By Jeff "Portuguese" Duarte How long have you been in the Martial Arts and more specifically BJJ? I began the Martial Arts when I was 6 years old to about 10 years old, then I quit to do other sports like play hockey and do different activities and stuff like that. I got back to the Martial Arts when I was around 15 years old when I got back into Karate and Kick-boxing. I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 9 years ago and have been training in it everything since. Was there any pressure on you growing up to participate in the Martial Arts because your father Rick Joslin was a famous Canadian Martial Artist? Actually, I never felt any pressure. I just feel fortunate that he was always here for me to train and help me, [and with] the training area, the dojo being in my basement. I never felt any pressure. My Father let me quit for a couple of years and I came back on my own. After being so successful in Karate and efficient in Kick-Boxing, why did you decide to start all over again and train in BJJ? The Ultimate Fighting Championship, when Royce Gracie came in there and beat everybody. I saw how effective the grappling was, then we had a chance to [participate in] some seminars and learn from some different instructors. I just fell in love with it after that and dedicated most of my time into training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from then on. What BJJ Association do you represent and what is your rank? I represent the Alliance team under Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti and I'm a Brown Belt You just recently got your Brown Belt from "Jacare". What do you think is the main difference between a Purple belt and a Brown belt? I think each level has a little bit of a difference. As a Blue Belt, you're starting to get techniques down, get your basic movements down. As a Purple Belt, you're starting to develope your own technical game, your own style, [you're] starting to experiment with a lot of things, and as a Brown Belt, you pretty much have a set game and pattern. Then you just increase your experience and do new techniques to keep updating your stuff. 1 2 3 4 5 How about the difference between a Brown Belt and a Black Belt? The difference between a Brown and a Black? I myself am just at a Brown belt level so I guess the difference would be just the experience and timing. I don't know, I'll see when I get there (laughs) Who are some of the BJJ Blackbelts that you have trained with? The Blackbelts that I've trained with are Ze' Mario "Espiha" from Brazil, Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti, Felipe "Zicro" Neto and a little bit of training with Carlson Gracie jr. What are some of your accomplishments in BJJ/Grappling competitions? In BJJ, I won the Pan-American games in the 2002 Purplebelt division. I also won the (Grappler's Quest) U.S. National Submission Wrestling Championships in New Jersey. What type of training do you do to prepare yourself for a BJJ tournament? Long before the fight I train in a lot of technique, a lot of light training and a lot of very technical stuff. As the fight gets closer then I start to pick up the sparring, pick up the drills, pick up the conditioning and really try to get my cardio up to be in shape to fight. Could you tell us about your experience in the 2002 Pan-Ams? The 2002 Pan-Ams was an excellent experience. I felt very little pressure because you don't know anybody and you're just doing your own thing. My fights were all very tough but I was able to win them all and take the gold. I am so happy that I won! Could you tell us about your experience so far in MMA? I just started fighting [MMA] last year in November 2002. My first fight was in Montreal in the UCC "Proving Grounds". I fought Kyle Sanford from Halifax. It was a great experience because it showed me what its like to get in there and mix it up and be in a no-rules type of environment. I won by first round TKO. What is your current record in MMA? My record right now is 2-0 with 2 first round TKOs How do you alter your training for an MMA event? I train in a lot of no-gi. I train in wrestling, I train in Boxing. I kind of take off the gi for a little while. I just train with the gi about once a week when I'm getting ready to fight. I then just kind of blend it all together with a lot of conditioning. How does your BJJ training help you in MMA competitions? I think Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a very, very good base because once you hit the ground you don't have time to think about anything. You have to react and get into a good position, be in a position where you can't be hit and be in a postion where you can hit and also apply submissions. In all aspects of No Holds Barred, you can't think about anything. When you're standing up, you have to be boxing or kick-boxing. You have to react right away. If the guy grabs you, you have to go right into wrestling and then you hit the ground and it becomes BJJ. Everything has to be auto-matic! Does being a Canadian make it harder for someone to acheive a Black Belt? I think it can make it tougher but with the love that myself and my students have for the sport I think many of us will get there. Its just a matter of working hard and doing your best. There's a lot of sources out there right now with information like seminars, and a lot of Brazilians have travelled over to teach in North America. Do you think that the province of Ontario will eventually legalize MMA? I hope so. I hope that it will become legal but you never know. Several provinces now have [MMA] legalized so hopefully we (Ontario) are one of the next ones, being that we are one of the most populated [provinces]. How does it feel to have your name written in Grappling and Ultimate Athlete magazine? It feels great! I feel very happy to do what I'm doing and to be able to spend my life training and teaching the martial arts. If you could train with anyone that you haven't already trained with, who would that be? I'd train with Rickson Gracie. I've heard too many stories not to want to train with him. Like everybody else I'm sure. What are your future plans? My future plans are to keep progressing, hopefully get my Black belt in BJJ but also at the same time to expand and do some boxing fights and do some wrestling tournaments and also ultimately to try to increase my record in NHB and go for a title. All Interviews