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Gustavo Ogawa evaluates his start as a brown belt and praises the Mendes brothers

Gustavo Ogawa took gold at the Worlds 2023. Photo: IBJJF

Art of Jiu-Jitsu has established itself in recent years as a machine for projecting talent onto the biggest stages in Jiu-Jitsu. Tainan Dalpra, Johnatha Alves, Mateus Rodrigues and Cole Abate are some of the stars of the Californian team in the elite of Jiu-Jitsu and have gone through the whole process at the grassroots level. One of AOJ’s bets to shine at the top of the sport is brown belt Gustavo Ogawa.

Gustavo was born in Japan and has Brazilian parents of Japanese descent. He has been training at AOJ since he was 14 and has won gold medals at major championships such as the Worlds, Pan, American National and many Opens, all with the IBJJF seal. At 19, he is considered one of the most exciting and creative athletes of his generation.

The AOJ representative has a highly refined Jiu-Jitsu and displays state-of-the-art technique. Gustavo is a methodical competitor, he doesn’t tend to lose dominant positions, but he can also be explosive when he surprises his opponents with lethal attacks.

Gustavo Ogawa became world champion this year at purple belt after closing out the final with Steve Gomez, his training partner. Before graduating to the top of the podium, he won five fights.

Gustavo has had a flying start at brown belt. In his most recent engagement, he won the Jiu-Jitsu Con championship in recent weeks. In an interview with VF Comunica, he evaluated his first steps in this new phase.

“I started off on the right foot at brown belt, but I still feel there’s a lot to adjust to in order to get to black belt. The strongest point of my game is my guard. I also like to play on top, but I’m more confident in my guard, with spins or entering opponents from the bottom,” Ogawa explained.

Gustavo’s dream of training at AOJ grew from a young age and he had Guilherme and Rafael Mendes as his role models. The teachers’ teachings shaped his style and influenced the construction of his winning mentality.

“I always watched them as a child and was a big fan of theirs, as I am to this day. But I remember that I was always inspired by Rafael, I watched more of his fights and tried to imitate his berimbolos and guard passes with legdrag. Professor Guilherme always tells me what I need to improve and what’s missing from my game. So, with these adjustments he makes to my game, I feel like I’m always adding something new, so it always makes me innovate,” said the California-based brown belt.

Gustavo doesn’t have any opponents in mind yet for a super fight. The AOJ prodigy’s goal is to fight the best and dominate the brown belt ranks, just as he did in his other belts. He already has a date and event set for his return to the mats. He will compete in the IBJJF Orange County Open, to be held on October 21 and 22 in California, and will be looking to add another gold to his collection.

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Written by Gabriel Almada

Jornalista aficionado por luta e faixa-roxa de Jiu-Jitsu

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