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8.04.2008

Turning Jiu-Jitsu on its head

Discover Roleta’s weird-jitsu, and the moves that wrote the history of the modality’s competitions

First published GM# 122

“If you put your mind to it, you can do anything.” This saying, which very well could be something out of an article by our columnist Martin Rooney, in fact came from the mouth of Roberto “Roleta” Magalhães. This is the motto that perfectly sums up the story of this engineer – doing his masters in industrial engineering – who debuted as a black belt by surprising the star Wallid Ismail to win the first World Championship as a light heavyweight, in 1996. Wallid, then the most famous fighter not in the Gracie family, was confident he would win – he promised to cut off his hand if he lost – but he had never seen anything like Roleta’s bizarre leverage. After holding out for nine long minutes, Roleta managed to take Wallid’s back, and consequently the title. More impressive still: he accomplished this feat with something called the helicopter, a trap in which the attacker sees himself in a position of apparent total control, only to fall victim to the pendulum turning the situation around completely. (Don’t worry: we will show the move in detail coming up.)

The journey through four world championships started there and went on till 2000 (interrupted only in ’99), and Roleta’s “weird-jitsu” was proving to be a menacing weapon – and worse, a true enigma. Roleta explains how his curious guard works: “The worst thing in Jiu-Jitsu is to feel like you are getting squashed, but when I play guard and they squash me, as my spine is very flexible, I actually feel comfortable.”

So impenetrable was his guard that, during the last years that he competed (Roleta abandoned competition in 2001), his adversaries didn’t even try to face him – they would go straight for his foot. And so it was, with an unprecedented americana on the foot, that Rodrigo Comprido submitted Roleta in the World Championship of 1999, after Roberto had made it past, in another notable fight, Minotauro, who had just debuted in MMA a month earlier. Fernando Margarida also tried to subjugate Roleta to an attack to the foot in 2000, but this time the engineer avoided the submission and won with two sweeps. Roleta recovered his light heavyweight title, to retire as world champion.

Weird... but simple?
Throughout his competitive career, Roleta’s indecipherable style helped him to achieve historic victories. That was the case with the fights that linger in the imaginations of Jiu-Jitsu aficionados – the reversal he used on Saulo Ribeiro, the sweeps he used against José Mario Sperry, Fernando Margarida and Murilo Bustamante. That only to name battles deciding big championships. But could it be that Roleta’s odd holds and moves are accessible to all? Would the average fighter be able to apply the principles of weird-jitsu effectively?

There are limits. But, basically, yes. Brown belt Bruno Melo, Roleta’s disciple of eight years and teacher in his master’s academies, told us, during the photo session for this article, how some of the moves Roleta performs are impossible for him to do, as he doesn’t have long legs. However, Bruno reveals: “My style is similar to his – I also have a real aggravating guard.”
According to the inventor himself, the style goes well beyond a set of physical characteristics allowing one or another particular move to be executed. The method is the fruit of inspiration and study, and has been making its mark for years. “In the beginning I’d write some things down, I would dream about positions, and then I’d show up at the gym with notes all over my hand and test them out,” he tells. “After some time doing this I could see some of the guys from other gyms copying me – while the guys at Gracie Barra, who could see me every day, thought I was nuts.”

Now are there any new little Roletas in the making at Black House and Recreio Fitness (the two gyms where Roberto is teaching, in Rio)? “We teach what we know,” the instructor comments, “so my groups end up being composed half by students with my style and half by students with a normal style, which adds a good dynamic to the classes.”

So, as you can already tell, weird-jitsu is, although complex, a logical system that is learnable. But wait. Sitting on the mat, staring into space, Roleta says, matter-of-factly: “You know, I’ve been thinking about developing a system for no-gi Jiu-Jitsu.” That’s right, the imagination of Roleta – who guarantees he will leave “retirement” if he were to receive an invitation to fight at the ADCC – appears to have no bounds, as you will see next in the move with the provisory name “flying butterfly,” or “eagle’s flight,” or something to that effect. The goal of the maneuver seems to be to incapacitate your opponent with laughter – and believe me: it works. You never know, the next innovation in Jiu-Jitsu could be right around the corner, so it would be a good idea not to stop studying – or practicing!