Rodolfo "Exterminador" em arte deAthos Guimarães.
The nickname wasn’t one Rodolfo Vieira came up with himself, nor was it this reporter. Truth be told, “Terminator” is a joke friends and fans of GFTeam posted on the internet, as shown in the above piece of art. Beyond being just amusement, it’s a tribute to the representative of the team in Méier, Rio de Janeiro, who has already established himself as the gentle art’s man of the year. This season, Rodolfo won weight and absolute at the Pan, World Pro and World Championship.
Invited to take part at the ADCC, which may end up being another unprecedented title won by the black belt, Vieira knows he’ll have his work cut out for him. That’s why, after an impeccable Worlds campaign, he’s taken the time to get some well-earned rest. How does he go about doing that? Believe it or not, by putting on his gi and training. The Master Julio Cesar prodigy is in Colorado, USA, where he’s teaching seminars and private lessons at the academy of our GMA Amal Easton.
“It’s wonderful here and I’m blown away. I was surprised, I didn’t realize it was such a beautiful place before,” he says.
“I’ve even been training here, because it’s not good to stop completely even when not competing. I’m here doing seminars, private lessons, but I’m trying to get some training in to not get rusty. It’s a time where I put some weight on, I’m on vacation! I’ll get back to hard training two weeks into next month,” he warns.
And on his preparations for the ADCC:
“It’s a question of grip adjustment. If I train hard for a little over a month, I’ll be able to adapt my game a lot. I have to practice a lot of wrestling because the ADCC rules are different from what we’re used to. I’m going to do a lot of prep work and will show up there real strong.”
Now anyone wanting to see Rodolfo doesn’t need to go all the way to Colorado. All they need to do is get on GRACIEMAG.com or check out the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG, serving up all the best of what went down at the World Championship that you don’t yet know about. Don’t miss it!
