V našem novem razgovoru vam predstavljamo legendarnega Carlosa Maio !
Zdravo Carlos, ali se lahko predstaviš našim bralcem?
Živjo, moje ime je Carlos Maia. Sem nosilec črnega pasu tretje stopnje v brazilskem Jiu-Jitsu in prihajam iz Rio de Janeira. Sem glavni instruktor v Carlos Maia BJJ akademiji in ustanovitelj Carlos Maia Asociacije brazilskega Jiu-Jitsa.
Kdaj si začel vaditi bjj in kakšna je bila tvoja mladost v Braziliji?
Odraščal sem v nevarnih soseskah, kjer je bilo poznavanje kakršne koli oblike samoobrambe nujno, če si hotel hoditi po ulicah samozavesten in brez strahu za svojo varnost. Zato sem začel iskati borilno veščino, ki bi mi odgovarjala, in ki bi bila izziv zame. Tako sem odkril Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, ki me je takoj prevzel. Naredilo me je motiviranega in odločenega, da se dodatno učim. Tako sem začel svojo več kot 20 letno kariero v brazilskem Jiu-Jitsu, ki mi je popolnoma spremenil moje življenje.
Prihajaš iz Brazilije, kaj je glavni razlog, da si se odločil za življenje v Sloveniji?
Ko sem prišel sem, sem imel rek, ki mi je se sedaj všeč: Nisem jaz izbral Slovenije – Slovenija je izbrala mene. Prvič sem prišel leta 2008, ko sem imel seminarje in privatne učne ure. Učencem je bilo očitno všeč, saj so se trudili, da bi me prepričali, da ostanem tu. Za ta korak sem se odločil leta 2009. Zelo mi je vseč, kar sem ustvaril v Sloveniji in čeprav se sliši izrabljeno in klišejsko, moji učenci so dobri ljudje. Smo kot velika družina, kar me dela srečnega in veselega, da sem tu in nadaljujem s tem kar počnem.
Ali nam lahko poves kaj več o tvojem klubu?
Pravkar smo odprli novo telovadnico v Ljubljani. BJJ sem začel poučevati pri 18 letih in vedno sanjal o idealni telovadnici. Telovadnica ki jo imamo sedaj je taksna. Imamo 140 m2 površine, visok strop, dober pretok zraka, klimo…res je veselje trenirati tukaj.
Nudimo BJJ za začetnike in ze izkušene, kondicijske treninge in drugo. Treniramo tako otroke kot odrasle. Imamo močno ekipo tekmovalcev, prav tako pa maja meseca uvajamo BJJ za MMA. Namen tega je, da se učence nauči uporaba BJJ v drugačnem okolju od tistega, na katerega so navajeni, in da se jih naredi bolj samozavestne v njim prej neznanih situacijah. Že imamo nekaj ljudi, ki tekmujejo v MMA, in upam, da bo ta tečaj omogočil več ljudem, da se poizkusijo v MMA.
Pred nekaj tedni si imel seminar v Makedoniji. Ali načrtuješ, da bi tudi tam odprl klub?
Pravzaprav že imamo z nami povezano šolo v Makedoniji od oktobra 2011. So zelo motivirana skupina in sem zelo zadovoljen. Kadar najdem čas, grem na seminar tja.
Druge povezane šole izven Ljubljane so tudi v Kopru in Italiji.
Pripravljaš tudi seminar na Hrvaškem. Nam lahko poveš kaj več o tem?
Seminar bo potekal od 17. do 20. julija v mestu Skradin, 20 metrov od morja. Spominja me na Brazilijo. Treninge bom vodil jaz in Max Carvalho, glavni instruktor Gracie Barra Madžarske in zelo znano ime v svetu BJJ. Vabim vas, da si ogledate Facebook stran “Skradin BJJ Summer Camp”, kjer lahko najdete vse informacije.
V svojem klubu imaš veliko znanih slovenskih tekmovalcev, ti pa si postal tudi pri nas zelo znan. Ali si zadovoljen z rezultati tvojih učencev?
Na svoje učence sem več kot ponosen,veliko jih sodeluje v tekmovanjih BJJ zelo visokega ranga, nekateri pa tekmujejo tudi v No-Gi tekmovanjih in/ali v MMA.
Opazil sem, da ta tvoje treninge prihajajo tudi ljudje iz Avstrije in drugih bližnjih držav. To ti gotovo daje dodatno zadovoljstvo?
Da, gotovo je to odraz našega uspešnega dela tukaj, ki je posledica trdega dela, ki smo ga vložili. Nase ime se širi ne samo po Sloveniji, ampak širše v Evropi in verjamem, da naša akademija postaja referenčna točka za BJJ v tem območju. Imamo obiskovalce iz celega sveta, in menim, da na ta način pridobivamo dodatne izkušnje.
Kakšni so vaši načrti za prihodnost?
Naši načrti so, da zrastemo kot ekipa, ojačamo sodelovanje s pridruženimi klubi, dosežemo še več ljudi in spremenimo njihovo življenje skozi Jiu-Jitsu.
Ali je Slovenija tvoja končna destinacija ali pa načrtuješ povratek v Brazilijo?
Srečen sem s tem, kar imam v Sloveniji in ne načrtujem povratka. Kljub temu pa, življenje je negotovo in nikoli ne vemo, kaj nas čaka. O bodočnosti nikoli ne govorim z gotovostjo, saj ni vse v naših rokah.
Pred nekaj meseci si odprl novo telovadnico. Ali si zadovoljen z lokacijo?
Odkar sem prišel v Slovenijo, sem iskal primerno telovadnico, ki bi zadovoljila nase potrebe in končno sem jo našel. Veliko prostora, najboljše blazine, dobra garderoba, tuš kabine, klima in vse ostalo, kar je potrebno za učenje BJJ na najvišjem možnem nivoju. Z zadovoljstvom lahko rečem, da nudimo visoko kvaliteten BJJ. Hvala MMA Madness in vsem bralcem!
Se vidimo na blazinah!
Hvala Carlos za razgovor in veliko sreče v življenju.
ENGLISH :
Hello Carlos can you introduce your self to our readers?
Hello, my name is Carlos Maia and I’m a 3rd degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. I am the head instructor of the Carlos Maia BJJ Academy and the founder of the Carlos Maia Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association.
When you start practising bjj and how was your youth in Brasil?
I grew up in an area full of dangerous neighborhoods, where knowing any form of self-defense was more or less necessary to walk the streets with confidence and not in the fear of your safety, which led me to go searching around for a martial art that would suit my wish and need to learn self-defense, but also one that would really test me. I stumbled upon Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and instantly became captivated by it. It was perfect for me – I learned self-defense and I got tested every single day, which made me immensely motivated and determined to learn more. That’s how I started my more-than-20-year-long journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which completely changed my life.
You came from Brasil what is the main reason why you choose Slovenija for living ?
When I first came here, I had a saying I still like very much: I didn’t choose Slovenia – Slovenia chose me. I first came to Slovenia in the year 2008, when I held seminars and private classes here. I guess my students must have liked it a lot, since they did their best to persuade me to stay here, which I actually then decided on in 2009. I really love what I have here in Slovenia and despite this sounding worn out and cliche, my students are really good people and we are like one big family, which makes me very happy and excited to stay here and keep doing what I’m doing.
Can you tell us more about your gym and club ?
We just opened a new gym in the capital city of Slovenia – Ljubljana, in the month of March. I started teaching BJJ when I was 18 years old, and I always dreamed of an ideal gym where I could teach, and the gym we have now is the gym of my dreams. We have 140 m2 of mat space, a high ceiling, good air flow, air conditioning … It really is a joy to train here.
We have BJJ for beginners and people with more experience, submission grappling and conditioning training – training for kids and adults alike; a strong team of competitors and we’re also introducing BJJ for MMA with the start of May, which we are very excited about. The goal of the aforementioned class is to teach students how to use BJJ in a different enviroment to the one they’re used to and make them more comfortable in situations unbeknownst to them before. We already have a few people competing in MMA but we’re hoping that the introduction of this class will allow more people to try it out in a controlled environment and see if it suits them or not.
Few weeks ago you have an seminar in Macedonia are you planing also to open some club also there?
We actually already have an affiliated school in Macedonia since October, 2011 already. They are a very dedicated group of people and I am amazed by how well it’s going over there so far already. Whenever I find the time, I go there for a seminar, but even when I’m not there, they are constantly in the gym and training.
Other affiliated schools outside of Ljubljana and excluding Macedonia, can also be found in Koper and Italy.
You preparing also seminar on july in Croatia please tell us more about that ?
The camp will take place from the 17th to the 20th of July, in the Croatian city of Skradin, 20 meters away from the beach. It reminds me Brazil. The trainings will be lead by myself and Max Carvalho, the head instructor of Gracie Barra Hungary, and a very well known name in the world of BJJ. I invite you to check out the Facebook page for the camp – ”Skradin BJJ Summer Camp”, where we have all the info about the camp that you need. This camp will be the 1st annual one in the series of hopefully many.
You have in your club a lot of well known slovenian competitors and you become known well here
Are you satisfied with results of your students ?
I’m more than proud of my students when they are doing as well as this. There isn’t a moment where they don’t make me proud. Many of them compete in very high-level competitions in BJJ, with some of them also opting to compete in No-Gi tournaments and/or MMA.
I noticed that now also coming to your training guys from Austria and other neighbour countryes thats a some kind of reward for your hard work your opinion ?
Yes, I think it speaks volume of our success here, which is a fruit of a lot of very hard work, that we put into this. Our name is not only spreading through Slovenia, but throughout Europe as a whole and I believe that our academy is becoming a reference point of high-level BJJ in this area. We get visitors from all around the world and I think that’s a great thing, because not only do they get what they came for, but we also benefit greatly from it, training with different people who really test our ability to work with somebody who always does something unexpected. I think it’s an amazing exchange and that we only get more people to come here with time.
Can you tell us more about your plans in the future ?
Our plans for the future are to grow as a team, make our association stronger, reach out to more people and keep changing their lives through Jiu-Jitsu.
Is Slovenija your permanent destination or in time you will move back to Brasil ?
I am very happy with what I have here in Slovenia, and I have no plans to go back to Brasil at the moment. Having said that, life is unpredictable and we never know what it has in store for us, so I never like to talk about the future with complete certainty, because it is not in my hands completely.
Month ago you open a new gym in Ljubljana please tell us what is your mean goal and did you satisfy with your new location ?
Since I moved to Slovenia, we’ve been looking for a gym to suit our wishes and needs, and it is finally here. A lot of space, the best quality mats you can find, a nice wardrobe, showers, air conditioning, along with everything else that is needed to train BJJ at the highest possible level, which – in my opinion – is the only way to get the most out of your BJJ training. I can gladly say that we have a very high level of BJJ here and we do fit the bill for that.
Thank you MMA Madness and all the readers!
See you on the mats!
Photo credits: Carlos Maia private archive