Renato Tavares (ATT) with Chicago Open medals / Photos: personal archive
Jiu-Jitsu black belt Renato Tavares, our GMA at ATT Vero Beach, Florida, dominated the senior age group at the Chicago Winter Open last weekend in Illinois, USA.
A student of late Grandmaster Carlson Gracie, Renato won both the featherweight division and the absolute, and spoke with GRACIEMAG.com about his conquest.
“This year I managed to take first at weight and open weight. I had three matches: the two at weight I won on points, and the one in the absolute I won by submission, closing out the brackets with Giulio Timóteo, my teammate at Carlson Gracie’s academy back in the 1990’s. It was a good test for the Pan. Now it’s all about ironing out the mistakes and going for another gold medal at the Pan. I won it last year, in 2009 and in 2001,” he recalled.
JIU-JITSU IS REPETITION, POSTURE AND ATTENTION TO DETAILS
“All competitions are a learning experience. Whether in preparing for an event, in warmup, mental preparations, strategy—everything counts and you always learn,” preaches Renato.
“Each championship has a level, and for this one I’d been training hard to get ready for the Pan. I’ve been working a lot on the open guard and de la Riva guard from bottom position, as well as guard passing from top. The most important part is to get good at a given position and do the position specific to your game a lot. Always do a lot of repetitions and pay close attention to the details and posture,” said the teacher in conclusion.
In the video below, Renato shows how to develop and effective guard. Check it out and do lots of repetitions, always under the supervision of a qualified Jiu-Jitsu instructor.
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