André Galvão comments on Abu Dhabis final with Rodolfo: “I lacked guile”

André Galvão getting an armbar at the Abu Dhabi WPJJC / Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com

The under-88 kg champion of the Abu Dhabi WPJJC, Jiu-Jitsu black belt André Galvão came up short against Rodolfo Vieira in the final of the absolute division last Saturday. In the decisive bout, the GFTeam rep took it 4-2, a score that brought André Galvão to reflect.

“I didn’t do a good job of listening to my corner. I blew it when I was on top, but I’m already working on where I went wrong. Rodolfo did a good job and was guileful; guile was what lacked on my part,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

The Atos athlete also did an assessment of his overall performance in the United Arab Emirates and spoke of motivation.

“I felt I had a good campaign; I gave it my best shot. I won my weight class after four matches and three finishes, including in the final [against Vitor Toledo]. I felt great at the championship. In the absolute I had six matches and finished in three of them, made it to the final; but this time I didn’t end up winning,” he explained. “Truth is, this World Pro really motivated me. I was unhappy about losing the absolute, but at the same time I’m happy that I could see my mistakes. It was a good campaign, I missed by a hair,” remarked Galvão, who besides identifying his mistakes, derived other lessons from the competition.

LISTEN TO YOUR SIXTH SENSE IN JIU-JITSU

“I learned a lot. Whether I win or lose, I always try to learn something. I learned that I need to be more confident in myself. I learned that I have to train more. I learned that I have to pay more attention to my ‘sixth sense,” instead of to what other people are saying. Of course you always have to listen to everyone’s opinion but who knows me better than I do?

“Truth is, I’m the one that’s in there. This time I did something I’d never done before—I tried putting together a strategy. My strategy will always be to get a sense of the fight and fight, no matter what situation I’m in. I messed up, but there were also breaches in my game so far. But what I learned was good and valuable. What I learned here in Abu Dhabi is priceless. I thank God for that.”

Jiu-Jitsu tip and armbar from side-control

After racking up six finishes at the tournament, André didn’t let our reader/practitioners down, and shared some pointers to help get the tapout.

“I used the armbar a lot in my campaign. It’s a great move for when you’re in side-control. I like the armbar in particular, and it comes to me naturally. Jiu-Jitsu is an art where we have to fight and feel as naturally as possible—that is, do it without thinking. And that only comes with repetitions during training and rolling. I usually let a lot of submissions go against lower-ranked practitioners,” he advised.

“When I have a position that I want to be tighter, I start doing it a lot against the lower-ranked first. Only then do I start doing it on the higher-ranked. I also recommend brushing up on back attacks, which is something I’ve been working on since I was a white belt, and now it’s part of my Jiu-Jitsu,” said our GMA, who is already looking ahead to the Atos training camp in San Diego, in preparation for the IBJJF World Champion in June.

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