On the initiative of practitioner and percussionist Bruno Neves, of the band Seu Cuca, the Frei Gaspar NGO adopted Jiu-Jitsu and judo as a way of providing the kids with discipline.
And the fruits began to be reaped last weekend. Trained by Kyra Gracie, the kids competed at the Rio State Championship, and returned home flashing medals and smiles.
“We took the kids of Frei Gaspar to compete at their first Jiu-Jitsu championship, the Ryan Gracie No-Gi State Championship & 2nd Carlson Gracie Tournament. We only picked the ones displaying exemplary behavior, and we were rigorous in our criteria,” says Bruno Neves.
“Of the 130 students, we made a list of the 50 that deserved to go because of their behavior in Jiu-Jitsu class. However, after consulting their teachers in other disciplines, we made a bigger cut and took only 16,” says the musician,” who pointed out that, despite the rigorous selection process, the NGO noted sensible behavior from everyone when it comes to being a good citizen, education and respect.
