Bruno Bastos on victory over DeBlass and the power of the mind

Bruno Bastos, 37 years old, has no idea when he will stop competing. Recently, on November 11th in New Jersey, the black belt proved that his game is still strong, by winning the tough DeBlass for United Grapplers Association.

“Honestly, I love to compete. I believe that everything in life is a form of competition. I remember that I started on a Wednesday, I took two Jiu Jitsu classes and competed on Saturday (laughs). Nowadays, I don’t consider myself as a professional athlete. I am a father, husband, gym owner, I have an association and I lead a team. Since I go with my students on competitions, I also compete. I think that the fact that I don’t define myself by results on competitions also helps. If I win or lose on a Sunday, Monday will come anyway. So, I take advantage that I still got health and I can demonstrate with actions what I pass on to my students”, says Bruno.

Excited after a great presentation, Bruno commented on how the victory over Tom, who’s also a teacher and a qualified athlete in the US.

 “It was a good victory. It was important, because Tom is a pretty well-know guy here in America, with a big number of followers, and has already fought the ADCC three times. So,  even having an extended curriculum and won him before, because of his presence on social media, my victory was a surprise to some people here. The fight was under ADCC rules, which I’m really comfortable training under this rule since 2000. I managed to always stay in a control position and pass his guard on the end  of the time. However, I didn’t get the points, because he escaped before the three necessary seconds to make the passage worth and we went to prorogation, where I knew I had the advantage, and noticing he was really tired I just managed the situation.”

Gold medal collector in World Competitions and IBJJF opens, Bruno has a powerful weapon as an ally: his mental power. Below, he tells how Gustavo Dantas, his mental coach, adjusts his  line of thinking to win on and off the matt.

“I believe that everyone needs support on the mental part, competitive or not. I believe that I’ve always had and I still have until today this part pretty strong, but even so I have a guy who helps me, like Gustavo Dantas, for example. The BJJ Mental Coach is a great program that doesn’t focus only on the competitive result, but on the person’s development, that’s what I believe in. I always set a difficult goal and that motivates me on seeking even more my development, my improvement as a person, a teacher and as a competitor. I always bring high level athletes, not only from Jiu Jitsu, but also from Judo and Wrestling to teach me and teach my students, because no one knows everything and with that my students see my exposed game, which is great. Several teachers are afraid to beat in front of the students, but that (beating) is not a problem for me." Bruno, who already plans of competing in the No GI IBJJF Worlds, in December.

Bruno also has titles in Brazilian, National American, Pan-American and IBJJF European.