Could you just briefly introduce yourself - name, age (if you want to!), job, nationality and anything else you would like us to know about you?My name is Fang, and I’m 31 years old. I work in advertising and I am a blue belt under Marcos Escobar, training at Leverage Combat Academy.How long have you been training BJJ?
I have been training since November 2007, which makes it 4 years and 3 months! I can’t believe its been that long.
What other martial arts have you tried?
I used to do TKD as a kid, for about 2 years. Never went back.
How would you compare them to BJJ?
Well, obviously I was a kid and I don’t remember much. The one thing I remember about TKD was the kata/patterns that we had to memorize. In BJJ there are no patterns, the only pattern I see is me tapping out a lot, all the time.
Please tell us a little bit about what got you into BJJ
I was always intrigued by the UFC, and if you’ve ever watched the early UFCs, you’ll notice that BJJ was a force to be reckoned with. One day, I decided to get off my ass and actually take the initiative to learn the art. I started off in a place in Kelana Jaya, under Quico (a purple at that time), together with Eugene ‘Kenu’, Alex Padilla, Jase Kong Mikey and Leong Vieira. Shortly thereafter, our instructor at that time had found out about Marcos and wanted to join him. Unfortunately, he had to move to Bali, and he urged all of us to join Marcos’ school to learn from a legitimate source of BJJ and the only black belt in Malaysia! In many ways, it made our transition to Escobar’s much easier. That was 3 and a half years ago, and I haven’t looked back since.
I am very grateful that Marcos welcomed us with open arms. When I joined, there were a few students who were already learning from him, some of whom are still with him today, namely, Aaron Goh and Kenneth Lam (of Streetfight Wing Chun infamy). Back then, all we had was Marcos, and ourselves. As white belts, it was a little intimidating, but we relied on each other to learn. Slowly, things began to progress, we even had our own BJJ camp in Pangkor Island, with 3 black belts (Marcos, Chico Mendes & Cristiano Carvalho), a first in the region!
These days, the gym is full of blues and really good purple belts for the beginners to learn from. As a result, the white belts of today definitely improve a whole lot faster than we did 4 years ago! I guess that’s a definite sign of progress.
What's your favourite submission and position?
Kimura from side control.
Gi or no-gi?
I started out doing gi only, fearing nogi. But as I started doing more nogi classes, I realized how much I actually enjoyed it. The thing that I like about nogi is that it is very fast paced, and has many exchanges. Having said that, because it is very fast paced, I realized that I could develop very sloppy habits from it. The gi game, being a lot slower and grip dependant, makes you think, and execute your movements more technically. You can’t yank your hand out of an armbar when you’re doing gi.
Ultimately, gi or nogi, it depends on what you’re learning Jiujitsu for. To me, why not do both?
Could you give us a few words about what BJJ means to you?
BJJ has taught me many life lessons, about stress management, health, friendship, patience, how to approach problems amongst others. After a bad day at work, instead of heading home to sulk, I head straight to the gym to train, and almost always, I come out of it feeling better. Sometimes, work can be stressful for me, which is why it is so important for me to train.
It has also taught me to value my health. When I started training, I was smoking a pack a day. I even used to smoke a cigarette right before training! As of today, I have been smoke free for a year because of Jiujitsu (and Marcos’ incessant advice). It may have taken awhile to quit, but I intend to stay this way, and Jiujitsu has played a big part in helping me quit.
It has changed my life for the better, and I hope it will continue to do so in the years to come.
Apart obviously from Marcos, could you talk about any figures in sport or otherwise that have inspired you on your BJJ journey?
Royce Gracie, for showing the world that the little guy can win; Rickson Gracie, for being so technical and awesome; Leo Vieira, for being the nicest/most humble world & ADCC champion ever and of course my teammates, who inspire me to train harder every day.
If you were asked to persuade a friend to take up BJJ, would you? How would you persuade them to take it up?
Obviously, you could never force someone to do something. Without proper intent, they would never last in such a sport/art. I will tell you how I managed to get my girlfriend to start training. It was in August 2009, and Marcos was conducting a self defense seminar. Up till then, to my girlfriend, Jiujitsu was just a bunch of men rolling on the floor and hugging. I convinced her to participate in the self defense seminar, as I was worried for her safety as well. Marcos showed a series of practical Jiujitsu based self defense moves, and she found it interesting enough to participate in a trial class. After that, she was hooked! These days, she trains just as seriously as me, and has been competing and medaling in competitions regionally.
What I’m trying to say is that you have to put a context to the art, in order to convince a person to take it up. Whether it is self defense, weight loss or even learning to kick ass, I would convince them to take up the art based on their goal. For most, it is almost always getting serious about health and weight loss.
What changes have you seen in your life since you started BJJ?
Like I mentioned earlier, I value my health a lot more these days, I am a lot more patient, more meticulous in problem solving and I am generally a lot happier because of my training.
Where do you see yourself in your training in 5 years? What aims and goals do you have for your training?
In 5 years, I hope to be a very good competitive purple belt. While I know that it is not realistic for me to want to be a Mundials (BJJ World Championships) Champion, it is a dream of mine to step on the mats to compete at the Mundials at least once and make my team proud. All in all, I just hope to be training consistently and hope that Jiujitsu will continue to help me improve myself and be a better person.
"Jiujitsu is not about who you beat, but what you conquer." - Anon
Like I mentioned earlier, I value my health a lot more these days, I am a lot more patient, more meticulous in problem solving and I am generally a lot happier because of my training.
Where do you see yourself in your training in 5 years? What aims and goals do you have for your training?
In 5 years, I hope to be a very good competitive purple belt. While I know that it is not realistic for me to want to be a Mundials (BJJ World Championships) Champion, it is a dream of mine to step on the mats to compete at the Mundials at least once and make my team proud. All in all, I just hope to be training consistently and hope that Jiujitsu will continue to help me improve myself and be a better person.
"Jiujitsu is not about who you beat, but what you conquer." - Anon
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