Queixinho vs. Paulo Miyao. Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG
Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho is among the fighters registered in the World Master Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship, which kicks off Thursday in Las Vegas.
The 31-year-old featherweight title holder still competes at a high level among adults, and looks at the Master as an extra challenge. Queixinho recently gave an interview about what changes between this and the regular world championship.
“The biggest difference is time,” he said. “In the adults’, if you start out trailing, there is time to make a comeback. In the masters’, the clock runs really fast. If you’re behind on the scoreboard, you don’t have much time, and you can get in trouble.”
He added: “My game doesn’t change much between one division and the other. The biggest difference is due to the style of the people at the masters’, who like trading stood up more, and I like takedowns too. I just don’t have many opportunities to use my takedown game at the adults’, because many people play guard and pull right away. Athletes at the masters’ are used to the category and know how to keep the pace under control. At the adults’, competitors open up the game more and end up giving their opponents space.”
There has been a shift in how the World Master is viewed in the past several years, mostly due to a large number of adult world champions vying for gold in it as well. Examples include Xande and Saulo Ribeiro, Robson Moura, Vitor Shaolin and Rômulo Barral. Queixinho gave us his opinion on this.
“No doubt the level is going up greatly,” he said. “The adult worlds remains above, due to the number of high-level athletes registered, but I think it is a matter of time until the masters’ gets as competitive as the adults’.”
“In the old days,” he continued, “the masters’ was known for having the athletes of an advanced age — those who started ‘late’ in BJJ. Today we have adult world champions who are migrating to the veterans’ tournament with that same lust.”
You can check out this video for Queixinho’s pointers on how to master the 50/50 guard.
