Dionathan is a black belt from GB. Photo: Ivan Ribeiro
The professor Dionathan ” Toxa ” Santos is one of those jiu-jitsu lovers. Formed by the traditional Gracie Barra school, he had his first contact with the sport in Indaiatuba city, Brasil, in 2012. Today, as a black belt, Toxa learned valuable lessons that were able to make him a better human being, after winning many important medals at the competitions of IBJJF, biggest jiu-jitsu organization, where he got some titles recently: 1st place Black Belt/Gi Ultraheavy weight in Oklahoma, OKC, 1st place Black belt/ Gi Ultraheavy weight Memphis,TN.
Almost completing 3 years as a black belt, Dionathan is excited to receive his first degree on March 25, at Gracie Barra Tyler, in Texas. Studious, he reflects what this step means on his journey.
” I want to keep improving at the black belt, keep training and carry always with me the philoshophy that I learned from the sport. I’ve always reflected on that saying ” you don’t fight against an adversary, you fight against yourself. ” In fact, these are the reflections that Jiu-Jitsu teaches you and then you realize that the journey towards the next battle is way more rewarding than the victory at tournaments” , comments Toxa.
Dionathan is an inspiration for everyone around him, mostly, for his wife and his son, that also have a journey on Jiu-Jitsu.
” I was the first who started training, later my son and my wife started. We always help each other as a team, mainly, when we can help other families to have the same experience that we have. Jiu-jitsu is endless, is way more than a medal you can win every weekend. The mat is a place that reunites people, a place for you to connect with yourself. That is the experience we like to share”, details the professor.
As a competitor, Toxa achieved the first place on the 2019-2020 brown belt master 1 ranking at Compnet GB circuit, one of the events that is promoted the most by Gracie Barra. This achievement adds to the amount of results that prove the dedication and excellence of this athlete and professor, who tries to pass on to his students and friends the importance of the lessons learned on Jiu-Jitsu and how they can be applied on the everyday life.
Toxa believes that Jiu-Jitsu surpasses the podium and medals, being a philosophy of life which is able to change people and connect them to themselves and to others. And that’s why, with humility, wisdom and passion, he keeps sharing his acknowledge, in order to help more people to find out the real value of this sport that is so rich and deep.
