My name's Gilmar Oliveira, I'm 39 years old.
I've been competing since I was 19.
I live in the city of Gama, Brasília, in the Federal District.
I like doing jiu-jitsu.
Everything I do, I try to master.
I intend on doing it up until God allows me.
Actually, I wasn't looking for jiu-jitsu,
I knew very little about it.
I was looking for boxing at the gym,
and I saw a jiu-jitsu class.
I liked it and decided to try it.
At that time, people had a very backward perception of this sport,
also of Vale Tudo fighting.
They thought it was only about punching.
There was a lot of prejudice.
I'd hear jokes that we were grabbing each other,
Silly things like that.
I started competing 3 months after I'd started to train.
I've always been very competitive,
There were athletes at my gym whom I thought of highly.
They weren't even high ranked yet,
at that time there weren't many of those.
The guy who was surprising on the mat, was a purple belt.
We were dazzled by his game.
I thought to myself: "I wanna be like him, I wanna get there."
It's a pity, because he's still my friend,
but he stopped at purple belt... and I continued.
He could've had a longer journey.
I saw it as my purpose, though.
I think that's how students see me today,
"I want to be like this guy."
It's how students see other top athletes.
Athletes admire a bit of each.
I get a lot of compliments on my game,
from people I don't know,
who aren't even from my academy.
I feel very good when it happens,
because the same admiration I had towards my purple belt friend,
today athletes have towards me,
even black belt athletes.
It's very important.
I like it.
I like the adrenaline when you step on the mat,
with someone you don't know,
or with a guy who you know is a good competitor.
I enjoy this feeling.
Once, at an Abu Dhabi qualifier in São Paulo,
I fought a guy to whom I practically had to
show my ID,
very nice guy, we became friends after.
It was last year and he couldn't believe I was 38.
He was complaining that he was 31, fighting in the adults category.
I told him he still had a lot in front of him.
I feel good fighting both in the Adults and Masters.
I've fought only a few times in Masters, I still fight more in Adults.
You always have something to learn, even at local competitions.
You shouldn't discredit anyone.
At times, someone you've never seen before surprises you.
This happens a lot.
I exposed my foot at this competition.
I did something very silly, a white belt mistake.
Not to belittle any white belts,
but I couldn't work for three months,
neither give classes.
It complicated my life a bit.
I was fighting this guy who I know, he's from Ribeiro.
I was already winning 12-0,
If I'm not wrong, there were 15 seconds left in that fight,
I had a rear naked choke locked in,
but he's very strong, kept holding my arms, defended very well.
What I wanted was to submit him.
When I crossed my legs to get a better squeeze,
he took the opportunity to throw himself to the back,
and I ended up breaking my tibia.
I shouldn't have done that because it was simply arrogant of me.
Even though I was winning the fight, I wanted to finish him.
Even if I'd let him come after me, he wouldn't have caught up on points.
He apologized to me later but it happens in fights,
I don't hold any grudge,
I like him a lot, he's a very nice guy.
That's it.
I've already had some difficulties in doing guard,
until the middle of my time at purple belt,
so I started to police myself:
"If I want to be a complete guy, I need to learn both",
because most of the guys at my weight category, over 100kg, don't do it.
Maybe very tall guys with long legs do,
but shorter guys like me, who are 1,80m, don't do guard.
I look to do it.
I usually surprise opponents in my weight class,
because I pull guard.
When I see too much standing and nobody's pulling guard, I go for it.
I'm considered fast for my weight.
Many people have told me that.
So I'm always ready.
I want to surprise, not to be surprised,
so whatever the guy does, I'm prepared for.
I think the majority of competitors are like that.
If I fight a guy and see fire in his eyes,
I know he's up to something.
If I notice he's a judoka, I take it to the ground,
because I know he's got a good base.
I'm not very good at takedowns.
I do have some aces up my sleeve,
but I won't stay on the feet with a great judo fighter.
<< Gilmar Oliveira plays from the open guard,
due to his flexibility.
With all that strength, he's able to put his foot behind his head.
He's very explosive and flexible.
When we noticed it, I told him not to do closed guard,
and play open guard.
I advised him to do closed guard only to finish guys,
and that's what he does.
I remember a competition where his opponent asked me:
"Professor Piezi, do you only teach Gilmar to take the back and submit?"
I replied: "Isn't that good?"
<< I've never seen a light roll with Professor Gilmar
and I don't know it.
Sometimes I see him playing around with white belts,
and I think to myself: "I wish I were this white belt"
because I've never experienced that.
He's never out of shape and I think that's exceptional.
He was born genetically gifted to do jiu-jitsu,
because he works a lot as a security guard,
so, unlike others, he doesn't have much time to train,
but competes like a professional.
<< Many top athletes who know Gilmar's potential,
meet us at events such as the Brazilian Nationals,
they always ask: "Where's Gilmar?"
We explain the difficulties he's got.
He works, has family, children...
If an athlete wants to go on this path of competitions,
and become a professional,
He needs to have this freedom to
travel, compete every weekend,
He needs to get sponsors,
because it's expensive.
So, unfortunately sometimes he's stuck,
managing his situation at work, training, family and children.
I think this is Gilmar's biggest difficulty today.
<< I work as a security guard.
It's brought me some good things and good friends,
who admire me and somehow found videos of my fights.
It was a very good thing for me,
because I've gotten many new students through that.
Now I have a group of doctors who train with me.
It's a private training.
All of this started here from my work,
but until that moment no one had really known about it.
I was known only for what I do here, at the hospital.
I didn't talk about what I did as an athlete.
I was discrete about it as I don't like talking about myself.
I don't have a sponsor,
I used to have one.
I do it because I love the sport.
I pay out of my own pocket.
Sometimes the doctors who train with me help me.
I don't work out very much,
basically, I don't work out.
When I have some time, I run here and there,
or do some working out in the street.
I'm not much for gyms,
I don't go to the gym.
Thank God I have friends in many places.
This really makes a difference in my life.
I'm welcomed wherever I go.
Many friends invite me to their academies.
This makes a difference because I get a lot of different training.
I think the old graduation system should come back,
where your instructor looks at you and analyzes you.
I think there should be this differentiation.
If an older guy doesn't want to compete,
he's at the academy only because he enjoys training,
let's see how we can evaluate his progress slowly,
He'll never be a top athlete.
At least for the ones who wanna compete,
they should be evaluated by the instructor,
not by how long they spend in each belt.
<< When Gilmar enters the fight zone,
we all go in with him.
This makes us very happy.
It makes the academy work better.
Students push themselves harder,
especially the ones who like competing,
If there were a doll of Gilmar, they would all want one.
<< What I see often and try to talk about it with some beginners,
is the ambition to be better than you.
They can become better than you but it takes time.
Sometimes they come at you and end up injuring you.
I tell them to be patient and go slowly,
and teach them some things.
Everything gets better that way.
I always try to help my training partners.
If I see they're doing something wrong,
I finish them and then point out where they made the mistake:
"You have to improve this or that, your position was wrong."
I work in this way with guys whom I even don't know.
I'm used to helping people.
There are some who say: "Man, you are so strong!"
but they forget that you can also be a technical guy,
because if it were only strength... I grapple with guys who are as strong as a horse.
When I fight in the ultra heavy category, I'm usually one of the smallest fighters.
When they talk too much about my strength,
for a guy who basically doesn't work out,
It makes me wonder if anyone recognizes my technique...
My dream is to one day get up on the podium with my son next to me,
for me to be there, cheering for him in his corner,
later he'd be in my corner supporting me,
for me to go there, give him a hug and put a medal on his chest.
My daughter Leticia admires me too,
She says to people that her father is good.
I can tell she's proud of me,
but when I tell her to train a little with her brother, she doesn't want to,
very rarely she does.
I hope it will change,
because if she wants to, this dream would be our trio.
The three of us on the mat,
the three of us on the podium.
<< I'm a fan of your dad!
<< My son, Nícolas, is still very little, he's only seven,
but I really want to see him one day fighting in the Adults
I'll be in Masters, I don't know which number...
but I'll be there fighting.
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