An Interview With Eddie Ricardo of Cobra BJJ

I met Eddie Ricardo a couple years ago when he still taught Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes out of Saekson Janjira’s Muay Thai gym. He now runs Cobra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in East Plano, where I visited him for an interview last week.

There was a class taking place when I walked in through the open door. Rap music was bumping out of the PA system, scoring the students as they searched for submissions and jockeyed for position. I left my shoes far away from the mats, and made my way towards a powerfully built man with a baby in his arms. Eddie Ricardo shook my hand and introduced me to his three-month-old son, Maxwell. He is a friendly man who always wears a smile; a counterpoint to the fact that Eddie is one of the most decorated grapplers in the metroplex with one of the most legitimate black belts you can get in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Tell me about yourself.

My name is Eddie Ricardo. I was born in Brazil, and I’ve been training martial arts since I was five years old. I started in karate; my mom put me and my brother in karate. Brazilian karate is not as commercial as it is in America, and people really beat the heck out of each other in class. In America, it’s watered down, kind of commercialized, rather than really founded on respect and integrity.

Growing up in Brazil, there’s much more freedom.  And one of the things I think is natural for boys to do is grapple around, try to size each other, and say, “Who’s the strongest?” So my mom put us in karate. Then I started doing capoeira, a form of dance that the slaves used to do because they couldn’t fight. They said they were dancing but they were training this martial art… and it’s really a popular sport in Brazil. I really like it because of the acrobatic moves you learn. There’s not really ‘competitions,’ because it’s considered more of a street fight. But once they were slaves they used to put blades in between their toes in order to cut—they didn’t punch because it would look too much like a fight to their lords. I’ve seen capoeira fights, but it’s more of a sport, more acrobatic.

Capoeira… shows you how to have loose hips, which really helps you fight. The orthodox fighting style is, you keep your base leg behind you, so the power comes from your foot to your hips, to your shoulder to your wrist. Capoeira helps because when you do something out of the orthodox, you can surprise people, like with a spinning backfist. Like, you know, Anderson Silva knows capoeira. It’s kind of like yoga in a sense, once you get loose, it helps your fighting.

Speaking of which, how do you know Anderson Silva?

The Nogueira brothers, I’ve trained with them for a long time. Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira, he was a friend of a friend, so I trained with him and his trainers. Him and Anderson—they used to be on rival teams, but they never had any rivalry. Anderson Silva used to be part of Chute Box, and Nogueira used to be part of Brazilian Top Team. Chute Boxe was known for really good stand-up fighters, and Brazilian Top Team was really known for good ground fighters, from Carlson Gracie. So we’re part of one of the best teams in the world, the Nogueira Team, or the Black House team.

Who was your BJJ teacher?

My teacher, Carlos Machado, who is a cousin of the Gracies—the guy is amazing, been training since he was four years old. He was the nephew to the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu… the guy is just a bible of Jiu-Jitsu. He’s here in Dallas, so it was a great opportunity to train with him. He’s phenomenal, not only in jiu-jitsu but as a human being.

Do you do any strength and conditioning for jiu-jitsu?

It all depends on the person. It’s just things you understand by watching. Some people have to get bigger, some have to get smaller. You see, the guys like Jose Aldo can last for a long time because their heart doesn’t have to pump so much blood, because he’s smaller.

How is Mixed Martial Arts perceived in Brazil?

It was dying, to be honest with you. You have to understand, in order for Jiu-Jitsu to even have a reputation in Brazil, they would put news in the newspaper: “Come to Gracie Academy if you want to get your teeth broken, your arm snapped,” you understand? They were challenging everyone. So a mom wouldn’t want to put her kids there. But now that they see people coming out of poverty and becoming famous and rich, it’s going to go back up.

It is a rich man’s sport. Jiu-jitsu is a more elite sport than boxing. In Brazil they say, if you are poor, go to Muay Thai or boxing. Jiu-jitsu is about $130, $160 per month and then there’s the gi, the equipment.

Everybody needs to be a little clever in fighting. It’s a mental game, as well as physical.

When I started doing jiu-jitsu, I thought that if I got stronger, muscular, it would solve my problems. It would give me confidence; no one would mess with me. But after a long time, after my teacher, Carlos Machado, I understood that if you got stronger mentally, you can dominate more people than if you were stronger physically. Mentally, you can control legions of people. These guys, with their words, with their knowledge, they control nations. The mind controls the body.

The Guillotine Choke

The Guillotine Choke

Before I ever took a lesson in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or boxing lesson, I used to strap on a pair of cheap gloves and get into brawls with other kids. My best friend is a tall guy with long limbs, and fighting him was a nightmare. If you tried to come in close to neutralize his reach, he would immediately throw an arm over and around your neck and squeeze until you tapped or passed out. This is called the guillotine choke.

The guillotine is still one of my favorite submission holds. It is very easy to execute and works against aggressive people with poor wrestling technique—meaning, of course, that it works on nearly everyone. It is not just a neck crank, as a well-executed hold will reduce blood flow to the brain by obstructing the carotid arteries and place a very uncomfortable amount of pressure on the trachea. Of course, this does mean that the guillotine choke is a dangerous maneuver and that these instructions should not actually be carried out. I am not a jiu-jitsu instructor, wrestler, or authority on the either subject, and the following is strictly for informative use!

A man is barreling at you low with his neck out. He wants to tackle you. This is how to neutralize a football tackle and execute a guillotine choke:

1. Assume a more stable position. This means keeping your base a little wider than shoulder width and your hips low.

2. Slow him down by meeting the top of his forehead with your palms. This is optional.

3. Throw an arm around his neck. Try to get it deep. Ideally, your elbow crease should be in contact with his trachea.

4. Secure the choke by clasping your hands together.

5. Stand up and arch your back, while keeping your assailant’s head low. Think about trying to rip his head off and take it with you.

From here, you can wrap your legs around his back and fall to the ground, which reduces your opponent’s mobility. I would only do this if the ground is soft, your guillotine is tight (if he gets out, that means you’re underneath a really angry guy), and you’re worried about the opponent punching anything below your chest. I’ve also seen guillotine suplexes performed, which end with you in mount with full control of your opponent’s neck.

The deepest guillotine I have ever seen is Dan Miller’s submission of Dave Phillips in the IFL. Though Phillips was mostly conscious after the hold is released, the choke itself was very graphic and undeniably effective. Again, this choke works well against low-level BJJ practitioners, bad wrestlers, or totally untrained opponents--or if you're Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, against Tim Sylvia for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Title.

Last night I got the chance to sit down with JB, a former peer from Saekson Janjira's Muay Thai who wrestled in high school and made his way to Cobra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Plano, where he teaches wrestling. JB is a young, aspiring MMA fighter in college.

What got you into martial arts?

I used to play basketball, and then coaches choosing whether I got to play or not—I didn’t like that. I knew in wrestling that I would have challenge matches and it would be all up to me whether I would be playing or not. And then I started doing the Muay Thai thing at Saekson’s, and then the whole MMA thing, and then jiu-jitsu, you need submissions and submission defense.

You said you have a tournament coming up this Saturday?

It’s the Lone Star Classic, I want to say? It’s a gi tournament, and you have to weigh-in with the gi. There’s 167.5 and 181, but you weigh in in the gi and the gi is easily five pounds, so I’m going for the 181.

Are you planning on competing in MMA?

Oh, for sure. I’m eighteen, just graduated from high school. I’m trying to get settled down, I need to get consistent stand-up training, what I have here with jiu-jitsu, and college is kind of throwing a wrench in the works. I’ve been working at Domino’s Pizza for a while so I can negotiate the hours, close one day, open one day, you know.

Is wrestling in high school Greco-Roman or folktyle?

You start off folkstyle, that’s what everybody does, and if you want to wrestle after the season’s over on your own then it’s Greco-Roman.

How has your wrestling influenced your BJJ game?

Jiu-jitsu is really different. It’s a lot of little, little details; that’s why it takes so long to get your black belt. That’s why Eddie’s so much better—he knows all the little details. You have to get those inches, every little detail—everything, you have to really master it.

I’m getting really into jiu-jitsu, because if you get a black belt, you’re kind of set. Anybody can get a black belt. You just have to work hard and show up; you’ll learn it and you’ll get it. Wrestling, you have to be an athletic specimen, you have to cut weight, you have to compete in tournaments every weekend, go to the Olympics, get your name out there… And then Muay Thai, I mean, Saekson’s had what, how many fights? I’m not trying to fight 500 times, you know?

What would you describe as the perfect template for a fighter?

You honestly need a little bit of everything. The most successful fighters have a really good wrestling background, enough standup to not get knocked out, and good enough jiu-jitsu to defend against submissions. I guess wrestling is probably your best base, because you can control where the fight goes, you have the cardio, and you’re used to competing in front of other people. So I’d say wrestling is really important.

Wrestling is kind of like a cult. It was crazy, man, you’re up there at seven in the morning running, cutting weight, not eating, working harder than normal people work with a fourth of the food that they eat. So when you’re like fueled up, you’re like way better than all those other people, you know what I’m saying?

On Being Asian in the World of Strength

Tomorrow night, Manny Pacquiao will defend his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of this generation. He is such a phenomenon in the Philippines that the incidence of crime literally drops on fight night because everyone is too busy cheering on their native son. Pacquiao is revered by many as one of the few Asian role models in existence. Rarer still, he is an Asian man excelling in the world of combat sports and physical activity.

My parents were born in Indonesia. My dad is Chinese by blood and my mom is a little bit Chinese, a little bit of Indonesian, and, strangely enough, has a surname that could be Indian or Filipino. I grew up in Lubbock, and have since lived in Texas for the large majority of my life. I want to get strong and fight for many reasons, but one of them is undeniably the fact that the only Asians I saw in popular culture were known for their martial arts prowess. As a kid, the only people who looked like me on television were the Black Power Ranger, Jackie Chan, and Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat.

I was skinny and of average height when I first picked up a barbell. My parents were supportive but told me that the Chinese looked at extra mass as useless and purely cosmetic, that the culture frowned upon ‘mirror muscle’ as vain and a sign of low intelligence. It made sense to me because even Bruce Lee, arguably the face of martial arts, probably never weighed more than 160lbs. Despite being an incredible physical specimen, Bruce Lee also dispatched his onscreen opponents with impeccable technique and skill instead of raw power. The largest male Chinese weightlifter placing gold at the 2008 Olympics was Lu Yong, who weighs in at somewhere between 170 and 190lbs for competition.

I’ve found myself in many American gyms surrounded by a sea of faces that are white, black, Hispanic, Arab, or Indian, but rarely East Asian. I witnessed the same trend at Saekson Janjira’s Muay Thai classes, the boxing club at my old school in New Orleans, and in nearly every group I’ve encountered practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I think the reason for this is that aggression and violence are universally frowned upon in Asian culture, and both of those things are necessary to excel in weight training and certainly unavoidable in a fight. Traditionally, the ability to maintain your dignity and composure under any circumstance is highly regarded by Asians.

At the same time, my best friend has Mongolian parents, and he can bench more than me and we’re rough equals when it comes to boxing and wrestling. Just last month I invited one of my friends, an Indian guy who plays guitar in a hardcore punk rock band, to work out with me, and he deadlifted an easy 365lbs. for several repetitions on his very first try. What many older Asians don’t realize is that weight training and martial arts also necessitate diligence, proper planning, hard work, and the desire to be better than everyone else—all of which are values that were instilled in me by my mom and dad.

As I write this, an extended preview of Pacquiao versus Marquez III is playing in the background, and I’ve just read about an MMA fight scheduled to take place in Jakarta, where my mom grew up. Two Japanese guys (one of which is the always-exciting Kid Yamamoto) will fight on the undercard of the UFC’s debut on the FOX network tomorrow, and next week, Vietnamese kickboxer Cung Le will take on Wanderlei Silva in the co-main event of UFC 139. Being Asian and training makes me a minority within a minority, but somehow, I feel like that is due to change.

Capoeira: You Got Served

Capoeira was developed by slaves from Africa who disguised their fights from their masters as a form of dance (Sheridan, 2007). The closest thing I can compare it to is break dancing: you can find participants throwing kicks from handstands and doing all sorts of acrobatics. Capoeira is very flashy and heavily based on rhythm. I got the opportunity to see a Capoeira exhibition in person, and everyone was clapping and cheering and even playing drums throughout the match, which was really less of a fight and more a display of grace and skill.

Capoeria is not widely used in modern MMA, but you can see its influence most notably in Anderson Silva, who dances in the ring and possesses a certain fluidity in his movements that very uncommon in the average brawler.

It is ironic that MMA fans will think of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai as the definitive Brazilian fighting template, but in popular culture, Capoeira is the stereotypical fighting style. The 2006 independent action movie The Protector features this gratuitous, over-the-top fight scene with no real explanation between the main character, a Muay Thai practitioner, and some caricature of a Brazilian with dreads and wire-enhanced capoeira. Undisputed 3: Redemption (a C-movie based on a franchise that originally starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames) brought us a similar character in 2009.

Capoeira is still popular in Brazil, but mostly as a cultural institute. A social organization called AfroReggae, for example, uses Capoeira to give children who would otherwise get involved with the drug trade and gang life a hobby to live for. They use Brazilian (specifically, black Brazilian) culture to teach children the importance of morality, education, and the arts (Platt, Neate, 2006).

Next time you play Tekken 3, pick Eddy Gordo.


Sources:


Sheridan, S. (2007). A Fighter's Heart. Atlantic Monthly Press.


Neate, P., & Platt, D. (2006).Culture is our weapon. New York, New York: Penguin Books.

Novembrawl: Major Brazilians Fighting this Month


November is an exciting month for some of the highest-profile Brazilian fighters in the world. Be sure to check out some of these events—you know and I both know that these are going to be real brawls.


Brad Pickett versus Renan Barao: November 5th


Fighters in MMA’s bantamweight division cut down their weight to 135lbs. before every fight. Though these competitors may seem light, do not let their size fool you—with less muscle mass to carry around, bantamweight fighters are able to keep up a blistering pace during their bouts without getting tired. Renan Barao is a young, undefeated Brazilian fighter with 26 names in his win column, fighting an Englishman in his own country. Will Barao be able to land on Pickett’s stiff upper lip?


Thiago Alves versus Papy Abedi: November 5th


Thiago Alves has wins over Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle, and Josh Koscheck, and once fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title. Alves uses his powerful Muay Thai to pick apart his opponents on the feet; however, his next challenge is a judo player with heavy hands who will test Alves’s takedown defense and ability to deal with fighters even larger than himself. Fireworks are guaranteed.


Junior Dos Santos versus Cain Velasquez: November 12


There has always been a certain gravitas around the heavyweight title in combat sports. Next week, Junior Dos Santos and current titleholder Cain Velasquez will square off for a spot in the pantheon of champions like Ali, Tyson, Foreman, and Marciano. There’s a lot of hype behind this matchup, but both guys are exciting fighters that like to put on a show. Dos Santos could bring a lot of attention to Brazilian MMA if he takes the belt home next week.


Wanderlei Silva versus Cung Le: November 19


Some competitors in the sport of MMA call themselves “athletes” or “martial artists,” but Wanderlei Silva is by everyone’s definition a fighter. The man known as “The Axe Murderer” for his vicious style has wins over Rampage Jackson, Sakuraba, Dan Henderson, Ricardo Arona, and Michael Bisping. Silva is the prototypical Chute Boxe fighter, with a mean clinch and wild but effective striking. He looks to score a win over the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Cung Le.


Mauricio Rua versus Dan Henderson: November 19


Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is everything I like about Wanderlei Silva, but six years younger and with flashier kicks. He is the former PRIDE Grand Prix winner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. His opponent, Dan Henderson, is a 41 year old former Olympic wrestler whose last win was a first-round knockout of the greatest heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport, Fedor Emelianenko. This non-title bout between two living legends looks to be nothing short of spectacular.

Novembrawl: Brazilians Throwing Down this Month