One of the innovators of the no-gi revolution in the United States of America
speaks.Shoyoroll.com catches Eddie “The Twister” Bravo before an evening training session at 10th planet for an in dept interview. Eddie tells all about the no-gi and gi war, taking out Royler Gracie at this year’s ADCC, The revolution of the rubber guard, and Guam¹s beautiful women!

SYR: What’s up Eddie, What have you been up to?

Twister: Just been building my school, getting ready for ADCC and training Chuck Liddell for his rematch w/ Randy Couture, and trying to meet as many beautiful women as possible.

SYR: ADCC has been coming up in Long Beach in your Hometown U.S.A have you been invited yet?

Twister: Not officially but unofficially they have invited me. I have spoken with them but it’s not official yet.

SYR: If so why or why not and what do you expect this year?

Twister: I think there is going to be some crazy matches. We’ll probably get to see Jean Jacques Machado vs. Marcello Garcia. Everybody wants to watch that and even Cameron Earle is in that same division, it’s going to be crazy. Every ADCC is just getting better and better. And plus that one twister guy is going to fight Royler Gracie in a rematch. (Laughs) That should be interesting.

SYR: Do you know if the rumor is true if you and Royer will be matching up first?

Twister: It’s all rumor so far. But it could be true. I hope I get him first, that would be great. That would be fantastic, the sooner I get the chance to tap him again, the better.

SYR: If you do meet Royler first what submission will you be looking for? The Twister?

Twister: Of course I’m going to be looking for a twister. Apparently they are making it legal again. To submit him, I’m going to try and get him in a twister. I’ll tap him with anything it really doesn¹t matter. But if I had it my way it would be a twister.

SYR: Have you been training for the ADCC? If so where and who do you work out with?

Twister: I still train at Jean Jacques Academy. I’m still a black belt under him and he is my master. I still train there and that has not changed. But that’s about it no other schools all I need is Jean Jacques and that’s it!

SYR: Any people you are excited to see in this year’s ADCC?

Twister: Yeah I’m excited to watch Jean Jacques fight especially if he fights Marcello Garcia or Cameron Earle. I’m also curious to see how Javier Vasquez is going to do as well. I would like to see Javier Vasquez fight Leo Viera. I would love to see how that match would turn out.

SYR: Your long time rival and friend Javier Vasquez will be in ADCC this year. How do you think he will do this year’s ADCC?

Twister: I think besides me he has more offense in that division then any of the other guys. He definitely has more offense than Royler, and way more offense then Leo Viera, that’s for sure. Baret Yoshida has a lot of offense but I think Javier Vasquez has more offense then anybody in that whole weight bracket except me.

SYR: If you meet Leo Viera in this year’s ADCC again will you play your game the same way as last year or would you come at him different?

Twister: I have a lot more game now then I had last time. I have a lot more strength and a lot of things are different. I’m still going to play my game but I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve.

SYR: Are you a Killer Guard or Guard Killer type of guy?

Twister: I like to do both, but I certainly don’t mind being on my back. I don’t mind that at all.
SYR: Name 3 guys that you rolled with that blew your mind?
Twister: Jean Jacques for sure is one of them, I mean he’s fantastic. Javier Vasquez, we have competed a few times in tournaments but we have also rolled together a lot. That guy is wicked and if you make a mistake he will make you pay.

SYR: California is know for being one of the Mecca’s of Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling who are some of the upcoming talents that you think will be making waves in the Big Leagues of Grappling and MMA (ADCC, PRIDE, KOTC, UFC, Worlds) in the near future?

Twister: Jeff Glover for sure he is going to be a star. A lot guys from our school are for sure going to be stars. Scott Epstein, Gerald Strebendt, Beast Ozinga, Dave Siller, Tait Fletcher, Jason Chambers is already making some waves, Ed Grubbs. And Felicia Oh, she is one of my female students and she¹s pretty incredible w/out the Gi.

SYR: A lot of people in the Jiu-Jitsu community are upset w/the way you put down the Gi. Do you really think the Gi that useless? What are 3 pros and cons you can think of when training with the Gi?

Twister: Training with the Gi cons are easy. You get good at stuff that is never going to come up No Gi. It creates a lot of bad habits especially in the guard. There is a reason why you rarely see Mundial champions having wicked guards without the gi. Why is Minatauro the only guy with a good guard? It’s because they don’t know how to play guard with over-hooks/under-hooks and head control. They have those gi habits that come back to haunt them in MMA or ADCC. The pros to training with the Gi to help your no-gi game? I really don’t see any pros. I mean the gi is good if you want to be a gi champion. My advices is to train with the gi everyday and don’t ever train no-gi. But saying training with the gi is important for no gi, is just pure insanity, it makes no sense. I can’t believe I¹m still here discussing this, It¹s amazing how people actually think that training with the gi is essential to getting good no gi, It’s so unbelievable.

For Example:
Its like saying playing racquetball is essential to being a good tennis player. It’s the exact same thing. If a racquetball champion decided to start playing tennis, he would be way better at tennis than some beginner. But does that mean you should play racquetball for a few years first in order to become a tennis champion?

SYR: A lot of black belts say the gi helps your game in general and w/ your fundamentals, keeping you aware, and keeping your game tight. They say it is good to train w/ both gi and no gi. What is your answer to the people who do this?

Twister: That is because the Gi is what they are good at. Most black belt instructors are good at taking people out with the gi. They are not as good with out gi. In order to keep students you have to dominate your students, you have to tap them out. If you’re not that good at no-gi why would you train no-gi at your school with your students? If you have some wrestlers that come in and stale mate with you while training no-gi. You’re not going to be able to make them pay for classes. That’s why a lot of them make everybody keep the gi on. They don¹t want their no-gi game exposed. Of course, not all of them have a weak no-gi game, but quite a few do.

For no-gi, the gi does nothing a wet suit couldn’t do. In ADCC, as far as jiu-jitsu black belts are concerned, Marcello Garcia, Jean Jacques, and Baret Yoshida are the only ones submitting their opponents at a high rate. That’s three guys out of what, 100 guys? The only reason gi guys usually win ADCC is because it’s, for the most part, the gi guys vs. the gi guys.

There are a few pure no gi guys but most of the no-gi guys are pure wrestlers, or MMA guys who don’t spend all their time w/ jiu-jitsu, they have to spend a lot of time kickboxing and wrestling. They don’t spend a lot of time on the ground unlike a pure jiu-jitsu guy.

There are not many great pure no-gi teachers out there. There’s like four, like Dean Lister, David Terrell, the Avellan brothers, etc. Like I said, there aren’t that many pure no-gi jiu-jitsu instructors around, yet. That’s why the gi guys usually win ADCC even without scoring points. Of course it appears a bit blurry but in 20 years, I think that no-gi will be more popular with Americans than traditional BJJ, and everybody will know if you want to win ADCC, the sooner you let go of the gi, the better.. That is the way I think it’s going to be.

But a lot of people still think that the gi actually helps you because when they take off the gi for the first time and roll no-gi, they can grapple way better than some beginner. So they think that the gi helps.

But if they trained in a tube top instead of the gi for the same amount of time and then took it off, they would still be way better than some beginner. The only thing I like about gi is the gi pants, gi pants are good because your not using your own pants for handles. The pants soak up all the sweat and make the guard a lot better but if the gi pants come off my game does not change at all, its just more slippery.

SYR: Do you ever wear the Gi at all?

Twister: Every now and then I’ll put the gi on because I do like strapping on my black belt. That’s the one thing that sucks about no-gi, I don’t get to put on my black belt. I love wearing my black belt.

SYR: Enough of the GI vs. NO GI war!
Speaking of the rumored match up between Jean Jacques and Marcello, how do you think this match will go down?

Twister: Well it’s going to be one of the greatest matches ever. It’s going to be amazing. I’m a huge Marcelo Garcia fan. Finally we have a Brazilian, besides Jean Jacques, that can finish people w/out the gi. FINALLY!!!! Marcelo does not try and win a match on points or stalling, you know winning on negative points. This guy is going out and destroying, and that’s what I like. That’s what Jean Jacques does, he was the first destroyer in ADCC.

When Jean Jacques came out his first year, he finished everybody. I like destroyers, I like guys that go out there and try and finish the fight. When they fight, of course I’m going to be pulling for Jean Jacques. ABSOULUTLY!!! I would be crushed if Marcelo Garcia chokes out Jean Jacques. I would not like that one bit! I want Jean Jacques to choke him out. But I will still be a Marcelo Garcia fan even after that happens.

SYR: What is some advice you can give to people who think their training is not working and their game is just at a total standstill? They feel like no matter what they do, they are not progressing at all.

Twister: There can be two things that can be causing this, if they are training hard everyday and they are at a stand still, it could be that their instructor sucks and he in not teaching anything good or he does not care, never shows up, you can tell when your instructor cares. It’s either that or that you’re not aware of your progression because everybody is improving at the around the same rate as you are, so it’s kind of hard to see the improvements when everybody else is getting good.

You’ll never plateau as long as you keep an open mind and you’re constantly evolving your game, you must expand your game. I recommend four times a week, if you train two times a week you will progress very slowly. You have to get at least four rolls a week, that’s what I do. You don’t go five or six rolls a week, because you will end of getting sick of jiu-jitsu and end up just quitting altogether and getting married. Don’t over train!

SYR: You are real familiar with the rubber guard. What are some of the key aspect when using and playing the rubber guard?

Twister: It’s going to take a long time to get good at it. Just as long as it takes a Gi guy to get good at spider guard. You’ve got to be patient and keep practicing. I have been working w/the rubber guard for a long time now. You have to have mad squeezing endurance and that takes a long time to develop. You never want to let your opponent have posture, if he has posture, you have nothing.

You have to break your opponent down. It’s all about constantly doing leg curls and squeezing your knees together, because you’re always pulling your opponent down when you have high guard. It’s also about having a really good mission control, so you can stifle your
opponent. You must control him before you throw offense at him. The controlling aspect of the rubber guard can take a long time to master.

SYR: Where you nervous when you had to face Royler Gracie at ADCC?

Twister: You know what’s funny about that? I was really nervous about the trials. I had to win the trails because I talked so much about my jiu-jitsu and philosophies. If I didn’t win the trials nobody would listen to me, so I felt so much pressure before the ADCC trials. But back to the question, when I fought Royler I was not that nervous.

Right before taking on Royler, I went out and choked out this other Brazilian black belt and pretty easily too. Right then I knew. I could do it and perform in big shows. Right after that I remember telling Joe. I need Royler right now! If they put him in front of me right now, I will choke him out!” I was so confident. The funny thing is that I remember standing on the other side of the mat seconds before we squared off, and I looked over and I was like “Holy sh#t! that’s Royler Gracie! That’s the dude I used to watch in Gracie in Action 1 like 10 years ago”, but I was not really nervous, but I was tripping. I was about to fight a Gracie! It is what us small jiu-jitsu players dream of, fighting Royler Gracie. As blue belts every BJJ player dreamed of fighting Royler Gracie. And I actually got the shot to do it!

SYR:Do you think your Jiu-Jitsu skills can match up with any of the other Gracie’s?

Twister: This is how I feel honestly. I think at the top level anybody can lose, all the top guys Barret Yoshida, Leo Viera, Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, and all the Gracie’s. But I honestly feel that my no-gi game has more offense than most of the Gracie’s, not including Rickson. As far as no-gi is concerned, I don’t see any of the Gracie’s playing guard like me. They have no idea what the twister is, and that’s a huge part of my game. I can do what they’re doing like armbars from the mount, triangles from the mount, arm triangle from the mount, armbars from the guard, triangles from the guard, I’ve got guard setups they for sure aren’t doing. I’m not saying that I can beat all the Gracie’s or anything like that.

I’m just saying that I have more no-gi offense than the Gracie’s. The facts are that I can do all the things they can do no-gi and then add the whole twister element and all the different variations from that and all my rubber guard techniques. It’s just a fact, I have more offensive no-gi techniques then they do. They probably have better defense. I’m not known for my defense, I’m being honest. I get caught, I tap! But as far as no-gi offense goes, I don’ see many guys having more offense then I do.

SYR: I just came back from Guam for the last PXC 4 (MMA FIGHTING EVENT) and the sport there has been growing dramatically. You have commentated for many events would you be interested in doing some work for the PXC?

Twister: I would totally do it as long I’m not the play-by-play guy. I hear there are a lot of hot women on Guam. I think it would be lots of fun visiting Guam.

SYR: Three words that describe Eddie The Twister Bravo?

Twister: Cocky, Arrogant, Trash Talker. Just Joking. But for real it would be Honest, Creative, and Hot!!!

SYR: Who is the hottest chick on the planet?

Twister: Facially or the whole package? That is a hard one. God this is a hard one. By the face, it is Angelina Jolie , her face is incredible, but her body’s not all that, too skinny. The body has to be from some chick from Brazil. Find the hottest model in Brazil and that’s probably the hottest chick on the planet!!!!

SYR: Do you have a website with info about you and the 10th planet academy?

Twister: Yeah, there is some cool stuff like pictures, video, and techniques. Check it out WWW.THETWISTER.TV. And my book from McGraw-Hill is going to be out in about a 1-month and half. It will have about 90% of my techniques. So it will be interesting how people react to it. It will be available at almost every single big bookstore coast to coast.

SYR: What does the future hold for Mr. Eddie Twister Bravo?

Twister: There is about an 80% chance I’m going to tap out Royler. After that hopefully my school blows up a little more. Maybe somebody with some power in the music biz will recognize my musical talents and put one of my songs on a movie soundtrack and blow the f#ck up!

SYR: Are you a rapper?

Twister: No I’m more of what Moby does with music. I have been in bands my whole life. But now, I would rather just do it all myself. My music is a cross between The Crystal Method and Enigma, and I have four songs available for free downloading on my website as well.

SYR: Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?

Twister: I would like to thank my sponsors; Nature’s Purest Supplements and JoeRogan.net. And to all my fans, thank you for having a open mind, we must continue to evolve, or you can just go to church on Sunday and drink a lot of beer.

SYR: Thank you for your time Eddie. We hope to see you wearing your Shoyoroll gear around soon.