Simplicity: The Key To Winning 5 Black Belt World Championships

By Fanatics Authors, October 14, 2017

5 Black Belt World Championships is no easy feat, this will put you in the hall of fame and establish you as one of the most legendary competitors in the world. Bernardo Faria is one of the most famous Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners around today and he has won the World Championships 5 times as a black belt. How can someone accomplish so much? What segregates Bernardo from the rest of us mere mortals? There are many factors that differentiate a Black Belt World Champion from the rest of us. They have an undeniable will to thrive and win, they have heart, discipline, focus, a one track mindset, but what about their Jiu Jitsu? What makes it so special?

In Bernardo Faria’s case, what makes him so special is the fact that he implements simplicity. He has an extremely simple Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game. It may be simple on the surface but the complexity is in the timing, the repetition, and the ability to implement it at the highest levels. What do we know about Bernardo? He likes to play deep half, half guard, he likes to pass with the over under pass, and he has incredible pressure. Bernardo has trademark sweeps and passes that are extremely recognizable.

So many people that go up against Bernardo know exactly what he wants to do but somehow someway, he is constantly able to implement his game upon his opponents. They know he loves the single leg half guard with the lapel, they know he loves deep half, and they know he loves the over under pass but they are not able to stop it from occurring. What makes a champion able to do this? One of the biggest factors is years of repetition, the other is timing, and the last is a mix of knowing reactions and having tenacity.

Repetition of a Jiu Jitsu Champion

Bernardo Faria is obviously an incredible athlete with heart, determination, and all the other characteristics that make a champion a champion, but he has something else. Everyone at the highest level has these traits but the ones that make it to the final and implement their will differentiate themselves. Bernardo is one of them. One of the keys to Bernardo being able to implement his Jiu Jitsu is the fact that he has a simple game and has been able to drill it for over a decade. Bernardo’s game is so simple and he is able to work out all of the kinks and be a master at it. It is like the Bruce Lee quote “I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times more than the man who has practiced ten thousands kicks once.”

This philosophy is one that many world champions implement. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you need to have a specified game and you need to focus on a few things, that is how you become the best at things. In Bernardo Faria’s case he has done just that and he is an excellent example of somebody with a simple game. Bernardo has played Deep Half, and half for so long and done it so many times that no matter who he is up against, they have not passed half guard more than he has played it. In simple terms, that is what segregates him from others. When he gets into the over under passing position he is infamous for, he has done that pass more than anyone on earth has defended it. Therefore, Bernardo has seen every reaction possible to this passing position. You want to try and triangle him? He has seen it. Want to try and kimura him from the over under, he has seen it. Get it? Bernardo has seen anything that you are going to throw at him in his positions and this is what makes him good at what he does.

When someone tries to pass Bernardo’s half guard there is no pass in the world that someone hasn’t tried against him. So many famous practitioners in history have implemented this philosophy of mastering their own “Game.” Look at Marcelo Garcia, The Miya Brothers, The Mendes Brothers, and all of these great Jiu Jitsu practitioners, they all have their games. Check out this highlight of Bernardo below.

Timing of a Champion

Going off of what we spoke about above, when you do something more than anyone else, this will allow you to develop impeccable timing. Timing is the key factor that differentiates champions from normal practitioners. The way that you develop good timing is by repetition. All of these things connect. Bernardo Faria has the best timing with his game. For instance, when Bernardo gets into his deep half, he has done that position so many times, this allows him to know every reaction and this allows him to develop the perfect timing. Look at it this way, there are many people out there that know Bernardo’s sweeps, they may even know how to implement them and make them part of their game, but nobody has the same timing as Bernardo.

It is just like with the Mendes Brothers, they love the leg drag. There are hundreds of Jiu Jitsu practitioners that know the leg drag, but none of them have done it as many times as the Mendes brothers and none of them have the timing that they do. This is what segregates Bernardo. On the surface, Bernardo has a simple game like we stated above, but the complexity is in the timing, and the ability to execute. Check out this awesome technique from Bernardo Faria.

Knowing Reactions and Having Tenacity

Knowing reactions is another part of Bernardo’s game. What we see does not exemplify how complex his game actually is. Bernardo has the repetition, and the timing, and the last piece of the puzzle is knowing what his opponent is going to do before he does it. Jiu Jitsu is like chess and in chess you have to make a move expecting your opponent to react a certain way. Bernardo does just that. He knows how his opponents are going to react and he is able to counter it before they even know what hit them.

We may not be able to tell that Bernardo has countered their attacks because his opponents may not even have the time to react properly. Bernardo can stop things before they even occur. For instance if he is doing his over under pass, he probably knows his opponent will try and triangle him at a certain point and in that moment pass. What we see on the outside is a fluid and well executed pass but what really happened is Bernardo stopped their attack.

Not only is Bernardo amazing with his timing and knowing his opponent’s reaction, he is also extremely tenacious. Tenacity is one of the key characteristics Bernardo used to win 5 black belt world championships. When you watch some of his matches against elite level grapplers, Bernardo is extremely tenacious. He does not stop ever. If he gets on a single leg he is so adamant about finishing nothing is going to stop him. If he is able to get into his over under pass he is so determined to finish it that virtually no one can stop him. This is one characteristic that cannot be learned, this is something that some people are born with. So when you combine all of these characteristics, you get a 5x Black Belt World Champion, and that is Bernardo Faria.

If you want to learn some of Bernardo Faria’s guard secrets and simplicity, get your hands on his 4 DVD set, “Battle Tested Half Guard.” Bernardo has long been infamous for his half guard, but getting these DVD’s can really change your game. He divulges all of his best kept secrets in these DVD’s. If you are a half guard enthusiast, you need these DVD’s.