“Jiu-Jitsu’s full of stallers who fight to say they didn’t tap”

Through to Abu Dhabi, André Galvão plays on top in final against Clark Gracie at San Diego WPJJ Trials. Photo: Alicia Anthony.

A submission wizard from competition Jiu-Jitsu’s top tier, André Galvão won his weight class but stopped short of winning the absolute in the final last Sunday at the San Diego leg of the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship (WPJJ) Trials. The man who put the brakes on him was Xande Ribeiro, whose three-advantage point lead broke the 4-4 tie on points. What lessons did the unfortunate Galvão derive from the closely matched affair? He lays it all out for GRACIEMAG.com to come:

FIGHTING JIU-JITSU MEANS GOING ALL OUT

“I came up with one good lesson. I feel that, regardless of the result or how the match is going, you should never stop or consider quitting. I went all out, showing what my Jiu-Jitsu’s like in all my matches. I learned that six minutes isn’t much time at all and that it’s really important to take the lead early on. I also think I taught everyone else a lesson, showing that Jiu-Jitsu is made for fighting, not stalling. Jiu-Jitsu these days is full of stallers who fight to be able to say they didn’t tap to so-and-so,” said Galvão.

(Check out the finest photos from the finals, through the lens of Alicia Anthony)

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“In my match with Xande, truth is that I think they didn’t give me the two points when I did a backwards somersault and landed a single-leg on him. But he deserved to win because of what he did do in the match, which was a great one. I’m happy with the overall result and all my students. My team took first at the tournament, and we only went in with 22 athletes,” he added.

The champion of his weight class and the absolute at ADCC 2011 also spoke of how his training is going:

“I work on submissions and their various aspects a lot. I work on everything a lot. My Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t hinge on one, two or three positions. I train everything, do lots of sweeps from half-guard, spider-guard and other variations,” he said.

KNOW WHERE THE CONTROL IS AND NEUTRALIZE THE GRIPS

“One major lesson is that you have to realize where the main control is seated in each position, to know how to break the opponent’s grips. The secret to getting good at a position is to train a lot, move around a lot and especially to take risks when you roll at the academy, until you start pulling it off at tournaments. You’ve got to drill to win, you know? I feel that for you to get good at a position you have to hone it a lot through repetition and control. Specific training will help you there too. That tip goes for progressing in any position.”