Thomas Oyarzun, one of Terere's students from Geneva Switzerland, recently decided to lend a hand to help out the kids from the Cantagalo favela. Instead of training for the 2016 competition season, Oyarzun decided to give back to the Gentle Art offering a series of charity seminars throughout Europe.
The entrance fee to the seminars is a small donation that will go to supporting the kids here in the Cantagalo Favela in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Keep up to date with his seminar schedule and the donations raised here at TerereKidsProject.com
A group picture from first seminar of the tour was at Nova Uniao in Lausanne, Switzerland. We received US320 in donations and one kimono!
Note: all proceeds from seminars will be saved until the completion of the European Charity Seminar at which time they will be release to Terere Kids Project.
Sponsored athlete Jhonathan Marques aka Moicano recently traveled to San Diego, California to compete in IBJJF Pan Kids.
The trip was the result of a lot of hard work both on and off of the mats. As many Brazilian athletes know, acquiring an American visa is no easy task. After paying US$250 each, both Moicano and his chaperone were denied their visas. Both of them were able to raise the funds to reapply, but unfortunately, Moicano's sponsor was denied again for the SECOND time despite having correctly completed the paperwork and paid for an agency to help file.
With only a week before the competition, 14 year old Moicano had his visa, but no one to travel with him. At the last minute Alister, a good friend and native of San Diego stepped in and offered travel with Moicano, let him stay with his and his family, and accompany him to the tournament.
So with only a few days till the tournament, Pedro Bessa, A friend of Terere's that lives in England, purchased plane tickets for both Moicano and Alister to head to the 2016 Pan Kids.
All of his hard work and dedication paid off! Moicano won his first two fights via submission (choke) and then went on to win in the finals via points (2-0) making him the 2016 Pan Kids Champion.
The rest of us from Terere Kids Project were able to stream the fights live in the Cantagalo favela thanks to Flograppling.com!
This will hopefully be the first trip abroad for many of our FT students! Next year we hope to return to Pan Kids with more athletes!
Moicano and Telles meeting with Jimmy Johnson owner of our FT affiliate in England.
Longboarding in San Diego to relax before competing on Sunday.
We'd like to thank everyone that sent support to Terere Kids Project in order to make this dream come true.
Terere Kids Project is happy to announce a new partnership
with Academia Gorila from Poland. Academia Gorila has agreed to monthly
donations to help support Gabriel Barcelar and Caue da Silva. In addition to
making sure that these two are cover on a monthly basis, they have also
committed to trying to raise additional funds amongst their clients! Its
through this type of support from the international BJJ community that Terere
Kids Project has been able to thrive, creating more and more opportunities to
the athletes from the Cantagalo Favela.
It is thanks to them and some friends from Bronx Jiu Jitsuthat we are able to end the year in bang! In the last couple of months we have
managed to:
Moicano, Professor Fabricio, and Gabriel Peixoto
1.Sponsor Jhonathan Marques (Moicano) to get his
Passport and Visa. Thanks to Artur Cantu from California, Jhonathan will be
spending up to a month in states and competing in PanKids!
2.Sponsor Professor Julio Nogueira’s visa so that
he can accompany Moicano as a Chaperone.
Gabriel Peixoto in Sao Paulo at his first IBJJF competition
3.Send Gabriel Peixoto alongside Professor
Birrinho to compete in IBJJF Sulamericanos in Sao Paulo.
4.Register Professor Birrinho in IBJJF BJJ Pro,
IBJJF Sulamerican, and and UAE Grand Slam (IBJJF and UAE are synonymous with
EXPENSIVE, we have never been able to sponsor athletes for these major comps!)
And lastly in the next couple of
days we will be
5.Registering a team of 20 athletes to end the
year competing in Copa America December 12th
An interview by Andrew 'Moz' Morris and translated by Nico Ball
The evening of Monday the 27th of July
and there were forty people squeezed onto the mats of the FT Academy. A special feeling was in the air as Mestre Terere began his
pre-training 'formation' with the class. He began to
talk about the dedication and hard-work of a student who had given
everything not just to Jiu-Jitsu but to the social project that serves the children and teens of the community here. Then he called
up an unsuspecting Fabricio da Silva to the front of the class.
'Birrinho' as he is affectionately known to the community, is a
cousin of Terere as well as being the professor of the social
project. He stood proudly before the class, to have his brown belt
stripped from his waist and have it replaced with black belt before
being given a (friendly) Uchi-Mata by his longtime mentor. Fabricio who is never
usually lost for words was understandably overcome with emotion but managed to deliver a
heartfelt speech thanking everyone and explaining what this moment
meant to him.
We were able to catch up with him a
few days after the fact and discover out what this special night meant to
him
What age did you start training Jiu-Jitsu?
15 years old.
Have you always train with Terere?
We rarely trained with him
but it was his social project. The professor was Leandro Martins.
What was it to grow up with Terere?
It was gratifying. It was
gratifying to always have him by your side; Supporting you at
competitions and at the project. He was always here, he was always
smiling. Always making people happy.
Did you feel pressure to succeed
seeing that you were associated with Terere?
I’ve always felt the
pressure. Two kinds actually. One for being his student and another
because I’m his cousin. So it was two kinds in one.
How was it growing up in Cantagalo
in the 80s and 90s?
It was really cool. It was
always good living here.
There weren’t a lot of problems
with violence?
There was but we didn’t
focus on that, we always focused on Jiu Jitsu. It was a place where
we could come and stay. We trained and had fun thanks to Terere.
Did you see a lot of your friends
go into trafficking. Was it hard to stay away from that life?
No it was very hard. I lost a
lot of friends to the life. Some of them died, some of them are in
jail. It was always difficult, you had to deal with a lot of
pressure. For me, I never wanted to get into that life. I always had
a lot of examples that didn’t force me to enter into it. I always
distanced myself from that life through Jiu-Jitsu. So it was never a
worry that I had.
After 'pacification' in the favela
did things change a lot?
In a way it changed a lot.
In a good way?
It’s a little better, but
at the same time they don’t let us do anything here. They don’t
let us have any fun. They try to stop all of the parties. None of
that life.
Do you have any stories or
anecdotes about friends that left Jiu-Jitsu and took the wrong path?
Yeah I had one friend who
always trained with me. His name was Alexandre, he always trained
with me.
Was that Buda? I hear a lot about
him from different people can you tell me a little about him?
He trained here with us. He
was very good. He fought with Leandro Lo. And he always trained here. It was gratifying seeing his Jiu-Jitsu. He was always really good, one of the best guys at the
academy.
He trained with Michael Langhi too?
He did. When Fernando came
from Sao Paulo to the project he came with Langhi and Lucas Lepri.
Everyone came, Cobrinha, everyone came here. It used to be TT here.
Everyone came here. We trained and Buda always stood out from
everyone else. He was really good. It was so hard to pass his guard.
Now he isn’t here with us anymore, he’s in jail, and that kind of
dampened our spirits. He was always so dedicated and said he wouldn’t
get into crime. It was something that was so…. So… so unexpected.
A lot of people still talk about
him. Will he be in jail for the rest of his life?
No, no. soon he will be back
with us, but I’m not sure if he’ll want to get back into Jiu-Jitsu.
How long has he been in Jail now?
3 years.
When Terere stopped training due to
is personal issues you also stopped right?
I kind of stopped but not
completely. I trained with Leandro Martins, he would take me to his
academy in Sao Paulo and there I would stay 3 months and then come
back. I would go to Checkmat here in the favela. I never stopped
completely. Not ever for more than a year.
What would you say that Terere
means for the community of Cantagalo?
He is a example to everyone
from my time and now for the next generation as well. He’s a symbol
for the community. A symbol of respect, dedication, of overcoming
the odds for all of us.
Do you think its hard to earn a
living to support yourself and your family through Jiu-Jitsu?
A little. If your don’t
have determination and focus for what you want you won’t be able to
get it.
Can you describe how it felt to
receive you black belt?
Man, it was was surprise that
I wasn’t expecting. I thought maybe at the end of the year. But it
was very gratifying receiving my black belt from Mestre Terere. I
was very happy and gratified. I was shaking and my hands were sweaty.
It was a very gratifying surprise.
Now that you have your black belt,
how do you think this will change your Jiu-Jitsu?
I think it will be harder
now. It will be a new stage. I’ll be there with guys that have more
experience. But I plan on winning.
So you spoke about the new stage in
respects of competition but what about as an instructor. What are
your plans as a professor?
To make champions like
Fernando did. To be a champion in life. I already am. And always show
dedication and merit.
As a teacher to the kids of
Cantagalo what lessons and advice do you try to pass to your
students?
I try to teach them what
Terere and Leo always taught me. To stay away from drugs and other
bad things. To study, to work, have a family. Be a champion and to
focus everything on Jiu-Jitsu.
How important is it to the kids of
Cantagalo to have this project?
It's important because
instead of them playing as drug dealers and traffickers in the favela
they come here and play and train Jiu-Jitsu. They learn to respect
their parents and that’s why it's good to have Jiu-Jitsu here in
the community.
Any final words?
My name is Fabricio Tavares da Silva da
Conceicao, I’m 30 years old and I have an important role here. I
teach the morning classes and the kids class. I teach at night
alongside Mestre Terere and I’m an example for a lot of kids here. Oss
Special feature written by Terere's student Andrew Morris, aka Moz, who spent a year training in the mecca of Jiu Jitsu living it up favela style in the Cantagalo community alongside his hero, Fernando Terere. Read more from Moz on his blog Tales from Deep Half.
After
spending an entire year training at Terere's Academy in Ipanema, Rio, I felt
very much part of the family. It had been a pleasure to train each day with the
children and teens of the social project as well as my adult counterparts. So
returning after a nine month absence I couldn't wait to get on the mats and see
the maturation of these young athletes. What I wasn't prepared for, was
spending an inordinate amount of time trying to kill one of them.
Terere’s
social project has a Jiu-Jitsu protégé, Jhonathan Marques or 'Moricano'
(mohawk) as he is affectionately known to his team mates and any unfortunate
gringo who happens to visit the FT academy. He is a fourteen year old orange
belt who lives with his Mum and sister in the Pavao section of the Cantagalo
favela. The same community which raised his mentor and mestre, Fernando Terere
as well as many other stars of the sport including Jackson Sousa and Alan
Finfou and Bruno Matias.
During
my first stint at the academy Moricano stood out as a young, hard working yellow
belt who already possessed a ridiculously difficult Miyao brothers-esque
guard. His guard retrieval was awesome and I used to love trying to pass this
tricky guard using the appropriate amount of pressure for a twelve year old who
weighs sixty kilos.
My
first night back, I was straight on the mats to witness him obliterate
competition level blue belts as well giving purple and brown belts a torrid
time. I wasn't able to roll with my young friend that night and due to a
competition at the weekend (which he won), I had to wait until Monday to try to
test his game. After seeing how devastating his game had become, my weekend was
spent wisely discussing with prior victims how to pass this guard. Admittedly,
I spent far too much time over those two days fathoming the game of a fourteen
year old and how I planned to kill it.
When Monday came, I
was primed and ready to go. I was then more than elated when I passed his guard
to the cheers of onlookers in the academy. With the awareness he was
essentially a child, I resisted the urge to jump up and bust out my victory
dance. However the balance was truly restored when I spent the next five
minutes trying to desperately avoid being swept in his Rubix Cube like guard
game. Then the inevitable occurred in the last 20 seconds, as I posted to
defend a sweep the little dude arm-barred me.
Whilst writing this,
I worked out that I had rolled with him six times, each round lasting seven minutes, so that is forty two minutes of combined mat time. During that entire time, I have passed
his guard on that sole occasion. Going back to that 'appropriate amount of pressure' I
mentioned previously, that has not factored in at all. Each time we roll, I
literally attempt to kill him, using every single bit of pressure I can amass
but to no avail! He is unquestionably a phenom with an outstanding all-around
game that doesn’t simply rely on this devastating guard, which he explains originates from studiously pouring over the game's of the Mendes Brothers and Keenan
Cornelius. He has rapid fire submissions coupled with tenacious passing which
he has achieved by studying another of his favourite competitors
Leandro Lo.
Moricano
is a shining example of the incredible, transformative program at the FT
Academy. He came up through the children's program before training in the
adults class. Furthermore he balances full-time schooling with a full-time
commitment to Jiu-Jitsu. This hard-work has paid dividends as he has amassed an
awesome amount of medals. This past April, he traveled to Sao Paulo and became
a Brazilian Nation Champion at the IBJJF Brazilian Nationals which is one of
the most prestigious competitions in the Jiu-Jitsu calender. This is in
addition to a whole host of other titles including back to back victories in
the last two weekends in the the FJJD Mineirio & CBJJO Mundials
respectively.
The perils of the
favela and the street life which tempts so many of its youth is not something which is a concern for Moricano. He sees his future as traveling the world
competing in Jiu-Jitsu, his ultimate goal is to become a world champion. As
well as one day settling down in his own academy. As a good looking and
successful young dude, the only thing I could see standing in his way is the
allure of the opposite sex. However when I questioned him on this, he reassured
me that he was in a committed relationship with Jiu-Jitsu, this might be the best answer I have
received for any question ever!
A special debt of
gratitude to BJJ Hacks for putting this together putting this technique video
of Moricano's favourite technique the Berimbolo.
