Kid Peligro BJJ News . . . Rodrigo "Comprido" Retires Interview Part 2

Comprido at teh top of the Absolute 2000 - L-R Fernando "Margarida", Rodrigo "Comprido", Ze Mario "Esfiha" and Leo Leite


Part 2 of the Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros Interview about his retirement from Worlds competition:
 

KP- What competition moment gave you the greatest satisfaction?
RCM- It was in a tournament in North Carolina, the Pro-Am in 2000. I had a very serious knee injury prior to the event but since I had already bought the ticket and there was good prize money I decided to go anyways. I won the first match somewhat easily but in the Semi’s I was facing Dean Lister and with 15 seconds to go he tried a takedown and it twisted my knee in the wrong direction once again, I won the match but I could hardly walk later. The finals was the next day against Saulo Ribeiro, he had submitted all his opponents to get to the finals. I didn’t want to fight but if I didn’t enter the mat I wouldn’t get the 2^nd place prize money. So I spoke with Leo Vieira we had an arrangement and I said that I’d fight as long as I could and if I felt I was further injuring my knee I’d look to him to get the ok and I’d stop. So I started the fight kind of dejected and slow and Saulo did a takedown and was up 2 x0. Then all of a sudden my blood boiled and I swept him and did a takedown and I was up by 4 x 2 with 13 minutes to go on the match. I looked to the sidelines trying to get Leo’s eyes and get the nod to stop but he kept moving around and I couldn’t find him but he kept yelling instructions at the same time but I still couldn’t locate him! He knew that I was ready to quit but he also knew that I wouldn’t do it without his consent, the end result is I won the fight and the tournament.

2000 Pro-Am Medeiros at the top again: L-R: Saulo Ribeiro, Rodrigo "Comprido" and Dean Lister

KP- And the greatest disappointment?
RCM- Leaving Alliance team was very difficult for everyone involved, we had the illusion that our instructors were ready to kill or die for us but in truth they are very selfish, jealous and egotistical people. I had other disappointments after that episode but I was already toughened by the earlier experiences and I was able to deal with them better. When you are young and achieve great success you believe everyone is your friend and are always ready to help you when you need, but time passes and you begin to discover who your friends really are. You can count those in your fingers (very few) and they are irreplaceable.

Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros 2000 - Second World Absolute Title

KP- What did you learn in all these years in BJJ that helps you in your life and in BJJ?
RCM – That knowledge always stays with you, strength, power , speed, explosion, motivation these all fade or diminish. Your technique will always stay with you and be by your side regardless. In life and in BJJ we have to always be learning and evolving

KP- How do you fell Jiu-Jitsu has changed these years? Was the change for the better or worse?
RCM- I believe BJJ is currently relying too much in physical strength and conditioning, that Is Ok if the athletes are achieving that with training. But we all suspect that there are many achieving that with the use of anabolic steroids. What surprises me the most is the reluctance of the Federation, National and International and the Academies to address this problem. They all act as if there isn’t a problem. This only hurts the sport and the athletes. As I stated before the technique remains with you but the power goes away in time. I believe BJJ has evolved technically but I am sure that less steroids would lead to greater number of submission finishes.

KP- Anything else you want to say to your fans?
RCM- In these years that I’ve practiced BJJ I’ve had the opportunity to work on other areas of the sport not just competition. We developed the Brazilian Black Belt Camp, a mix of vacation with Jiu-Jitsu training. We’ve had various editions of the Camp in Brazil, Europe, USAand the next one will be in Mexicostarting on September 20, 2012. It is very gratifying to me to see other instructors conducting their own camps in the same mold as ours. It is very flattering to see that other people follow something that you pioneered.
We also done benefit work with vision impaired individuals that gave me lots of joy anit was extremely rewarding. I believe we helped a lot of kids with the program and it helped me as an instructor also. After that challenged I better my ability to describe things with words and further developed my teaching methodology.

I am currently helping Police Department and eventually will be teaching the DEA and SWAT. I’ve worked with MMAfighters and learned to adapt BJJ for people with different physical abilities. On July 28^th I am having a Grand Opening for my Academy in BloomingdaleIL. I am inviting everyone to attend and if they need more info ont eh academy or me they can go to my website www.compridobjj.com .

I also want to thank Storm Kimos and Q5 supplements for believing in me and fully supporting my efforts and endeavors and they were fully supportive of my decision to retire from the Worlds. I want to clarify that I will still be competing in selected tournaments and that I will continue with my efforts to better the sport. My medium term project is to help Brasa team be World Team Champions. I will be focusing on achieving this additional glory to my career

 

Now go train Jiu-Jitsu,

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