Seven months of training, 118kg, 2 bad knees, and 2 weeks of notice. Here’s how my first Jiu Jitsu tournament went.

Note

I know, I know: I usually write about software. This one is different, so if martial arts is not one of your interests, feel free to stop here.

The beginning

I started training early December, 2025. I’m not a complete stranger to martial arts: I did train Judo for ~2 months back in 2012, fought in a tournament, and got a 2nd place. I also did some Muay Thai circa 2015.

What can I say… Contrary to popular belief, not all Brazilians are good at soccer, but it would seem I fare fairly well in contact sports.

The comeback

When we found out we were expecting a girl, the immediate thought I had was “I must protect her at all costs at all times”. Then, I went into that dark corner of my mind, where I go to think about how things could go wrong and how I would react if such and such thing happened.

In that dark corner, I realized I just won’t always be around to protect her. The logical conclusion is that she must learn to defend herself. I could teach her to “street fight”, of course. But for me, almost 2 meters tall, strong, and heavy, self-defense is fairly simple: I just need to land one good punch. It’s not something that translates to children, especially against adults/older children.

Then, I decided: I’ll sign her up to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. After all, it is the soft art, and it is supposed to work against people bigger than you. And then it hit me: how can I expect her to go and train every other day, and learn it, if I’m not walking the walk myself?

So I, a 35-year-old man, with 2 bad knees, 2 bad elbows, and not a lot of free time, went into a school and signed up.

The next Monday, 6AM, I was there.

Competing

By July, I was chatting with one of the guys from my team:

Him: I signed up for the tournament as well!

Me: “As well”? What do you mean?

He thought I had signed up, but I had not.

He’s 55 years old, and we train together every other day. I thought if he, being older, has the courage to do it, I must find it, too. So I signed up as well, around 2 weeks before the actual event: the Toledo Internacional Open 2026.

At the time, I had been training for around 7 months, and had just gotten my 3rd stripe on the white belt.¹

Training

So, for 2 weeks, I trained every chance I got. Monday to Saturday in one week, and Monday to Thursday the other.

That second week I decided to rest Friday and Saturday to give my body some time to recover. It was a good decision.

Gym-wise, I just kept my regular routine, which already includes grip and adductor exercises.

Diet

I’m not one to eat trash all day every day. I usually eat relatively clean, but I also don’t fret too much and let myself have some sweets or whatever every now and then.

Since the baby, I haven’t had much free time to do cardio, so I do have some body fat (I reckon around 15% or so), weighing about 118kg.

So, for these 2 weeks, I just cut a bit on the carbs to feel lighter.

D-Day

Sunday. Woke up already anxious.

Did my talk with God asking to protect me and my teammates so we don’t get hurt. Told Him I would obviously like to win, but rather not hurt myself and lose. I have a family to take care of at home, which is more important than a medal.

Then, ate some good breakfast, tons of protein and carbs.

And off we go!

Master 1 & 2 - Ultra Heavy²

After many hours of waiting, my category was called up for warm-up. And after another hour or so, my first fight was up.

Still anxious, I thought:

Fuck it, we ball!

Matches are 5 minutes long. Was getting smashed for 4 of them (felt like an eternity), until I was finally able to scramble up to his back. Could not engage a rear naked choke,³ eventually got the lapel and attempted a canto choke.⁴ Time ran out and he didn’t tap.

Got up gasping for air, fixed the Gi. Looked at the score - was so out of breath that I couldn’t process what I was seeing.

I had already convinced myself I had lost. It turns out I was wrong, and won by points! Getting smashed doesn’t score by itself: I got points for passing the guard and for taking the back, plus an advantage for the choke attempt.

My bracket had only 4 people, so that win meant I was in the finals! The final was against a teammate!

We usually go at different times, so I didn’t really know his game. We were both very tired, I think he even more than me. After some time, won with a failed americana⁵ converted to straight armbar.⁶

Absolute

The absolute division⁷ had 20 people, varying weights and ages, but most of them younger and lighter than me.

Fuck it, we ball (again)!

First fight was against a younger and lighter guy. I managed to pass his guard, and I was winning by points, so I put him in the dark room⁸ and waited out the remaining ~1 minute. Won by points.

Next, another ultra heavy, who got second place on Masters 3 & 4. Won with an americana.

Next, a much younger and much faster guy. Was winning by points until towards the end, when I made a mistake, and he got me with a baseball choke.⁹ He went on and got the second place in the division.

Three fights, two wins, out in the quarter-finals: no medal in the absolute.

Lessons learned

The first fight was definitely my worst. The main issue is the anxiety, which makes you burn your fuel way too fast. The other guy fought very well, he knew how to balance his weight, and being crushed by a ~120kg man for 4 minutes straight is not a walk in the park either.

After that, I was able to “loosen up” a bit.

The other lesson: be there for your teammates. Bring water, give tips between fights, scream your lungs out from the side of the mat - odds are they’ll do the same for you. They definitely helped me, and I like to think I helped them too.

I’ll fucking do it again

Next weekend I’ll fight at an internal Gracie Barra tournament. Very much like the first, I have no expectation to win. Nevertheless, wish me luck!