The Resilience Series|Beating Cancer & Returning to Competition

"When we are very tired, we almost give up, then a miracle happens. We just need to persist." Prof. Lagarto’s training and preparation to win the fights helped him through more than Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. When faced with Lymphatic Cancer, he viewed this as any other competitor on the mat: something that can be overcome.

Prof. Lucio "Lagarto" Rodrigues is one of Gracie Barra's most decorated competitors with multiple international titles. But perhaps most inspiring about Prof. Lagarto is his battle with Lymphatic Cancer and his return to competition. We recently spoke with Prof. Lagarto about his drive to compete and his mindset in battling and overcoming cancer.

Next week, he will share more on his perspective of resilience. 

Prof. Lagarto started competing at the beginning of the 90s in Rio de Janeiro, inspired by his friends. To get a belt and be respected by your friends, you had to perform well at the tournament. He went on to tell us how, 

“My grandfather had the opportunity to train with Helio Gracie in the army a little bit. My father had a huge influence from my grandfather. My father used to push me a lot. He used to challenge me, you know. Like you need to train a lot of self-defense. It was really interesting because he used to challenge the whole neighborhood to fight against me on the weekends. He used to challenge the builders; any tough guy he used to invite to come on the weekend so he could have an MMA challenge (laughs). So the guys could punch and kick; do whatever they want, and I could just use Jiu-Jitsu! Bear in mind I was between 13 and 14 years old. 

My father wanted to prove to everyone, to the whole neighborhood, that Jiu-Jitsu was amazing. That Jiu-Jitsu could change their lives. That's how I grew up. My mother and my father came from Karate. Both were Black Belts in Karate, and both of them always pushed me so much. I could not go another way. I always loved to compete to get the respect of my friends and also to be ready for my father's challenges.”

Prof. Lagarto’s training and preparation to win the fights helped him through more than Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. When faced with Lymphatic Cancer, he viewed this as any other competitor on the mat: something that can be overcome. He explains how he thought to himself, 

“‘I will overcome. It is just a matter of time. How long do I have? What do I have to do? I will do my best. I will dedicate myself. I will focus 100% on my treatment,’ but one of the very strong points of my treatment - I didn't let my mind - even for 1 second - trick me. I didn't let my mind for 1 second pull me down. I was constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

Even while I was doing the treatment, the chemotherapy, and the radiotherapy, I was training every day. The only days that I wasn't training were the days that I was in the hospital. But I was always pushing myself. And that helped me so much.

I even competed while I was doing the treatment! I managed to win both my weight and the open division. When I was doing the radiotherapy, I had stopped the chemo, and I was doing the radiotherapy. And I was supposed to come back and do the chemotherapy again. I looked at the challenges that life presents us.

I just made from the lemon that life gave me...

I made a beautiful lemonade!

I wanted to compete while I was doing the treatment because I was not concerned about winning. I was just worried about being a part of that world again. I felt that I had just lost everything for a moment, and then just to be part of that world again, I was feeling alive. I felt that people have to give their best. To be able to fight me while I was fighting for my life. That was priceless.”

Prof. Lagarto’s journey reminds us how Jiu-Jitsu can help keep us anchored. We can look at any situation and choose to focus on what we can control, like keeping our mind sharp and focused and pushing out of our comfort zone. Next week Prof. Lagarto will further discuss his mindset on resilience in competition. 

Stay tuned for upcoming CompNet Tournaments in your region. 

Blog Written by Mark Mullen - Gracie Barra Black Belt