"What surprised me about CrossFit was the mental fortitude it requires and helps you build."
In the past six months, Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, Thiago Braga, has emerged with a series of stunning wins over the world’s best, making him the man to watch on the Australian and international circuits.
At the Australian trials for the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu Jitsu Championship in February, Braga started this sudden burst of success by winning three grueling matches in one of the country’s most competitive brackets: the 74-kg brown-and-black-belt division.
But even with that title, its hefty purse and a free ticket to the championship safely in hand, Braga didn’t quit. He followed with an impressive run of gold-medal victories, including the Queensland State Jiu Jitsu Championships and the New Zealand Black Belt Challenge, both this year.
Although he has long been a consistent performer, Braga attributes much of his recent success to CrossFit. After competing in the tough Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu Jitsu Championship in 2009, he understood a return appearance would require him to move beyond improving technique. He recognized he also would have to emphasize his conditioning.
“When you get to the brown-and-black-belt level in jiu jitsu, everyone is so good technically that matches often come down to a mixture of strength, speed and cardio. I wanted to make 2012 my year, so I knew I had to improve my overall conditioning,” Braga says.
So in November 2011, Braga enlisted the skills of fellow Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and CrossFit trainer, André Lisboa. In the three-month run up to the Australian trials for Abu Dhabi, Lisboa knew he needed to create aggressive and detailed programming for Braga. So he set about formulating a three-stage regime using CrossFit as his foundation.
“At the first stage I chose long WODs with high volume and low weights,” Lisboa says. “There was plenty of jump rope, kettlebell swings, rowing, box jumps and running. During the second stage, we worked on (a) super series aimed to increase his strength. That is where we focused on WODs that include plenty of Olympic and power lifts, squats and upper-body super series. By the third stage, the WODs became shorter and the exercises were directly related to the ground fighting. It included resistance, single and double-leg shots, grappler twist, sled work, Turkish get-up and several other movements — all performed at high intensity.”
Braga admits he was skeptical when he started CrossFit.
“I had been doing functional-style training and Olympic lifting for several years,” he says. “So I was really not sure what CrossFit was going to do for me.”
But after working with Lisboa throughout the summer, Braga became a convert.
“What surprised me about CrossFit was the mental fortitude it requires and helps you build,” Braga says. “Every time I trained with André, he was putting me through WODs that forced me to push myself. So by the time I got to the Australian trials, not only had my overall strength and conditioning increased, but mentally I was so much stronger.”
Brian Falzon, a Brazilian jiu jitsu purple belt who watched several of Braga’s matches at Abu Dhabi earlier this year, says he noticed the difference in Braga’s conditioning.
“I trained with Thiago so I felt first-hand how fast and explosive he was,” Falzon says. “What was amazing about watching his matches in Abu Dhabi was his ability to hold that speed and explosive power for so long. Not once in all of his matches did I see him breathing heavy. In fact, his cardio was so good his mouth was shut and his breathing controlled in every match.”
Braga’s next challenge is the Asian Open Jiu Jitsu Championship in October in Japan. He continues to work with Lisboa and with another six months of CrossFit under his belt, trainers and competitors across Australia are watching how he’ll fare.