Claudio Calasans hangs on to Lucas Leite (in white), their eyes on the scoreboard, in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com.
Last Sunday in Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu black belt Claudio Calasans captured his third title in the WPJJC under-82 kg division.
Despite encountering his fair share of hardships, the São Paulo State native overcame adversity and came up with the gold. “I went to Abu Dhabi in pursuit of my third title at weight but the flight over there wore on me some. I was in the United States training at Atos San Diego but needed to get back to São Paulo and two days later head to the Emirates, so I didn’t make it there in time to get over the jet lag, and my body was kind of sluggish during the competition. Even so, I managed to get the points lead in all my matches, which was really important, since the match duration there is six minutes. And I managed my main objective, which was the treble,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.
“PRACTICE COMPLETE JIU-JITSU”
Pleased with his triumph, Calasans decided to share some pointers with our reader/practitioners. “The secret to training is to do lots of repetitions both on the left and on the right, to be ready for any mistake your opponent may throw your way. You have to train complete Jiu-Jitsu, always looking to improve your Jiu-Jitsu in all situations; that way you’re not so likely to get caught off guard in competition,” said the fighter from the town of São José dos Campos, who has a new mission in mind.
“Now it’s all about the Worlds. That’s my primary focus. This year I’m feeling really good, and I’m confident that my time to win it is now. I’m going to train like I never trained before. I’m only going to do the weight group this year, since I’ll have lots of other World Championships to go for gold in the absolute,” he said, without mentioning the bronze he scored in the 2009 absolute and the silver he came up with in 2010 in the middleweight at the Worlds.
Watch Claudio Calasans against Victor Estima at the 2012 Pan.
