Nico Welko is a Luta Livre Black Belt under Marcio Cromado. He runs Renovação Fight Team Deutschland. He is a sports scientist with a specialization in sports medicine, so he works in a Sports Medicine Institute in the area of rehabilitation and prevention, medical physical therapy and performance diagnostics. Nico talks to BJJEE about why Luta Livre is for him one of my biggest passions and above all a responsibility. He also talks about what should happen for Luta Livre to really blow up and become more popular.

Why is Luta Livre a responsibility for you?

My master, Marcio Cromado, told me that as an RFT Black Belt in Luta Livre I hold now a kind of responsibility for the next generation in Europe and where ever I may go. If I don’t start teaching openly and sharing the knowledge, a piece of the art and the know-how will die with me, if I don’t open my arms for everyone, a piece of the art will die with me. If I don’t start teaching now, then when? So I listed to his words and decided to combine my professional competencies with the know-how from RFT in order to spread the art, enjoying it as kind of a side-hobby-job-activity-mix and things are going well.

How is to be a Luta Livre guy working with BJJ groups?

I actually have a better relationship with BJJ groups than with Luta Livre groups. It’s funny because I don’t feel any kind of rivalry between BJJ and Luta Livre, but I do inside Luta Livre. So actually the opposite to what one would expect.

How was your experience working with BJJ Globetrotters in their summer camp?

I was at the last BJJ Globetrotters Summer Camp as an Instructor. But for work reasons I  was only able to spend two days at the Camp and also had to leave earlier and was not able to stay from start to finish. It was really a pity because the camps and the people are just amazing. Highly recommended by the way and Christian is easy going. I just like that vibe and point of view so for me is no doubt about supporting the BJJ Globetrotters at any time in so far as I am able.

Is there a rivalry inside Luta Livre?

I am sick of the politics and the ego that exists in Luta Livre. In Luta Livre many pretend to be the “King of the Jungle”, “the alpha dog”, or the “almighty of the art”, you know. These guys just praise themselves holding a stupid posture full of ego and greed for power and for some cash imposing their own politics that just keep the development and grow of the art back. In my eyes that is just simple-minded and not a contemporary approach and in fact they just restrict themselves but they do not seem to understand what it is really all about. These guys begrudge anyone a thing, they talk against other and sometimes even roaring challenge each other. I’m just sick of that so I decided to keep away from this unconstructive atmosphere and I feel good.

What do you think of the statement of some Luta Livre masters that say that ‘BJJ No Gi doesn’t exist’?

For me “BJJ No Gi” is an official and legit sport, a discipline in BJJ. Many Luta Livre guys say that “BJJ No Gi” doesn’t exist, that if you take your Gi off you are doing “Luta Livre”. But it’s not! “BJJ No Gi” does exist and differs widely from “Luta Livre” and as such both styles have developed their own philosophies and approaches according to their rules, regulations and culture. It makes no sense for me to say that “BJJ No Gi” doesn’t exist, then we also could say that “Luta Livre” doesn’t exist and we were actually doing “Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling” as we know this from history. But again, the adaptation by the rules, regulations and culture matters and all that transformed “Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling” into what is known as “Luta Livre” today and so did BJJ with “No Gi” as well. So what should be wrong with that?

What is missing for Luta Livre to become more popular worldwide?

First of all the sale of belts in Luta Livre, making a business from it must end. The  people involved in these kinds of deals should be ashamed. With that kind of business they do not support the development of the art, only their pocket and that is completely irresponsible and ethically unacceptable because it creates the spread of Luta Livre with mediocrity and poor quality. Luta Livre needs more people working seriously, with ethics and moral principles. It would be beneficial for qualified Luta Livre Black Belts to stay loyal to Luta Livre, representing Luta Livre in their clubs or classes, because that is what can be read on their graduation diplomas, right? Qualified Luta Livre Black Belts who don’t officially represent Luta Livre but something else are actually not contributing to the popularity of Luta Livre. The Luta Livre community also would need a drastic change, some people would have  to restart their mentality and attitude by saying goodbye to their ego and self-created guru-status in order to work together, avoiding lobbyism. All of these factors prevent the growth of worldwide popularity for Luta Livre. That is why I decided to run some international projects in Luta Livre, being free of politics, ego and lobbyism but with serious, sustainable, responsible, and professional approaches. Everyone who shares our values and beliefs is welcome.

What are the biggest misconceptions that grapplers have about Luta Livre?

I think there are many but here we go with my top 3.

I guess the first misconception is that people think Luta Livre has not developed when their opinion is based on how many different new creative moves you see everyday comparing it with, for example, BJJ. But it is just because it would be very risky to try something acrobatic, especially when doing so you have to release the pressure or the tightness when the rules allow you a lot of submissions. In Luta Livre the absence of pressure and tightness means an opportunity for the opponent to escape, to attack or to do something. Just a different approach.

Misconception number two is that people confuse brute force with explosive actions or maneuvers. Luta Livre is explosive. Look at Olympic Wrestling… if you have no idea you will think it is just brute force, but it is not.

Misconception number three is that people see Luta Livre as an ineffective  style judging by the numbers of, for example, ADCC champions. However this is the wrong measuring instrument, because success in high-level sport depends primarily on the long-term professionalism of the athletes. In the context of ADCC, for every 100 long-term and fulltime professional BJJ athletes, Luta Livre has maybe 1 short-term and part-time professional athlete. So it is easy to predict which athlete will be the next world champion. It’s not about the style, it is about the professional condition of the athletes.

What are the main differences between different schools and styles of Luta Livre? 

Well, all around 90% of the Luta Livre practitioners all over the world are from the Tatu and Brunocillas lineage and the other 10% would be from a questionable lineage. So the fundamentals of these 90% are very similar. Some styles differ in some of their approaches and focus. At RFT for example we have a strong focus on Luta Livre for MMA but its easily transferable to submission grappling. Other teams or styles might have a main or sole focus on submission grappling and thereby the approaches change. Regardless, the Tatu/Brunocillas fundamentals and its strong imprint can be recognized within this 90%,  regardless of styles or names they use. The other 10% is maybe doing something else, but not the Luta Livre style that is actually known.

How is Luta Livre different from Catch Wrestling?

Catch Wrestlers have techniques and principles derived from their own history, as well as rules which differ such as the use of chokes and some positions.

What do you think of Gi Luta Livre that was developed by Marcelo Brigadeiro? Do you think that it will catch on?

I am skeptical

Tell us about the article you made about Luta Livre history?

When I wrote my thesis about Luta Livre and competition observation over 140 ADCC fights I realized that there are not scientific papers covering the history of Luta Livre but a lot of little stories, so after my graduation I decided to start new research with scientific standards and by doing so I met a group of researchers. And we discovered that in Luta Livre some groups of people were trying and still try to manipulate the history to their advantage in ways that are not consistent with our research results. So Elton Silva, a friend of mine and one of the researchers, and I decided to publish some parts of the results, but the Luta Livre community is a little problematic as I mentioned before. Not an easy task. However books will be published soon.

What do you appreciate about BJJ?

I never cease to be amazed and fascinated at how BJJ develops in terms of finding new solutions to situations or creating advantage maneuvers according to the sport BJJ rules. In Luta Livre we can’t do all the stuff because the Luta Livre rules allows us to apply almost every kind of submissions. So for us some BJJ techniques and maneuvers are risky to play and sometimes unnecessary. But yeah, the creative power within BJJ  fascinates me again and again.

What are you plans concerning Luta Livre?

Beside representing RFT I run the Welko Academy Projects organizing seminars, training camps and other activities like helping to establish Luta Livre in other countries as we did it with Paraguay and Australia for example. A few weeks ago we held our 1st international Training Camp. It was a successful event and I found some Luta Livre Black Belts and Wrestling coaches that share similar values as I do. So now the next training camps will have a bigger Trainer Team and we will be able to receive more participants than the last training camp, for we have a large demand. In doing so we hope to help the development and growth of Luta Livre and more importantly to start building a new generation with a new mentality. And of course the training camps are open for everyone that share our values and beliefs. And that is very important because values and beliefs affect people’s attitudes and attitudes affect the environment and this in return affect the ability to learn and to be taught. Participant from other styles are also  welcome!