Interview with Caio Terra

I used to do some writing here and there for TXMMA.com and thought I'd post up an interview I did with Caio Terra last fall. 

September 26, 2011 - A native of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Caio originally began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2003 as a way to defend himself from being bullied at school. Although Caio himself was reluctant to train, he caved in to the pressure from his mother who was concerned about his situation. He quickly found a passion for the sport and became very committed to Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu. He first began training under Ricardo Vieira, Rodrigo Medeiros, Marcelo Ribeiro, and Felipe Costa. Eventually, Caio began training under Grandmaster Paulo Mauricio Strauch and Grandmaster Reyson Gracie. His ability to attend classes was poor at the time and he was only able to manage one class per day. By the time Caio received his promotion to blue-white belt, his motivation was unquestionable and he built a mat system at his house so that he could train multiple times per day. Caio received his black belt under Grandmaster Stauch and Gracie in 2006 after only 3 years of dedicated training. Being awarded a black belt in such a short time frame is very uncommon and an incredible achievement.

In 2007, Caio moved to the United States and today spends most of his time teaching at his school, the Institute of Martial Arts in San Jose, California.
Caio’s initial motivation to travel to the U.S. was to compete in the various large tournaments. His tournament record is incredibly impressive. Caio is a four-time Rio de Janeiro state champion, a       five-time Brazilian National Champion, and thirteen-time World Medalist, but he is also a   three-time International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Black Belt World No-Gi Champion, capturing the title in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Additionally, he was the IBJJF Black Belt World Champion in 2008 and finished in second place in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Caio continues to regularly compete and add more championship titles to his resume.

He has recently experienced multiple absolute division championships at IBJJF tournaments, which is impressive for an athlete that spends most of his time competing in the Rooster, or Galo weight class. For those unfamiliar with those classes, we are talking about a guy that stands between 5’6” and 5’7” and walks around at 133lbs on a normal day! I find that to be pretty incredible and inspirational to smaller grapplers who are regularly challenged dealing with larger opponents both in the gym and competitions.

Caio recently released a DVD titled 111 Half Guard Techniques. I purchased this DVD back in June and I believe that it is the most comprehensive half guard instructional on the market. The series consists of 3 disks that begin with a focus on the basic concept of playing the half guard game, working out of bad spots, and recovering the half guard. It moves on to cover intermediate through advanced level techniques.
One of the things that impressed me in this series is that nearly every technique provides an option to modify the original move based on the reaction from your opponent. Caio does an excellent job of explaining in detail so that there is a complete understanding of the mechanics of each movement. I found that many instructional videos show a move and do not explore other possible situations that may occur, so I was pleased to find that is not the case with this series. I own instructional DVD’s by other world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and they pale in comparison when it comes to the method of instruction they utilize. In my opinion, this DVD set is a gold mine that will keep most grapplers busy working through the material for many months.

I had the opportunity to interview Caio Terra and get the answers most BJJ enthusiasts want to know:

One-on-One Interview with Caio Terra by TXMMA’s by Matt Little

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us Caio. First, how old are you?

Caio: I am 25 years old.

What were the circumstances for you coming to the United States?

Caio: I wanted to compete at the 2007 World Championships. (TXMMA note: Caio Terra won silver at this tournament)

Afterwards, I was encouraged by family and friends to stay here to teach in America so I decided to stay. I’ve been here since then.)

Describe your style of BJJ.

Caio: I am patient. I wait for the right moment for whatever technique is needed at the moment.

Do you get nervous during competitions and do you game plan for opponents?

Caio: Yes, I still get nervous but I feel 100% that everyone is also nervous when they compete as well. I do not use any game plan. I’m confident in my abilities and take risks to force my opponent to react.

I know you spend a lot of time teaching at your gym and traveling for seminars all over the U.S. How do you find the time and motivation to prepare for tournaments?

Caio: It is very hard for me to prepare. I’m not a big fan of training terribly hard. With my busy schedule I only train Jiu-Jitsu. I put so much time into the mat and will usually train for two weeks before tournaments. I feel I can trust my technique to help carry me through to the end.

So do do you train at all outside of the mat?

Caio: No, I’m always drilling. No additional conditioning like lifting or cardio. I really feel that some people were born to be very strong and I am not one of those guys. So I just focus on technique through lots of drilling/mat time.

Tell me about how you deal with larger/stronger opponents in the Absolute division you’ve had so much success with.

Caio: In some regards, it’s easier going against bigger guys. Most of the bigger guys are way heavier and stronger. They feel like they have to push the pace and attack. That allows me to play more of a counterattack style, which I prefer. Also, by pushing pace sometimes forces them into making mistakes. When competing at my weight class I have to push the pace as they don’t risk themselves against me.

Earlier this year you were very outspoken about PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and that you feel many competitors are using them. How widespread do you think this is? Has there been any backlash for those statements?

Caio: I feel that most of the finalists in big tournaments are using them. There was a good amount of backlash for my statements. I see no reason unless you are using them you know? It makes no sense.

Do you have a preference between GI or No-GI grappling?

Caio: I feel I like the gi most of the time. It really depends on what we’re training for. I guess it doesn’t matter. I enjoy both and whatever my friends want to train is usually fine with me.

It is pretty well known you have a strange diet (consumes large amounts of sweets/candy) and it was discussed a bit on your DVD, have you seen a doctor to figure out what is wrong with your diet?

Caio: Yes I did actually. I found out that I am hypoglycemic! I had to make some changes to my diet to help me recover from training. At least I can understand now what is going on but it’s still difficult. I don’t over train as much now.

So ADCC is right around the corner in London. I was shocked and disappointed that you were not on the competitor list having recently won the 2009 & 2010 World Nogi Championships (IBJJF). Why is that?

Caio: I felt like it was ridiculous. I had been battling some injuries and always said I would have to play it by ear. I never received an invitation to compete at ADCC. Guys like Rafael Mendes need competition. They keep inviting the same guys every year. I have never competed against some of these guys like Mendes and Cobrinha and would like to while they are still in their prime.

 

 

 

 

 

With that said, who are your picks to win in each respective division?

Caio’s ADCC 2011 Predictions

Under 65.9kg► Rafael Mendes or Cobrinha

Under 76.9kg► Marcelo Garcia

Under 87.9kg► Andre Galvao

Under 98.9kg► Roger Gracie if he competes, otherwise Rodolfo Viera.

+99kg► Vinny Magalhaes or Fabricio Werdum

Under 60kg (women)► No comment

Over 60kg (women)► Hannette Staack

Who are your favorite grapplers to watch?

Caio: I really like to watch my teammates compete because I have an emotional attachment to those matches.

Who are your favorite MMA fighters to watch?

Caio: Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez…all Gracie Fighters of course!

With the success of your Half Guard DVD series, do you have plans to release any future DVD’s?

Caio: I can’t talk about any specifics now but I do have plans and it will be out sooner than most would expect.

(Note:  The future he plans he was hinting at was his relationship with Black Belt Mobile and the release of his new DVD: Modern Jiu-Jitsu)

Do you have any plans to visit Texas for a seminar?

Caio: I was supposed to come out for a seminar a while back but plans fell through. I’d love to come visit Texas but waiting for an invite.

With that, we conclude our conversation with Caio Terra. We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for him as he is definitely a world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and has a lot to offer the grappling community with his technical ability and instruction in addition to what how he’s able to perform in competition. Please visit his website for information on booking private lessons and seminars, and of course to purchase his instructional DVD’s , including his most recent 3-disc release, 111 Half Guard Techniques.

Post Worlds 2012 Hangover

As if we didn't get enough of Worlds (assuming you watched the live stream) Budovideos has released a couple more matches worth watching.  For those of you that didn't watch the stream these are two matches that you don't want to miss.  Xande Ribeiro has had a bit of a resurgence over the last few months.  His win against Andre Galvao at the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials was a BIG ONE.  Although he didn't win in Abu Dhabi it definitely put everyone on notice that Xande is back.
Xande vs Tussa (Worlds 2012)

Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida has been an absolute killer since receiving his black belt.  Last year at the Nogi Worlds he dispatched of most opponents quickly by submission.  Going into the Worlds 2012 Absolute final he was considered the heavy favorite but many were proclaiming Leo Nogueira of Alliance would give him a great match.

Caio Terra vs Brandon Mullins (Worlds 2012 Quarterfinal)

Caio Terra vs Bruno Malficine (Worlds 2012, Final)

Cobrinha vs Rafa Mendes (Worlds 2012, Final)

Berimbolos, Inverted Stuff, Blah Blah Blah!!!

In case you have been living under a rock, Berimbolo, Reverse De La Riva, basically anything inverted seems to have been the rage over the last year and currently in BJJ competitions.  BJJ is a constantly evolving sport and while some of these movements aren't necessarily new, the competition is also evolving and picking up these techniques.  The ability to find the techniques on YouTube and various DVDs is always growing so it's hard to not find it.  That said you are silly to not want to learn this so at the VERY LEAST you can recognize it and even better....avoid or defend against it.  I wouldn't say I'm building my game around it but since a large part of my game revolves around the 1/2 guard I think it's imperative to know how to attack from multiple angles and situations.  A lot of people I roll against will stand up in a combat base or simply stand up to try and open my 1/2 guard.  I have found that the "Terra Guard" or "Spiral Guard sweep" are very good options to counter this.

I have not spent much time working the Berimbolo and find a lot of variations on Youtube.  Unfortunately one of the best practitioners of this move, Rafael Mendes, has not made a good instructional of this.  I imagine he will at some point down the road.  Funny thing is he has been using this move for a while now.  I ran across some competition footage of him using it back in 2005.  Anywho, here is Rafa showing a version of Berimbolo that he has a lot of success with.



The last couple weeks we've been working some De La Riva options (not Berimbolo) and wanted to park this here as it's very similar to what JD's been showing us.  The only difference here is the opponent isn't nearly as broken down, you can't reach across, grab their back and roll them.  Rafa shows to break them down and expose their back which is a little different.

Not wanting to be completely defenseless in this position I found a nice Berimbolo counter that I'm going to start working into my training.  This works well on the ground once your opponent initiates the Berimbolo sweep.

This is an effective counter if your opponent is deep into the Berimbolo sweeping position while you are standing.

BJJ World Championships and GUNS are FUN!!!

Oh  man I'm so frustrated not watching this tournament (World Championship 2012).  I have watched this along with all major IBJJF (pay per views) for the last 3 years.  Instead, we took the kids out shooting with my brother and dad (avid gun hobbyists).  Because of that I missed sitting in front of this iMac ALL DAY long watching the first major day of black belt competition.  At this point I'm not going to bother ordering only to watch the finals on Sunday.  As much as I love BJJ I can't drop $20 for Sundays matches especially when I have to work from home.  There's no way I'd either get any work done or watch the matches with the level of concentration required.  Now it's Sunday morning. I managed to wake up early and knock out a ton of work...still working.  Budovideos (fortunately) is offering the finals today for only $10 which is really fair.

I've attached some videos from shooting today with the kids.  None of them had ever really fired a weapon before.  Caitlin was very intimidated by ALL of the guns.  The boys really enjoyed it.  By the end of the day we managed to get Caitlin to fire an old WWII water cooled machine gun a few times and my brothers M4 (full auto).  See the vids below.  All in all, I can't complain about missing the Worlds.  We had a great time as a family and had some excellent bonding time!

Seth shooting the M1917 Browning machine gun (Water Cooled makes it extra COOL)

Lindsey & the M4....I will add that she is a WAAAAAYYYYY better shot than me.  LOL

Seth with shotgun (plenty of time explaining how to hold this thing LOL)

Me with shotgun

Josh & the .50 cal....this thing puts BIG HOLES in stuff (Caitlin doing video...LOL)

Caitlin FINALLY shoots the M4 at the end of the day!!!

Caitlin & the M4 (different angle)

Dad blasting like a PRO!!!  (Caitlin recording video)

Not to be completely outdone....Budovideos was kind enough to post the Buchecha/Rodolfo Vieira absolute match from Saturday.  :)

Xande Ribeiro vs Roberto Alencar

Deadmau5 melts my brain

I've been a fan of techno, electronica, house, trance, whatever you would like to call it since raves in the early to mid-90's.  I've done an okay job of keeping up with the changes over the years and can honestly say that right now seems to find this genre of music at an all time peak.  I don't ever remember music being this good.  Five years ago Tiesto seemed like the best thing out there (for me at least).  In the last couple of years Deadmau5 and Skrillex have come into my music consciousness.  I feel like these guys have really changed the way people are making music and raised the bar really high.  There are lots of DJ's out there making wonderful remixes of stuff but (IMO) few that make really good ORIGINAL music.  You might say Skrillex is remixing with his samples but I would disagree for the most part.  Anywho, the other night Lindsey asks me if I've seen this Deadmau5 London show from last fall.  I had not seen it or even heard about it.  I don't care if you like this genre of music or not, either way watch this video.  Skip to the 14:00 minute mark if you don't care for the music to see some RIDICULOUS 4D.  Take note that Deadmau5 is spinning at the very bottom of the building to give a little perspective of what you are looking at.  There are many versions of this video floating around.  This particular video has been edited but you get the idea what this may have been like seeing it live.

Here is a really good example of a Skrillex remix and taking it to the next level.  The first video is an original piece by Benny Benassi....which is okay.  I don't dislike it but if you listen to this....then listen to the Skrillex remix of it and you'll see that he CRUSHED the original.

Now give the Skrillex version a listen and see what you think.

If you're still with me and not necessarily a fan or familiar with his work check out an original piece in this video.

Oddly enough Skrillex strikes an incredible resemblance to Corey Feldman.  LOL

Who Doesn't Like Chokes?

For the last month or so I've been dealing with a strained abdominal muscle that has really prevented me from training at a high level.  I can't work my guard game terribly much and certainly not while rolling.  My rolling has been pretty restrictive and I'm only working with select people to try and keep this injury from getting any worse or prolonging it.  I've been very focused on my topside game since then.  Last Saturday our instructor Shervin Alavi brought this series in for us to work. (by Andre Galvao).  I really like the choke but even more so I LOVE the half guard pass that sets up the choke.  I'm a huge fan of attacks from side control and knee on belly so I should be able to work this into my game pretty well.  Good stuff from Galvao and Team Atos. 

Now reastically the bottom guy may be able to free his elbow from the lapel trap.  In that siutation there is a great ezequiel choke that can be had from half guard or knee on belly.  See here in this video by Caio Terra at around the midway point in the video.   

Koral MKM Review

When I first started training back in early 2008 it didn't take me long to accumulate a few gi's.  Jiu-Jitsu was a new "thing" for me and I spared no expense to find a gi I simply loved.  I started with a Gameness Platinum, then an Ouano, then I found Koral.  Koral seemed to have a style about it that I really liked.  Additionally my body type fell really well into their sizing chart.  I picked up a blue Koral Classic and wore that for a really long time.  Fast forward almost four years later and my awesome wife purchased a Koral MKM in navy for me last December.  I was really excited since I had not had a new gi in about two years and my current assortment of mis-matched tops/bottoms were not holding up well.  For those not familiar with Koral here is a basic description and sizing chart provided:

The Koral MKM Competition GI is a high performance kimono designed for world class competition as well as hardcore jiu-jitsu training. This gi features a combination of lightness, but it is not so thin that your opponents can grip you easily. As with all Koral gi's the collar is made of a vulcanized rubber so that it does not absorb sweat and does not promote the growth of mold or mildew. The jacket is made with 1 piece of fabric (no seam in the back) for strength, comfort and durability.

This gi is made of 100% pre-shrunk cotton so you can expect minimal shrinkage. 

Size Chart

Height	Weight (lbs)	Size
5'0"-5'4"	95-120	A-0
5'4"-5'8"	125-155	A-1
5'8"-6'0"	155-190	A-2
5'11"-6'2"	200-250	A-3
6'1"-6'4"	220-255	A-4

My first impressions of the MKM were very good.  The stitching is always very clean with Koral gi's. This MKM would be my 4th gi by the Brazilian company.  The patches are really nice and set it apart from the standard Classic gi.  I know some people don't like having lots of patches on their gi's but I don't fall into that category IF they are done tastefully.

Koral is one of the few gi manufacturers that hasn't changed terribly much since I came into the sport.  I feel that this is due to a really good product that is consistent and almost always available for the consumer.  The design of the MKM simply hasn't changed with the jacket and pants.  Both fit just as my Koral Classic did back in 2008.  The thing that is different about this MKM is the navy blue color.  This color is very dark and stands out from the standard white or blue gi's.  It is so dark it almost appears as black to some people.  If I have a gripe about the design of the gi it is that Koral hasn't made any significant changes in a long time.  They have made some recent changes to the Classic gi and even introduced some different gi's over the years but style-wise, not much has changed.


The fit was exactly as I expected.  I am 5'7" and 155lbs.  I fall into the high end up of an A1 and the fit is very good.  The jacket and pants are not overly bulky or long.  They could stand at most maybe 10-15 minutes in the dryer but no more than that.  These gi's are pre-shrunk but anyone can shrink a gi in the washing machine with warm water and a trip to the dryer with some medium to high heat.  I intend to use this gi for competitions and plan to keep it legal in the fitting department.  Washing in cold and line drying this gi is the way to go.  I will occasionally throw it in the dryer on low heat with a dryer sheet to soften it up.

Prior to washing this gi I did soak it in vinegar in the bath tub in an attempt to lock the navy blue color into the gi.  This is generally recommended for all colored gi's. Let's be honest, there is nothing worse than a dark colored gi that has faded considerably.  I've seen so many black gi's out there that look gray due to old age and hundred of trips through the washing machine.  I have taken special care not to abuse this gi on the mats.  I wear it once per week to help preserve it and the gi has not lost much if any of it's dark coloration thus far after five months of use.  (Please note in the pictures that I did intentionally shrink the gi a little bit but not a significant amount.)  

As I stated before, the jacket is very predictable as compared to the Koral Classic.  I had always thought that the lapel was the same on the MKM and Classic.  However, upon comparing a Classic gi purchased about two years ago and the lapel of this MKM it appears I may be wrong.  The lapel and collar of the MKM appears to be slightly more thick than that of this Classic gi.  I'm not sure if that is due to the age/wear and tear of the Classic gi but I'm willing to be that it is not and was intended to be that way.  For all other manner, the fit of the MKM is identical to that of the Classic.  The weave and weight feel identical outside of the collar feeling a bit more rigid on the MKM.  I think that is likely attributed to the extra thickness of the collar/lapel and the fact that the MKM is just newer.  The length and bulkiness in the arms is very acceptable.  I do not like to feel like I am swimming around in my gi and this is avoided with the MKM.  The skirt on this gi is an acceptable length resting on the top of my thigh.  I find that it is not unnecessarily long but long enough that it makes the lapel tails very useful for attacking with chokes.


The pants on this gi are one of my favorite aspects of the uniform.  They feel like they were custom tailored to fit me.  I have plenty of gi's from other manufacturers that are comfortable but very bulky giving my opponents too much material to grab onto.  The pants are very fitted but not so much that they will not pass an IBJJF inspection.  My only gripe about the pants is the traditional drawstring as opposed to the rope style that many other brands have now adopted.  You can get these drawstrings very tight but when it comes to taking them off....that's another story.  Once these drawstrings are soaking wet from sweat they are a bit of a chore to remove.   Untying them isn't really the issue.  Once they are untied they simply are very tight against your waist still and require a little tugging to loosen the material from the death hold they have created against your hips.   This is a very minor issue for me.  These pants more than make up for this small issue in overall fit so it's not a deal breaker.  If they ever adopted a more friendly rope drawstring I certainly wouldn't be disappointed either.  The only other modification I could see to make these pants better are double drawstring loops to give more stability to the enclosure portion of the pants.  I have never had an enclosure loop tear but if it did, I think it would be nice to have additional loops as a back up.  The pants also feature an additional layer of material to reinforce the knees.  This is really important for those of us that either have a fitted pair of pants and/or spend a lot of time in guard or shooting.

My impressions of the gi while rolling are about how I expected them to be....VERY GOOD.  This gi feels very fitted on my body.  I don't feel like my opponents have any sort of advantage in the grips department.  One of my biggest gripes about some of the "Light" gi's is experiencing stretching in the sleeves.  This is definitely not an issue with the MKM and breaking my opponents grips is not a chore.  The MKM doesn't feel overly heavy either.  The gi itself weighs about 4.4 lbs.  Certainly not a "Light" gi but not the heaviest out there either.  I have competed once in this gi since getting it and do feel that it is perfect for regular training and definitely competition due to the cut and feel.  While I do periodically try other brands I keep finding myself coming back to the one I like best and that is Koral.

*Credit to my daughter, Caitlin for taking the pictures of me in the gi!  

This review has since been featured on Gi Reviews.net here:

http://gireviews.net/koral-mkm-competition-bjj-gi-review/