It's no surprise that the world's current greatest grappler loves choking, armbarring, footlocking, or submitting opponents in any other way imaginable. But what may surprise people is that he loves Jesus even more! His name is Andre Galvao, and if you're at all familiar with Brazilian Jiujitsu or submission grappling, he has become a household name.
I had a chance to interview Andre recently about his love of Jiujitsu and the role his faith plays in martial arts career. Here is what he had to say...
Andre, hello and thank you for taking the time to talk to me!
Hello JM. It’s a pleasure to respond all your questions man!
You just won two Gold medals at ADCC this year—in your weight class and in the open weigh class. For readers who are not familiar with ADCC, what does this mean? How does it compare with accomplishments in other sports?
Yes, I won the biggest tournament in all of grappling in my weight division and open weight. “ADCC” stands for “Abu Dhabi Combat Club.” It's a federation organized by the Sheik, Tahnoon bin Zayed. He created ADCC in 1998. He’s loved the sport ever since he started training in Brazilian Jiujitsu. He decided to create the ADCC in order to involve all the grappling martial arts in the world.
The ADCC is kinda like the World Cup in soccer, or like the NFL, NBA, etc., except it only happens every two years, and only the best grapplers in the world are invited to fight in it. They are decided by trials all over the world and by invitation from the ADCC Commission. There are prizes for the winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd place) as well. The champions (in each division) get $10,000 and the Absolute champion gets around $40,000. Also they have awards for Best Fight, Best Fighter of the event, Fastest Submission and Best Takedown. This year I won two of those awards: Best Fight and Best Fighter. The awards pay prize money too.
The ADCC is an amazing tournament and I’m so happy to have won it this year! I trained really hard for it!
In Jiujitsu there are competitions that involve the gi/kimono and those that are no-gi, such as ADCC. What is the difference between the two in terms of strategy?
Yes the ADCC is no-gi because, as I mentioned, you have many styles of grappling involved—such as sumo, wrestling, Greco-Roman, etc—and a lot of those fighting styles don’t wear a gi. So that’s why ADCC is no-gi.
The difference is significant and the strategy when fighting in ADCC is a little bit different than a normal no-gi Brazilian Jiujitsu tournament because unlike a BJJ tournament, under ADCC rules during the first 5 minutes of the fights there are no points involved--only submission. If the fight goes past 5 minutes, scoring begins. And if the fight is tied after 10 minutes it goes to a 5 minute overtime. So in general, no-gi is a lot different than gi for sure, and the ADCC is a really tactical tournament because of the rules.
You chose the name “Atos” for your Jiujitsu team. What does “Atos” mean and why did you choose that name?
Me and my partner and friend Ramon Lemos, who created the team together with me, decide to use this name because of the Book of Acts in the bible. “Acts” in Portuguese is “Atos.” That is why we chose it. We are Christians and we decided we wanted to show everyone our faith in Jesus Christ. Also, our acts day by day—on and off of the mats—are very important, especially with God!
How did you come to faith in Jesus? Was it as a child or did you come to believe later in life?
No. I came to believe later. I was a Catholic before but didn't do any thing to praise the name of my Lord, in fact I didn't know him before. I started following Jesus in 2006. Now, in everything I do I am always thinking of the lord. Everything changed and now I’m a servant. So I stopped all the bad things and started to do what my Lord likes. My wife was a Christian and she introduced me to the word and I received that. I have my Pastor, Andre Bittencourt, today who is helping me a lot and supporting me with a lot of spiritual things. On Sundays I have a Bible study at my school. That is part of my life and it is my calling.
What is it about Brazilian Jiujitsu that you find so appealing? Why do you love it?
I think it’s the technique and all the gentle movies in BJJ. I think Jiujitsu is really fun! You can take it in your hands and do whatever you like, it’s kinda like that! You discover moves some times by yourself. BJJ is fantastic, and makes you work with your body and mind for sure. You need to be smart to fight. Also it’s fun when you see the smaller guy controlling the bigger guy. That is really cool man! And the competition is so different than the other martial arts. And for sure it’s is because BJJ is a Brazilian art man! The teams, the crowd, the rules, the fights...I love that, man! I’m really thankful to God for allowing me to do it. I feel blessed man!
How does your faith in Jesus affect your martial arts training and competing?
A lot! Everything I do is always for Him. So I always pray before I start my camp because I know the possible things depend on me, but the impossible things depend on my lord. Putting my plans into His hands always. He gave me health and mind. I really love what I do and I do it for Him. Most people in the BJJ world know that. I know I’m a mortal guy and also a sinner but I know God always works in us on the spiritual side when we are with Him, when you have a relationship with Him. But I know everything I get is just for bringing praise to His name and He gives me opportunities to tell about Him, like in this interview! Also I know everything I do here for Him is everlasting.
The martial arts brings together people of very different religious views. Has your faith in Jesus ever been a source of conflict with other fighters or competitors who have other religious (or non-religious) views?
Yes, sometimes. But I respect everyone. I just do my job and show them my faith. Not just in tournaments but in my life style. But it’s normal and I try always to do that with a lot of passion. Sometimes even fellow Christians try to argue with me! But I believe we need to keep our minds always focused on the heavenly. [laughs]
Who is your martial arts hero, and why?
The martial arts? I have a lot of heroes in sports like Koga the Judo fighter, Yamashita, Cassius Clay [Muhammed Ali], Roy Jones Jr., and Michael Jordan for sure. They are greatest! I love to watch videos and highlights of them. Judo, basketball and boxing are great sports, but in terms of martial arts, I like Anderson [Silva] man. He is unbelievable!
Who is your Spiritual hero (besides Jesus!) and why?
The man I really like is King David. I always like to read the books of Samuel and Psalms. David was a great leader and a true man of God. I love to read his history, man.
What would you like readers to know about Andre Galvao more than anything else?
Andre Galvao is a man, a human, a sinner, who is saved now by Jesus’ name. Andre Galvao is a good person. He tries to help people always and one of his problems is “he doesn't like to say no.” He will always be fighting throughout his life and will always believe in the power of God. He will never look at things only in the way that man sees them. Rather, he will always try to see things with the eyes of god. God always has a plan in the end for us.
Thanks so much for taking time to chat, Andre. Congratulations on your success and I pray that you be blessed in all you do—both on and off the mats!
To commemorate Andre's win at ADCC, the author created an original portrait (which Andre subsequently made his Facebook fan page picture!) and agreed to auction off with proceeds going to Disciple Dojo, the author's online teaching ministry. The winner not only gets the original portrait, but Andre has also agreed to give them a free private lesson! To bid, click HERE.
To find out more about Andre and Team Atos, visit: http://www.galvaojiujitsu.com/galvaojiujitsu/ and be sure to follow Andre on Twitter and Facebook
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