Douglas Rufino wins Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com.
Douglas Rufino, a black belt in the masters age group, didn’t want to hear about what his competitor ID has as his year of birth, and locked horns with the young bucks at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. How’d he come out? With a gold medal in the adult light featherweight division.
“I was surprised by my performance because I’d never competed in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu before. I’d never even trained without the gi! I did one week of training for this competition,” said the CheckMat black belt. “Truth is, I didn’t do anything different. All I did was push the pace and go on the attack,” said the half-guard specialist.
“My game is bottom based, but I’ve been becoming more confident in my top, pass game lately. My tip for improving in half-guard is to do a lot of repetitions and work the grips on the opponent’s gi,” he said, before demonstrating a position for us.
“Lie down with your shoulder on the ground and hug your opponent’s leg. With the hand wrapped around the leg, grab his lapel and knee him in the butt to put him off balance. Post with your other hand and sweep.”
What do you think of the position?
