André Galvão celebrates during Houston Open last February. Photo by Mike Calimbas.
Having been left without the pressure and adrenaline of competition due to forced respite from the 2012 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, André Galvão was free to learn from his black belt counterparts.
The Jiu-Jitsu professor for team Atos, penalized for poor conduct when he hopped the divider during a purple belt match, commented on what he learned from his companions and opponents while looking on from the sidelines. Here’s what he had to say:
1. ABSOLUTE FINAL: MARCUS “BOCHECHA” VS. LÉO NOGUEIRA (6-6)
“The match I enjoyed watching the most was the absolute final, Bochecha versus Léo Nogueira. Once again we got to see how a match is only over when time is up. Even with just 15 seconds remaining, Bochecha got plenty done, and practically all at once. He got the takedown, passed and mounted. It was excellent. Bochecha, even as big as he is, moved like a lightweight. I feel that if Xande believed in himself as much as Bochecha did, he could have done the same thing in the heavyweight final against Rodolfo and won it at the very end.”
2. HEAVYWEIGHT FINAL: RODOLFO VIEIRA VS. XANDE RIBEIRO (2-2)
“In my opinion, Xande could have taken the gold. But he left the final surge until too late. But both of them, Rodolfo and Xande, are to be congratulated—it was an awesome match. When there’s a lot of movement in a match things are more interesting to watch and get excited about. To me it that was the match where the most striking scene of the whole Worlds arose: the ways Xande warded off Rodolfo’s takedowns. The guy was like a cat, always landing on his feet!”
3. LIGHTWEIGHT FINAL: LEANDRO LO VS. LUCAS LEPRI (0-0)
“I also really dug Leandro Lo. I like Lucas Lepri; he’s my buddy. But Lo’s Jiu-Jitsu is really lively and great to watch. He fights like that Tasmanian Devil in the cartoons, you know? It’s really cool to watch him move.”
4. FEMALE FEATHERWEIGHT FINAL: MICHELLE NICOLINI VS. MARINA RIBEIRO (0-0)
“Another match I loved watching was Michelle Nicolini against Marina. Shoot, what a match. Highly technical, excellent, and between teammates. Congrats to them both.”
What about you, gentle reader, which was your favorite match? What did you learn from it?
