move on, please tell us where you got your nickname … “Cobrinha”? (Jameel Khan)
My Capoeira teacher gave me that nickname because of my flexibility and smoothness of my movements.

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