Over the years, I have seen my share of students that have survived and thrived in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/MMA and those that have not. We bring our personalities, athletic abilities, past experience and egos with us when we first enter any academy. But what became abundantly clear in the the early years of training with Jorge is that, regardless of who you were and what you came in with, you needed to train, train hard, and train a lot.
We were a Carlson Gracie Academy in these early years (I had the opportunity to meet Master Carlson around 1998 when he came in to visit and teach. At 66, he was one tough player.) The tournament scene was non exisistent. The IBJJF (or at that time the CBJJ) World and Pan championships had only started in 1996, and the NAGA and Grapplers Quest promotions had not been created or were in their infancies. So, our competition was amongst ourselves (Our Saturday No Gi training sessions became a tradition for pushing and testing one another) . Jorge often advised that he had never fought in any organized event in Brazil. He only fought in the streets, so his focus of training was never geared to time, rules, or points. It was about training for survival. Training for the finish. "YOU NEED TO TRAIN MORE" was Jorge's favorite mantra. It became his default answer to most questions and inquiries. He would yell it, scream it or whisper it in order to get his point across: That this was the only solution. In order to finish, to survive and win, you needed to experience positions and scenarios over and over. The well worn path becomes the well known path. After all these years, I can say for certain that this statement is the best training advice I have ever heard.
Late 1997, I met Mike Yanez and we became fast friends and training partners. We would eventually form two thirds (Kelly Carter, our third partner joined around 1999/2000) of our compeition team. Our training together was spirited and we grew together to eventually be the first Americans awarded our Black Belts by Jorge and Pablo.
An event that defined the academy occured in late '97, early '98. At the time, Jorge had another Black Belt instructing at the school. His name is irrelevant, but he had a following within the school. For whatever reason, the partnership between Jorge and this person deteriorated and he left the academy. A major portion of the student population left with him. It was then that I learned of the Portuguese term "Creonte" which was defined as person who betrayed the team and went to another school, essentially a traitor. But Mike and I remained and continued our training. The group classes were smaller and, for a time, I did not have any idea if the school would continue. But Jorge made a shrewd decision to open a second school in Ft. Lauderdale. The addition of a second location increased our membership (and would eventually become our headquarters). As karma would have it, our academy would live on to thrive and the other school, well, it didn't last.
I was awarded my blue belt sometime in 1998, I can't remember the day or how it was given to me. I just remember Jorge telling me that I had to put a black patch on it. I had no idea why, but I set out with a black piece of fabric, needle and thread and created the single worst sewing job known to man. When he saw it, he chuckled, but said it would do.
Eventually, Jorge made the decision to close the Pembroke Pines branch and move all training to Ft. Lauderdale. Despite the distance from my home, I did not waiver in my training schedule and made the commute four/five times a week. The move to a new school with the increased membership, the addition of Kelly, and the decision to hold the CBJJ Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships in Florida, would solidify the foundation of Team Popovitch.
