NU purple belts. Photo: Carlos Ozório
GFTeam and Alliance took the spotlight in the brown/black belt division of the Brazilian Team Nationals yet again. But in the overall score, 2010’s winner was Nova União, repeating their achievement of becoming Brazilian Team champion in 2009.
NU did well thanks to the performance of its base, taking first and second in most divisions from blue belt juvenile to purple belt. Among the big standouts of the new generation are Kauê Damasceno, a purple belt who also won the heavyweight division at this year’s Brazilian Nationals, and Alberto Emiliano, who closed out the division with Kauê at the same event.
José Carlos Polenguinho and Ruan Rodrigues. Photo: Carlos Ozório
But there are a number of other standouts coming from the base, like juvenile blue belts Marcio André and Ruan Rodrigues, and adult blue belt José Carlos “Polenguinho”. Back to purple belt, Felipe “Japa” Iwasaki, who made the trip from Sergipe to compete in Rio, always tends to put on a show.
“We’re building a solid base, which some teams tend to leave out, concerning themselves more with the black belt division. We already have a big set of athletes for next year’s Brazilian Team Nationals and even some new black belts, like Bruno Novaes. I believe that in three or four years we’ll be strong again in all belt levels,” comments André Marola, one of the heads of the team’s Jiu-Jitsu program.