High performance with Joe Sprange
My name is Joe Sprange. I’m a husband, dad, business owner, triathlete, kids rugby coach and I love talking to people. I started running in fun runs when I was six and I’ve recently completed my 50th triathlon. I’ve worked in Advertising and Marketing, but now I own my own personal training business. My goal is to be the best I can be as a husband, dad, triathlete, boss, coach, so I love asking others I respect those secrets on how they got to be where they are today. My passion is about finding the key to unlock potential. So that’s what my podcast is all about. I interview everyday people who perform at extraordinary high levels and collect a bunch of those keys and share them with you. This is High Performance with Joe Sprange, hit subscribe now to stay up to date with our latest podcasts.”
High performance with Joe Sprange
High Performance with Joe Sprange - Bruno Alves
Episode #5: Bruno Alves — Discipline, Focus, and Daily Excellence
Welcome to Episode #5 of Season 3 of High Performance with Joe Sprange.
Today, my conversation is with Bruno Alves, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and multiple-time world champion. It’s an inspiring look into his incredible journey - from arriving in Australia in 2011 with very little, to now leading an impressive network of 27 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies.
We go right back to the foundations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:
discipline, humility, and a relentless dedication to the craft.
For Bruno, high performance is simple and demanding:
performing above the average, not once, but consistently.
His keys are:
· keep learning
· stay focused on your goals
· have self-discipline
The quote that stayed with me:
“Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
In this episode, we explore the mindset required to push beyond your limits, how to stay anchored to long-term goals, and why self-discipline is the engine behind every breakthrough.
I’ve got some great guests coming up soon — more stories, more lessons, and more ways to elevate your own performance. So don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of High Performance with Joe Sprange.
You can connect with Bruno
Website:
https://sjja.com.au/
https://sjjacrowsnest.com.au/about-us/bruno-alves/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/brunoalves_sjja
https://www.instagram.com/sjjacrowsnest/
My name is Joe Sprange. I'm a husband, a dad, a business owner, a triathlete, a junior rugby coach, and I love talking to people. I started running fun runs when I was six, and I've recently completed my hundredth triathlon. I've worked in advertising, marketing, and I've run my own health and fitness business. My goal is to be the best I can be as a husband, a dad, and a coach. I love talking to people who I respect about the secrets of how they got to where they are today. My passion is finding the key to unlock potential. So that's what my podcast is all about. I interview everyday people who perform at extraordinary high levels. I collect a bunch of those keys and I share them with you. This is High Performance with Joe Sprange. Welcome to episode five of season three of High Performance with Joe Sprange. Today my conversation is with Bruno Alves. Bruno is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu with a black belt and multiple world champion. When he arrived in Australia in 2011 with not much, now he leads a network of 27 Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies. His story is remarkable. What stood out to me are the foundations that he kept returning to discipline, humility, and an unwavering dedication to his craft. He believes high performance is simple and demanding. Perform above average, not once, but consistently. He believes that the keys are to keep learning, staying focused on your goals, and having the self-discipline to keep showing up. I hope you enjoy our conversation. So Bruno, how do you define high performance?
SPEAKER_02:I think high performance for me is like go above the average, you know. Like anyone can perform, you know, like when you go for competition business, you know, people can perform, some can perform low, higher. But for me, high performance is when you like uh tend to you know keep learning, you keep like a focus, you know, like on the main goal, which is like improve, like uh, you know, if you are an athlete, you want to improve yourself, you want to improve your game, you want to give your best like every single day in practice, in training. You know, like uh I believe like uh the practice and the training is where you evolve, you know, like uh to be able to like uh you know go for a competition, go for a tournament, and like give your best. Uh, in terms of discipline, I think I believe like discipline is one of the key points, you know, like without self-discipline, if you just start a camp or you start a business, you never go you know ahead, you don't keep going. Like I think the discipline is something that's really important because you're gonna have up ups and downs, you know, like uh, you know, in your in your life as an athlete, also in your life as a business, life, you know, family. I believe like a discipline is one of the key points, and I think it's it's something that you know like uh I I take for everything that I do, you know. Like I think like I have I'm a really disciplined person. And if I accomplish something in the sports because like uh I have a really good self-discipline.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'm gonna ask you, is it hard to be self-disciplined all the time?
SPEAKER_02:It's really hard. It's really hard. I think uh, you know, like I try to teach my students, you know, like a lot of them they want to be athletes, they want to be a competitor, you know, like uh and I see they start, yeah, but I don't see they they keep going for a long period of time, you know. Like, and then it's like for example, when I had camps of you know for a big tournament, I had to, you know, like uh have six months of like uh the same diet, six months of the same train, same schedule of sleep train. And to have that self-discipline of like leave a few things on the side and focus for a long period of time, I think pretty much is the hardest thing. You know, like I always say to my students is like uh the competition is the easy part, just one day, you know. You just go there for one hour and you're done. The hard parts keep focused for the you know the next six months, you know, like the next year, or the next two or three seasons. You can imagine for an Olympic athlete that's competes every four years. You have to be like a self-discipline for four years to compete one Olympic game, to not even maybe get a podium and keep going for the next four years, you know, like there's a lot of self-discipline.
SPEAKER_03:It's it's it's it's incredible. I I yeah, I really understand what you say about it. And I saw a great thing quote the other day, which was everybody wants what you have until they see how you got it. And I think as an athlete, it's like everyone wants to be an Olympic athlete, and then when they realize what it takes to be it, not necessarily everyone wants to be an Olympic athlete. You talked about high performance being about achieving above average. What are some of the keys you see in in sport and in life to achieving that?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we spoke about self-discipline. Yeah, uh, another thing is focus, you know. Like uh you need to have a really narrow focus, you know, because like uh you can't focus on the end result, you know, the I want to focus on win the tournament. Win is just like uh it's the end of the process, you know. Like uh you have to focus on the every single part of as an athlete yourself, you know, is your is your nutrition in place? Is your mindset? Is your your body as fit as possible? Are you you know as flexible as possible? Are you taking you know your sleep or your rehab? You know, like it's some it's a lot of pillars that make you like uh you know be able to perform some the highest level, you know. So like uh I think I learned that after you know like uh go through my journey as an athlete. I think the end of the journey is when I like uh oh, now I kind of I know the formula, yeah. I know what I have what I have to be doing, you know. But when you're young, you know, like you you sometimes you're not doing your best because you don't have the knowledge of like uh be able to be you know SLNC every single pillow that you need, you know. Like uh I believe focus is like uh is is essential, you know, because people need to be, you know, same thing in business, you know. Like if you wanna you know see your business grow, you know, like you have to see the pillars, okay, market sales, you know, like I have to make all those pillars strong so like uh I can achieve like uh what I want in my business. You know, like uh I think focus is essential as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Any other pillars that you you think are important to high performance?
SPEAKER_02:Um I I learned uh I learned as well that's like a the I used to think about train hard was the you know the main reason that you achieve something or work hard. Yeah. And I started to understand that okay, you do need to work hard, you know, you need to put the hours, but also you need to train smart. Yeah. You know, like uh the main goal is to to be able to be 100% on the day of the event, not be 100% maybe like uh four or five weeks. Yeah, you know, sometimes over train will come on the week, week 10, and you still have four more weeks to go. You know, like I think you have to learn how can you you know grow in a camp, you know, how can you excel to be 100% on the day that you have to perform not like a you know few weeks or few months before, you know, you start you start burning out, you know.
SPEAKER_03:We'll talk about your your competition journey, but uh I I think when you're young you can train different to when you get a bit older. And and I noticed that you were incredibly competitive for a long time. You took a seven-year break and you've come back to competition. And I feel like that might be when this this this lesson has been uh has been learnt. Uh Bruno, like I we've we've been connected by you know one of my old trainers and good friend Vinny, who is an amazing human who you know came to Australia with not much and has worked his ass off to achieve so much. Yeah. And you know, I think possibly the reason you two have connected so so well is is it sounds like your journey was much the same. Tell me about what it was like growing up in Brazil and and and and how you started to learn some of these lessons. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I think in Brazil come came more from watch my parents, you know. That's why like we teach kids uh at our organization. We are like uh, you know, pretty much 75% are kids that train. Yeah. And I know the importance of like uh since I young age, you know, you have like uh you know people that you can watch and see like uh as a mentor. You know, I had I had my parents first, you know. My mom, she was such a hard worker. So since I young age, I start to understand to like uh to accomplish something in life, you have to commit. You know, things don't come easy. Back in Brazil, it's like uh you know, sports is like something that we you know we play soccer on the streets, you know, it's something that's like uh you know it's a main sport in Brazil. Also, we love martial arts. You know, judo is a you know big part of uh the Brazilian uh way of living. I started with judo when I was three years old. Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, but wasn't good at judo at all. Like uh I used to like get smashed in judo, but uh you know I learned a lot a lot of lessons on the judo because it's a martial arts as jiu-jitsu, you know, like a lot of discipline, you know, like uh my coach used to say, man, you're gonna be you're gonna be doing good in sports, you know, because you can listen, you know, like uh you pay attention, you know, like you don't worry about like uh win and losses, you know. But my my journey in jiu-jitsu was with judo was around like a maybe six years, you know. I had a break from judo, and when I was 13, I discovered the jiu-jitsu, you know, like I started training jiu-jitsu with 13 years old. You know, like back in the day, Jiu Jitsu wasn't that much popular for kids, you know, like in Brazil. But I started training with adults as a kid that helped me a lot develop a really good game to like uh be able to train with guys like uh you know older, stronger than me. I think that was one of the things I make my skills like a sharp because of like uh as a kid to beat adults, you need to have these skills. You can't use strength, you know, like uh they are heavier than you, they are stronger than you. So like uh that's when I started the jiu-jitsu journey. And like uh competition always been in my heart, and like I compete in judo, I compete with soccer as well, and jujitsu wasn't different. You know, like I started with 20 years old to compete and competing for you know over 30 years, you know. Yeah, wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And how old were you when you decided to come to Australia?
SPEAKER_02:I was 28 years old, and that time I had the support from the government to because I was high, you know, high class athlete in my state, you know, like uh this the government was kind of support for me to be competing around the world, you know, like I was competing in the US, Abu Dhabi, all the way around Brazil. But uh I didn't have that much you know financial, you know, like uh support for my future. You know, and then I I knew the only way to like uh to have a good life from Jiu-Jitsu would be going for somewhere, you know, like in the US, somewhere in UK, which I have a lot of friends living in those countries, would be easy to go there. But I always had that love to Australia, surf, beaches, and I said, man, I I have to go for that country, I have to check it out, you know. And I came for a tournament here in Melbourne, end up applying for an English course just to stay a little bit longer, and then like I apply for my you know, like my PR, got a PR really quickly because of my curriculum in the sport, and from that just history, yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03:Um, just a little question for our uh uh our listeners. Tell us what the difference between judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is. Now it's probably very obvious to you, but not everybody is so fai with this stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, judo actually, like uh, you know, jiu-jitsu was the main one. Yeah, and like uh, you know, like a they they done as a judo to become a sport, you know, like a jigoro kano, like uh he he made the jiu-jitsu become a judo, yeah, like a so like that's the way that spread around the world, you know, like that's the way that they became an Olympic sport, yeah. And the jiu-jitsu got a little bit on the side, yeah. You know, like I in I think it was 1920s, yeah. One of the Japanese that used to train with uh Jigoro Cano, yeah, he went to Brazil, you know, after that in the first world war, yeah, and then went to Brazil for Para, and there he started teaching like uh the Brazilians, yeah, okay. You know, like he was doing some super fights, challenging people as well to make some money. And in that time, he teached one of the Brazilian the Graces. And what the graces they focus was what they developed the sport was more on the ground. The judo is like uh if you get a perfect truth, someone falls back on the ground, the fight sends. Yeah, the difference of jiu-jitsu, you're gonna throw someone on the ground, and the fight will keep going. Yeah, you know, like that's why we develop more, and they that's why we became so popular was developing the ground.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:That already had in the jiu-jitsu, but they got they had, but they didn't develop that much because they also focused more on the feet, you know. Like, and then from there, the Graces they went to US. They they did have they had the first UFC, you know, the UFC one, which Hoist Grace went there and beat all those like giant wrestling boxing guys, and from that they just spread around the world, and that's why we are now with one of the biggest, you know, the fastest sports growing around the world.
SPEAKER_03:That's that that that's amazing. Tell me what was it like coming to Australia knowing not many people and probably not having a lot of money and not much English.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Because that's like it's it's it it's I think it's incredibly brave. Um, and it's obviously now very been very successful for you, but what was what was that early part of the journey like?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, coming to Australia is like uh, you know, was really hard because when I got here, I didn't have okay, you have a job or you have a school to teach, which is a real completely different scenario now. Now with you know, like with the growth of the sport, we all the time uh try and like hire people to come, you know. Like uh when I came here, I was part of one of one association, but we didn't have jobs opportunity at the moment. Yeah, I had to like uh I remember the first place I was teaching was in Newcastle. Yeah, you know, I used to live in fresh water, I didn't have a car, so I had to wake up, go for my English course at the winner. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, do an English course maybe from 8 to 12. I used to talk with the teacher and say, Look, I have to leave, I have to go to Newcastle. Can I leave a little bit early? He'd say, No, no, this guy is just he's joking around. It can't be working in Newcastle, you know? And then I used to leave the English course, get a train to Newcastle, you know, three hours, like uh train, teach a few classes there, come back, and then get home, just make my backpone the next day and go again, again, again. You know, okay, yeah, what's crazy, yeah. But uh, yeah, I think all all that hard work that I that I put on the jiu-jitsu, you know, like when I came, I put the same energy, you know, like in terms of work, in terms to build my life here, you know. Like uh uh I really want to work with jiu-jitsu. I could have work with anything else around here, but like my goal was like, no, I want to teach jiu-jitsu, I want to show my jiu-jitsu, I want to develop my English inside of the mats to be able to teach now.
SPEAKER_03:So one of the things that I'm always interested in is you talk a lot about how some of these keys to high performance were instilled in you at a young age. Are there things that you've worked out that you have a deficit or you needed to develop to become more successful? Like in your early fighting years, was your coach like you're not disciplined enough or you're not focused enough? Are there areas of of of of yourself that you've had to develop to to improve?
SPEAKER_02:I think well uh I think more than mental part, you know, I I always had a strong mindset, but like uh I had some kind of blocks on the beginning of my journey, you know, like uh to think think a lot about the result, to see the others as they oh they they high bel than me, or they you know they are I think they have more skills than me. You know, like what's something that on the last few years I developed that in a way that's like uh became my strongest part, you know, like uh and and to be comfortable on those uncomfortable situations, you know, like uh for example, you know, every time I step on the mat now, it's kind of I'm I'm so cool, so focused that I don't think about nothing, just think about the moment right now, you know, which is like I s I see my students and I can I can see myself you know old in the old past in the days when it's like okay, uh he's so nervous, I can see that his like his fail, you know, like uh he's not gonna be able to perform, he's gonna lock himself because like he can't breathe, you know. Like uh and you see like uh it's just small things that they need to improve because they are so good inside of the school, you know, they are so good when they train you know with the other students and they go out there and they can't do 10% what they do inside of the our location. So like uh I think the mental part is one of the you know, it's one of the strongest things that you can work, you know. When you're able to perform the same way that you perform us when the eyes are not on you, you know, like that's when you change, you know.
SPEAKER_03:How did you improve your mindset?
SPEAKER_02:I think a lot a lot I like to listen to a lot of motivation videos that help me a lot, you know, to have that fire on me, but also came from my preparation. You know, like uh I start to understand that it's like uh okay, I have done everything. You know, I have done my training, my diet, my rest, my sleep, you know, like uh here today is just the day that I'll perform for one hour, I'll have five, six matches, you know. Like uh let's let's put focus on what I can do inside of that square to be able to win each match. So like uh I think my preparation gave me the confidence that I need to, you know, have my head on the right spot, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, totally. I could probably go on for about five minutes reading your list of competitive results. And I love the wonderful grin you've got on your face now. But talk to me about what was your first big win that made you really realize that this was something that A you were very good at, but B something that you wanted to sort of commit your life to.
SPEAKER_02:I don't I don't even say a big win, but like a for big big thing for me was like uh for example uh Marcelo Garcia is one of the GOATs of our sport you know like uh everyone everyone from our sport they you know look up to him as a wow and for me one wasn't a victory but like uh step on the mat in front of him and fight with him for me was a a huge thing you know because it's kind of uh I was watching DVDs you know like I was learning from that guy I was like a whoa and when you get in a point that you are fight with your idols you know like uh that show that I'm on the right direction you know like uh if I can give at least like a three four minutes of hard time for that guy you know like uh I'm on the right path to like uh to accomplish something I think this one was one of the you know big moments for me and the second one I believe was like uh when uh when I won a big I got in the finals no I I got second tournament but I I went for a big tournament in Brazil that was paying money and of one of the first tournaments back in the days that was like already inject money and I went through maybe three you know of the top toughest guy you know like in the black belt and I was one two years a black belt you know I think that that made me believe that okay I'm I'm there with that you know like I'm not just you know like a one more competitor I'm not yeah I'm not performed within I'm like on the high performance together with those guys you know like that's why and that came I think after I spent maybe six months in UK you know like I was living in Brazil but one of the one of our friends he lived in UK he's one of the top top guys in in our sport and he invited me to come over and stay with him train work a little bit in UK I spent six months with him and I think the switch was when I watch him train when I watch him doing his conditioning when I watch him like uh after all that I put some work in the offs you know like I'll just to manage his schools you know like I sat on the side man I don't train nothing you know I have to train like this guy if I wanna be something you know and I got back to Brazil I keep training the same way that he was training there and that those results start to come you know like I think also also the experience to be around people that they got where we where you wanna be is a such a shortcut. Some people they they are trying to figure out how they get there in business how to get there as a professional athlete you know but without having some man that already got there you know like that's the shortcut they uh all the advice you know what does it feel like to be a world champion uh it feels like uh uh uh always like a tournament especially a big one feel like uh you got a truck on your back and you're just like uh you walking clowns you know like I just like it's that feeling that's after the comp you have for a few hours it goes away really quickly because like uh you have to do again or you have another challenge you know but it's such a good feeling like uh uh I I can't describe like uh the feeling that you have after like you finished the day that you went through everybody while standing there on the top of the podium like it's just uh uh all the hard work all the commitment all the injuries you know like uh they are all all worth it for that moment you know and and if you know if you know how to translate that for all the things in life you know like uh that's when when you you know you gain a lot you know because at the end of the day it's just a medal it's just uh a podium like uh after one year everyone forget about that and the next one comes you know but the lessons that you get from that experience the journey right they are huge you know yeah why did you I'm not gonna say retire but why did you stop competing? Uh I think what I was talking with Vini on the day yeah yeah yeah that was funny because like I had an ACL yeah their ACL yeah and I went to the doctor the ACL is gone yeah but I had a tournament to Abu Dhabi yeah I said I'll do the tournament you know like I just gonna put some tape here figure out and then I did the tournament and then I came back I had another tournament in August I'm gonna I'm gonna do the tournament again and I was doing a session someone got my leg I was jumping with one leg and I just collapsed on the ground you know with with no stable at all the knee and then I sat down the edge of the mat and Vinnie sit down with me and then he said what are you doing man you don't have nothing to prove it to nobody totally you know like you're just like uh you know you just you are breaking yourself and uh what about man he's right you know like uh last tournament I didn't have that feeling good feeling I was on the stage you know I was like uh what I'm doing here I haven't been doing that for years and years you know like uh it's not giving me the same vibe that I had before you know like uh and then I had the decision okay I'll just I'll stop I'll focus on the you know SGGA I'll focus on organization I'm gonna focus on the students to make sure like those that they want accomplish something as a school on uh you know as an athlete let's let's focus more on people and focus on the organization that's when I I stopped competing for seven years and I shift more like uh on the growth of the SGGA you know like uh help the other people the all around me accomplish the goals to own a jiu-jitsu school as well and I think that was worth because I saw a lot of people like uh you know going to Brisbane now you know we have schools there my cousin one of them that I brought to Australia now he's like a school owner of two locations there in Brisbane right yeah it's just like uh I think was uh was a part of the journey that I had to pass you know yeah yeah and what made you want to come back uh what made me to come back I think I had uh but the people say if you have the itch go there yeah yeah and it's like I was trained with my students you know like I was feeling like uh I don't have a goal to myself you know of course I have the goals to grow the organization more have more CGAs more people training like I have more people working on give give that environment you know like a a bigger shape so more people can take advantage of that but like uh what I what I'm doing to myself you know I need to have a a goal and a goal for me always the love was like I go out there compete you know like uh get fit again you know like and then I said well I'll compete again and people was uh no you you're not you're not and then I just put my name for the world masters which is the biggest competition like uh that you can have you know in my age group in the black belt division people ask oh you you don't want to do few comps before the tournament I said no if I have to break myself it's better break it up break down there you know because my body is just like uh I can do once a year I think I can do it you know yeah and then I start training again it started to feel comfortable and then like um was the same form that I have done for years you know I know how to do it's just like uh yeah start doing the conditioning the nutrition again you know like um work my you know my my mental state of mind to be like able to perform again and we came back yeah we came back like last year I I did the finals again last year just got uh got caught by the refree decision infertile went on my side went to the other side but was happy to get back perform well again and inspire my students because I was trained with them for the competition I could go anywhere around the world to do a camp and train with like uh hundreds of black belts but like I uh I like to show them like uh that's your excuse is not your train it's not that you live in Australia you know like uh you can do I'm trained with you here fully like a blue purple belts and I'm going there fight with the best in the world you know so like uh it's just the way that you train you know like uh you should focus on your improvement you know improve each part of your game each part of your body your head to be able to perform well no yeah and how'd you go yeah let's see I got second uh lost on the final by refree decision was uh yeah uh end of the match the guy got the point that draw the match and then like and they end up giving to him yeah and this year went again for the for the world masters I got five matches I got submission on the first four really quickly and on the no on the second match I kind of like I told my buses. Oh no yeah yeah competing as uh as as you get older yeah especially losing 10 kilos I usually drop a lot of weight to be really like uh strong to the my weight division I stole my boss on the second round but like uh you know adrenaline you like a focus there I just put some ice some spray put a knee brace on my elbow keep going I had more three more rounds I won the fourth match and on the fifth I lost by by points and got third place this year yeah that's just um that's no I'm getting back a seizure right now like a 10 weeks of pre-COVID 12 weeks yeah almost that yeah yeah that's that that's incredible um one of the things in in this series of the podcast I'm always really interested in is what a typical week in training looks like so when you were competing you know either recently or you know before your little mini seven year break what would a typical training week look like for you or an elite uh elite athlete in in in in in Brazilian jiu jitsu yeah usually I tend to do a calendar of like okay so I have a main event I'll I'll have right now I can I can do last weeks you know I do around like 12 weeks from for me is enough at the moment like 12 weeks I balancing the body and recovering and I even noticed that last this last camp I had 10 weeks and was enough you know because like uh that's I think week 11 12 you can get on the overtrain and start going down but the schedule looks like uh you know I have a lot of strength training you know like I usually like uh three to four times a week uh work strength at the gym uh also conditioning uh we do conditioning around like a two times a week that's more like an endurance you know like a lot of power as well and is is that in the jiu-jitsu studio or is that like on the bike or the no no no I do with like my coach is like uh he's he run the active crossfit you know like uh in the yeah especially in CrossFit they I think they brought they started the crossfit things here yeah a long time ago 10 12 years ago yeah uh he've been with me since I got in Australia always give me the support like uh he's the guy that can get me yeah in a really good shape you know like and and we we work in Warverton his studio there we work for like maybe one hour two times a week but basically that is just like uh you know get my body you know like uh to push above the limb get my heart you know to be beating like in a high frequency you know like uh yeah we work more like a da endurance and the air conditioning there uh jujitsu usually I have three hard sessions three to four hard sessions a week and one is more like a technical yeah and the rest is just about ice bars sauna you know like for me a perfect camp is like uh and I still do my son my rest day I go to Balmora and run day stairs up and down I have to like uh that's my rest day yeah yeah but usually uh that's how it looks like camp for me.
SPEAKER_03:I was gonna ask you how do you recover?
SPEAKER_02:So ice baths and so on is is there anything else that you do that uh spot massage I have someone that look after Pizza you know charis in Shatsuod and uh you know like uh Richie in mainland they look after my body in terms of like uh you know keep the injuries like uh totally yeah who was your first coach my first coach and still my coach uh is uh Zah Radiolis from Brazil uh I started with when I was like 13 years old wow actually I started no I started in his school was a brown belt called Charles and he left he left to America to teach in America and then at at that time my coach was purple belt which is the second belt in jiu jitsu it wasn't black belt but when that guy left he took over the front of the school and then like uh the impressive thing was like uh in our state we never had a uh single medal from the IBGJ app which is the biggest organization in jiu jitsu you know like I in all the states we never had a medal after he took over you know like I and pushed the team you know we started had the world champion camp for my state which started being recognized in real to like wow those guys from that state they are top they have some world champions that you know like we we became from nowhere to become a state that have like a many world champions in not only in that state only in in our gym we had on like a 10 world champion that came from that gym yeah and and what was it about that gym that was developing the world championships I think the leadership you know like I think he was someone that like uh not not selling a dream but he was like uh you know some someone that like uh will put on your mind that you can do it you can be the best you just have to like uh you know train hard you know the way that we train I would not recommend for anybody because like was was full on you know like even now in nowadays people understand that it's not just about to kill each other and try like uh you know injuries will happen and most of my injuries came from like a trained away but I think the leadership was essential to like uh take take a a gene that didn't have any medals to you know be somewhere that you know people look up to have like a as a as an example of gene you know around Brazil and the world you know a question I really like asking is what have you learned from failure? I think the m I think that's the most important thing you know failure failure is the is where you learn you know like a that you're not on the right direction that you have to switch to the right direction that you have to improve something you know like uh I think as I start compete in a you know young age I learn how to how to lose you know and not get you know upset and not want to stop to doing this because I'm losing you know like uh it just made me realize that okay it's it's part of the journey you know like uh and it's something something that I highly recommend you know like uh special for kids you know to start the compete to start get used to lose because like uh you're gonna lose in sports you're gonna lose in life you're gonna apply for a job you're not getting you're gonna apply for a university and you're not gonna get the spot and what's gonna happen you're gonna just give up or you're gonna try again for the next year next next year no just to have idea I I lost maybe four world championship one fight to the podium you know and get on the podium was already a big thing and I was four years in a row I got on that fight that if I would win I would be on the podium no matter what if I would lose the next fight I'll be third place and I lost and I lost one year after all you know like uh after four years I got great for the brown belt which is a highest level is like you are they're almost on the black belt division is as hard you know as the black because most of the guys that win on the brown they will gonna end up winning on the black and the year that I got the black belt that I thought okay if I didn't win as a purple that will get even harder but was the year that I I went through and I won as a brown. So like uh you know the lesson was like uh you know the fails will come you just have to keep pushing keep improving because you never know when your time will come now yeah another slant on a same question when is it time to quit something that's a hard question for someone that like uh yeah super disciplined you probably don't know how to quit right yeah yeah my most of the people that are related to spoil business they are strong on the head to let it go you know like it's hard to see if the boat sink and you're just like I know I go with the boat or totally all jump you know but uh I don't think quit I think about change direction like uh that's a good attitude isn't it yeah yeah I think quit is just a are you letting go completely that thing or you're just gonna change the way that you deal with that thing you know I think more change direction and see what's going wrong and take as a learning experience for the next one you know or pass through to some somebody if it's a business you know a business going down like are you gonna let that thing go and all the way down or you would prefer to you know pass to someone that will take you know things for yeah you know like a a different direction but at least you okay that was the right decision. I didn't sink with the boat I let the boats you know like uh go in a different like uh you know guidance you know and and you you talked about missing out on that podium in the world championships four times how did you come back from that like what happened after that tournament and for the following ones to to improve and get there like what was your mindset I think it was more about like uh you know like I when I went through and I won you know like um I actually I did much more than was doing you know when I lost all those tournaments you know like I I wasn't I wasn't a professional so you worked harder on the preparation yeah yeah I was I wasn't I wasn't taken as serious as you should be you know like it's it's hard it's hard when you're young you have so many distractions especially live in Brazil parties you know like a lot of things happen so like uh you know you know like this is a it's a big distraction so like are you young are you gonna take those six months and be really focused not hang out with your friends not drinking eating well you know like working out resting you know like uh you know and and when I when I learn all those little things make a lot of difference you know that's when you I started having the results you know and like um I not regret that I learned that when I was younger could have much better results if I was like uh act young as an act right now but I think everything's a learning experience I will not be who I am today if I will not pass you know like I walk on those on those on those steps you know yeah um I've seen you use the phrase pressure make diamond yeah that's how I slogan build under pressure yeah yeah yeah yeah I believe uh enough worth life comes easy you know like uh you know uh everything that I you know accomplish is still still working hard to accomplish more comes from hardships comes from like I put myself you know over the limit over the edge in working you know like uh as an athlete so like uh if you feel pressure you you you should feel that okay I'm on the right direction I'm on the right direction because like if it was that easy you know like anybody will have a nice business anybody would be a world champion anybody would make money in life you know it's hard you know like it must be hard because like uh you know if it was easy everybody would have the same you know like uh that's the difference to you perform and you be a high performer. You know like every everyone can do a business but everyone can excel the business you know like uh yeah I I love that as a thought and I can see that we how that works
SPEAKER_03:Really motivated people, and especially when they're older. You talked about how a lot of your m you know members are young, are kids.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, mix, mix. Kids and like uh our goals get the kids to have to get the parents. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally, right?
SPEAKER_03:So so to how do you uh like one of the things I you know, my son's 11 and I coach his rugby team, and I'm always interested in how people coach kids in that environment because you have some kids in a rugby team who are excellent and really motivated to be there, and other kids that are there because mom and dad want them to be there and maybe they're not very good, you know. And and so how do you how do you work with your kids in an environment? Because I understand these things about focus and discipline and stuff. What what's sort of your coaching philosophy of of of young kids when they're starting out?
SPEAKER_02:Uh we we don't focus much on the on the what example the technical part must be like uh because like as you said, like uh some some they need the technical part because they're gonna excel, they're gonna be a regular player, or they're gonna play any other sport. But I think more the lessons that they're gonna learn from the jujits, from the sport. You know, that's what is more important for me. You know, more important for me is the kids learn, you know, like uh how how discipline is important, how you know be confident, look someone in the eyes, you know, like it's important, and how to trade, you know, like a female woman, you know, like that. That's that's that's the things that we focus more inside of SGJ. So like a day the jiu-jitsu and become uh athlete is is my eye of coach to look at this one. I have to trade different, you know, like uh they are athletes, they have to be together here. They all focus is like completely different for those kids. But that doesn't mean that they we don't want to work the confidence, the discipline, because like uh I don't I don't care if you are the best athlete, but you you know, like you don't trade your your teammates well, you don't trade your parents well, you know. So like uh it's like the values on top, and then next is the you know, like is the technique, it's like is the skills as a you know as an athlete, you know. It's it's it's funny because like as a professional athlete you would think okay, like uh I just want to build world champions and like uh but it's completely the the opposite. We focus more on the educational, you know, like uh less is like uh results and like uh performance.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I I think that's really important. I think that's really one.
SPEAKER_02:Especially for kids, yeah, because it's kind of 5% of our members want to compete to want Excel. We encourage everyone because we see the benefits of competition, even for the others, for the masters, you know, like I encourage them to see, man, go there. Go there. You need that experience, you know, like the experience who like uh will make you I want to train harder, I wanna eat well, I wanna you know, like a not drink this weekend because I have a tournament next week, you know, like is the is the experience that will bring you like a more than actually the tournament, you know?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah we've just touched a few times, but I want to sort of dive more deeply into your your businesses. And you know, you came to Australia in a long time ago. At what point in time did you decide I want to open my own? Is Jim the right word for a jujits where you do jujitsu? Academy school, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Okay. When did you decide you wanted to open one?
SPEAKER_02:Uh since I was in Brazil, that was always my plan because I saw my friends going to UK to California, and then they they was making a live by having their own school, you know. And then when I came to Australia, well, that was my main priority was open my school. Second priority was compete. So like uh I try and manage both as much as possible. I was 28 already, almost like a 30, and like uh my main goal was like uh I want to have my own school so I can provide you know like a better life for my family, you know, like I and to myself as well. Um I pretty much I I had a good life from travel around the world doing a lot of things like uh, you know, like I've just been into sport like for you know 10 years, you know, that gave me a lot, you know. Like so my main goal was like uh be able to build something that would help myself and my family. And that was the first goal when I got in Australia. Like we opened the first school in Crosness was straight two years after I got here. Um I was teaching privates everywhere, like I was trying to save money as much as possible, and all like uh, and then with two years of work, we opened a small tiny studio in Crosnest, just uh maybe 120 square meters, and that's where we started the first school.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And how many have you got now?
SPEAKER_02:Now we have 27 locations. Uh 15 are here in in New South Wales, uh, 11 are in Queensland and one in Vittoria.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's incredible. So how many how many members across all of those?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, we have over 5,000 members across. Yeah, over uh 5,000 members. We we just got in Queensland three years ago, you know, like it's been insane how I've been growing in Queensland, you know, like uh I mean it's just like a 10 years we're gonna attend 10 years now in 2026, you know, like a big celebration. And yeah, we just can't wait for what's happening on the next five to ten years, you know.
SPEAKER_03:What's the hardest thing about running a business like that or starting a business like that?
SPEAKER_02:Uh the hardest part is like uh knowing that I'm I'm uh I can say now I'm a blue belt in business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a complete like a white belt. Yeah. So like uh is uh and it's something that's people like I have to realize that's like okay, it doesn't mean that you excel in I don't know, in swimming, you are you know Olympic, gold medalists, and then you're gonna be doing good in business. You know, like uh you can use some some skills, you can use a lot of things that we talk about today, but like uh you you have to realize that you are you are a white belt, you have to start learning everything again, you know. And that's something that's like uh I love to learn. I love to learn about like uh you know marketing, sales, you know, products, you know, and that's something that's be humble and put a white belt and okay, yeah. I can learn from anyone, I can learn from people that are on my industry and they you know got where I want to be, you know, like that's an important thing, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and and and I I I think you're so right, like about being in in in in in business that that you may be brilliant at jujitsu, but uh you know, a white belt. How did you learn those lessons? And you know, did people help you? Did you learn?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think a lot of like online study, a lot of you know, like uh I didn't go much for seminars, some seminars, but uh more be around people. I I'm I'm being really lucky to my students being you know my best mentors. You know, like I had a student that he has a market uh agency, you know, like I used to sit down with him every weekend, man, how we do Google Ads, uh what is SEO, you know, like uh all those all those small things, you know, like uh yeah, some some uh work as um you know real estate, you know, like uh how can we do that deal, you know, like uh oh, and learn from each deal to you know for the next one be better and better. The product inside by itself, having the experience to be a kid inside of the mat, to be a coach, I've been everywhere, you know, like uh in the journey, you know, like I know how to deliver the product, I know how to improve the classes, you know, like that's that's something that's it's my area. I just have to be more on the shoes of my clients, yeah. And I'd be a client as well. I've been training all the schools, so like uh that's something I can learn from you know my students was the best thing, you know. I always like I get get got my white belt and sit down with them and try to learn as much as possible, you know.
SPEAKER_03:So you've obviously got people running their own schools. What do you see in people that run successful ones? What are the characteristics you see?
SPEAKER_02:Uh they are really good people.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:If I can say something, it's like it's not because they are good in jiu-jitsu, it's not because it's they're just good people, and they they can build community, you know, like they really care about you know who is inside of the gene, you know. I think that makes a huge difference. And uh and that was something that uh I always had as well, you know. I always had like uh want to provide because jujitsu is not like fitness, you know, fitness you guys are way ahead from us, you know, like fitness being there for like years, you know. You have the best technology, you like uh you the best skills, you know, like uh you see all those franchises coming up, coming up. We still in an early age for jujitsu. We are getting there. You see like uh we have organizations 1000 locations, some with 300, you know, like uh we we are getting a spot that's like uh we're gonna be more well recognized, and people put more their eyes in in martial arts because before martial arts was like, oh, that blog teaches martial arts, he's a lawyer. Oh, that bloke, you know, like uh he put the maths on the PCYC and he does some class, you know, like uh and that's completely the way that I don't see martial arts. I see something that's like uh it's incredible to you know give people a lot of skills. It's incredible for someone build a career and be, you know, like a teacher or become like a school owner, and that's something that we are working hard to show people that we are a big part of the fitness industry as well.
SPEAKER_03:You know, no, it's it like you you you are doing so well to have so many locations and that many that many members. What's what's what are your hopes and dreams for the business?
SPEAKER_02:Oh hopes and dreams, yeah, yeah. It's uh poor athlete. You never you uh it's something that I I start to recognize that that thing is you're always thinking about the future, you know, like uh and you're not live in the present, yeah, and it's like you don't look back to the past to see like wow, that's nice that we are here, you know. And that's something that I'm starting to learn a bit more so to not be you know, all those health you know head problems that we have, like kind of anxiety or like a depression comes to like uh you know you not be on that balance, you know. And that's something that I'm starting like uh I want to grow, I want to achieve more because I know like uh it's not more about me, it's not more about money, like it's just about like uh how many people can you know like uh be impact by that organization grow. You know, like my my plans of course is grow more and more being all states. We want to be recognized as the best place for jiu-jitsu in the country, you know, like uh because we're not from Brazil. I'm from Brazil, but like SGA was raising raised here. Crousons. Yeah, in Crozence, you know, like uh that's a beautiful story, you know. Here in Australia, we keep a lot of things, you know, like uh I came for a country that like uh you know received me of open arms. I didn't come here to change the country and put my Brazilian behavior now like uh I'm uh I'm I'm part of this, you know. Like I love living here, you know. And so the plan is just keep growing, you know. Like we want to grow, but uh I also want to have that balancing life that's like I'm living, enjoying the present, you know, looking up to looking after for the future and be appreciate the the best, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. Um I uh I think our our country is so much richer for people like you and Vinny who bring some uniqueness to us and bring jujitsu and and and you know make wonderful contributions. So I think you know, communities that that are around passions and particularly healthy passions, I think are awesome, you know. Um yeah. What's the best re advice you have ever received?
SPEAKER_02:Best advice. I think before I come to Australia, and I'm like um well the the dad of my coach, he used to like uh wake up early morning and clean the mats. I used to teach a private class at 6 a.m. and then he was there. It was his his way to keep active, you know, cleaning the mats, you know, like uh it was funny because like every single day he was there doing his steps around the mat after cleaning, just walking, laps. And then I thought he's going to Australia. I said, Oh man, good on you, good on you. You know, like uh if you don't if you don't do things yourself, nobody will do for you. And that sick on my mind, say like um, you know, you have to, you know, like nobody, yeah, nobody will like uh run your business, nobody will make you train. People can can be your coach and they will like uh support you, but like uh just you can do it, you know. Just like uh of course you have support, you have people around you, you can't do anything alone, but just you can take the control of your life and only guide your life whatever you want to be, you know. And that's that's something that people sometimes they put blame on everything, but they don't look after they don't look inside of themselves and say, look, no, if I want to change here, I have to change my habits, I have to change my environment, I have to change my country, my career, why whatever.
SPEAKER_03:No, like uh it's you would never have grown jujitsu in Brazil in the same way you have here, right?
SPEAKER_02:Because no, never, never.
SPEAKER_03:No, because there's so much, you know, and you've bought something new here and grown it from scratch, which is wonderful, you know. So he's he's right, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's yeah, was uh good uh good device, and I stick on my mind like all the time when uh you know when I'm around, especially was in uh in the period of the my life, okay. Like uh I was like a mid-class in Brazil, you know, like I studying in you know like a private schools, you know, I'm not not rich, not poor, you know, like between that, which is like a lot of the population that's like I is in that. But change countries is like uh is is really is really hard. You know, just if you if you live abroad, you know, like uh you know you're gonna let it go. Family, you're gonna let it go a lot of things, you know. Like uh you have to be have a lot of courage. And in that time that I was like uh thinking about a lot of things, you know, like uh when he said that. I said, Well, that's like uh something good to you know to hear.
SPEAKER_03:I think I might know the answer to this question, but I don't ask anyway. What advice would you give your younger self?
SPEAKER_02:Uh what advice I would give one of my young self. Uh that's a hard, really hard question, yeah. I think uh I would I would give the advice to like uh to focus on my pre passions, you know, like uh I think uh I took some time away from Jiu Jitsu, you know, like uh because uh my family got divorced, you know, like and I started going in a different direction in my life, you know, like uh if I would you know being on the same path that you know follow my passion with Jiu-Jitsu, you know, like uh probably would be going a little bit more far in terms of my competition career, you know, because I had to come back and I had to put a lot of work to get back on my level of Jiu-Jitsu, you know. But I think it's kind of uh if I would do anything if I would not be in Australia, you know, my life would take a different path, you know. So like uh no no regret about that, but like if I would give you advice, just follow follow your passion, but also like uh work hard on your passion. It's just some some people they just like follow the passion, but they don't put the commitment to achieve something else. And I always I always had that thing in with jujitsu about okay, as I want to change the jiu-jitsu industry to make sure like we we are the same level as the fitness, you know, like it's the same thing for my coaches for for the business. I want to make sure like okay, the coaches get you know, they get an appointment, they schools are so big that they get paid really well, you know, like they they are they are having the same path as a lawyer or as a you know a doctor, and all it's not doesn't mean that you are teaching classes that you should be underpaying, you know. Like that's that's that's our goal is like to have but for that you need numbers, you need schools with like 1,000 members, you know, so like uh they are huge big businesses, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Always my last question. Is there a question you wish I had asked you?
SPEAKER_02:I think we went through a lot of things, you know, like went through yeah, my back in Brazil right now. I think uh nothing that comes on my mind, you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Bruno, thank you for so generously sharing your story with us today. And I love your passion for your sport, your community, and getting better. Um, and I'm sure our listeners are gonna take a lot out of today. So thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02:My pleasure, my pleasure. Thank you, Vinny, to make the connection. You know, like I really appreciate it. Enjoy our time here. Yeah. And hopefully, like uh, you know, a few people can, you know, listen, get uh get inspired, you know, because uh sometimes one one word coming from someone that's you know on the media, you know, like uh on the journal will make a lot of difference for them to like uh to succeed in whatever they choose, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Totally. And I personally find you know podcasts are a way to learn and get off, you know, and and I'm doing this so that people will listen and one person will get one thing out of this that will help them, you know, achieve more of their potential. So thanks Bruno. Um good luck in the next competition. I hope there's not too many injuries.
SPEAKER_02:No, I'll be alright.
SPEAKER_03:I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Bruno. The quote that stayed with me was get comfortable with the uncomfortable. If you have a high performing sports person you'd love me to chat to, I'd love to hear from you. Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode of High Performance with Joe Sprange.