Did a seminar with BJJ legend Margarida, reminded me of IMA

[Johnny Drama]

I had the fortunate experience to train with Fernando Margarida Pontes.



I got to the seminar feeling stressed out. There weren't many people there, which was good for me. Margarida came over, shook my hand, and we began. While I noticed he had the typical Brazilian charm and energy, he seemed a little different. He wasn't a strict disciplinarian, but he definitely had a more Asian mentality about lining up and bowing.

The first thing he did was talk about the mind and positive mentality. I found this interesting. Most BJJ people I practice with are purely about technique. They throw out a handful of techniques, but there is no talk about strategy or principles. Margarida spoke about meditation, finding a clear mind, and shutting off all negativity when your about to train. For me, this was a blessing because I was pretty stressed.

After the talk on the mind, he began teaching a variety of stretches. But, his stretches were different and more yoga and IMA like. There was one practice in particular which was near identical to what David Bond Chan had taught me, a variation of Hsing I dragon. I was actually really surprised he taught this. I've begun working my internals a lot more lately, and seeing Margarida go through a slew of exercises that mirrored a lot of Ba Gua and Hsing I stuff I had learned was reassuring. Most of the exercises emphasized strengthening the core and opening the hips. There was also a huge emphasis on coiling and twisting, very much like some of the stuff I had learned in Ba Gua.

It was a different warmup than other BJJ I have learned. There were no pushups or leapfrogs, it was more coiling, twisting, and muscular endurance. He also emphasised body mechanics and muscle memory. He had variations of the "pat your head while rubbing your stomach" exercise that was quite challenging.

Although he seemed heavy, his dexterity was awesome. He buzzsawed through 14 different jiujitsu players like they were nothing, one after the other. Tremendous Judo too.

The most interesting moment to me was early on when Margarida said he would teach a variety of techniques, but he wanted to know if someone had a question about something in jiu jitsu that really confused them. Two people asked technical questions (ie where to put a certain hook, how to grab the lapel). This seemed to annoy him a little. He showed them techniques, but more wanted questions about something deeper.

I had been struggling with something recently, so I decided to ask even though I felt a little awkward. His English was pretty good, but I wasn't sure if he would understand me. But I asked "When you are fighting, do you think about what your doing or do you go by instinct?". He gave me a lengthy answer.

He first said that there are two different types of fighters. Those that are blessed and those that are ordinary. He said the ordinary have to train to the point where everything feels natural. This requires lots of work he said.

He said he considers himself one of the blessed. His reasoning for this is that sometimes he can't explain things he does verbally, he just has to do them and let you learn from watching.

He said on some days you will feel low, and people can think quicker than you so you will get beat if you try and out think them. He didn't say if you should go by instinct on those days, but thats the feeling I got from him.

He got more direct to my question at this point. He said it is about out thinking your opponent. That you will think something, than they will think something, then you, then them, etc. He said the one who loses is the one who stops thinking, and he won't stop at just outthinking his opponent once, but he will go on and on, very fast with move to move to move. He also said he thinks so fast he will often think three moves ahead because he has faith in his movements to get to that position.

At the end of the seminar, he went back to meditation and spoke about positive mental imagery and clear thought. He emphasized this a great deal.

As far as techniques go, he taught his classic guard pass, a new position called rodeo, his baseball choke he beat Saulo with, and a new choke he has been working on from sidemount which is probably the coolest gi choke I've seen, very dirty and brutal. Oh yeah, he also x-choked me, strong as hell.

I got to roll with him, tried to pull guard, he passed, went for sidemount, I turtled figuring I could work for some takedown, then found myself being armbarred with one of the tightest armbars I've ever had. I think I lasted 30 seconds.

All in all, amazing experience. The insight he offered into his mental game was fantastic, and his skill was off the charts. Really cool guy too. Oh yeah, I also found it cool that this was a sport jiu jitsu seminar and he scolded me for not having my guard up when he started throwing punches at me.

[CaliG]

Right on!

It seems that just as BJJ has influenced all other styles, all other styles are now influencing BJJ.

I remember when I first did BJJ 7 years ago when it was new to the States the way they trained was, "Do as I do." But now you're seeing a lot guys put different pieces together and come up with some really interesting teaching and training methods.

My teacher, Crosley Gracie, is always saying things could be heard in an IMA class sometimes even comparing Jiu-jitsu to TJQ.

I think grappling has a lot to offer IMA players. For one it is a thinking sport, you can only execute a move if your mind thinks it first (unless your born with it as Margarida mentioned), also it's about technique/leverage over strength and lastly it's all about how well you can use your body. When you roll with high-level players the execution of techniques really comes down to fractions of an inch.

[Ian]

I He got more direct to my question at this point. He said it is about out thinking your opponent. That you will think something, than they will think something, then you, then them, etc. He said the one who loses is the one who stops thinking, and he won't stop at just outthinking his opponent once, but he will go on and on, very fast with move to move to move. He also said he thinks so fast he will often think three moves ahead because he has faith in his movements to get to that position.

Classic OODA loop.

Cool write-up. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[Butterball]

Nice! Margarida is one of my favorites to watch videos of. The matches of his that I've seen, he looks like he doesn't over complicate stuff and has great pressure, timing and looks fairly relaxed. Cool write up!