Terere Kids Project is happy to announce a new partnership
with Academia Gorila from Poland. Academia Gorila has agreed to monthly
donations to help support Gabriel Barcelar and Caue da Silva. In addition to
making sure that these two are cover on a monthly basis, they have also
committed to trying to raise additional funds amongst their clients! Its
through this type of support from the international BJJ community that Terere
Kids Project has been able to thrive, creating more and more opportunities to
the athletes from the Cantagalo Favela.
It is thanks to them and some friends from Bronx Jiu Jitsuthat we are able to end the year in bang! In the last couple of months we have
managed to:
Moicano, Professor Fabricio, and Gabriel Peixoto
1.Sponsor Jhonathan Marques (Moicano) to get his
Passport and Visa. Thanks to Artur Cantu from California, Jhonathan will be
spending up to a month in states and competing in PanKids!
2.Sponsor Professor Julio Nogueira’s visa so that
he can accompany Moicano as a Chaperone.
Gabriel Peixoto in Sao Paulo at his first IBJJF competition
3.Send Gabriel Peixoto alongside Professor
Birrinho to compete in IBJJF Sulamericanos in Sao Paulo.
4.Register Professor Birrinho in IBJJF BJJ Pro,
IBJJF Sulamerican, and and UAE Grand Slam (IBJJF and UAE are synonymous with
EXPENSIVE, we have never been able to sponsor athletes for these major comps!)
And lastly in the next couple of
days we will be
5.Registering a team of 20 athletes to end the
year competing in Copa America December 12th
An interview by Andrew 'Moz' Morris and translated by Nico Ball
The evening of Monday the 27th of July
and there were forty people squeezed onto the mats of the FT Academy. A special feeling was in the air as Mestre Terere began his
pre-training 'formation' with the class. He began to
talk about the dedication and hard-work of a student who had given
everything not just to Jiu-Jitsu but to the social project that serves the children and teens of the community here. Then he called
up an unsuspecting Fabricio da Silva to the front of the class.
'Birrinho' as he is affectionately known to the community, is a
cousin of Terere as well as being the professor of the social
project. He stood proudly before the class, to have his brown belt
stripped from his waist and have it replaced with black belt before
being given a (friendly) Uchi-Mata by his longtime mentor. Fabricio who is never
usually lost for words was understandably overcome with emotion but managed to deliver a
heartfelt speech thanking everyone and explaining what this moment
meant to him.
We were able to catch up with him a
few days after the fact and discover out what this special night meant to
him
What age did you start training Jiu-Jitsu?
15 years old.
Have you always train with Terere?
We rarely trained with him
but it was his social project. The professor was Leandro Martins.
What was it to grow up with Terere?
It was gratifying. It was
gratifying to always have him by your side; Supporting you at
competitions and at the project. He was always here, he was always
smiling. Always making people happy.
Did you feel pressure to succeed
seeing that you were associated with Terere?
I’ve always felt the
pressure. Two kinds actually. One for being his student and another
because I’m his cousin. So it was two kinds in one.
How was it growing up in Cantagalo
in the 80s and 90s?
It was really cool. It was
always good living here.
There weren’t a lot of problems
with violence?
There was but we didn’t
focus on that, we always focused on Jiu Jitsu. It was a place where
we could come and stay. We trained and had fun thanks to Terere.
Did you see a lot of your friends
go into trafficking. Was it hard to stay away from that life?
No it was very hard. I lost a
lot of friends to the life. Some of them died, some of them are in
jail. It was always difficult, you had to deal with a lot of
pressure. For me, I never wanted to get into that life. I always had
a lot of examples that didn’t force me to enter into it. I always
distanced myself from that life through Jiu-Jitsu. So it was never a
worry that I had.
After 'pacification' in the favela
did things change a lot?
In a way it changed a lot.
In a good way?
It’s a little better, but
at the same time they don’t let us do anything here. They don’t
let us have any fun. They try to stop all of the parties. None of
that life.
Do you have any stories or
anecdotes about friends that left Jiu-Jitsu and took the wrong path?
Yeah I had one friend who
always trained with me. His name was Alexandre, he always trained
with me.
Was that Buda? I hear a lot about
him from different people can you tell me a little about him?
He trained here with us. He
was very good. He fought with Leandro Lo. And he always trained here. It was gratifying seeing his Jiu-Jitsu. He was always really good, one of the best guys at the
academy.
He trained with Michael Langhi too?
He did. When Fernando came
from Sao Paulo to the project he came with Langhi and Lucas Lepri.
Everyone came, Cobrinha, everyone came here. It used to be TT here.
Everyone came here. We trained and Buda always stood out from
everyone else. He was really good. It was so hard to pass his guard.
Now he isn’t here with us anymore, he’s in jail, and that kind of
dampened our spirits. He was always so dedicated and said he wouldn’t
get into crime. It was something that was so…. So… so unexpected.
A lot of people still talk about
him. Will he be in jail for the rest of his life?
No, no. soon he will be back
with us, but I’m not sure if he’ll want to get back into Jiu-Jitsu.
How long has he been in Jail now?
3 years.
When Terere stopped training due to
is personal issues you also stopped right?
I kind of stopped but not
completely. I trained with Leandro Martins, he would take me to his
academy in Sao Paulo and there I would stay 3 months and then come
back. I would go to Checkmat here in the favela. I never stopped
completely. Not ever for more than a year.
What would you say that Terere
means for the community of Cantagalo?
He is a example to everyone
from my time and now for the next generation as well. He’s a symbol
for the community. A symbol of respect, dedication, of overcoming
the odds for all of us.
Do you think its hard to earn a
living to support yourself and your family through Jiu-Jitsu?
A little. If your don’t
have determination and focus for what you want you won’t be able to
get it.
Can you describe how it felt to
receive you black belt?
Man, it was was surprise that
I wasn’t expecting. I thought maybe at the end of the year. But it
was very gratifying receiving my black belt from Mestre Terere. I
was very happy and gratified. I was shaking and my hands were sweaty.
It was a very gratifying surprise.
Now that you have your black belt,
how do you think this will change your Jiu-Jitsu?
I think it will be harder
now. It will be a new stage. I’ll be there with guys that have more
experience. But I plan on winning.
So you spoke about the new stage in
respects of competition but what about as an instructor. What are
your plans as a professor?
To make champions like
Fernando did. To be a champion in life. I already am. And always show
dedication and merit.
As a teacher to the kids of
Cantagalo what lessons and advice do you try to pass to your
students?
I try to teach them what
Terere and Leo always taught me. To stay away from drugs and other
bad things. To study, to work, have a family. Be a champion and to
focus everything on Jiu-Jitsu.
How important is it to the kids of
Cantagalo to have this project?
It's important because
instead of them playing as drug dealers and traffickers in the favela
they come here and play and train Jiu-Jitsu. They learn to respect
their parents and that’s why it's good to have Jiu-Jitsu here in
the community.
Any final words?
My name is Fabricio Tavares da Silva da
Conceicao, I’m 30 years old and I have an important role here. I
teach the morning classes and the kids class. I teach at night
alongside Mestre Terere and I’m an example for a lot of kids here. Oss
Special feature written by Terere's student Andrew Morris, aka Moz, who spent a year training in the mecca of Jiu Jitsu living it up favela style in the Cantagalo community alongside his hero, Fernando Terere. Read more from Moz on his blog Tales from Deep Half.
After
spending an entire year training at Terere's Academy in Ipanema, Rio, I felt
very much part of the family. It had been a pleasure to train each day with the
children and teens of the social project as well as my adult counterparts. So
returning after a nine month absence I couldn't wait to get on the mats and see
the maturation of these young athletes. What I wasn't prepared for, was
spending an inordinate amount of time trying to kill one of them.
During
my first stint at the academy Moricano stood out as a young, hard working yellow
belt who already possessed a ridiculously difficult Miyao brothers-esque
guard. His guard retrieval was awesome and I used to love trying to pass this
tricky guard using the appropriate amount of pressure for a twelve year old who
weighs sixty kilos.
My
first night back, I was straight on the mats to witness him obliterate
competition level blue belts as well giving purple and brown belts a torrid
time. I wasn't able to roll with my young friend that night and due to a
competition at the weekend (which he won), I had to wait until Monday to try to
test his game. After seeing how devastating his game had become, my weekend was
spent wisely discussing with prior victims how to pass this guard. Admittedly,
I spent far too much time over those two days fathoming the game of a fourteen
year old and how I planned to kill it.
When Monday came, I
was primed and ready to go. I was then more than elated when I passed his guard
to the cheers of onlookers in the academy. With the awareness he was
essentially a child, I resisted the urge to jump up and bust out my victory
dance. However the balance was truly restored when I spent the next five
minutes trying to desperately avoid being swept in his Rubix Cube like guard
game. Then the inevitable occurred in the last 20 seconds, as I posted to
defend a sweep the little dude arm-barred me.
Whilst writing this,
I worked out that I had rolled with him six times, each round lasting seven minutes, so that is forty two minutes of combined mat time. During that entire time, I have passed
his guard on that sole occasion. Going back to that 'appropriate amount of pressure' I
mentioned previously, that has not factored in at all. Each time we roll, I
literally attempt to kill him, using every single bit of pressure I can amass
but to no avail! He is unquestionably a phenom with an outstanding all-around
game that doesn’t simply rely on this devastating guard, which he explains originates from studiously pouring over the game's of the Mendes Brothers and Keenan
Cornelius. He has rapid fire submissions coupled with tenacious passing which
he has achieved by studying another of his favourite competitors
Leandro Lo.
Moricano
is a shining example of the incredible, transformative program at the FT
Academy. He came up through the children's program before training in the
adults class. Furthermore he balances full-time schooling with a full-time
commitment to Jiu-Jitsu. This hard-work has paid dividends as he has amassed an
awesome amount of medals. This past April, he traveled to Sao Paulo and became
a Brazilian Nation Champion at the IBJJF Brazilian Nationals which is one of
the most prestigious competitions in the Jiu-Jitsu calender. This is in
addition to a whole host of other titles including back to back victories in
the last two weekends in the the FJJD Mineirio & CBJJO Mundials
respectively.
The perils of the
favela and the street life which tempts so many of its youth is not something which is a concern for Moricano. He sees his future as traveling the world
competing in Jiu-Jitsu, his ultimate goal is to become a world champion. As
well as one day settling down in his own academy. As a good looking and
successful young dude, the only thing I could see standing in his way is the
allure of the opposite sex. However when I questioned him on this, he reassured
me that he was in a committed relationship with Jiu-Jitsu, this might be the best answer I have
received for any question ever!
A special debt of
gratitude to BJJ Hacks for putting this together putting this technique video
of Moricano's favourite technique the Berimbolo.
We recently sat down with sponsored athlete Gabriel Barcelar more commonly known as Moleza to ask him some questions about his trip to compete in Brazilian Nationals.
Moleza recently traveled to Sao Paulo for 6 days to compete in IBJJF Brazilian National Championship with two teammates and social project administrator, Nico Ball. Through donations given to Terere Kids Project, we were able to raise over R900 to fund the trip to Sao Paulo! Seeing as this is the only IBJJF competition open to kids their age, Moicanoand Moleza put in some major work to make it down to Sao Paulo and add these medals to their curriculums! We want to give a big shout out to our sponsors who contributed to making this trip happen: Ball All Day Long, Deus Fight Co, I Aint No Saint Tattoo Studio, and Phoenix MMA
1. Have you ever competed in an ibjjf tournament? Why is this tournament so important to you?
No, this tournament is different from others that I’ve competed in because all of the top guys go there to compete.
This tournament was important to me because competing for CBJJ/IBJJF Brazilian Nationals was one of my goals for 2015. I was able to realize my dream thanks to sponsorship from Nico Ball and Jimmy Johnston (owner of our FT England affiliate)
2. Do you always train with the same people?
I train during with the adults so that my Jiu jitsu will evolve more.
Moleza with his teacher Fabricio and our host Vanderli Silva
aka Alemao (german)
3. How long have you been training jiu jitsu?
I've been training BJJ for 2 years. One of my goals, that I was just able to accomplish, was to compete in Brazilian nationals. Now I want to continue traveling and fighting outside of Rio and to get my Orange belt at the end of the year.
4. Describe your trip to Sao Paulo. Fala um pouco da sua experienca em Sao Paulo.
Moleza and Moicano hanging out in Sao Paulo
The trip to Sao Paulo was a little exhausting. I took a bus with Jhonathan Marques (Moicano) and Nico Ball. Fabricio Silva (Birrinho) ended up missing the bus due to a denist appointment so we had to wait for him at the bus station in Sao Paulo. Once Birrinho arrived we went to Alemao’s house. Alemao is a friend of ours and a black belt under Terere. He picked us up at the bus station and we spent the week in Sao Paulo with him. He treated us really well!
Training Wednesday night
The next day (Wednesday) we woke up, ate breakfast and went to train in one of the gyms were he teaches BJJ. Then we went back to his house to rest until the PM training in a different gym. After training again at night we went to the store to buy food to take to the tournament.
Thursday we went to the first day of the tournament to watch Nico Ball in action. She started the fight good but ended up giving her back and being submitted. The stadium was really big and gave me a different idea of how fighting can be.
Friday we went to train in the morning, rested during the day, and then rested for the competition the next day.
Moleza with one of his idols...
one of the Miyao brothers!
Saturday Birrinho, Moicano, and I all fought. Birrinho was champion and so Moicano. I came in 3rd place
I got to see a lot of good fighters like Rodolfo Viera, Jaoa Miyao, Paulo Miyao, Renato Cardoso, Eberto Santos, and a lot more.
This trip was a dream come true and I have to thank God and my sponsors Jimmy Johnstone and Nico Ball for making it a reality!
Get Sponsored in BJJ is an Ebook recently released by HT, founder of BJJ Hacks. Its a step by step guide that can show even lowly white belts how to approach companies and get sponsorships.
You’ll find a ton of great info including how to use your existing social media to convince sponsors to back you, the surefire method of persuading people to give you money for training and competing, and much more.
ALSO you’ll hear directly from brands such as Shoyoroll, Q5 supplements and Meerkatsu about what they look for in a sponsored athletes. And we’ve included interviews with NINE sponsored grapplers from blue to black belt where they share their stories of success and advice for getting sponsored.
Who wrote the book?
Author Hywel Teague (HT), the driving force behind jiu-jitsu video makers BJJ Hacks, knows a thing or two about getting sponsorship. He’s not even a competitor, yet he counts three top brands as his own personal sponsors with even more helping him out along the way with everything from free gear to supplements and even travel expenses.
HT spent a fair amount of time hanging around the Cantagalo Favela and Terere Kids Project when he filmed his mini-series on Terere. Since he's a resident of Ipanema, and only lives a few blocks from the social project, he often stops by the academy to roll or donate kimonos to the cause.
Check out some of the videos he did on Mestre Terere.
This Saturday the FT team joined with Carioca BJJ to compete in the SJJSAF Rio Challenge tournament. 25 Athletes competed under the name FT Carioca, winning 7th place in the over all team rankings! We would like to give a special thanks to instructors Julio Nogueira and Fabricio Silva for taking such good care of our athletes as they prepared for the tournament!
Lucca Da Silva was somewhat dismayed to find out that we registered him in a weight class above his own so that he would have a fight, but he stepped up to the challange whole heartedly.
Lucca Guillerme com sua medalha de SJJSAF
Moleza also fought above his weight class and was unable to gain an advantage on the bigger opponents in his weight class. Either way, he stayed true to the Brazilian saying "never give up", he fought his heart out Saturday and arrived at the gym Monday ready to keep training for the next competition!
Pezao on the bottom.
Pezao, a yellow belt who recently started training at the academy, fought for the first time this Saturday. He won his first fight but was disqualified in his second fight for a small mistake!
Leo, one of the newer additions to the FT team brought home a gold medal. He won his first and only fight on points. Monday evening he was back on the mats focused on competing next Saturday at the FJJD Rio ranking tournament.
Jhonathan Marques, aka, Moicano came in 1st place after 3 hard fights. Going into his 3rd fight, the finals, he ended the time tied with a tough opponent from Nova Uniao. The crowd was going crazy cheering as they went into extended time, the first one to score points would take home the gold medal. Moicano was able to score 3 points with a torreando pass securing his place at the top of the podium. Now his goal is to earn the money he needs to travel to Sao Paulo next month to compete in IBJJF Brasileiros.
Finally, we come to Professor Nogueira. Nogueira brought home a gold medal in the black belt super heavy weight division with his students from Terere's Kids Projects cheering him on from the side lines. Now, Nogueira plans on registering for IBJJF for the first time ever to compete in some of the more prestigious Jiu Jitsu tournaments like Rio Open, Brasileiros, Sul Americanos, and Worlds (in California).
We would like to end by thanking our sponsors Deus Fight Co in California, Cascagrossa in Sao Paulo, and I Ain't No Saint Tattoo Studios in England for their continous support of the athletes fromt he Cantagalo/ Pavao/ Pavaozinho community.
Fabricio Da Silva is a 30 year old brown belt and cousin of Mestre Fernando Terere.
He is a quiet guy that is known for keeping to himself. Most days he arrives at the academy with one or two small children in tow; he often has to juggle the responsibilities of caring of a new born child on top of handling our morning classes and kid's program here at the academy.
Birrinho has been teaching Jiu Jitsu here in the Cantagalo community since he was an 18 year old blue belt. Naturally, coming from the Favela, life hasn't always been easy for him, but Jiu Jitsu was a way for him and his friends to escape the drama in the favela. When his cousin, Terere, began to struggle with drugs and he also took a small hiatus from the sport.
He spent his days working to make ends meet, taking small jobs like parking cars for less than minimum wage and trying to stay out of trouble. When Terere re-opened his gym at the base of the Cantagalo favela, Birrinho starting training seriously again. Together with Terere, Birrinho began teaching Jiu Jitsu to the kids of Cantagalo/Pavao/Pavaozinho free of charge. With the help of donations sent from abroad the project is beginning to thrive. Birrinho arrives at the academy to find a wild bunch of kids waiting for him to open the doors so they can tumble onto the mats with soccer balls before class starts.
Now as Terere Kid's Project continues to grow, Birrinho hopes that his career as a competitor and instructor will grow along side of it. His goal this year is to develop his Jiu Jitsu curriculum by competing in more high level IBJJF competitions. Birrinho will be representing FT academy this month at Rio Open as well as taking two of our sponsored athletes to compete Brasileiros in Sao Paulo at the end of April.
Before breaking for the holidays, FT academy held their annual graduation ceremony. Friends from the community stopped by to watch and take pictures as students were called up to receive new belts or strips. We would like to give a special congratulations to our student Alexandre, who finally received his brown belt and to Professor Nogueira for receiving his first stripe on his black belt.
Shortly after the ceremony, we had a special visit from Eduardo Telles, founder of 99 academy, who stopped by to visit his old friend and teacher. In 2002 when the Alliance team split, Telles and Terere formed the TT Jiu Jitsu team, unfortunately, despite their early success, the team broke up when Terere started to experience personal problems in 2004.
Since then, Telles moved to San Diego and started the 99 academy. The name 99 is symbolic of being one step away from perfection, or 100%, something that every jiu jiteiro strives to achieve in the endless hours that they put in on the mats mastering techniques. Although he is a successful gym owner, Telles has been waiting for the return of his long time friend and teacher, Terere, to graduate him and finally give him 3 stripes on his black belt.
We also have to give a big thank you to Cascagrossa kimonos from Sao Paulo and I Aint No Saint Tattoo Studios, in England, for providing kids kimonos for the academy. We received a total of 20 kimonos from Cascagrossa in Sao Paulo so that we can provide uniforms to kids in the Cantagalo community that want to start training Jiu Jitsu. Our sponsored athlete, Caue, has recruited in several of his friends from the soccer fields.
Lucca, Moicano, Professor Nogueira, Vinicius, Gabriel
Although we are only 2 weeks into 2015, the FT team has already started competing. Thanks to donations sent from abroad, 5 kids entered into CBJJO's Rio Open tournament that took place Saturday, January 10th, all of whom brought home medals!
Although it is summer time here, and kids are on break from school our athletes don't mess around. Moleza, Moicano, Lucca, Gabriel, and Vinicius have been training twice a day in order to prepare for the first competition after their belt promotion. They will be returning to the mats again with our younger students for FJJD Rio's first ranking competition of the year on January 1st and February 2nd.
Lastly, we are proud to announce the release of the first set of technique videos, Favela Jiu Jitsu, that was filmed by Budo Videos. The first set of videos covers all of Master Terere's guard passing secrets so be sure to buy your copy today.
