Ten questions with.....

I mentioned last week that I would be continuing my series of interviews and that some of the subjects you may not of heard of. I'm guessing that for most of you, this week will be the case. About 4 years ago I met and trained with my first genuine BJJ black belt, Roberto Attala. Roberto is an amazing BJJ coach, but someone that you may not have had much exposure with... hopefully this interview will change that!

1. Roberto, we met a number of years ago when you were in the UK, but some people may not have heard of you. Tell me about yourself?

I am a coach in BJJ and grappling, with more than 15 years teaching groundwork, I trained with some of the best coaches available in Brasil and was quite successful in my career as a competitor, which was pretty much ended in 2000 after an ACL reconstruction, although at times I test myself by competing, my focus is on teaching. For more info people can check my personal blog, there is a page in english and other 5 or 6 languages with my CV at http://robertoatalla.wordpress.com

2. I know you have had a log career in martial arts, where did it all start?

My career started long time ago, as a kid I loved all bruce lee movies, but later on I started doing capoeira, i tried judo a bit but when i began doing bjj, i started to take it seriously and never stopped since them (1990).

3. What's been the highlight to your career so far?

I suppose my world gold medals in 96 and 97 were the happiest moments, but as a coach the decision to leave Brasil and start something new in Europe was a turning point in my life.

4. It's probably 4-5 years since you came to the UK, what brought you to our shores?

I arrived in the UK 6 years ago. It was my first experience in Europe and the start is always painful, the scene was a lot smaller than nowadays and i struggled to get students in London, maybe if i settled down in Glasgow i would have stayed, but i have no regrets, I helped some people to improve their games, and moved on to new projects.

5. You are now based in Poland, why Poland... it's cold isn't it?

I chose Poland because I saw a huge potential for BJJ and grappling, being located in central europe makes it easy for me to travel around, i live in Wroclaw, a vibrant city with 750.000 people, we have big facilities inside a wrestling gym that belongs to the army, and actually is really cold during winter, but I learned to appreciate more when is -10C and sunny outside as compared to +5 and rainy like most winters in England and Holland.

6. The Rio Grapplng club has had some recent success in compeition, tell me about your students and their achievments

In the last three years we have developed a strong foundation in Italy and Poland, and results are gradually appearing. Our team in Italy is winning medals in bjj and grappling alike, we have guys going to Brasil to train, fighting in Portugal and Spain, and doing well in every italian comp, from fila grappling to sambo to bjj and adcc rules, so things are going well there. In Poland our club is small, there are 3 other teams with more than 200 competitors and a many smaller, the level is high all over the country, but we start to make waves. The last polish bjj nationals was 2 weeks ago, and our student Mariusz Koziej won the heavyweight division for brown and black belts, submitting his 3 opponents with the same choke. They elected him best fighter of the tournament, and the extra motivation in all students will pay off on future comps. We still have a long way to go but we start to see results that give us impulse to keep going forward.

7. Some of the UK may remember a grudge match you had against Alez DeSouza a few years ago. What caused the problems with Alex and you and did the fight solve those problems?

The problems were caused by his attitude on the internet, disrespecting me and my job. The animosity ended up in us fighting 3 rounds of 10 minutes. I do not think at all, that the fight solved the problem, although he went quiet after that, which was a bonus.

I am sure that in that night I was the aggressor, dominating him for 27 minutes of the 30, and the result was unfair, but I cannot blame Alex for it, he went there and fought, and I can live with an unfair decision.

I really don't think of it much at all, but since you asked me about that, no, the fight was unnecessary because my focus should have been in teaching all along, but was valuable as a lesson.

8. Have you had other MMA fights?

That was my only MMA fight.

9. You appear settled in Poland, but I know that you are a bit of a nomad, are you planning on staying put or moving on to a new challenge?

I am in Poland to teach and to learn and still I believe I will be around for a while, but I do have plans to move back to Brasil at some point, but all depends on many things, lets first see if we survive 2012 LOL :-D

10. You have years of experience in BJJ, trained with some awesome people. There are lots of new guys out there, at the start of their career. What advice would you give them?

I find hard to advise anyone as each person should draw his/her own plans and work towards its goals, but one thing is important, as bjj you cannot train alone, you need good partners, and the best coaching available. All of this will not make you better unless you commit to the sport and train a lot. The rest is up to each one really, or to put it simply: "carve your own path"

That's it for this blog, I'll be back with another interview soon. Until then... chin down, hands up!

Aaron