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| L-R: Draculino / Alberto Crane / Orlando Sanchez / Barral |
I have made the confession before that I have a BJJ man-crush on Draculino! Arguably one of the most technical grapplers alive today, Draculino has produced more champions then I can shake a stick at (check out the pic on your left. Taken years ago we see multiple world champions here with Alberto Crane, Orlando “Cuban Tree Stump” Sanchez, and a young Barral) one of the more prevalent ones being Romulo Barral. Thanks to Gracie Mag for reporting the following exchange between coach and student at the 2013 Mundials:“How’s the leg? You 100%?” asked Draculino.“Absolutely one hundred! I suffered but I wasn’t gonna let one muscle stop me from competing here,” smiled Barral.“So if you are at 100%, listen to me: no one is gonna stop you this year. Tell me this: why do you practice Jiu-Jitsu?”“Why, because I like it a lot, and besides –”“Stop right there, that’s all I need to hear. If you love this, get in there and crush whoever’s in your path!”
There is so much that goes into a champion on both ends of the coaching spectrum, but what I love about this dialogue is that the first thing out of Barral’s mouth is that he likes BJJ, and that is all Draculino cares to hear! That is all that is important at a certain level… passion. Why are any of us on the mat any given hour of any given day? Money? Fame? Women? HA! We wish!
Plain and simple, if you aren’t having fun and enjoying every moment you are blessed with on the mat then you need to re-evaluate some things in your situation because that isn’t living.
Something must have worked…. Romulo took gold in the medium heavy division!