Isaque Paiva chokes Bruno Frazatto with his legs at the Gramado Trials in 2012 (photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG).
Featherweight black belt Isaque Paiva was one of the Jiu-Jitsu revelations of 2012. The winner of the Gramado leg of the WPJJC Trials, he has one of the slickest triangles in the competition scene and will be aiming to sink it this weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, when he takes to the mats at the European Open, which kicked off today.
“It’s the first time I get to compete in Europe, and I want to give my all to represent my team and pay tribute to my grandmaster Masaaki Sinkai, who passed away this week. He’s the father of my teachers Massao and Daniel Sinkai, who are responsible for everything I’ve accomplished so far,” Isaque told GRACIEMAG.com.
The black belt born in Penápolis, São Paulo State, knows he’s going to have his work cut out for him. “I figure all the matches will be tough. To me, being able to face [Rubens] Cobrinha and [Augusto] Tanquinho will be new. I’m not studying one specific opponent. I’m concentrating on winning one match at a time,” said Isaque, one of over a hundred black belts who will compete in Lisbon starting Saturday.
“My plan this season is to win gold at the Worlds. I know my weight class is really deep and everyone is working harder and harder to win it, but that’s why I’m working on being more and more complete and not making mistakes,” he explained. “I’m aiming to be more strategic, and the fact that I’ve been getting to compete at the big tournaments has helped me a lot in identifying my mistakes and getting better and better every day.”
The IBJJF European Open is underway at Lisbon’s Casal Vistoso Municipal Sports Complex and will go till Sunday. Click here to check out the brackets.
