Rigan Machado with the Utah black belts under his lineage. Left to right: Dave Johnson, Gerald Harris, Rigan Machado, Jeff Kunze, Brandon Ruiz

Arcanum

You have had a chance to compete at a high level and also teach a lot of great athletes. So what do you like about competing and then what do you like about teaching?

Rigan Machado

Competition is part of a big motivation for me to train, to go to the highest level because the competition always pushing for me to go to the next step. I think the competition help you to get the top shape. Competition help you to get ready to make your techniques the best, you know what I mean? I recommend to everybody.

Arcanum

You are doing a lot of teaching now. What do you like about that?

Rigan Machado

I remember one time I talked to Helio Gracie, and he said the key to the success in the jiu-jitsu for me, for my family is you have to love what you do. I love to teach, I love to get somebody who know nothing and make him a very good player, he can do the right chess game, he will learn how to set up the submission, and he will learn how to set up the sweeps. That’s what I love; I love to see people grow from level one, all the way to the black belt, that’s amazing.

Arcanum

So that leads me to my next question: what makes a good jiu-jitsu coach?

Rigan Machado

As a jiu-jitsu coach I remember one time I have a lesson from Rolls Gracie with Carlos Gracie. I was an assistant coach like in the process of learning how to teach and he got for me to teach a guy who I believe was the worse student. I see some of the other trainers got students who is already great athletes, who learn it real fast and I was a kind of upset. I come to my coaches to ask, why you gave me the worse student for me to try and make this guy a champion? The answer was the answer I use in my philosophy today. He came to me and said there is no such thing as a bad student, just a bad coach. The reason I gave you this student because it’s a bigger challenge for you. You are going to have to think, you have to figure out ways to make this guy better than the other guys who are already better athletes. That’s why I put the worse student in your hands; because that’s going to challenge you to develop your abilities to become a better coach to everybody else.

Arcanum

How do you make the mental transition and physical transition from training in class to gearing up for a competition?

Rigan Machado

The competition is…when you train in the academy you don’t have no adrenaline, you don’t have no pressure. You don’t have the responsibility. I think the moment you have responsibility you have pressure, have people watch you. All these elements change a lot. You combine with that adrenaline, the time factor, the points. I think with competition the more you do, the better you get in control your adrenaline, the better you get at feeling comfortable and the better you play the chess game. I remember one time I talked to my coach Rolls. He said two things make a good act: hours on the mat and hours in competition. I follow the same philosophy. The more you compete, the better you’re going to be.

Arcanum

I remember finding a website – I think it was an older website for the Machados – that talked about how you guys steered away from the violent, vale-tudo kind of competition. Can you talk about that?

Rigan Machado

I love mixed martial arts, you know what I mean? But I was more in love with jiu-jitsu. The love I have for this sport is so big in my heart. At the time we did a choice what we loved the most and my brothers decided we loved the martial arts; we loved the philosophy, we loved the history, we loved everything, so let’s focus a hundred percent in the sport. And that basically at the time was the decision. I don’t if know that was a mistake, because the mixed martial arts grow real big. But we didn’t know it was going to get that big.

Another way I think we think we couldn’t know and choose to go to the mixed martial arts is because the true mixed martial of today is a fantastic chess game, it’s a fantastic game. You have the throws, you have the boxing, you have the – things like I love. But I am happy because today I train a lot of fighters and I have experience to put together some real good fighters. For me it was at the time a decision for the love for this sport.

Arcanum

So do you and your brothers get together often quite a bit still?

Rigan Machado

We use to be often together all the time but the problem is we are getting so busy doing seminars, movies, all kinds of different things it is sometimes not easy like it used to be. I tried to do my best to see my brothers but everybody is so busy. But we try to keep together.

Arcanum

What are some misconceptions about Brazilian jiu-jitsu that are still out there that you would like to change?

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This post is for you BJJ enthusiasts all over the world: if you had the chance to ask a question of Rigan Machado, one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competitors of all time, what would it be? Rigan is pretty much the other Rickson as far as his record goes (read the Wikipedia article for a quick overview if you’re not up on your BJJ history).

Leave your questions in the comments, and I’ll work them into my interview with Rigan this April! I’ve been told I’ll have the opportunity for an interview sometime during his visit, and I figured you all might have some great question ideas.

P.S. For you locals, I promised more information on the upcoming seminar for Rigan. The good news is, you can register for the seminar at this link. The seminar will be at Lehi Judo. It’s a fairly small club, so it might be crowded, and I’ve been told if a lot of people register they may hold a second seminar to catch the overflow. I’ll keep you posted on details as I hear them.

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Nowadays there are BJJ black belts a-plenty. But there are very few people that are considered masters of the art. Sylvio Behring is one of them. A 7th degree red/black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in judo, Sylvio has probably forgotten more jiu-jitsu than most of us will ever learn. I was able to attend one of his seminars at his affiliate school in Sandy, UT this fall. Master Behring is a highly respected teacher and I was impressed with his humble demeanor and professionalism…especially his commitment to students, his duties as a BJJ master, and living a clean lifestyle in general. The wisdom he shared left a bigger impression on me than the techniques he showed…and the techniques were fantastic. That’s the kind of man he is. He graciously agreed to answer a few questions after the seminar. Here’s what we talked about.

Master Sylvio Behring. Photo courtesy UtahMartialArt.

SkinnyD

Could you start out by introducing yourself and telling us a little about your background and history in jiu-jitsu?

Sylvio Behring

My father is Grand Master Flavio Behring. My father started jiu-jitsu in 1947 and became one of the instructors under master Helio Gracie and Master João Alberto Barreto. I am born in 1962. In ’66 I was already on the mats training every class at Master João Alberto Barreto’s academy in Copa Cabana.

One of my biggest influences in my jiu-jitsu was my master João Alberto Barreto, my father always as a guide and teacher, that teach me all the basics and really put me to train jiu-jitsu and self defense. But I had two other very important influences in my life – one that made me be a real successful instructor and made me become a master was my master Alvaro Barreto, João Alberto Barreto’s younger brother. Master Alvaro is amazing instructor, he was my inspiration to be who I am now. I really follow his instruction. I got from him my orange, blue, purple, brown, black belts, and my red-black belt as well. My red-black belt I got under him, my father and João Alberto. And my brother, was Marcelo Behring, Marcelo was an amazing person, a skillful fighter who always challenged me to keep in shape so I could always be ready for whatever comes.

For judo, there is Sensei Helcio Gama, Ney Wilson, Marco Aurelio Gama and Julio Gama…also Edgard Freitas and Sensei de Lucca. I also have trained with Master Helio Gracie, Master Relson Gracie, Master Rickson Gracie, Sensei Geraldo Bernardes. There are others that I haven’t mentioned also.

SkinnyD

Someone like me, coming up, we’re at the bottom looking up in awe at some of the big names in jiu-jitsu. Who was it when you were in my position that you aspired to be like?

Sylvio Behring

Rolls Gracie, Rickson… in the beginning it was my masters…those are the guys who I was looking forward to be like them. My master Alvaro Barreto was amazing as well, so I had the best example I think from those guys. As a fighter, Rolls Gracie, Rickson Gracie. It was mostly those guys, I was following to be like them. Really guys who gave us some light to think about, to train hard, because those guys were really really good, ahead of their time.

SkinnyD

Many of us who have been training only a short while in jiu-jitsu may not have a full comprehension what a red and black belt means. What does it mean from a definition standpoint to be a seventh degree red and black belt, and what does it mean to you personally?

Sylvio Behring

Well, it means you have to go through all the levels of black belt, then some years after sixth degree red/black, you’re allowed to apply for the seventh degree. It’s just a formality that comes with time and dedication. I think the right way to do it would be to be tested. The requirements that my masters decide to promote me was because the work I do outside of Brazil, the progressive system that I’ve developed, the self defense, that I specialize to preserve the culture. So I was recognized by them for the things I do have been doing for jiu-jitsu; more than 100 black belts worldwide, so they recognized that.

For myself, it’s more like a recognition. Was I ready to get the promotion? For me it was natural, because I think that the belt is not the most important thing. It’s really important for you to get reference in your sport. If you reach the level of master, we have very few masters worldwide, there’s like below 50 or 30. It’s not that much, maybe 100, I don’t have an idea. But even if it’s 1000, it’s nothing. This sport’s still in the beginning, so it’s in that time that I now really make a lot of difference. I’m a reference, I’m one of very few in the world, so I have to represent my country, my sport, my lineage under my masters to do really good work and bring the real jiu-jitsu, you know, and represent the culture that I learned.

SkinnyD

So as someone who has been doing jiu-jitsu for such a long time, I’m sure there is a different way that you measure your progress than when you are a blue or purple belt. As a master, how do you gauge improvement for yourself?

Sylvio Behring

Studying, reading, talking with my grand masters – I have a meeting with them once a week. I learn a lot. I sit with them and I have a talk, I have a class and there’s knowledge of some things I have no idea. Read a lot, and get knowledge from some people, not even jiu-jitsu related. I get to talk a lot and help develop my understanding of other things, not just the fight, because for my improvement and my knowledge I have to keep studying.

I have to drill and stick with the basics, make the basics very, very perfect. I need to have the basics perfect, so if I have a chance for seminars with anyone who can help me, I’ll go for the seminars. For example, I’ve had last year two seminars with Rickson Gracie that really help me to view a new problem that I’m working with for inappropriate behavior management. It’s a very interesting program that works very well. I have been very successful with this everywhere I go, and I can tell the class with Rickson helped me think about that.

SkinnyD

There comes a point for a lot of black belts where they don’t train quite the way they used to, sometimes not spending quite as much time on the mat as they did when they were blue or purple belts…have you experienced this or can you comment on that?

Sylvio Behring

It’s very individual. I know guys older than me who love to roll, and they roll and roll all the time, they love it. I know guys younger than me, they’re already quitting, they’ve rolled so much…a few with a lot of injuries maybe and they start being afraid to get injured…if you have some injury that bugs you the pain makes you not want to roll, or if you’re not in shape.

One thing with rolling it’s like a cycle. I used to say, you don’t stop to roll because you get old, you get old because you stop to roll. You should be thinking about having a balance, don’t roll so much you expose yourself to get hurt, but don’t skip it. It’s a really fun part of the game. As long as you can roll and have chances to perform, you still can see some things. Because after a while and a certain level, some things just pop through your mind when you’re rolling. You have ideas, creativity when you move when you see somebody moving, or see something new. It really can help you. The best laboratory is live, so just talk about theory is not going to bring you anywhere.

I think it’s a very individual perspective, so some people quit earlier, but if you feel the balance between ‘don’t roll so much’ but ‘roll sometimes’, that’s the best way.

SkinnyD

So will you roll, for example, with any belt level, with new guys starting out, or mostly upper belts?

Sylvio Behring

No, I don’t like to roll with anybody. If I don’t know the person, I will avoid it. You know, experience that I’ve passed, how many people I see during the year – hundreds. So if I’m going to roll with someone that I don’t know…I should be rolling with someone that know me for a long time, I think it will be more pleasant and fair to roll with someone who is with me for a long time. I don’t like to roll with someone that I don’t know if I didn’t roll with someone I know and I’m missing the chance to roll with this person, so I’d rather roll with people that are related with me.

SkinnyD

You’ve trained over 100 black belts, including a some really high-profile champions and fighters. Can you tell us a few of the people you’ve trained that have really had high achievements in the jiu-jitsu world?

Sylvio Behring

Fabricio Verdum, Mario Hayes, Anderson Silva, Ronaldo “Jacare”…some of the really good fighters that have passed through my hands and some moments of my life, but those guys are some of the most public, I think… also Minotauro, a lot of guys came and eventually trained with us, but were not always my students. But I had a chance to teach a lot of good fighters, a lot of champions.

SkinnyD

From your experience, what is it that separates someone at that high level of competition, as opposed to someone who is really, really good but doesn’t reach that level?

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