With R.N.In the last Jiu-Jitsu World Championships, four tough guys from Manaus, the capital of Amazon, Brazil, earned the gold medal in the adult black-belt division: Ronaldo Jacare, Xande Ribeiro, Gabriel Morais and Fernando Vieira. Why is the State in the extreme north of Brazil so strong in Jiu-Jitsu competitions? Some of the main athletes and masters from Manaus answered that question. Check out what they said: ‘Manaus is extremely hot. We are used to training in burning temperatures. When we go to Rio, where the main Jiu-Jitsu events take place, we consider the weather there fresh. Everybody knows that Rio is a very hot city, but for us, from Manaus, Rio is a fresh place. That?s a great advantage during a bout’ says Bibiano Fernandes, another athlete from Manaus, who got the silver medal in the last Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. Black-belt Henrique Machado (Jacare?s master) believes that the investment in the kids is another virtue of Manaus: ‘Masters from here use to offer scholarships for children. That?s the best way to create champions? Athletes learn the techniques easily when they are kids? If they grow practicing Jiu-Jitsu, they have a lot of chance to get the gold medal when they turn adults’.
