“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
Vince Lombardi
After taking some time to reflect I would like to say thank you to everyone for their support. Although I started down in most of my matches the voices and energy of the crowd and the training from my team gave me the strength to pull out the win. It made it more special because I faced such tough opponents this year and no match was easy. This was the hardest bracket I have faced at worlds and when I first saw them I was upset. As time went on the more I thought about it the anger turned to happiness. This wasn’t a bad thing but an opportunity to prove my jiu Jitsu. To be the best you have to beat the best and thankfully I had an opportunity to do this.
Throughout the matches I had enough cardio to succeed and for that I have to thank Itallo Villardo who I brought from Brazil to help with my conditioning (and the conditioning of our guys who joined the camp as well). In addition I’d also like to thank versa climber which I used extensively throughout camp. I left for Asian the day pans was over (I flew that same night) and did seminars prior to the Mundial camp. This meant I only had 20 days to prepare myself for the biggest event of the year, 4 to get ready for camp and 16 days of training.
I’d like to thank my team and every one at IMA who joined the camp for training. I’d especially like to thank Samir, and Queixinho for their patience and inspiration. Through camp I was extremely grumpy and tired and they were there to support me. At the worlds they fought their hearts out and this really inspired me to do the same. I’d also like to really thank Flavio for holding down the gym when I’m gone and for being the rock of IMA.
Lastly I like to thank my family for putting up with me. I know it has been a long couple of months and I am glad it’s over!
The first time I won worlds was surreal because it was a dream come true, this time was bitter sweet. Sweet because I won and unlike in the previous 3 losses where I left it in the judges hands it was decisive. Bitter because although a lot of us did well I really have high hopes and expectations from all of our team and I know they are better than they showed. Lets get back to work, after Europe I plan to focus on our team and association, 2014 here we come! Technique Conquers All!!!
