Márcio André, a black belt no-gi world champion who now runs his own academy in Arizona, talked in a video posted on YouTube about the kind of person who is hardest to keep up with in training: the one who keeps learning every day.
“The hardest thing you will face in your training, in your routine, is to beat or get better than someone who never gives up on improving. Someone who never stops improving, someone who is coachable, who is always going to be looking for more, always looking to be better than yesterday,” he said.
What it means to be coachable
In jiu-jitsu gyms, a coachable student is one who listens to the coach, accepts corrections and brings them into the next training session. For André, that willingness to listen and keep learning is what makes someone so hard to beat on the mats.
Who is Márcio André
Born in Bangu, a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, André started jiu-jitsu as a kid in a social project run by the Nova União team and got his black belt from coach Fábio Andrade. A featherweight, he won the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship in 2016, the Abu Dhabi World Pro in the same year and the IBJJF European Championship three times, in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Based in Arizona, he leads the Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where he teaches kids, teens and adults.
Do you train with someone like that? Who is the hardest person to keep up with at your gym? Tell us in the comments.
