Photos by Rick Hustead • October 2005
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lthough Brazil has no doubt produced a plethora of families that can rightly be categorized as legends in jujutsu, most American martial art-ists know only two: Gracie and Machado. Add the Barreto surname to that list. Alvaro Barreto is an eighth-degree black belt who took up the grappling art at age 10 under the tutelage of Helio and Carlos Gracie. At 16, he started teaching at Academie Gracie in Rio de Janeiro. In the 48 years that followed, he’s trained some of the most accomplished practitioners in the art, including Sylvio Behring, Pedro Carvalho and Pedro Sauer. His brother, Joao Alberto Barreto, is also a respected master in Brazil. In this article, Alvaro Barreto talks about the art’s early days, its growing pains and its current condition in Brazil and America.—Editor On his beginnings: I’ve been training in jujutsu full time since I was 10 years old. I fought in Rio de Janeiro with the Gracie family and my brother, Joao Alberto Barreto. Through him, I got to meet the Gracie family. Later on, when I was 16, I became one of the instructors at Academie Gracie. I taught kids. At 18, I left the academy. Then I taught classes at the academy of professor Helio Vigio. Later on, my brother left Academie Gracie to open his own business, and I went to work with him. After 10 years with my brother, I opened my own place, called Corpo Quatro Academy. I still have that academy today. It’s been operating for more than 30 years.
On jujutsu students in Brazil: At my academy, I have about 150 stu-dents. But I’m also a professor at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, so I devote much of my time to the university as well as to private classes. At my academy, classes last about an hour to an hour and a half. Normally, the adults practice every day, Monday to Friday. The children, until they’re 9 years old, usually work out two times a week. For 10- to 14-year-olds, it’s three times a week. I have 15 black belts under me. The whole time I’ve been a black belt, I’ve promoted only 15. I’m very strict.
On his system: My vision of jujutsu is oriented toward education and not so much toward competition, even though I’ve participated in a lot in
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Self-defense: Alvaro Barreto (right) is held in a head lock (1). He immediately turns his body so he can place his right pinkie under the nose of his assailant (2), then uses both hands to rotate the man’s body (3) into position for a guillotine choke (4).
tournaments. I was part of building the Federation of Jiu-Jitsu, where I helped make the belt-ranking progression. If you do jujutsu every day, it takes a minimum of fi ve years to reach black belt. The progression goes from white to blue to purple to brown to black for master and red for grandmaster. For children, it’s white to yellow to orange to green and then blue and so on. For kids to go from white to blue belt, it’s usually 25 hours for each stripe. In America, the requirements for rank need to be more rigorous, and promotions should be more monitored.
On the proper curriculum: In my vision, jujutsu is composed of four courses: self-defense, traumatic moves (locks and chokes), judo and ground fi ghting. To be a complete martial artist, you need to know all four because
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Competition: Pedro Carvalho (top) wraps his arm around the neck of Barreto (1). Barreto uses his right arm to push his left forearm upward against the neck of his opponent (2). Next, he places his left leg over the opponent’s head and forces him backward (3). Once the head lock is broken, Barreto scissors his legs around the man’s neck while immobilizing his right arm (4).
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Escape: The opponent (top) restrains Barreto by locking his arm and neck (1). Barreto maneuvers until he can grasp his left leg with his right hand (2). He then leverages himself upright (3) and on top of his foe (4). Barreto uses his forearm to break the head lock (5) and takes control of the man’s arm (6). To fi nish, he lies back and effects an armbar (7).
one helps the other. They’re all linked. Self-defense, for example, goes onto the fl oor, and from there you can go into other positions. In jujutsu, com-petition is a consequence of education. The education gives you discipline and self-confi dence. It turns you into a better citizen. I’d say there’s not only an educational part but also a therapeutic part. Some people come to us and say they can’t go to school because they’re scared. Through jujutsu, especially the psychological aspect that teaches self-confi dence, training makes them a different person. It makes them more secure.
On jujutsu’s popularity: Compared to soccer, it’s not very popular. But compared to other martial arts, it’s now the most prevalent style in Brazil.
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Choke defense: An opponent (left) attempts a collar choke on Barreto, causing Barreto to position his right arm over the man’s arms (1). He places his right leg in front of the man’s right leg and pivots (2), then throws him to the mat (3). Because Barreto has maintained control of the man’s right arm, he can transition into one of several fi nishing holds.
Because it grew so fast, it’s been a little disorganized. And there have been unprepared teachers. It’s similar in the United States. You need an institu-tion that brings all the students and gyms together. I’m not saying it’s perfect in Brazil, because it’s not. The competitions are organized, but everything else is kind of loose. Some teachers don’t live correctly. A teacher should be a good citizen with a good educational background, such as from a university. That makes him better at passing on information. Students need leaders they can look up to because the majority of the time, they look for instructors to give them confi dence and keep them strong.
On adding jujutsu to other arts: In the United States, many people who do jujutsu want to incorporate it into other styles. That’s fi ne because they already have the discipline it takes to be a martial artist, so they have an advantage. The majority of the time, they abandon everything they had learned and end up doing only jujutsu.
On competition: At tournaments, referees sometimes have diffi culties interpreting the rules in an ethical way. They have personal issues that can affect the outcome of matches, and that causes problems. Another problem is that there are a lot of tournaments organized by different teachers, and each one is free to make up his own rules or modify existing rules.
On his training: I’m 64, and I do everything the same way my students do. I want to stay in shape to pass on classic Brazilian jujutsu to people who have a serious mind-set for the work it involves—people like Pedro Carvalho, Pedro Sauer and my students back in Brazil. It’s very important to transmit the skills we know, as well as the principles and essence of the art. That’s one of the most important things I’ve learned. Jujutsu doesn’t stop at the competition arena. Its purpose is to form not better fi ghters but better human beings.