Marcelo Garcia is widely regarded as one of the greatest competitors in BJJ history…
Making his advice invaluable to anyone aspiring to follow in his footsteps.

And, well, his footsteps have been nothing short of spectacular.

Garcia’s rise to fame began shortly after he received his black belt in 2003. At that time, few could have predicted the level of success he would achieve.
Despite a respectable performance at the ADCC Trials that year, Garcia didn’t win the tournament, which initially meant he wouldn’t compete in ADCC 2003.

However, fortune favored him when he was called in as a late replacement for the 77kg division.
Garcia seized the opportunity, defeating BJJ legend Renzo Gracie and winning his first of several ADCC titles.

He went on to win three more ADCC titles – along with a bronze medal and two silver medals – cementing his legacy as one of the most successful competitors in ADCC history.

In a recent interview shared by FloGrappling, Garcia offered some key advice for competitors:

I wanna go there and give everything I have.

When I say everything I have, like I don’t wanna let no one decide my match.
I don’t wanna let no one decide the course of my life, because every time I’m there I used to have the feeling that like: “OK, this is gonna change my life.”

I’ve gotta go over there and give my best.
So when I go over there, even (if) I kinda like recognize the referee, even (if) I know like the person, the person reffed my match before, I don’t want him to be responsible to give me the match.

I wanna go there and I wanna be responsible to win the match, and I don’t wanna even like wait to the end of the match.

In other words, it’s all about taking full responsibility:

You are responsible. Don’t wait till nobody gives you the win.
You need to go over there to try and finish.

That’s what I did and that’s kinda the only advice that I feel is solid that I can give to whoever is competing today.

 

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A post shared by FloGrappling (@flograppling)