Marco Nascimento is a 3rd degree black belt in BJJ who is currently teaching out of San Carlos, CA. For information on classes call Penninsula Thai Kickboxing at 650-591-2768. Interview by Michael Jen How long have you been training BJJ? I started when I was 18 years old. I've been training for 14 years. It took me about 1.5 years to get my blue belt, 2 years after that to get my purple belt, another 2 years to get my brown belt, and then 2 years to get my black belt. Who was your instructor? My school was called Pitbull Jiu-jitsu. My instructor was Adilson "Bitta" Lima. He was a 4th degree black belt in BJJ. How long have you been in the U.S.? Why did you decide to come to the U.S.? I've been in the U.S. for about a year now. I just wanted to try something different. Do you plan on competing any times soon? Or do you want to concentrate on teaching? Do you feel it is difficult to focus on both competing and teaching at the same time? I definitely would like to compete more in the future. I am particularly interested in sport BJJ. However, I need more time to train. Since I just started teaching here, I do not have many high level training partners. I need to time to teach and improve the skill level of my students. The better they become, the better it is for my personal training because they are now my training partners. Maybe I will compete in about a year. Some instructors talk about "old techniques" and "new techniques". What is your opinion on what a student should focus on? A new students should always focus on "old techniques" at first. That is the foundation. The new techniques are useless if you do not have a foundation in the old ones. Over time, a person will figure out and develop new techniques. This is a natural part of training, especially when you become a black belt. Have you promoted any student to black belt yet? What qualilites are you looing for when you promote a student? I have not promoted anyone to black belt yet. If a student competes, he will be able to be promoted must faster. However, competition is not absolutely necessary. There are many people who are very good in jiu-jitsu who only train in the school. There is also a difference between people who are instructors and fighters. In my school in Brazil, there are 20 black belts. Some are very good fighters. Some are very good instructors. Some are not good fighters or instructors, but they have dedicated many years to the sport and training. You mentioned that you also trained a little judo. What made you decide to learn judo? To help me in competition. Many BJJ black belts are now also studying judo. Who are some of the best black belts you have seen or trained with? What particular qualities made them stand out? I have seen Rickson Gracie train and he is the best. I have also watched Rodrigo Medeiros. He is very good with takedowns and throws. When I watched Saulo Ribeiro, I noticed he was very good with guard passing. I've trained with Victor "Shaolin" Ribeiro and Marcio Feitosa. Both of them are very good with guard passing. When I trained with Robson Moura, I felt that his guard was exceptionally good. When training with my instructor Adilson Lima, I felt he had a lot of determination. All Interviews