GB Value Series | Brotherhood
To celebrate 35 years of Gracie Barra, we are going behind the mats to uncover the deeper meaning of our three core values. Brotherhood, Integrity, and Development connect to our mottos of Organized Like a Team - Fight Like a Family, Keeping the Legacy Alive, and Jiu-Jitsu for Everyone.
But you may ask yourself, how do those values tie to the experience of being a Gracie Barra Athlete fighting to represent and defend our red shield. This Value Series will highlight three athletes that started their training at the first school in Barra de Tijuca with Master Carlos in the early days of Gracie Barra. Learn what each value has meant to them when stepping onto the mats to compete throughout their Jiu-Jitsu career.
The first value of Brotherhood / Sisterhood* was of particular importance to Professor Flavio Almeida. Professor Flavio is a 5th degree Black Belt, Head Instructor of GB Arizona. Currently, the Executive Director of Gracie Barra Global Inc., Professor Flavio, also has a degree in Economic Science.
He is no stranger to the competitive circuit and spent many years competing during the late 90s to the late 2000s. He made a return to the competition scene at the Master Level. His many achievements include World Champion (1997 blue belt, 1999 brown belt), Brazilian National Silver Medalist (1998 purple belt, 1999 brown belt), ADCC Silver Medallist (2007), Pan American Silver Medallist (2007, 2009), European Bronze Medallist (2009), and most recently 2X Pan American Masters black belt champion (2016, 2017) and a 3X IBJJF World Master Champion.
Professor Flavio first started training Jiu-Jitsu in 1993 at 13 years old at the first Gracie Barra School in Barra de Tijuca after spending a couple of years doing karate. He recalls not being the most coordinated student when he began training with Master Carlos Gracie Jr. Describing himself as lacking natural talent when he first started training. He suffered from low self-esteem, yet the instructors seemed to believe in him, even when he didn’t believe in himself.
Due to the professors believing in him, he entered his first competition nine months after training Jiu-Jitsu.
Professor Flavio recalled his early days being part of the Gracie Barra family and entering tournaments during an interview and sharing his story and thoughts about what being part of the GB Brotherhood meant to him during these challenging times.
"I experienced this [Brotherhood] from the athlete's perspective. It was very rough, but it was beautiful in its own way. When we used to go to tournaments, Master Carlos never coached us to win the tournament for ourselves. He always reminded us that we fight for each other. Fight for this team. I always felt it was a selfless thing. He didn't want to win medals for Gracie Barra."
“He taught us to fight for the team because he understood psychologically once we learn to fight for something bigger than ourselves, we immediately become a stronger individual.”
“ Quitting is an act of selfishness. When we quit or give up, we can no longer see a particular reason to keep going. But when you are in a tournament, and you feel like quitting, and you look out at your coach, and you look out at your peers, and you look at the uniform, you think to yourself that I can’t quit. I am fighting for my team. It doesn’t matter if I am exhausted or don’t feel like going because I am not doing this myself. I am doing this for my team. He stretched the limits of our limitations. That to me is the real meaning of Brotherhood.”
CompNet has long been a friendly competitive environment where Gracie Barra members can compete in promoting unity. To nurture the competitive spirit of athletes searching for personal improvement through their Jiu-Jitsu practice.
At its inception, Master Carlos Jr. knew that Gracie Barra CompNet would help to promote the early values of fighting for something bigger than oneself. That fighting for the team, within the team, would help to push Gracie Barra further than it had already gone.
That early value of Brotherhood that was so poignant in Professor Flavio Almeida’s early memories of competing in Brazil is still very much alive and forefront in the objective of CompNet.
Stay tuned for upcoming CompNet Tournaments in your region.
Blog Written by Dawn Korsen - Gracie Barra Purple Belt
*Brotherhood comes from the genderless Portuguese word Irmandade. It stands for the bonds and strong connections that emerge between team members who train together and help each other on their Jiu-Jitsu journey. When translated to English, the word acquired a masculine meaning, but we use brotherhood to include all team members regardless of gender.